Do’s and Don’ts when marketing in a podcast
I would not say podcasts are quite popular in Bulgaria (yet) but this might just be good news for marketers trying to be on the verge of new technologies.
This world phenomenon will sooner or later conquer the Bulgarian market and being part of its initial development is a huge opportunity that can definitely give brands a competitive edge.
Why advertising in a podcasts?
The basic definition of a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio or video files which a user can download in order to listen now makes it a total of more than 73 million people listen to podcasts with listenship growing fast. Moreover, podcasts provide genuine engagement with your brand increasing brand trust and credibility while stats show that 65% of Listeners Are Likely to Buy a Product After Hearing an Ad in a Podcast.
ESCREO story:
Call it serendipity, but it’s not so uncommon story when it comes to our marketing. I have known Vlado for ages and I remember when he was telling me about his idea to start a podcast. Fast-forward to 3 seasons later and more than 255 record hours, surrounded by a small mafia of 5 podcasts altogether the family of Govori Internet is now a major influencer over a smart and to be frank quite crazy community.
So one day he calls me and invites me to support Tranzistor as major sponsor of 2019.
I will never forget his explanation behind his motivation and here I am paraphrasing with the risk to sound a bit cocky: we just want to attract companies/organizations and people who not only build great companies/products but also believe in something bigger than themselves working hard to leave the world a better place. (okay maybe it’s too cheesy but you got it).
Supporting free expression and creativity of all shapes and sizes have been ESCREO mission since its foundation. And marketing done right has always been beyond marketing your product, especially now more than ever: brands support people, causes and collaborate much more than just “market” their own product/service.
I said yes considering this endeavour was more about pure collaboration rather than just the next platform to explore.
3 questions to ask before starting to market in a podcast?
What is my objective?
What’s the message/channel?
What is my budget and ROI?
- Is this the right podcast for me & are these people my target?
We target primarily highly innovative IT/Outsourcing companies so to some extent we had a match on the target persona.
Our objective is to speak with the employees who will be our daily users and can ultimately influence the decision makers in their companies.
Tip for a pro:
Better choose to advertise in a niche highly-targeted podcast. Stay away from “crowded” podcasts – nobody wants to listen to squeezed number of ads.
Creating an original and memorable ad is always a challenge but the good thing is that the podcast can offer so many new ways to convey a message. You can record a voice ad or the host can have a script at the beginning. The good thing is that you can experiment and try different things for each episode. Be careful with the consistency of your brand voice – you don’t want to be everything for everybody. Try to be up-to-date with what’s relevant – timing is crucial and real-time marketing does work. Collaboration with the hosts is a must – they are the ones who know their audience best and I would suggest making their life as easy is possible is a good tactic. I am a fan of the organic mentions and ads that can add value to the conversation. However, good planning and team-effort is essential. Do not repeat the same ad with the same words for 50 episodes – it’s super annoying.
Tip for a pro:
The only limit here is your imagination – be creative, be proactive. Make the best out of the channels at disposal – Discord chat is another way to start or join a conversation and give voice to our brand. Maybe there is a big news coming out from your business domain and is super important for the whole community or you have a challenge you struggle with, share the info, spread the word. P.S. Now I have an idea to create ESCREO emoji and use in the Discord chat of the podcast community as a symbol of creativity.
2.
A question for millions, yes. All of us want to crack the gold formula – invest “x”, get “y”; Unfortunately, that’s not the reality neither in business, or in life in general for that matter. This is not as straightforward as we wish it to be. Money does not start pouring when you launch a campaign or invest in advertisement. The same with the podcast as an advertising channel. Podcast advertising may be an integral part of your communication strategy but in order to work it has to be part of the bigger strategy around your brand and marketing efforts. Be crystal clear about your object – if it’s PR, give it time, if it’s lead generation give a promo code, follow the website traffic and count referrals. It’s good to have in mind reports which state podcast ads generate 4.4x better brand recall than display ads.
Tip for a pro:
Experiment, test and repeat. In most cases podcast advertising is an instrument for brand awareness and gaining exposure rather than generating leads. In the case of company Ahrefs they went 1 step ahead. They used is as a tool for giveaways with a tweet‐to‐enter mechanic.
Advertising in a podcast is not rocket science. When it comes to marketing as a whole it all comes down to trial & error before you know what’s working and how to proceed. Follow the general guidelines:
- Take the decision
- Once you take the decision, commit to it
More often than note, it’s the energy you invest in that will determine the results you get. I know our favourite saying “Don’t do what you like, but what your customers like”. But sometimes, from time to time, we are allowed to do both – do what you like and maybe the customers will like it too. Doing new interesting motivate me and I believe only in this way I can inspire others to buy my product. To put it in other words: to sell creativity, you better be creative yourself as a prerequisite.
And then there are always the results you did not expect, the benefits that are not planned, somewhat as added value: now I am a big podcast fan and educate myself more than ever on all kinds of topics.
What do you think? Do you have experience in podcast advertising? Share your thoughts in a comment or get in touch to exchange know-how.
—
Resources:
https://www.webfx.com/blog/marketing/why-podcasting-matters-to-marketing-infographic/
https://www.sparkcade.com/2019/03/25/podcast-content-marketing-strategy/
—
Continue reading: “Is music discovery the ultimate way of having the ultimate orgasm?”
Say Hi