We might have talked about a time or two that podcasts are a good way for B2B entrepreneurs to launch content material. However since my first B2B podcasting submit (approach again within the earlier than occasions of 2018, how naive we had been), the panorama has modified considerably.

A part of the shift is as a result of pandemic and the distant/hybrid work growth that adopted. Individuals who used to spend hours listening to podcasts on their commute all of a sudden discovered that the bed room to dwelling workplace commute required much less leisure. 

However the different half is just pure maturation and evolution over time. Podcasts have gotten much more plentiful, their creators extra various, and the promoting extra related.

Listed below are the key developments that B2B podcasters ought to concentrate on for 2022 and past.

Listener Demographics and Habits Are Altering

First, the excellent news: The recognition of podcasts nonetheless reveals no indicators of waning. Actually, there’s a big block of latest listeners which have been at it for lower than a yr! Individuals are nonetheless discovering and falling in love with the medium.

In accordance with SCM Media’s 2022 Podcast Report, these listeners have some necessary distinguishing components, in comparison with the previous guard. First, they’re youthful: Over 66% are underneath 35 years previous. Second, they’re break up 50/50 gender-wise (the survey assumed a binary), versus the previous guard’s 70/30 male break up. 

Podcasts are additionally diversifying, and audiences are as nicely. Black and Latine listener swimming pools are rising quick. These teams are drawn by topical pursuits, but additionally by creators who share their life experiences. For instance, over half of Black listeners say it’s necessary their content material be offered by a Black creator.

These listeners are placing in fewer hours per week — 4.4 versus 7.1 — however they’re additionally listening to extra episodes of various podcasts. Whereas the previous guard used to hear to each episode of their favourite podcasts, the brand new of us usually tend to podcast hop based mostly on topical curiosity. That is probably as a result of…

Podcasts Are Getting Simpler to Discover & Search by Matter

For anybody who has ever hosted a podcast, let’s hear an awesome large, “FINALLY!” As main gamers like Apple, Spotify, Google and YouTube lean into podcasting, we’re beginning to see higher engines like google and smarter suggestions. Like all machine studying implementations, these algorithms will proceed to enhance over time.

In his podcast predictions for 2022, iHeartMedia’s CEO Conal Byrne explores the implications: 

Podcasting will profit from the engineers of those platforms [Google, Youtube and Facebook] aiming their best-in-class search and discovery instruments on the podcasting medium. Lengthy-tail reveals will likely be found. Evergreen episodes will likely be highlighted at any time when related. Maybe greater than something, newsworthy podcast content material will start to floor extra commonly in search outcomes and proposals on the platforms all of us use on a regular basis to remain on top of things.

This growth has two main implications for B2B podcasters: First, podcast search engine marketing will likely be vital to seize “podcast hopper” consideration. Which means each episode ought to have related key phrases within the title and outline for max findability.

Second, your podcast archive could also be extra precious than you assume. If podcast platforms will likely be recommending your older episodes, it’s value ensuring every episode is optimized for search and sounds its finest.

There Are Thrilling New Methods to Monetize & Repurpose Podcasts

Who says podcasts need to be a value heart in your model? It’s getting extra easy to serve related promoting to your podcast viewers—including income whereas your model nonetheless will get the enhance from the podcast content material. 

New podcast listeners are 19% extra open to promoting than the previous guard. So long as adverts are related, they are saying, it’s okay to interrupt the content material with promoting. That is partly as a result of emergence of DAI (dynamic advert insertion) know-how, which makes it simple to custom-fit related, well timed adverts into present content material.

Livestreaming is one other method to monetize an already well-liked podcast. Consider it as internet hosting a webinar, however with extra viewers participation and fewer slideshows. Some dwell podcast occasions (albeit for the preferred leisure podcasts) can promote tickets for upwards of $50 a session. At present, solely 10% of podcasters reap the benefits of livestreams, so it’s a great way in your model to make a splash.

Analysis reveals that listeners are hungry for podcast content material exterior of the podcast platform, too. Instruments like Wavve, which helps create video from snippets of audio, have seen an explosion in reputation, with Wavve itself seeing 7000% development since 2019.

Brief clips of your podcast on social media are a good way to show your podcast to a brand new viewers, and to present your present subscribers one thing to snack on between episodes.

Creating and Enhancing Is Simpler than Ever

The previous couple of years has seen the rise of all-in-one podcasting platforms. In contrast to providers that merely host your content material and syndicate it, these new instruments function audio and video calling capabilities, recording choices, and even modifying instruments proper in your browser.

Instruments like Riverside.fm and Zencastr make it simple to seize high-quality audio and get it prepared for publication. 

One new participant that’s already getting a ton of consideration is Descript, an all-in-one that generates transcripts mechanically and allows you to edit audio by modifying the textual content. 

There’s Nonetheless Loads of Room for Development

There are at the moment over 2 million podcasts on the planet proper now. However there’s all the time room for extra. Even with the present surge in new listeners, there’s nonetheless 50% of the grownup U.S. inhabitants which have by no means listened to a podcast. They’re simply ready for the best sound or video clip to talk on to their desires and desires.

In case you’ve been serious about launching a podcast in your model, now is a good time to start out. And we can assist! To get began, learn how we helped SAP launch a podcast that smashed benchmarks with each episode.