Have you ever had an idea for your business that felt like an absolute stroke of genius at the moment, so you spent weeks pulling it together, perfecting the details, and launching it, only to look back a month later and say “what in the world was I thinking?” and take it all down? 

Or been listening to a guest on your favorite podcast share about how a strategy they tried is “so simple to execute” and how if you do it then they can “guarantee it will 3x your business” so you spend the next two weeks pouring all of your energy (and neglecting everything else) in to bringing it to life?

Yep, I’ve been there too.  It happens to the best of us.

In 2023 with podcast listens continuing to climb and social media algorithms getting more and more volatile (I’m looking at you Instagram), maybe you’ve considered launching your own podcast. 

To save you the headache of expending all of your energy on the next shiny idea just to regret it later, I took all my market research on podcast launching and created a comprehensive guide to help you figure out if launching a podcast is the right move for your brand.

Let’s start with all the pros of podcasting, shall we?

Pros of Podcasting:

1. It’s cost effective marketing. It doesn’t cost a lot to get started. In fact, you could do it for less than $200 with average quality equipment, and keeping it going just requires your time.
2. Episodes can be repurposed into hundreds of other content pieces and are the perfect type of long form content to create if you prefer to talk vs. write. Starting a podcast means you should never have to stress about what to post on instagram ever again.  Long form content like a podcast episode provides an endless amount of content to be repurposed on other platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Blogs, Pinterest Pins, etc.
3. It’s a great middle of the funnel marketing tool. Having a podcast is a great way to offer free content, build awareness and trust, and move clients down your funnel (p.s. This means you need to have a marketing funnel in place in order to make money.)
4. It can build community/connection. By using your own voice and sharing information through the lens of your opinion, podcasts can help reinforce the personality of your brand and can help you connect with customers on a deeper level.
5. Podcast familiarity and listening is still on the rise. According to Edison Research Podcast Statistics the percent of US population that has ever listened to a podcast increased from 57% of the population in 2021 to 62% in 2022, so opportunity is ripe. (source: https://www.edisonresearch.com/podcastings-key-statistics-for-2022/)

Now, the cons.

Cons of Podcasting:

1. It’s time consuming and consistency is crucial. Podcasting is not for the faint of heart. Doing it well means setting aside significant blocks of time to plan the content, record the episodes, edit and schedule episodes weekly, plus time researching and scheduling guests – OR invest in outsourcing it. 
2. It doesn’t replace the need for other forms of content. A podcast is a great way to offer value to your audience, however, it’s not a one-and-done marketing activity. For it to be effective, people need to listen to it, which means you need to talk about it, so people know it exists. If you only have enough time/energy/funds to focus on one marketing platform podcasting isn’t it, invest your time somewhere with more visibility like Pinterest, Instagram, or TikTok.
3. It takes time to build a loyal audience and doesn’t make you money quickly. Starting a podcast is often a slow burn toward success. So, if you’re thinking podcasting will be a great way to make a few extra hundred dollars in the next two months, you’re setting yourself up for failure. It will take time to build an audience and without a proper funnel in place or ads, it has the potential to just become a really time consuming hobby.

If the pros outweigh the cons, the next step when deciding if a podcast is a good fit for your brand is to consider your ideal client (which means, first you need to know and understand them). 

Consider your Ideal Client

Statistics show that 50% of the US population between 12-34 years old listen to at least one podcast per month, and 43% of the US population between the ages of 35 and 54 years old listen to at least one podcast per month.

But, for individuals over the age of 55 that percentage drops to 22% of the population. So, what does that mean?

Well, if your ideal client is 55 or older, you would be better off devoting your time to Linkedin or SEO for google ranking instead. (source: https://www.edisonresearch.com/podcastings-key-statistics-for-2022/)

Lastly, consider what you’ll talk about as I mentioned above podcast is a great way to build trust. In other words, it’s a great “middle of funnel” marketing tool. But it doesn’t do you any good from a profit standpoint to build an engaged listening audience on a topic that has nothing to do with your business.

The niche or core content focus of your podcast should not only be something that you are passionate and knowledgeable about, but it also needs to have a connection to the service/product you offer. For example, while you might be really passionate about tennis, creating a podcast about player technique and breaking news in the world of tennis isn’t going to be profitable for you if your business is in web design. Right?

Signs Podcasting is a good fit for your brand:

So, to sum it all up, podcasting is probably a smart move for your brand if:

1. You’re good at storytelling
2. You prefer to communicate by talking rather than writing
3. You know and understand your ideal client & podcasting is an appropriate way to reach them
4. You’re willing to invest the time/energy to create, edit, and market it consistently
5. You have passion and knowledge on a particular topic that is related to your business

So, are podcasts in the books for your business in 2023?