Podcasts have exploded in recent years. They’re a new medium that’s uniquely personal and conversational. As marketers, we need to understand how to leverage new mediums to achieve our business goals. How do podcasts stack up to other channels? And how do you measure success? Our own podcast producer Kyle Getz joins us to share his knowledge of the podcasting landscape.

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Full episode transcript:

Preston Parshall 00:14

Welcome to the digital marketers guide podcast where we break down digital marketing topics into bite sized episodes that can help make your marketing program and you a little better. I’m Preston Parshall, the founder and CEO Fujisan marketing. We’re here today with Kyle gets to discuss podcasting landscape. Welcome to the show, Kyle.

Kyle Getz 00:33

Thanks for having me.

Preston Parshall 00:34

So a little background, Kyle actually runs all of our podcasts. He’s been behind the board editing this whole time. And so now we’re getting him on the mic for the next couple to tell us a little bit about kind of podcasting and his approach. So Kyle, why are podcasts such a popular medium?

Kyle Getz 00:53

Yeah, there are three to 4 million podcasts out there. So there are a plethora of podcasts. I think, particularly during the pandemic, this exploded, we were all home with a lot of time. And Podcasts can be done pretty easily by just buying a mic. If that. So there’s a lot of easy access to podcasting. It democratizes the content, it makes it so we can hear lots of different voices, lots of different types of people, you don’t have to be a big production company in order to come up with a podcast. So I think it’s a really unique medium in that sense. I also think it’s really intimate and personal. You get to hear someone’s voice in your head for hours, sometimes at a time. And that’s a lot of kind of personal information that you’re getting from them personal connection that you start to feel with the person that hosts and guests on these podcasts.

Preston Parshall 01:48

So you’re saying that we should share personal stuff? Yeah, you should share as much personal stuff as you can. Okay. Noted for next time.

What should you consider before launching a podcast?

Kyle Getz 02:01

I think this is a unique channel, but it’s still a marketing channel that you can think of, like, you do think of all of your marketing channels. First thing to think of is what is your goal with doing the podcast? Why are you doing it in the first place? For some people, they may be starting a podcast in order to try to monetize it. In that case, you want to grow your audience and your listeners, you may be using it to brand yourself, in which case, you’re trying to put out the content that resonates with people and speaks to the value of you and your business. So coming up with your goals ahead of time is really important.

Preston Parshall 02:35

Wait a second, we can monetize this. We can throw some ads on here and start to monetize.

Kyle Getz 02:39

Yep.

Preston Parshall 02:40

Well, we might know something about ads.

What are the qualities of a podcast that make it successful? In your opinion.

Kyle Getz 02:47

I think there are a few baseline expectations that we have for podcasts, I think there’s a minimum audio quality standard that we have, when I press play on a podcast. If I hear that it’s not up to snuff, that sounds like a virtual meeting that’s going on. I may not be listening to that anymore. So we need some baseline audio quality first and foremost. Next, the host is the person that draws you in and makes you decide that you want to keep listening to this podcast. So an engaging and interesting host is really important. And I think consistency is also important to building an audience, you’re in this for the long haul, this is not something that’s going to happen overnight. So continually focusing on consistent episodes, consistency with what’s in the episodes. And a consistent release schedule helps build your audience, your audience can then come to depend on you, your content, what’s going to be in it, and when it’s going to come out.

Preston Parshall 03:41

Oh, great. I feel absolutely no pressure.

Kyle Getz 03:44

It’s all up to you.

Preston Parshall 03:46

What KPIs should you use to determine success?

Kyle Getz 03:49

The most standard KPI that I use is number of downloads per 30 days. That’s pretty common, especially if you’re trying to monetize your podcast. That’s what advertisers is going to be looking for. That helps you understand how many people are actually listening to an episode when it is published within a reasonable timeframe. Other metrics that you can look at Apple podcasts, of course dominates this. So you’ll have metrics in your podcast host. But you also have metrics that Apple podcast gives you specifically, those metrics that you care most about our completion rate. That is how much of the episode someone makes it through. They say that their ranking system is based on how much of episodes partially on how much of episodes people listened to. They also look at the number of follows on your podcast. So more follows and of course, new follows is really important. Everyone thinks that rating reviews are an important aspect for where you’re ranking. Apple says that it doesn’t use that in its ranking algorithm. I’m I’m not sure that I believe that but that’s what they say. It is though important for new listeners to be able to see the number of ratings and reviews on your show to know that it’s a trustworthy source to go to.

Preston Parshall 05:05

Interesting. So a lot of those metrics are like some of the metrics that are in some of our core channels as well. How do you feel a podcasting fits into the overall digital marketing landscape? I know that, you know, this is one form of content generation amongst many, but where do you feel like it should slot in, in the digital marketing landscape or for a client specifically?

Kyle Getz 05:28

I think this is a higher funnel, kind of brand building exercise. I don’t think this is going to generate a lead tomorrow. But I think it is going to build up your audience and build up your pipeline so that when someone is ready to take an action, they know you, they trust you and they’re going to reach out to you. So I think, again, it’s something that you’re building for the long haul to build and grow audiences and interest. And then hopefully, once they’re ready to convert, you’re top of mind, so awareness, and then credibility

Preston Parshall 05:58

Right. Perfect. All right, well, thanks, Kyle. And thanks for listening to the digital marketers guide podcast. Be sure to subscribe to stay up to date when a new episode is released. If you have any feedback or topics you’d like to see covered, email us at contact at Fujisan marketing.com or learn more about us at Fujisan marketing.com. See you next time.