Most of us are familiar with podcasts. We used to tune into them during our morning commute or at the gym, and now we listen to them on our daily sanity walk or right from home. With over two million podcasts and 48 million episodes, this industry has shown that it’s pandemic-proof, and it’s projected to continue its rapid growth throughout 2021.
The growth in podcast listeners in the U.S. over the past decade has been dramatic. Approximately 55% of the U.S. population has listened to a podcast—up from 51% in 2019—and more than half (53.8%) of U.S. consumers 18 and older who listen to podcasts listen at least once a week. Because podcast listeners are engaged with the content they listen to and have much higher household incomes than the general population, this is a very desirable medium to get involved in. But, have you weighed the pros and cons?
Below we’ve outlined a few reasons why you should launch your own podcast, and why you may want to reconsider.
Pros
Quality Listeners
Podcasting is an active medium, which means listeners seek out the content, so they tend to be much more engaged, paying extra close attention to the host and their guests. Podcast listeners also tend to be educated, affluent and the demographics are fairly split between male and female.
One-on-One Engagement
When people listen to podcasts they usually have headphones on, so it’s just them and the host. This helps build a one-on-one relationship which breeds trust and enables the messaging to land with the audience.
Remote Recording
Podcasts have weathered the pandemic well. They’re inherently suited to maintain engagement and can be recorded with hosts and guests in different parts of the world, making them social distance-friendly.
Surf-Resistant
Activity-pairing, singular experience, and limited skipping mean ads get heard. People aren’t going to start a podcast and switch over to another to see what’s going on. Once they’ve hit play they usually listen to it all the way through, even if it takes a couple of days (for longer shows).
Cons
A New Brand
A podcast is a brand ecosystem unto itself. Creating a podcast requires its own branding, website, marketing, etc. It may seem as simple as let’s grab a couple of microphones and hit record, but there’s a lot more that needs to go into it if you want to do it right. Think of it as if you’re creating a TV show, rather than creating a blog. Because of that, and because you want it to go well, you’ll need help.
You’ll Need Help—and it Will Cost You
Professional podcasts require professional producers. These people know what they’re doing, they know how to make it good, and they can tell you what’s interesting to audiences. When you’re creating a podcast and you have the messaging in mind, it’s really easy to go into that infomercial territory and create things that are a little too literal for the audience.
Keep in mind that upfront costs will be expensive! If you’re going to hire outside help, you’re likely to be paying $50k and up for a 10-episode season and that can balloon up to half a million dollars. So be aware that to do it right, it isn’t cheap. You’ll need to invest in your podcast to reap the rewards.
Podcasts are THE spot for conversations that engage, educate, and change minds, and the industry holds tremendous opportunities for how you can get involved. From advertising and guest spots to starting your own show, UPRAISE can help every step of the way. Contact us if you’d like to learn more about how to take advantage of this effective medium.