How can podcasts become a traffic pool for overseas brands?

In addition to the huge prospects for overseas expansion, podcasts can also serve as a brand promotion channel for overseas brands.

In fact, many brands have launched their own channels on podcast platforms or cooperated with other podcasters to try out podcast marketing through implanting spoken advertisements, co-customized content, and title sponsorship . Among them are many leading brands in various fields.

For example, in 2019, IKEA Australia launched a white noise podcast , which helped users improve their sleep through classic hypnosis/meditation music and the host reading the Swedish name of IKEA in a hypnotic voice.

For example, Chanel, Gucci, Guerlain, Hugo Boss and others all have brand podcasts that share the inspiration behind product launches; Jaguar Land Rover 's podcast "The Discovery Adventures" has also won two awards: the UK's Best Original Podcast and the Best Brand Podcast .

1. What is the marketing value of podcasts?

In comparison, podcasts , which have both channel attributes and media attributes , can not only effectively and continuously communicate with the brand externally, but also achieve precise brand exposure, product sales, and other goals. It also has extremely high user loyalty, which can bring high conversion rates to advertisers; most importantly, podcasts have extremely impressive long-tail effects.

1. High cost performance

Compared to video shooting, which requires location scouting, more manpower, venue rental and other potentially costly preparations, podcast production only requires a stable recording studio and audio editing software. Therefore, the advantage of audio in production costs is also very obvious. As a result, the cost of publishing podcasts will naturally not be very high.

According to statistics from the advertising media company AdvertiseCast, the average CPM (cost per thousand impressions) for a 30-second ad on a podcast with 2,500 to 5,000 listeners is $23, and the average CPM for a 30-second ad on a podcast with more than 100,000 listeners is $30.

2. High user loyalty

The unique whispering and storytelling style of communication makes it very easy for podcast hosts and listeners to form a relatively stable "listening-telling" relationship. The establishment of this relationship will make listeners feel a strong sense of intimacy and familiarity with the host. Therefore, once fans get used to subscribing to a radio station, it is difficult for them to unfollow the host .

Compared with social media such as short videos, this emotional connection can make podcast fans more sticky, which also helps brand promotion information reach listeners more efficiently .

3. It is conducive to brand content output

Currently, many podcasts are mainly interviews. Compared with short videos of dozens of seconds and fragmented images and texts, the in-depth conversation format is more conducive to brands conveying brand concepts, values ​​and other content to users, and can also establish deeper brand awareness in the minds of users .

At the same time, the audio characteristics of podcasts can also help brands reach those "busy" users, especially since the audio output does not need to occupy the listeners' eyes and hands, so listeners can listen to the program while doing other things.

Such usage scenarios are undoubtedly a good communication medium for brands that want to output more complex and abstract content to users.

4. Long Tail Effect

From the perspective of media nature, pictures and short videos are both "media fast-moving consumer goods". After a brand places advertisements on these channels, 80 percent of the effects occur in the first 48 hours. Therefore, the ability of a single brand to occupy user time and invade their minds is limited. The usage habit of podcast users is that after subscribing to a new podcast, they will go back and listen to the previous content.

This feature of constantly having new listeners joining and listening in either sequential or reverse order allows brand content to circulate over several months or years in the form of content implantation to invade the listeners’ brains, completing brand promotion and directly making up for the shortcomings of short video and graphic marketing .

5. High Net Worth Clients

The content areas of podcasts mainly cover literary and artistic talks, entrepreneurship, and art and life. Because of the uniqueness of the content and platform, it is attracting elite groups with high spending power.

1) People with higher education prefer to listen to podcasts

The majority of netizens have a secondary education, while those with a college degree or above only account for about 20%;

However, the majority of online listeners have medium or high education levels, with those with college, bachelor's degree or above accounting for more than 60%, which is much higher than that of netizens.

2) Podcast listeners are younger and more receptive to new things

The audience aged 20 to 29 accounted for the highest proportion, exceeding 38%.

3) Podcast listeners have a stronger willingness to pay

According to Nielsen statistics last year, more than 40% of listeners were willing to purchase audio, and 30% had already made a purchase.

2. Strategy

The use of podcasts can help with brand exposure and is a very cost-effective way to improve your overall marketing strategy. So, how should brands use podcasts to achieve commercialization?

