Silly as it sounds, Podcasting is on the rise and becoming the next big thing in the business world. Podcasting has authenticated that audio broadcasting is not dead.
The voices expressed through audio production combined with the magic of interactive media has helped the platform grow. There is a convenience factor for being able to choose whatever you want to listen to.
Table of Contents
What Is A Podcast and How It’s Becoming a Big Business?
Podcast is an audio recording of discussion on a specific topic, like food, business, travel, tv shows or movies that can be listened to and downloaded. They are commonly found on iTunes, Spotify and sometimes hosted on some websites.
The new hype of podcasting became the dynamic medium that can be a perfect way to deliver a daily dose of inspiration, You an get simple and helpful tips, and the news straight from podcasts. It gained a promising spot and big bucks in the era of portable and on demand consumption.
What Makes Podcasting Exciting?
Podcasting is straightforward, easy and affordable to produce your own show or cover a broad range of genres. No need to count on radio stations for recording and broadcasting. You can talk about anything that interests you. Most of all, it can be paid for either through subscriptions or advertising.
No Competition
There’s no competition in podcasting unlike with other forms of media. Podcasts do not fully compete but introduce collaborations among podcasters.
Perhaps it is because every podcaster knows and understands the effort and passion that goes in every episode. Once you ‘ve experienced being mentioned and shared by fellow podcasters in the same niche, it is priceless.
Brand Building and Building Reputation
Podcasting is a perfect option for marketers in brand building. It also helps building reputation from scratch and makes you a master in your niche. It has a more diversified content strategy that drives website traffic.
For example, you can drive traffic to your online store or business using the backlinks in podcast directories. You can lead your audience to visit and follow your site at the end of each episode.
Building your brand is a great way to later sell your own products and services. There are a lot of people that sell an online course that people can learn from you.
Podcasting also focuses on building relationships with customers. The audience gets to know the podcaster on a personal level and understand more about the identity and vision of the brand.
While it may be true that podcasts do not give an alternative to the brand, the fact is that it does help in establishing a sense of connection, trust and brand authenticity.
Convenience
Podcasts can be done while you are doing other tasks like working out, driving, cleaning or running errands. As we are dealing with a society preoccupied with productivity, using our downtime to do something practical or entertaining is attracting more people than ever. This sense of convenience is a great driver of the adoption of podcasts across the world.
Who Is Doing Podcasting?
- Any individual
- Large and small companies
- Radio networks
- TV networks
- Comedians
- Storytellers
- Churches
Podcasts have NO predetermined length, format, style, production level, or anything else. It can be broken up into “episodes” or “ongoing” like a TV show. It may be released daily or weekly episodes but a weekly release for new episodes is the most common.
What are the types of Podcast?
Solo Podcasts
Solo Podcasts are typically presented as a monologue with one individual who runs the show. This type of podcast might be the best format if you’ve been wondering how to start a podcast.
The content for solo podcasts can be news-related, opinion-based, a Q/A, or any other style that can be delivered by one person. This type of podcast is an easy podcast to produce. It only needs three major components like your voice, knowledge of recording the podcast episode and the topic to talk about.
Interview Podcast
Interview Podcast is where one or two hosts interview different guests on each episode. It doesn’t always require a lot of groundwork and this makes it a popular type of podcast.
Try connecting with influencers as much as you can. Your podcast can be a good way to connect with other people. It gives you a reason for reaching out to them. You can leverage these relationships for mutual benefit.
The preparation of doing this type of podcast usually includes researching your interviewee and coming up with a list of questions to ask. Some soft skills are needed to start interview podcast type; e.g. convincing guests to participate, interviewing skills, and being able to produce podcast episodes regularly.
Multi-Host Podcast
A Multi-Host Podcast has two or more hosts, which can be more dynamic than a solo show. If you have a business partner, a multi-host podcast could be a fantastic option for you.
This type of podcast offers discussions that have different opinions and point of views that can add more entertainment value for listeners who like to hear conversations and debates instead of a single person talking. This Is favorable to content creators as It creates less pressure in keeping the interest of the audience engaged to the podcast episode.
Addressing Confusion About Podcasts
Podcast vs Podcast Episodes
A podcast refers to the whole program that comes with a series of episodes. While a podcast episode is one recording from that entire Podcast.
Podcast vs Audio File
Technically speaking, audio files and podcasts are the same. Downloading a podcast episode from a podcast site is actually downloading an audio file.
The only difference is that you have the option to subscribe to the series of audio files. The subscription model to the series of audio files have turned them into a podcast.
