🙋🏽♀️ Maribel Quezada Smith on reaching the Latino audience ⛳️
🙋🏽♀️ Maribel Quezada Smith on reaching the Latino audience ⛳️
🤸♀️Podcast marketing: let's have some fun. 🌈
Shreya here once again, while Lauren is at Podcast Movement. We’d love to hear from you—what kinds of things are you interested in learning about? Who would you like to hear from? Ask us anything and we’ll help.
This week we meet 🥁 🥁 🥁
Maribel Quezada Smith! Maribel is the co-founder of BIPOC Podcast Creators and a bilingual video and podcast producer with over 16 years of experience developing meaningful content.
Recently, Maribel shared the top 5 stats the podcasting industry should know about Latino podcast listeners. Today, Maribel digs deeper into her top takeaways from Edison’s Latino Podcast Listener Report 2022, shares her overview of the Latino podcasting space, and leaves the marketers in the audience with actionable insights.
But first…
⏰ If you have time for just one thing ⏰
Maribel shared a lot of thoughtful insights with us, despite having been super busy being amazing at Podcast Movement 2022. If you’re short on time and can’t read the whole interview, here was our favorite part:
“To better reach the Latino audience I think brands need to do two things well: be intentional and sincere. Starting from a place of intentionality helps avoid the common mistakes brands make when they rush to create something last minute or in the case of Latinos, when they only focus on us during Hispanic Heritage Month.”
Top links:
Now, let’s get to it!
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
What’s your general overview of the Latino podcasting space; the progress, the challenges, and the hopes & dreams?
I can't say that I've seen much progress in the Latino podcasting space; what I have seen is a ton of new Latino/a/e creators entering the space. What I also see is how this influx of creators & podcast listeners is helping the industry recognize the power of our culture in this space. One of the challenges that we're facing, and this is not unique to the podcasting industry, is breaking out of thinking that Latinos only want to hear about stereotypical "Latino" topics.
As for hopes and dreams, I can only speak to mine: I want to see more bilingual content available in the same feed. I like being able to switch from English to Español whenever I speak, and that seems to be the case for a lot of listeners as well. Many of us live bilingual lives and we want to celebrate that.
What is your biggest takeaway from the Latino Podcast Report?
My biggest takeaway from this report is that Latinos want to hear from other Latinos, and that doesn’t necessarily mean “celebrities”. We want topic-driven podcasts that intrigue our multidimensional and multicultural lives. This content doesn’t need to be in Spanish, in fact we are happy to listen in English, but we do want the voices behind the mic to be authentically representative of our community.
Consider this finding from the Report: 87% of Latino podcast listeners are interested in listening to local news podcasts that primarily include stories about and perspectives from Latinos.
What are the some major pain points of Latino creators in podcasting?
I think they're very similar to the paint points a lot of independent creators have - access, affordability and time. So many of us are doing many jobs at once.
What do you need from other players in the space to resolve them?
Mentorship is helpful, but I honestly believe that introductions and networking are most valuable when it comes to growing the impact that Latino/a/e creators have in the space. This is the biggest reason I saw a need for our organization, BIPOC Podcast Creators, because I believe so many of us have the ability to work hard, and are just as talented as anyone else. The biggest thing we needed was someone to help us get into these conversations and these rooms where we can make connections and show our work.
What should brands do to better reach Latino audiences?
To better reach the Latino audience I think brands need to do two things well: be intentional and sincere. Starting from a place of intentionality helps avoid the common mistakes brands make when they rush to create something last minute or in the case of Latinos, when they only focus on us during Hispanic Heritage Month. It’s demoralizing to our communities when brands only reach us to make some quick cash and then dip out. That might not be the intention, but when you don’t stick around for the cuddle, it seems like you don’t want to be with us for the long-haul.
Beyond the stereotypical places that brands think they could reach us, we’re also hanging out at golf courses, traveling the world, going on hikes, and all kinds of activities that go beyond beauty, food and family gatherings.
What’s your advice to Latino podcasters trying to promote their podcasts?
Promo swaps are solid, but find shows to swap with that share a similar audience, but not necessarily the same themes as yours.
Pitch your show to go on a list for publications like newsletters and blogs.
What are you listening to that you want to share with our readers?
My listening habits change throughout the year. A few months ago I was all about fiction and pop culture. Other times I'm religiously devoted to podcast industry shows. Right now I'm listening to news and media industry podcasts. I've been trying to finish the Foundering series on TikTok, which is fascinating. Of course I always listen to The Pulso Podcast, which I'm currently co-hosting and my husband's podcast Beyond The Fairway, I'm not making it up, I really do listen to a golf podcast. Did you know I used to produce one? It's called Birdies not BS, I loved that show and I'm super proud of having created the first golf podcast hosted by POC.
Thank you so much, Maribel! Follow Maribel’s work and wisdom on Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
👩💻 Lauren’s current OOO message 📬
I'm at Podcast Movement, so might be late to respond. But I have a little meta podcast story for you.
I think you may know that Lizzy Cooperman’s In Your Hands is one of my favorite podcasts. Every week, Lizzy gives her listeners two options for her next life step, they vote on her Instagram, and she does whatever wins. It’s a literal choose-Lizzy’s-own-adventure. Lizzy is hilarious and brings on comedians and experts to help her listeners make a decision. Her life is literally in our hands, and our choices are dictating some of her wildest adventures.
On a recent episode listeners were asked to decide if she should get headshots taken at JCPenney for her tarot card reading business or work with me and my podcast marketing company Tink to help grow her show for one month. My option WON so now I am dedicating my life to get this glorious podcaster and podcast all over the place.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT and listen to IN YOUR HANDS! Start with episode one.
From Podcast Movement 2022
During Sounds Profitable’s presentation After These Messages, industry veteran and lovely human Tom Webster shared that live host-read ads perform the best! The SP team is awesome and has made this research free to download here.
The indie fiction booth, created by Simplecast, is looking uber-cool (and making Shreya feel all kinds of FOMO.) The booth has a Spin the Wheel for an audio drama recommendation, a blind date with an audio drama, and cool people including Tal Minear and our very own Anne Baird.
Yesterday, the talk on Empowering Latinx Creators in Audio happened and featured speakers including Keith Hernandez and Camila Victoriano from Sonoro.
In not-so-wholesome news, Ben Shapiro (ugh) showed up at Podcast Movement, completely unannounced and unknown to the organizers it seems. The industry’s Queer creators and allies were, naturally, displeased with this. Podcast Movement took responsibility and apologized for this.
🗃 From the desk of Tink… ✏️
No matter which side of the nature vs. nurture debate you might fall on, it’s hard to ignore limiting beliefs and preconceived notions that our upbringing has placed on us. Most adults spend a long time unlearning many of these notions. These are the notions Zale Mednick challenges on his podcast Preconceived. The show examines and challenges these paradigms by which we carry on in our lives. Each episode is stand-alone but if we had to recommend one to start with, we’d vote for “Children of Nazis.”
The great thing about my presence across platforms is that many of my Latino listeners and viewers become Club members at length. Which means we have a chance to talk in messaging systems throughout the entire length of each study program. Plus lots of down to earth stuff we just chat about, like being a single parent, helping out our old relatives, and breaking resistance to success and magick manifestation. We’re all have a high interest in the power of mind, which when we peer into the soul I think we’re all looking past the dogmatic views the world instills in us through its many institutions starting from day one. I personally am pleased and very honored to be the host and teacher for friends and students in my growing circles both on Substack and other platforms. I enjoy learning what’s life like for people at home, in Mexico, and in Brazil. We’re having a good time even in the hardest of times. And that makes it all worth living. Cheers!