Branded podcasts are a form of product and service promotion that involves creating and broadcasting original audio content that is owned and operated by an organization, company or brand. Ebay, Microsoft, and even McDonald’s have branded podcasts. The majority of podcasts began as individual content creators talking about their interests, experiences and telling stories, but the industry has evolved. Companies have begun to see the benefits of branded podcasts, and we are even seeing brands bring on creators solely to host podcasts for them. Barstool Sports utilizes a number of podcasts across their platforms to cover a wide range of topics for their followers. There are a number of benefits to launching a branded podcast. With the rapidly growing nature of the industry, waiting to join the trend could be costly.
Here are a few of the many benefits.
- Reach: Branded podcasting provides an opportunity to reach a large and highly engaged audience in a cost-effective and direct way. Podcasts can be a supplementary way to expand a company’s reach, or they can be the foundation for building brand awareness and targeted customer base. “Rise and Grind” was a podcast created by ZipRecruiter. Successful businessman Daymond John talks with entrepreneurs to help attract listeners and expand ZipRecruiter’s digital reach.
- Engagement: Podcasts are more engaging than other media types and often lead to longer listens, which increases brand exposure and drives real results. Podcasts are one of the most recalled formats of marketing and advertising, largely attributed to the listener demographic.
- Cost: Podcasts tend to be relatively inexpensive to produce and distribute and can pay dividends in terms of brand awareness, visibility, and audience engagement. Although production presents upfront costs, the return on investment for a successful podcast can be astronomical. Small brands with low advertising budgets can launch a podcast with few costs, and improve production as reach expands. Getting the best “bang for your buck” is the name of the game in marketing through podcasts, which is their specialty.
- Boost traffic: Linking your website through podcast descriptions and on social media can help boost website traffic. Podcast apps and platforms allow creators to provide direct links to their company’s websites, which often directly correlate with online traffic. The more people who are visiting your site; the better.
Launching a podcast may not seem like a serious marketing strategy, but there are a number of Fortune 500 companies who would disagree. Companies big and small, from billion dollar companies to startups are utilizing branded podcasts to create brand awareness, generate leads, boost website SEO and more.