According to Ofcom’s Media Nations UK 2024 report, over 20% of UK adults listen to podcasts weekly and 76% of podcast listeners can recall advertised products or services. Lean Creative Marketing recently interviewed Bertie Styles, Director of Gravitize, to hear more about why podcasts are an important part of an organisation’s marketing strategy and how companies can use podcasts to engage with their target audience.
What are podcasts?
A podcast is a piece of journalism – a captured conversation for on-demand listening. They used to be mainly audio focused, but now, with the ability to publish on different platforms, can be audio or video. Some podcasts are quite heavily scripted and then edited to get the key points across in an engaging way. Others are more authentic, for example, sitting down fireside chat style will allow your audience to feel more like they’re listening to thought leaders or experts simply having a conversation.
Why do you think podcasts are an important part of a company’s marketing plan?
Podcasts are not as popular as they should be, yet they can be a very useful marketing tool. Alongside a wider marketing or PR firm strategy, I would break the benefits of podcasts for businesses into three categories. First, building meaningful connections. Second, providing a platform for in-depth theme exploration. And third, creating a piece of evergreen content that can keep on giving.
Podcasts offer a unique platform to establish genuine connections with your audience – you can provide valuable content that resonates with their interests and their challenges in their specific situation. With that, you cultivate a loyal following and foster a sense of community around your brand and your topic or theme. People enjoy being able to listen on demand. If you read the 2024 Ofcom report it states, ‘83% of regular podcast listeners said they like the convenience of being able to listen to podcasts whenever it suits them’.
Podcasts provide an opportunity for in-depth theme exploration – an exploration of what matters most to your brand, allowing you to delve into topics that are relevant to your audience in a comprehensive and engaging manner. This not only adds value to your marketing, but also positions your brand as a thought leader in your industry.
Creating a podcast gives a great return on investment for businesses, because podcasts have such an enormous shelf life – they’re published forever – and people can keep coming back to them. There’s a wide reach with having an online digital distribution and the episodes themselves can be repurposed and shared across multiple channels, whether they become part of a short Instagram reel or put into a longer blog post, etc.
How can a company create a podcast series?
There are a few different ways. For organisations that may have a creative team or marketing personnel in-house, if they feel comfortable, they can do it online themselves. They can record a conversation on Zoom and then chop it up into episodes. If you’ve got the software, you can then do all the editing within that software too.
I think one of the key things in approaching the podcast is not worrying so much about how you’re going to technically do it but really building that strategy of what you want to talk about and how you’re going to frame your conversations. Podcast production companies and experts, like us, can support you with narrative and advise on delivery, as well as the actual process of recording and editing. We can set up in your offices for a day and create a lighting setup and backdrop that really resonates with your audience. Outsourcing your recording to a podcast production company will give you the highest quality audio and video experience, and you can record a whole season of podcasts within that day.
There are also podcast studios you can go to that are all set up and soundproofed and you can have the conversation there. Cost wise, it can be a bit cheaper to go to a studio than set up in-house. But, if you’ve got senior management who want to be on the podcast, it can be difficult to get them to travel somewhere else as they’re so time constricted. One of the benefits of recording a podcast at a company’s office is you’ve got an afternoon with your CEO, and can sit down and have that conversation, rather than trying to record on Zoom or other software and get lots of little blocks that need to be fitted together to make a series and might not feel consistent. I believe the key is having a framework for the conversation, so every episode follows the same journey to give consistency across the episodes.
We recommend batch recording to avoid delays and having a regular posting schedule. It is important to set aside a day to do recording, whether it is on site or whether it’s on a call or an online software and to do a few episodes together, so you get into it, and it’s also important not to edit the content too heavily – you want to keep the authenticity.
Why use a podcast production company?
If none of your competitors are doing podcasts, you might get away with doing one that is more makeshift and record your own. Otherwise, and especially if it’s for an important campaign, it’s better to have it done professionally.
I think, during COVID, audiences were okay listening to something a bit more rough and ready and recorded at home or by a novice, but now people expect something of higher quality from businesses. By bringing in technical expertise, you can ensure a rewarding and engaging listening experience. You want to remove any barriers from people listening to the podcast. If you build your podcast and capture it in a way that is enjoyable to listen to, people can then focus on your content, rather than any distractions around it. Clear audio also makes your podcast more accessible for people with hearing loss or who have a hearing device. To improve accessibility, it’s a good idea to create a transcript alongside your podcast too.
What kind of things do companies talk about in their podcasts?
The key to creating an engaging podcast is about defining what your topic is, creating a narrative of what you’re trying to say and finding that middle ground between the audience you’re trying to reach and the services or products that you offer. You really don’t want it to just be a sales push talking about your services for an hour, as no one will want to listen to that. Find something that people will listen to in their own time, that builds advocacy with your brand and sets you apart from competitors.
You might offer insights into the global markets, share personal stories that inspire people, or share your interviews with clients, or other leaders within the life sciences sector. Having collaboration across businesses can work well so you bounce off each other’s audience as well.
You don’t want it to be a sales platform, you want to create a safe space that is changing your customers from consumers to advocates of your brand.
Are there any other points you’d like to make about the value podcasts bring to a business?
Just to add that it’s an enjoyable thing for people to be part of – being able to talk about what you’re excited and passionate about without any of the nerves of speaking in front of an audience. And particularly if it’s a podcast that’s going to be edited, you can say things that are not quite right and get a second go, so you don’t need to worry about making mistakes.
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Gravitize are a specialist design and production company who can support you with crafting a narrative to reach your audience and the technical production required to capture and release your podcast. Gravitize are now partnering with Lean Creative Marketing to help bring professional podcasts to life sciences and technology organisations who want to improve their audience reach and customer engagement.
If you’d like to find out more about how you can create your perfect podcast that helps reach your marketing and PR goals, get in touch today.
