The podcast sector is leading a steep curve in audio audience growth and advertiser investment.
But riding that popularity -- with downloads in the tens of millions and reports of a doubling of revenue in 12 months -- isn't just a matter of sitting in front of a microphone and recording random thoughts. The content has to speak, and appeal, to an audience slice.
Rachel Corbett and Kane Reiken, the creative partners behind the new Nova Entertainment Podcast Network (NEPN), know what makes a good podcast.
Corbett, last year appointed NOVA’s head of podcasts and digital content, says one of the mistakes a lot of people make is that they don't really think about whether people will want to listen to the content.
“A lot of ideas can sometimes be ego-driven, instead of audience-driven,” she told AdNews.
“You really have to think long and hard about whether there is an audience here for the idea that you want to create.
“There’s no formula for what makes a good podcast apart from really thinking about the audience that you're trying to communicate to. If you've got that right, then everything comes from that.”
NEPN has more than 350 podcasts with a deliberate focus on quality over quantity.
And when Corbett has identified a good podcast, that’s where Kane Reiken, digital commercial director, comes in.
Reiken: “The difference for us at Nova is I work really closely with Rachel in terms of that content. It's that creativity and also integration within that podcast. It allows for advertisers to access that community and also access that environment.”
Corbett: “We are a business, a commercial network. It's really important that the content that we are thinking about in the podcast department works really well for brands and is a place they will want to be associated.
“I'll always go straight to Kane to see if this (podcast) is right to take. We want to make sure that the commercial team here has content that they're really excited about.”
Reiken: “That's the secret sauce. We talk about that creative partnership: it's creating that content, which really does build that community … unlocking those brand integration opportunities as well and then enabling impactful conversations with audiences.”
The surge in podcasting as a platform for advertising is in early days of development but the upside is enormous.
The big advantage is that listeners have selected a podcast and are immersed in it. They give it their entire attention.
“Niche content is so much more niche in a podcast, so you can get something that is really highly targeted to your interests,” says Corbett.
“And so it feels like it's much more personal and made for you … you're not consuming content that's made for everybody.
“Because you are actively listening, you have decided to listen to that content, you're fully focused on that content, you're not being distracted by anything else, it's not playing in the background. And so that then provides a real opportunity for a very strong relationship to develop between the host and the listener.”
And that’s why it's very powerful from a content perspective and also from a commercial view.
Some brands, not playing in the podcast space previously, might think it’s just like radio and place a made-for-radio ad.
Corbett says the relationship with the audience is more intimate. “If you integrate it into the episode it feels much more like a recommendation than it does an ad,” he says.
“It feels like an integral part of that content. I think for people it's a real sense of connection … content that's specifically made for them because of the niche aspect of it.
“And then I also think it becomes this area of self-care, where people feel like it's a moment to take out for themselves to listen to a podcast.”
Reiken is seeing a consistent rise in ad spend.
“We have seen an absolute ground swell of involvement from right across the landscape and what used to be more just innovation or test budgets have now continued to be a lot more always-on activity,” he says.
Corbett says brands are becoming more and more comfortable with podcasts.
“We have a sense of confidence in what we're doing, because we've got enough runs on the board that we know what works and what doesn't, but naturally as the industry evolves, it's changing all the time.
“It's exciting because there's more that we can do and as things evolve, the more creative we can become.”
Brands are seeking new ways to plug into podcasts. How can we make this a really engaging and interesting part?
“I think the more comfortable people become with that, the more flexibility we have with that content,” Corbett says.
Reiken: “I think the experience in terms of creation of content, and creation of audio, and being able to tie that all together is really critical in being able to deliver the right messages. That's something we definitely hang our hat on.”
Corbett: “It's really important that you think long and hard about what shows you have on your network and why you have them. Rather than just, let's just grab anybody who's got a podcast and shove them in the door, because it's not going to be the most effective strategy for long-term success.”
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