Audio or Video
Although video podcasts exist, the most common podcasts are in audio only. Podcasting has evolved in terms of its content. There are a lot of different niches you can choose from. Increasingly video has been less important for the podcasting world. Most people listening to podcasts are going to work or doing something else while listening.
One great example is when someone listens to a podcast episode in the car. We all know that it is difficult and strenuous to watch a video in the car. This is where audio content comes in.
In the same way, podcasts are great for listening if you are doing your daily physical exercise at the gym, while you’re mowing the lawn, or on your journey to work or simply waiting for someone. Hence, podcasts fill in any moment of wasted time and transforms that moment for audio!
Glimpse of Podcast Historical Timeline
Early 2000 – The Beginning of an Industry
At the peak of iPod’s popularity in early 2000, the birth of iPodder paved the way to podcasting. iPodder is a coded program that allows users to download Internet radio broadcasts to iPods. Hence, Podcast is coined this term unintentionally by Ben Hammersley as the portmanteau of “iPod” and “Broadcast.”
2005 – The Start of Mainstream Podcasts
Although podcasting is already on the air, 2005 is the year where a lot of things happened pertaining to podcasts.
- Podcasts become compatible with Apple iTunes 4.9. This made Apple the main distribution platform. Many people can easily listen to podcasts on their laptop, or on their iPod.
- The first presidential podcast happened when George delivered his weekly address in the form of a podcast
- The first book about podcasting was released. It was written by Todd Cochrane – Podcasting: Do It Yourself Guide
- Podcast is declared “word of the year” by the New Oxford American Dictionary
2006-2018 New Technology, Growth, and Scandal
Garageband was born in 2006. Steve Jobs demonstrated how to record a podcast using this platform
Ricky Gervais set a world record for most downloaded podcasts with an average 250,000 downloads per episode in the first month in 2007. While Andrew Carolla’s podcast received 59,574,843 unique downloads in 2009 -2011.
2013 is indeed a controversial year in the podcasting industry, Personal Audio claimed they have the patent on podcasting and sued many high profile podcasters. While on the other hand, Apple announces 1 billion podcast subscribers in that same year.
In 2017, the controversy was cleared when the court ruled against Personal Audio declaring they could not claim royalties as they did not invent the medium of podcasting
2019 and the Future
2019 marked the potential of the podcasting industry in the business world. Spotify announces its plans of establishing itself as a major player in podcasting. Spotify started acquiring the podcast networks Gimlet Media and Anchor FM Inc. It is also in this same year that 165 million people have listened to a podcast, with 90 million Americans listening monthly.
Business Deals and Advertisers
The strategy and business redirection of Spotify have opened the minds of business investors. The share price has risen 72 per cent since Spotify’s announcement of acquisition. It has brought businesses such as Parcast and unveiled podcast deals with the likes of Michelle Obama and Kim Kardashian.
Apples Dominance and Iphone
Amazon added podcasts to its music services where it aims to promote popular shows like Planet Money and Radiolab.
Apple bought ScoutFM, a podcast “curation” app, and is reportedly looking to produce its own original podcasts.
Apple’s dominance of the phone market has helped them push their podcast model to their clients.
Apple remains the biggest distributor of podcasts in the US through its Podcasts app.
The Future
The podcast industry has existed for over a decade and it’s continuously growing as an industry. As it matures, more advertisers will come and advertise on the platform.
Early advertisers have made money out of it because you can target podcasts on a local or national platform. podcasts are starting to operate more like the web.
There are ad tracking solutions and analytics created which are also becoming dynamic and smarter.
People have leveraged this platform to be an affiliate for different products and services. If you work on building up your brand, you can recommend a product or service for a commission.
Lockdown Podcasting Growth
The worldwide coronavirus lockdowns may be a blessing in disguise that have uplifted the number of people listening to podcast episodes. The amount of listening to audio downloads jumped by a quarter during lockdowns. Thus, the demand for podcasting has grown including the international space.
Globally, there are now more than 1.2 million podcasts with nearly 35 million episodes and hundreds of millions of people either started working from home, or were furloughed.
International audiences already love podcasts. There’s still more room for growth and for translating existing shows into other languages.
Moreover, podcasts certainly haven’t reached the top peak yet, and if you thought everyone had a show already, just wait a few more years.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Is Podcasting a Good Business model?
Podcasting is a good way to get advertisers and sponsors. You can get a following of people by going on different podcasts and inviting guests. You can sell other products and services.
How Can I Start A Podcast?
There are different platforms to start your podcast. Each platform has different benefits. If you want to just get started, Anchor is a free platform to build your podcast.
Who Listens to Podcasts?
A lot of people listen to podcasts throughout the day. The most popular times are during the morning and afternoon. A lot of drivers listen to podcasts during their ride.
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