1. Method: Establish a comprehensive podcast marketing matrix

1) Advertising sponsorship increases brand exposure

Advertising in podcast marketing is very diverse. It can be the most direct, interruptive hard advertising, or you can become a sponsor of a podcast program and be deeply bound to the program.

At the same time, oral advertising by the host of a podcast program is also a form of marketing with excellent publicity effects. A study released last week by Futuri Media and the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communication found that listeners have a high degree of trust in podcast hosts and prefer the format of spoken-word ads.

2) Brand podcasts build their own private traffic pool

In addition to promoting on other podcast programs in the form of advertising, some brands have also begun to build their own brand podcasts.

To make a brand podcast, you need to break out of the inherent marketing framework and treat it as a content product first, and then as a brand marketing tool. This will make it possible to attract users' active attention. As Matt Lieber, general manager of podcast production company Gimlet, said: "If a brand wants to make a 20-minute ad, it's over." Many brands have launched podcasts and achieved good results.

General Electric produced a serialized science fiction podcast that tells the story of how humans deciphered a mysterious message from outer space more than 70 years ago. In the end, the key to the deciphering was the ultrasonic technology invented by General Electric. The download ranking once surpassed the phenomenal podcast "Serial".

Adobe has turned its traditional white paper research into podcasts, catering to those who don't have the time or interest to read long articles. The download volume of Adobe podcasts is 6 times that of traditional PDFs.

3) Customized themed podcasts to enhance the conversational feel

In addition to custom brand podcasts, brands can also create a podcast that discusses the same topic in an audible form. Through this podcast, a sense of dialogue between the brand and the audience can be created through the host's mouth. This sense of dialogue can help brands tell good brand stories and deeply output their brand image.

For example, Sephora has partnered with The Girlboss Radio, a platform for professional women to showcase their work, to create a podcast called #LIPSTORIES , which aims to promote Sephora's lipstick series and the women who inspire their creations.

Each podcast episode features an influential woman recounting her own #LIPSTORIES and seeking to encourage other female leaders, creators, and activists.

This podcast takes a strong content marketing approach, using recognizable products to convey important and powerful messages through engaging and uplifting stories.

4) Text-based podcasts enhance brand voice

Brands can also convert your previous podcast content into text version and place it on blog sites. In this way, your articles can be captured and indexed by Google's search engine, allowing your brand marketing information to be exposed across the entire network. At the same time, this operation can also divert a portion of the text audience to your podcast radio station, thereby achieving the goal of increasing fans through content.

2. People selection: outline the target customer profile and match the corresponding podcast host

Here are some things to consider when defining your ideal audience:

What is their income level?

Do they swear?

Do they have a family?

What common problems are they facing now?

What length of podcast content do they prefer (long, medium, short)?

What are their common interests?

Are their interests relevant to your product?

What language do they speak?

3. Collaboration: Work with podcasters to create high-quality content

Using podcasts for brand marketing is, in the final analysis, actually the specific practice of content marketing on the audio medium. High-quality content will always occupy the top priority position.

Therefore, when placing advertisements, if brands want to achieve results when cooperating with podcast hosts, they must put more effort into the content, rather than just spending money to buy advertisements. One thing to remember is that promotion is not just about throwing it to the podcast. Brands need to co-create content with the podcast.

In terms of specific forms of cooperation, brands need to communicate in depth with podcast hosts and choose a form of cooperation that is beneficial to both parties. Brands can also appropriately grant podcast hosts the right to re-create advertising copy.

For example, the underwear brand NEIWAI chose to sponsor the "Random Fluctuations" podcast, focusing on discussions on gender issues. When targeting the common new middle-class women, we will explore resonance and output in depth, while at the same time building a brand image.

According to independent telecommunications research and consulting firm Ovum, global podcast advertising revenue will reach $990 million this year .

According to a report released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PwC, podcast advertising brought in $479 million in revenue last year, and this figure is expected to reach $1.04 billion in 2021 .

It is obvious that podcasting is booming in overseas markets. Effective podcast marketing can not only enhance a company’s corporate and product brand image, but also encourage consumers to increase repeat purchases. In the future, whoever can seize the opportunity of podcast marketing will be able to enjoy more benefits.

The above is the full content of this article. Inpander will share more cutting-edge marketing trends, operational insights, latest cases, and industry insights to help Chinese companies going overseas quickly open up and occupy the global market.

Author: Inpander

Source: Inpander Overseas