What brands can learn from podcasting

In a bit of irony, I remember listening to The Ringer’s Bill Simmons a few years back saying that podcasting would become one of the fastest growing media channels in the future.

The irony? I heard Simmons say that on a podcast, and I scoffed.

Turns out Simmons was right. Podcasts are becoming a billion dollar industry that has advertisers discovering a new outlet for their messages. Spotify’s also revealed that it’s seen a 250% rise in podcasting consumption over the last year.

If you’re new to the world of podcasting, it’s not just talk radio downloaded on your phone. What podcasting has done is re-opened, in a way, some old forms of storytelling.

True crime, from Serial to S-Town to My Favorite Murder, provides a boon to both the genre and the popularity of podcasts. Media outlets like The New York Times have found a whole new audience while This American Life has become a fixture in modern culture. And, well, it’s made a media star out of Joe Rogan.

What’s behind this surge?

“Brands must remember that, especially in this technological age, the consumer owns control. Brands must look for ways to give their customers and prospects as much control as possible to be preferred.”

What podcasting can teach brands

It’s something all brands could learn from. The consumer is in control. We’ve already seen it in the age of streaming TV as viewers want the control to decide what they are going to watch, when and how. No more adhering to a schedule.

Same thing with podcasting, and one of the reasons why AM/FM radio feels old-fashioned. You could make the case podcasts are talk shows on demand. And you wouldn’t be all wrong.

But podcasting has taken so many shapes and dabbled in so many genres that it’s more than just that. As an industry, it’s more akin to Netflix. You find whatever suits you, no matter how niche-y it is.

For example, on a lark, I searched “stamp collecting podcasts.” And sure enough, there’s Stamp Show Here Today and many others.

Brands must remember that, especially in this technological age, the consumer owns control. Brands must look for ways to give their customers and prospects as much control as possible to be preferred.

Otherwise, you’re just Fibber McGee and Molly. Oh, Right. That radio staple from the 30s and 40s has also become a podcast.