Is podcasting a new influencer marketing machine?

With over 700 000 podcasts out there, podcasting seems to be the next generation of influencer industry. Shift to mobile devices has a huge impact on the increasing popularity of podcasting. The time-saving side, it allows people to do their works while learning. According to statistics, 59% of podcasts have been listened to while doing housework, 52 % while driving, 46% going for walk. Because of busy schedules written contents lose their viability. Podcasting is also a fast-growing media channel for influencer marketing. It is a new path for influencer marketing that creates new opportunities for brands. Unlike in other social media platforms, podcast influencers are communicating with their audience for 30, 60 minutes at a time. It is an interactive way of reaching an engaged audience. 

Podcasting is also a crucial element of B2B influencer marketing. From the media industry to science, different companies made successful B2B influencer examples with the help of podcasting. Plus to interviewing top industry influencers on your podcast, you can leverage your own employees. 

The low entry cost eases the process of becoming an influencer. People who have the creativity and are curious about sharing their thought can be podcast influencer. All you need is audio equipment and quality content. 

Podcasting may not be the best channel for every industry if your niche allows, then, definitely invest in podcasting. Keep in mind to host relevant platforms that compatible with your niche,  accessible to your listeners. 

Tips for successful podcasting

Be committed to your podcast. If you plan to podcast for long-term marketing purposes, you need to invest in high-quality equipment. Knowledge is not the only parameter for being a podcast influencer. You may have a creative idea, experience to share but keep track of podcasting orderly and frequently. 

Try to avoid aggressive marketing. Invite influencers to let them host the show in their unique style. Keep in my that people listen to the podcast to learn, instead of over-promoting your product, the host can mention product features, facilities, and benefits.

Invite industry specialists. For long-term work, you can start by interviewing high-profile influencers on your website. Because a podcast is a promising marketing channel, top influencers also interested in engaging in podcast experiences. 

We’ve picked some of the must-listen podcasts.

Hidden Brain by Shankar Vedantam 

Being one of the most popular podcasts, Hidden Brain is a serial podcast about unconscious patterns that direct human behavior and choice. Shankar Vedentam adding his humor uses science and story-telling to express facts. He usually opens shows with a question, then continues with academic answers based upon researches.

Unemployable by Brian Clark

Unemployable is a weekly podcast providing blueprints for entrepreneurs, idea creators, and digital marketers. The focal point is about multi-billion business with no-investor and no-employee. The host Brian Clark is a marketer with more than 20 years of experience from solo to a digital entrepreneur in marketing, gives insights about being “unemployable”. 

Stuff You Should Know by Josh Clark & Charles W. Bryant

An educative podcast is about a wide variety of concepts such as science, human, history.  Often hitting a million times of download, SYSK is continuously ranking on Top10 on iTunes and Spotify. Hosts assume the reason for the successfulness of the show are researches done by people who enjoy learning. 

How I Built This by Guy Raz

How I Built This is a narrative podcast about successful companies and business people. In each episode, host Guy Raz invites entrepreneurs, idea creators are invited to talk about their stories, fortune and fails. He interviewed over 6, 000 million including Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Eminem, Mark Cuban and many more. 

Marketing Madness by Shane Barker

Marketing Madness is a digital marketing podcast, aiming to make digital marketing fun for everyone, as well as helping professionals to become more productive, expand their online presence, make improvements. The host Shane Barker is one of the world’s top digital marketers, a lecturer at the University of California, and a consultant for Fortune 500 companies. Mainly focusing on content marketing, Shane discusses the latest marketing news, marketing strategies, long story short, crazy sides of digital marketing that is definitely worth to check out.

Vergecast by Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn

You can find all the information about the tech news on Vergecast. On Fridays, hosts take the stage for sharing what happened in the tech world and on Tuesdays, Nilay interviews tech leaders for an in-depth analysis of current trends.  

Digital Download Podcast by Paul Sutton

 Last but not least, we can mention the digital marketing podcast. Hosted by specialized marketer Paul Sutton Digital Download Podcast covers digital marketing, social media marketing, public relations. Every Wednesday, he touches on different topics. Discussed topics are artificial intelligence, link building, B2B influencer marketing, and inbound marketing. 

Drawbacks of podcasting

Despite its promising and fast-growing side, podcasting has downsides as well. It costs a lot of money to invest in quality equipment and find platforms to host. Although it expands your audience, podcasting does not create monetary value for influencers. 

According to the Stata report, 80% of podcast listeners listen to the entire episode. However, it is challenging to keep the attention of your listeners for 30 minutes and over. Plus to content creation, podcasting, and mutual communication with your audience you spend a lot of time for your web design and editing skills. Even if you have a relevant topic, you will need to promote your podcast through different channels such as email marketing, SEO, landing pages, and other platforms that your audience can access. 

Now it is your time to decide whether podcasting is a valuable influencer marketing channel or not?!