Podcast host, strategist and consultant Kim Kerton writes that too many podcasts are short-lived and fail to generate the results they should for brands. Here are her tips to getting them right.
For a brand, the experience of getting a podcast to an audience is as decentralised as the podcast listening apps themselves, and it’s leaving a graveyard of flash-in-the-pan shows.
Brand-owned entertainment is a somewhat quiet marketing mega-trend in Australia, perhaps as it doesn’t currently fit comfortably within a media owners’ eco-system. However, within the strategic planning teams of brands the conversation of owned media as a solution to growth, control and audience attention is a hot topic.
Podcasts are a logical place to play; they’re relatively simple to execute, accessible, powerful and a low stakes testing ground when compared to the full-scale entertainment divisions for film, TV and audio projects being announced by LVMH and Starbucks.
Internationally, brand-led podcasts (or “branded podcasts”, an often-misunderstood term that unfairly invokes a cringe-like response) are thriving.
Dedicated branded podcast agencies like Lower Street Media in the UK are prolific in trade press, conferences and direct to brand providing them planning, pivotal education and high-quality production services to create successful shows. In the US Ruby are supporting brands with every key element they need for podcast success, from strategy to amplification and audience growth, thanks to their extensive broader network of broadcast, original and partnered podcasts–even winning awards for their work.
Big brands such as Headspace and Hubspot have recognised the power of podcast entertainment and edutainment content to develop direct relationships with their ideal audience, with both running a full scale network of shows. They’ve learnt from watching independent creators and podcast networks that creating the content their ideal audience wants themselves makes a business impact. It gives them ownership of content IP, a direct relationship with an audience and unlimited access to the advertising space and cross-promotional opportunity within. Plus, they get the biggest marketing prize of all: attention.
But for brands in Australia, moving from idea to a thriving show, let alone a network, is a minefield.
Across 2024 there were more than 43 brand-led podcast shows published and upwards of 4.5million spent on production and amplification, with shows created across at least 15 different production partners offering varying inclusions of service. Many of these podcasts haven’t made it past one season, despite their concepts being built like always-on or seasonal shows.
If I had to bet the house on it, I’d suggest that these shows missed some fundamentals in the ROI planning, and associated education needed, to arm brands with the ability to continue backing the medium to the heights they hoped for. Or they lacked adequate show marketing and amplification support.
There are five key elements to creating a successful show:
Deeply considered concept strategies built on cultural insights.
A good show idea “presented by” isn’t enough for a brand; it needs a marketing approach from inception and to be stress tested against the specifics of an ideal audience, brand tone and podcast consumption habits. The process of which might change your show structure, host or guest strategy entirely.
Nuanced podcast knowledge
In a medium that changes weekly across its multitude of tech, apps and data points, becoming a student of the medium matters. You’d be surprised just how important show artwork, and the first two lines of an episodes show notes, really are, Specific understanding of the platforms and critical thinking about what might work well and why (from concept to marketing) impacts every choice you make.
Success measure planning
Brands need to be guided on the value of metrics like episode consumption rates. They need to be made aware of the limited data available on expected overall listening numbers, the realities of what downloads do (and don’t) represent and what really goes into charting. Cost per minute of attention is a hugely underrated metric to showcase ROI.
High-quality production
Audio that sounds like a WIP meeting via Teams does not count towards the “ugly content” trend. Listeners (and viewers) expect quality production and there are plenty of great agencies offering this. But the best studio space, sharp intro and most engaging social clips in the world won’t save a misaligned strategy.
Amplification to build audience
Plenty of insight studies will tell you that the discovery of new shows (still) most often happens by word-of-mouth. The best place to replicate this is meeting listeners where they are – in other podcasts. A show without a consistent Paid, Owned and Earned media strategy, well beyond new episode announcements, won’t grow. To develop a show audience, you must love the process of continually marketing content, as great one-off clips on socials won’t be enough.
Developing a podcast show, or a network, isn’t a short-term strategy. Any professional creator will tell you it can take years, not months, to really get traction with an audience.
With many large networks understandably in the business of developing shows for a speedy commercial return, and the propensity to only hear about high download “Top 200” shows, there may be a false sense of potential being projected for brands entering the space. Brand-led shows need a far more nuanced approach to creator led original shows – but impactful success is entirely possible when each of the five planning elements are effectively covered. Brands need to be empowered to ask the right questions of their partners and be adequately supported in their owned media journey–it’s how impactful relationships (and shows) are built.
As brand-owned media and podcasting continues to grow in this market, it’s time for a deeper focus on how existing podcast publishers and production houses can truly support brands on this journey – for both the ongoing trust in the podcast medium overall, and the huge benefits a brand could have from investing in and growing their own shows.
