Podcast Marketing

How Podcasts Play a Large Role in Branded Content

Last updated on: 
September 12, 2022

Six ways podcasts play an integral role in your branded content strategy

Podcasts are doing more for brands today than anyone could have predicted. However, the podcasting medium is still in its infancy and in many ways an untapped creative channel when it comes to brand marketing. 

Branded podcasts give businesses a voice and are the perfect tool for driving awareness and authenticity

As more and more companies lean into podcasting, they’re realizing the benefits of their investment as it humanizes businesses to consumers and changes perception. Podcasting is a unique and rare opportunity for brands to connect with consumers without being too invasive. 

Keep reading to find out how and why podcasts are playing a larger role in branded content for companies. 

1. Low Barrier to Entry

Podcasts are one of the lowest-lift ways to create new content, which is one of the reasons why it’s such a natural fit for your branded content strategy. 

Podcasts can be made from anywhere – a studio, your home, your office space. Podcasting requires little upfront capital in terms of equipment, all you need is a quality microphone and reliable recording software to get started. 

As a brand, you’ll likely want to look into finding a podcast agency to work with. Different podcast agencies are great for different goals and sizes of companies. Make sure to research the different agencies out there to see which one fits your goals, needs, and budgets best.  

2. Easy to Consume

Unlike other types of content, such as videos or blogs, that require your undivided attention – podcasts fit naturally into people’s busy lives. You can listen to podcasts anywhere; on your commute, your walk outside, at the gym, or cleaning your home. In fact, data shows that listeners retain more of the podcast content when they’re multitasking.

Given the ease of consumption and the 24/7 use of smartphones, podcasts are one of the leading mobile-friendly content experiences. Its accessibility means that it is easier to build a following, a win-win for both the listener and the brand. 

3. Drives Traffic to Your Website and Boosts SEO 

Podcasts provide significant SEO benefits. Whenever you host a podcast, each episode has a transcript, keywords and links that are used to drive traffic to your company website. What better way to attract new audiences and keep your brand top-of-mind? 

Ensure that you’re optimizing the visibility of your podcasts correctly. 

Three podcast SEO tips: 

  1. Focus on selecting strategic keywords for your titles, descriptions, and show notes. Select a variety of both high-volume and lower volume search terms. Ensure that you don’t keyword stuff and make your content come off spammy. 
  2. Create additional content to support the podcast like blogs and transcriptions. Transcriptions specifically are great for both SEO and also making your show more accessible. 
  3. Promote your podcast on social media, newsletters, your website, etc. This will help to generate more word-of-mouth traffic and assist in boosting visibility. 

4. Targets Niche Audiences 

Podcasts are generally on a specific topic. A company can use podcasts to discuss its products or services and target a specific audience. 

A great example is how Sephora partnered with Girlboss Radio to create a podcast on a line of lipsticks and women. The show was named #LIPSTORIES, and each episode featured an influential woman telling her story.  

The podcast was created to support and encourage other female leaders and to shine a spotlight on them. As a result, Sephora and Girlboss Radio were able to grow their following by targeting a niche segment of female leaders through their podcast. What better way to get your future (and current) customers to consume your brand messages?

This tip comes with an important reminder, going niche is a proven strategy. It may feel as if you’re cutting out listeners or that going broader will reach a wider audience, but we’ve seen brands fail when their shows aren’t specific enough. Understand who exactly you want to be speaking to and create a podcast that they’ll love. 

 

5. Encourages Audience Engagement 

Achieving brand affinity starts with an engaged audience, and podcast listeners are one of the most engaged segments. Avid podcast consumers tend to complete show episodes and listen to new episodes as soon as they release. Basically a brand's dream audience.

These consumers generally also share and promote episodes which in turn attracts new audiences. When you have that kind of brand loyalty, it means your branded content is creating fans that will champion your products and services over time.  

6. Gives Birth to Other Content 

Podcasts can work in conjunction with your company’s written and video assets to create well-rounded content that engages more of your audience. For example, specific podcast episodes can inspire other mediums such as: 

  • New blog posts 
  • Video content
  • Transcripts 
  • Social media assets
  • Infographics 
  • Audiograms 

Think of podcasting as a creative loop that keeps generating more and more branded content for your followers. 

Overall, brands are continuing to search for new strategies that resonate and educate audiences while also telling a story. This can be challenging to achieve in an authentic format. Luckily, we’ve seen it done time and time again through valuable, strategic, and well-thought-out branded podcasts. 

Some of our favorite branded podcasts: 

Quill Marketing Team

Driven storytellers

A team of experienced podcasters that are looking to equip brands with the necessary resources, knowledge, and insights to create a successful branded podcast.

Platform
Price
Pro’s
Con's
Anchor

Free

  • Easy to use
  • Automatically distributes your podcast to major platforms.
  • Embed media player.
  • Great if podcasting is a
    side hobby
  • Very basic editing
  • Since it’s a free tool, you don’t have full control over the monetization of your podcast.
  • Not the right platform for people taking podcasting seriously
Buzzsprout

Free for 2 hours of content per month

$12 for 3 hours per month

$18+ for 6 hours and up

  • Very user-friendly
  • Caters to both long term and beginner podcasters
  • Advanced analytics
  • Easy distribution of your episodes
  • They measure their size requirements to hours not megabytes
  • Bonus: get a free $20 Amazon gift card when you sign up for any paid hosting plan!
  • Advanced features like dynamic ad insertion need some work
Libsyn

$5/month for Monthly Storage 50mb

  • Oldest podcast hosting site.
  • Easy distribution to major platforms and great for scaling once your podcast gets bigger.
  • Hosted over 35,000 podcasts.
  • An iTunes Podcast partner.
  • Allows you to publish your podcast to specific directories.
  • Embed media player.
  • Price is based on storage
  • 50mb storage for $5 won’t be enough if you are publishing weekly so you’ll end up with a higher price point
Podbean

Unlimited audio package: $9/month

Storage space:

Unlimited

  • Great support & customer service features
  • Unlimited audio.
  • Pages are easy to customize
  • Can schedule podcast release dates.
  • Easy to use.
  • Uploads and changes to podcast titles and/or descriptions are automatic to Spotify.
  • Embed media player.
  • Simple Analytics
  • Analytics aren’t as advanced as other platforms
  • Upload and changes to podcast titles and/or descriptions take a day to change on iTunes.
  • Not an iTunes podcast partner.
  • The process to send a podcast to iTunes is more tedious. But, you will still be able to get on the platform.
Blubrry

Classic

$5/month

Monthly Storage

50mb

  • Podcast Wordpress plugin and management.
  • If you want to record a new introduction or conclusion, add in a sponsored ad or upload a new version of a podcast, it doesn't count towards your storage usage per month.
  • Blubrry allows a 25% storage overage each month
  • Prices are based on storage.
  • Usability is okay.
SimpleCast

Starting: $15/month

Recommendation: $35/month

Monthly Storage: Unlimited

  • Hosts your audio files no matter what the size!
  • Dynamic insertion for podcast ads or edits.
  • Incredibly detailed analytics including number of episodes completed and listener location tracking.
  • Embed media player.
  • Easy to use.
  • Great distribution! Easy access to all major podcast platforms.
  • Customizable podcast
    website.
  • Prices are slightly higher than other platforms, but well worth it especially if you have a branded company podcast!

Looking to generate reach, leads, and measurable results?

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