🔮🎉2022 podcast marketing insights🥂🏄♀️
🤸♀️Podcast marketing: let's have some fun.🌈
Bonjour!
I agreed with much of Pacific Content’s podcast predictions for 2022, and though there was a tiny bit about podcast marketing…
“Marketing will get more important than ever: As more creators launch podcasts, ‘cutting through’ will become more important — and harder. Brands with big marketing platforms will win here every time.” —Bob Pittman, Chairman, and CEO, iHeartMedia, Inc
…there wasn’t enough. I asked a few of my podcast buds with knowledge of podcast marketing about what they expect to see in podcast marketing specifically. Here’s what they had to say:
🔮“I think we'll continue to see podcasts doubling down on attribution, and then hopefully using those learnings to iterate on their processes. So many podcasters are running attribution campaigns and then ignoring their findings, continuing to do the same things whether they were found to be successful or not.” —Jeff Umbro, Founder and CEO of The Podglomerate
🔮“Podcast listening apps will create more robust in-app advertising opportunities, following the examples of Castbox and Overcast.” —Arielle Nissenblatt, founder of EarBuds Podcast Collective
🔮“We're going to see a lot more podcasters utilizing video to both monetize their podcast as well as using YouTube as a lead generator to find new audiences to their show.” —Chris Colbert, Founder and CEO of DCP Entertainment (Check out their new audio/video studio in NYC!)
🔮“I still think voice search is the wave of the future. With the majority of searches now being done by voice, optimizing your podcast and your podcast marketing efforts with a greater focus on voice SEO can really help increase brand awareness and audience engagement.” —John Luckenbaugh, Founder and Head of audio at Q'd Up
🔮“A ‘look-in-the-mirror’ revelation: you don't have to build a show *and* build an audience on your own! We all know that the hallmark of a podcaster is the ability to wear multiple hats, which is why 2022 will be the year to save time (and gain back sleep) by outsourcing audience growth efforts to a podcast marketing expert.” —Joni Deutsch, Vice President of Podcast Marketing and Audience Development at The Podglomerate
🔮“Podcasters will spend as much time on promotion as they do on production.” —Dan Page, CEO of Podspike
🔮“Cross-podcast collaborations are not only the lowest hanging fruit for indie podcasters to grow their shows, but are also one of the most effective marketing strategies overall. Networks have been making great use of feed drops, collaborations, cross-promotions and more for years and more and more indie podcasters are catching on as well. My hope is that that trend accelerates in 2022.” —Jeremy Enns, Creator of Podcast Marketing Academy
🔮“Podcasters will use social platforms such as Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and even newsletters to create complementary content for their podcasts. These content pieces will have thematic connections to their podcasts but won't directly point consumers to their shows. Consumers will perceive their favorite podcast hosts as more than just podcast hosts, but as content creators.” —Arielle Nissenblatt, founder of EarBuds Podcast Collective
🔮“A more humanized approach to podcast audience growth, one that moves past the ‘one-size-fits-all’ marketing blast to prioritize authentic connections with listeners, meeting the audience where they are rather than where you want them to be.” —Joni Deutsch, Vice President of Podcast Marketing and Audience Development at The Podglomerate
🔮“More podcasters will begin to create in-episode or in-newsletter opportunities for collaboration with other podcasters. For example: a podcast about coffee will create a call-in line where listeners (or other coffee podcasters) can share stories about their favorite coffee experiences. This will allow for greater cross-promotional opportunities.” —Arielle Nissenblatt, founder of EarBuds Podcast Collective
🔮“Podcast guesting was something of an underground strategy for a number of years, but in 2020 it exploded into the mainstream. I think guesting as a means of exposure is going to continue to grow, but with more awareness of the value of the strategy, the bar is going to continue to be raised when it comes to what it takes to stand out with a pitch.” —Jeremy Enns, Creator of Podcast Marketing Academy
🔮“Podcast marketing will continue to evolve through data-driven marketing to better the listener experience. By understanding your target listeners, you can give your content strategy a clear direction. This will allow podcasters to refine episode topics, have an overall tighter produced episode that will hold more interest and make it very easy for listeners to want to tune in.” —John Luckenbaugh, Founder and Head of audio at Q'd Up
🔮“Social media, and particularly TikTok, will become a place to monetize podcast content outside of the traditional RSS feed.” —Chris Colbert, Founder and CEO of DCP Entertainment, check out Podstream Studios
🔮“I don't know that this is a prediction so much as a wish, but any marketing strategy is only as good as the product it's built on. My podcast marketing wish for 2022 is that indie podcasters understand that all the marketing in the world will fall flat without a clearly differentiated show built on a compelling core concept that makes their ideal listeners want to subscribe based on a 5 second description of what the show's about. If you have that, marketing is easy. If you don't, marketing is almost impossible.” —Jeremy Enns, Creator of Podcast Marketing Academy
Here are a few things that I anticipate:
More companies will outsource their marketing, as opposed to having someone on their team (who is already wearing 10,000 hats) market the show. This will make it even more difficult for smaller shows to get the marketing support they need. (There are way more podcasts than podcast marketers.)
Marketing will become more difficult and more important.
More teams will build marketing budgets into their planning.
More podcasters will use Chartable to track downloads in promo swaps.
More podcasters will use dynamic ad insertion for promos, but also in more creative ways. Bryan Barletta has a great episode of Sounds Profitable about that.
Podcasters will start thinking about marketing not just more often, but earlier in the marketing process.
Marketing will be more folded into editorial content and strategy.
Comedian podcasts will be as normalized as their social media presences, and comedians will use these podcasts to market their comedy.
Podcasters will partner with influencers and brands will value podcasters as influencers.
More SEO, more show notes, more transcripts, more keywords, more blog content, more websites. 🙌 🙌 🙌
LET’S SWAP
Fill out the form if you want to talk with me about a promo, newsletter, or social media swap.
Here are a few of the shows that are looking to swap.
Blink of an Eye Podcast: Blink of an Eye, a podcast with Louise Phipps Senft, explores stories of trauma, loss, awakening, and epiphanies. Ms. Senft recounts her experience navigating a life-changing accident that rendered her son, Archer, paralyzed from the neck on down, and expands the story with interviews of those behind the scene. Told through real journal entries and inspiring guests, Blink of an Eye will inspire you to explore the true nature of our relationships and interconnectedness in the face of an event that changes everything.
Building a Better Community: Building a Better Community is a podcast that will inspire, will debate, and challenge your beliefs. From local news stories to political debates to cultural differences. We talk about topics that society doesn't want to talk about or is ashamed to say out loud.
Culture Factor: Diving into creators and Entrepreneurs that are innovating in the gig economy. Our new season looks at creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs, why? Because the gig economy is emerging. Talent has gone to work for themselves. Whether furloughed or part of the great resignation, they have birthed the big idea and those 57 million Americans are contributing more than $1 trillion to the U.S. economy annually.
Our Saving Starts Tomorrow: A quick and fun travel podcast sharing tips and stories...with wine.
Grave Danger: Every Tuesday prepare for the perfect brew of research and banter. Digging deep into the blood-curdling nature of every case, Londyn is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. But don’t fret, Áine is taking the petrifying plunge alongside you as she hears the spine-chilling cases for the first time as well.
<3 lp