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I believe a whole load of stuff that I have never seen proven. I have deeply held convictions on things like the right way to place a toilet roll (new sheet hanging at the front), whether right footed footballers should ever play on the left wing (obviously not - the defender always knows they’ll have to turn inside), and whether rocket is ever an appropriate salad item to put in a sandwich (It should be illegal without a clear warning on the packaging).
However, I also know this, and now it’s been proven:
Podcasts give a depth of engagement that no other medium can manage.
And not just proven by anyone, but by Reuters and Oxford University, who today published their Digital news Report.
In a YouGov survey of over 80,000 online news consumers in 40 markets:
50% say podcasts give deeper understanding of issues than other types of media
This confirms everything we intrinsically knew about podcasts, and places their value in sharp focus.
We make podcasts for brands - some that reach hundreds of thousand of people, and others that reach a few hundred - and whilst it’s nice to show off about those that make it big, that’s never the real prize. And it’s certainly not the reason to make a podcast. Depth of engagement is everything.
Name me a communication medium where you can keep people hooked, with their full undivided attention, for an average of over 20 minutes.
Video? Nope. Shorter and shorter is the mantra.
Text? A long read in the Observer maybe, but a piece of corporate content - no chance.
Podcasts? Yes indeedy, thanks very much. 20 … 25 … 30 minutes of otherwise dead time - vacuuming, driving, washing up, commuting, running . Listeners are hanging on your every word.
in the last fortnight, Fresh Air has released brand-funded podcast episodes about:
Health and Safety for Farmers in Harvest time
How to talk to your children about racism
Outstanding practice in mental health hospitals
How corporations can bounce back from Covid 19
… and many more
There’s no person who will find every single one of these fascinating, but for the right individuals, this content is gold. And if its your brand who’s delivered the gold, you get to bask in the glow.
Most businesses are about a niche market to one degree or another, and most great communications content is about super-serving a specific group of people with something they love or find especially useful. The deeper the dive, the greater the reward for the user and the publisher.
We’ve built our business on a conviction that podcasting is the best way to do that, and now the smarties at Reuters and Oxford University have confirmed it for us.
Now for the research into disgusting sandwich fillings. Rocket scientists - It’s your turn.
Cheers all, Neil