When one thinks of podcasts, it’s easy to think of them as marketing to mostly a B2C, media, or a niche venue. Podcasts, however, are trending in the B2B space as well.
Why Podcast?
Let’s start with some statistics:
- As of 2018, there are an estimated 73 million podcast listeners in the United States, a number which is forecast to grow to around 132 million by 2022. (Statista)
- Over $320 million dollars (US) was spent on podcast advertising in 2018. By 2020, these expenditures are forecast to surpass half a billion dollars. (Statista)
- A little over 1/3 of small business principals currently listen to podcasts, with business/finance being the most popular topic. (Bredin)
B2B & Industry Specific Podcasts
Podcasts show up in all different sectors of business – construction, chemical engineering, oil and gas, agriculture, biotech, information technology/data security, and automotive, just to name a few. Many large corporations are already in the podcast space (IBM, Caterpillar), while other organizations are in the exploratory stage.
What are the benefits of podcasts versus traditional blogs and white papers?
- Podcasts can be listened to while you are doing something else. For busy executives, this could be anything from taking an international flight, to commuting, working out, or performing something as simple as doing yard work. Reading, however, requires your full attention (you can’t read and mow the yard at the same time).
- Podcasts are portable – they reside on your phone or iPad and can be played at your convenience.
- Podcasts can be as short or as long as you like. Don’t feel you have enough time to listen to a podcast? Podcast lengths vary based on the show – on the longer end, podcasts can be up to an hour, on the shorter end less than five minutes for an entire episode.
- Podcast topics allow you to focus on your brand, your history, your customers, and how your product(s) or services have met customers’ needs. In short, they allow you to create an emotional connection with your customers.
- Podcasts can enable you to establish yourself as a thought leader amongst your target audience.
Top B2B Marketing Podcasts
Do a quick Google Search on the best B2B marketing podcasts and several different lists will surely pop up. These podcasts focus on trends in B2B marketing, interviews with CMOs and marketing executives, and delve into in-depth, current topics.
Some popular B2B podcasts are listed below: