Recap from Digital Summit (Kansas City) - "Podcasts + Marketing: The Missing Link in Content Marketing."

Kansas City. Is it Missouri and Kansas? That was my first lesson after touching down in Kansas City. (P.S. It’s actually both. Somehow the city straddles state borders and there is a Kansas City, Missouri and a Kansas City, Kansas. One side of the city is Kansas, and the other is in Missouri. This is still a wild concept for me. And people take sides. One of the speakers from out-of-town tried get the crowd going with a “Hello, Kansas!” which was met with an exuberance from half the room as the other half of the audience sided with Missouri.)

The BBQ is amazing in Kansas City.

Anyway, I was honored to be invited to speak about Podcasting at the Digital Summit. My intent was to talk about podcasting and help the audience determine if / when / how you can use podcasting in marketing strategy (both B:B and B:C).

To be clear, podcasting has a distinct place in content marketing strategy. Here are the four reasons I articulated during my talk. (As an aside: As a pseudo-creative professional I’m not happy that I’m breaking the “Rule of 3” by having 4 reasons podcasting makes sense. It hurts, I know.)

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1.    Mobile first.

First and foremost, podcasting is an opportunity be where your customers are. Podcasts are inherently mobile-first and that means you can be with your customers 24/7. Pretty basic, right? Where do people listen to podcasts? On their phones while commuting, walking the dog, running on the treadmill, wherever. Your eyes aren’t on the phone like a video, which means your body is probably in some state of motion when listening to a podcast, so your eyes can be elsewhere. Additionally, when you have a voice from a podcast in your ear while driving/walking, etc. it mimics how we engage with very familiar relationships with friends and family, which brings us to #2…

Does this count as humanizing a brand?

2.    Humanize your brand.

The act of listening to a podcast can mimic listening to an interesting friend talking on the phone. Podcasts act similar to 1:1 relationships. And when you’re a large brand it makes sense to try to bring individual names and faces out from behind the logo. Because…people buy from people. Large corporations can seem faceless but podcasting can help there. Think about it…There is a signature at the bottom of every contract. There are individuals responsible for making decisions, buying things, influencing decisions, spending money and making money. Podcasts give you an opportunity to make the humans in your company standout and connect with individuals outside of your organization. It also helps talent to think of themselves as what it would be like working in your organization, which can help attract great team members to your company.

3.    Organic discovery.

Podcasts are hot! And, yes, it’s pretty easy to launch a podcast. And, yes, podcasts are being launched by lots and lots of people. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s over-saturated or not worth pursuing. Why? Well, if you think about YouTube, they’ve turned everyone with a phone into a content creator and distributor. Yes, there are amazing videos on YouTube, but also loads of poor videos. Doesn’t mean you should discount YouTube’s use in marketing. 

We are all creators and we can all distribute work that is important to us. And we should. The cream always rises to the top. If you’re putting in the time, and creating something worth listening to (in the case of podcasting) or watching (in the case of YouTube), and if you simply care…audiences will find you. Is this a broad generalization? Absolutely. But it works. Niche topics find their audience. The internet has proven to me that there is always someone else that also loves [fill in the blank]. Even if you look at the top podcasts, they know their topic and purpose and go for it. They’re not everything to everyone.

How do you get your podcast found via organic discovery? Good show notes are of course, key to helping you get found organically. Blogging alongside the podcast is recommended and you may even consider transcribing your podcast episodes and posting those transcripts as part of your blog entries. Your recorded audio conversation will likely be jam-packed with relevant search keywords, which will then lend a helping hand to SEO.

Podcasts can be a low-cost marketing tool for you.

4.     (Can be) low cost.

Podcasting is, at its core, very simple. Record audio, and post up an MP3 for the world to hear. Hosting can be done on a blog, but if you’re going to be mobile-first and have people consume the content via iTunesand Stitcher, for example, you’re going to want an RSS feed. Hosting an RSS feed for your podcast does cost money but it’s reasonably priced with most podcasters I talk to paying between $13-20 a month.

Then comes the MP3 part. Just like music and video production, there is a great range of how much this recording can cost. And this depends on you and your needs. Dr. Dre produces music that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per track. But other musicians produce for a fraction of that. Same goes for podcasting.

I always recommend keeping costs low on your podcasts. I’ve seen some agencies produce episodes at an insanely expensive rate. High-quality audio but not sustainable price tag. So I figured out how to get podcasts recorded without the high price tag and I’m quite happy with the results. Zencastr is one way to record remote interviews for free with a high production value. If you’re recording in-person, there is a multitude of ways to record from iPhone recorders with external micsto handheld audio recorders. 

We have amazing tools (both hardware and software) that bring you the quality, shine and polish of an NPR podcast. You just have to be involved, get scrappy and make things happen for yourself.

And please don’t do this in your Content Marketing… 

Now, one thing I didn’t cover, which is vitally important to content marketing. Don’t sell! Don’t sell! Don’t sell. (Rule of 3 accomplished!)

If your content is a long-form advert for your organization, it’s a huge flop. Ads get skipped. If you’re trying to have people sit through a 15 minute ad, you can bet it’s only your company listening. Nobody wants to hear chest-pounding and a pitch when they tuned in to be entertained or informed.

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Good luck podcasting and let me know if you have any questions about podcasting strategy or ideas.

-Dan

dan@zencastr.com

Spotlight 4 – Five Star Walk On – A College Football Podcast

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Sports + podcasting go together like PB&J. Why? The speed at which podcasts can be created and distributed make podcasting a perfect medium to discuss sports and entertainment topics that are prone to constant change. The freshness of the content is the good news for fans and podcasters. The tricky part is that the content can go stale very quickly. A big win by an underdog team in March Madness is old news come April.

"The freshness of the content is the good news for fans and podcasters. The tricky part is that the content can go stale very quickly."

Truth be told, I don’t personally follow many sports closely so I didn’t realize how big college sports are until I moved to North Carolina last year from Los Angeles. (L.A. gave me a glimpse into college pride but it appears the American South has bigger college sports fans). When we were in LA I saw the USC, UCLA, Stanford, and even Oregon pride around town, but after we moved I really saw the college rivalries emerge in North Carolina. Duke, UNC and NC State are major battle lines and self-descriptors here. Who knew!? I grew up in the northeast so either college sports aren’t as big there (maybe) or I just wasn’t paying attention (most probable scenario).

Today we’re talking to Five Star Walk On, a college football podcast started by three lifelong friends. Here are excerpts from my interview with Sean of Five Star Walk On.

1. Q. How did the podcast start?

1. A. We spent so much time talking about recent games, upcoming games, and other college football news that eventually, we just decided to start recording our conversations. We thought that other people might be interested in what a few average joes have to say about college sports.

2. Q.    What was the hardest part about starting your podcast?

2. A.    Honestly, we had no idea what we were doing when we first started. We would just click record and then talk. Our conversations didn’t always flow so well, and we spent a lot of time rambling. Eventually we figured out how to make our episodes more structured.

3. Q.    What’s the best part about podcasting?

3. A.    We all have day jobs that take up a lot of our time and energy. It’s been really great to be able to work on something of our own, especially with your best friends. Having this podcast gives us the opportunity to stay in touch pretty much every day and talk about something we’re all passionate about. Also seeing our number of listens grow and receiving positive feedback from listeners is really cool.

4. Q. How do you promote your podcast?

4. A. Right now we use Twitter, Facebook, and word of mouth to promote our podcast.

5. Q. What’s your recording setup?

5. A. Funny story, actually. Tater records from his camper trailer, using his phone as a hotspot. Dylan finds peace and quiet in a closet. Sean has a desk in the corner of his bedroom. We all have high-quality microphones that we got for under $100. Not the ideal setup, but we make it work. Also, Zencastr has been an incredible tool for our podcast. Being able to record every week, with all 3 of us living in different locations around the country, would be nearly impossible without it.

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6. Q.    Best tip for other podcasters?

6. A.    It’s not as hard to get started as you’d think. If you feel like starting a podcast about something you like talking about, just do it.

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How can you find the Five Star Walk On team and Podcast?

Twitter: @fivestarwalkon

Facebook: @fivestarwalkon

Find the podcast:

iTunes 

Soundcloud:

Podcast Spotlight Series (#2): The Women in Tech Show

The Women in Tech Show Haiku:

Tech conversations

in the women in tech show

A weekly podcast

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As you know, March is Women’s History Month. We couldn’t think of a better podcast to profile than Edaena Salinas' series: The Women in Tech Show.

Edaena was tired of hearing podcasts that kept asking guests the same question over and over: “What does it feel like to be a woman in tech?” As a software engineer, it's been the tired question Edaena was being asked ad nauseam. She thought about how interesting it would be to hear women talk about their actual work; what are they creating and how are they changing the world. As Edaena puts it, “these women typically get asked “what does it feel like to be a woman in tech?” or get invited to give the diversity talk instead of being asked about what they work on.”

“...“these women typically get asked “what does it feel like to be a woman in tech?” or get invited to give the diversity talk instead of being asked about what they work on.””

And so she decided that podcasting would be the perfect medium to broadcast the technical stories of software engineering, software design, Artificial Intelligence (AI), computer graphics, leadership, open source software and more. However, with of the technical nature of the interviews Edaena conducts, the podcast appeals to anyone interested in tech.

When starting the podcast, Edaena found the biggest hurdle to be “figuring out what I needed to get started: microphone types, how to record, hosting, finding guests.” Indeed, the hardware side of podcasting can be an endless sea of expensive hardware options. But she researched and now has a rock-solid setup for capturing audio content. (Photo below).

The Women in Tech Show uses the following recording setup:

Microphones: Two Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB Cardioid Dynamic USB/XLR Microphone

Remote recording: Zencastr

Backup recording: QuickTime or Audacity

In-person recording: Zoom H4N PRO Digital Multitrack Recorder

 

How the show grows.

After recording and posting her first few episodes, the podcast grew organically without much marketing effort. Word of mouth is certainly a great way to grow your audience and Edaena has found success with simply sharing new episodes on Twitter and LinkedIn.

From there, word has spread and downloads have racked up. Better than downloads, Edaena tells, is “when I hear from a listener about how much they like the show or something they have learned from it."

Tips for future podcasters:

“Prepare for your show. Do your research.”

As they say, failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Same is true for hosting a podcast.

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To learn more about The Women in Tech Show Podcast:

Website: https://thewomenintechshow.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techwomenshow

iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-women-in-tech-show/id1126670901?mt=2

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Podcasting with Purpose: How Technology Is Amplifying Voices of the Disabled Community

Between measured breaths from her BiPAP mask, a device that supplies her airways with pressurized air, celebrated disability rights activist Alice Wong introduces her audience to her latest altruistic foray. “With a gazillion podcasts out there, you might wonder: ‘Why this one?’ ‘Why now?’” she asks.

“The short answer is that I don't see shows about disability culture and politics from NPR or other major media organizations. There aren’t that many around.” There’s a brief pause before she electrifies her audience with a rallying cry.

“The revolution is here. One podcast, one transcript, one tweet at a time.”

And so begins the debut episode of “The Disability Visibility Podcast”, a natural extension of the brilliant, necessary, and groundbreaking work Alice performs as the founder and project coordinator of the San Francisco-based Disability Visibility Project. This nebulous, online collective is committed to not only amplifying the voices, concerns, and narratives of the disabled community, but they empower their audience by educating them on relevant policies and practices through their partnership with #CripTheVote.

Outside of her previous standing as a member of the National Council on Disability, Alice’s fervent brand of activism has manifested into actively combating the lack of multicultural competency within our broken healthcare system, in addition to dismantling the stigmas affixed to Asian Americans who occupy the disability community.

But when asked how she uses her podcast to generate awareness for the issues that pertain to this community, humanity precedes predicament. “I'm focusing on issues that I think are important. And featuring people in conversation on why these issues matter. As well as what needs to be done.” By directing attention to the person, as opposed to their plight, Alice strives to galvanize the support necessary to facilitate wholesale changes in how the disabled community is both perceived and engaged.

An example of this is her natural aptitude for storytelling. In “Choreography of Care”, we’re introduced to various caregivers and the intimate relationships they forge with their clientele. But in being a master storyteller, Alice incorporates sound and music in order to intensify the emotional weight of her message.

But for all of Alice’s brilliant work throughout the digital diaspora, Vilissa Thompson is another celebrated voice who’s fused technology with activism in order to serve as a catalyst for change. As the CEO and founder of Ramp Your Voice!, Vilissa’s forte is intersectionality. Specifically, how the unique challenges faced by the disabled community intersect with race, gender, and class.

Examples of this include her viral #DisabilitySoWhite campaign, in which she passionately assailed “the racism, invisibility, erasure, lack of representation, and othering” of disabled people of color. Or how, in the tumultuous battle to resurrect WGN America’s “Underground” from cancelation, we conveniently omit Harriet Tubman’s status as a disabled person of color. Which, in a medium starved for representation from both the disabled and Black communities, just lost one of its most compelling depictions.

But equally of note is Vilissa’s podcast, “Wheelin’ & Dealin’”, which co-stars political consultant and social media mainstay Neal Carter. In which Vilissa and Neal provide savvy commentary and inimitable insight into the politics and policies that shape our country. With each episode serving as a love letter to Vilissa’s allegiance to affirmation and intersectionality. “With the rights of disabled people that were rightfully won and earned now in danger of being repealed or weakened, now is the time for our voices to exist loudly in political spaces.”

When asked what role her podcast plays in generating awareness for the concerns that permeate the disabled community, Vilissa doesn’t shun the influence she wields.

“What I see our podcast doing is prompting key stakeholders in the political realm and our listeners to grasp how disability and politics are connected and not detached from each other.  Disabled people care about politics as everyone else, and we understand intimately how legislation can significantly affect the opportunities, resources, and support instated in society.  Having two activists who self-identify and are politically disabled places us in the position to connect those two fronts better.”

With the IAB’s recent announcement that podcast revenue is on track to exceed $220 million, the digital medium is experiencing an emergence unlike any we’ve experienced before.  But while the threat of oversaturation will always loom, podcasting has evolved into a refuge for underrepresented voices. Perspectives that, in the absence of technology, would otherwise be drowned out by uniformity and dismissal.

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Alice Wong’s “The Disability Visibility Podcast” is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and other available podcast platforms.

Vilissa Thompson’s “Wheelin’ & Dealin’” podcast is available on at the provided link. 

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Jay is a Los Angeles-based writer, consultant, and founder of the popular podcast “The Extraordinary Negroes”. Outside of his creative pursuits, Jay uses his multimedia platform to celebrate the accomplishments, opinions, and agency of marginalized groups, in addition to actively combating injustice and the destigmatization of mental illness.

4 Totally Random But Useful Podcast Promotion Tips

In the process of promoting my podcast She’s In Russia, I’ve discovered a few tricks and tools that are small but non-obvious. And so, I will share them here, as I have not seen them listed in any traditional how-to-promote-your-podcast article.

1.  Getting on the infamous New & Noteworthy on iTunes:

A lot of people on the internet suggest to get on N&N you have to have a strong first 8 weeks post launch, with a lot of downloads, subscriptions, reviews, etc. Though this probably helps, iTunes Podcasts are actually curated by and editorial team. To get your podcast featured, email PodcastSupport@apple.com with the following information and ask them to pass it along to the editorial team:

• Podcast Title
• iTunes Link
• Country Requested
• Marketing and Promotional Plan
• Upcoming Episode Date
• Upcoming Episode Details
• Category

Make sure your podcast fulfills the requirements on this Feature Your Podcast page before you send the email.

2.  Booking fellow podcasters as guests:

If there’s another podcaster you want to book on your show, or just want to find their contact details, the solution is simple. Open up their RSS feed -- for example here is our RSS for She’s In Russia -- then command+f and search for “email” and you’re in business.

3.  Making waveform videos for social media:

New York public radio developed a really nice open source program for making waveform videos called Audiogram. SpareMin hosts a pretty customizable version of it here. You can pick your own image background, color, text, and waveform look. Just upload the audio. If you’re a developer and want to run the program locally, here is the GitHub repo.

4.  Podcast reviewers list:

As part of promoting our podcast, I’ve written to every person I could find who reviews podcasts, has a newsletter, or just runs a Twitter handle where they promote different shows. I’ve compiled a list of these people and accounts on Twitter, it’s a public list that you can subscribe to here.

Wrap-up:

Indie podcast promotion is definitely a slog, but I do hope these tricks make it a bit easier. If you've come up with other cool tricks, let me know on Twitter.

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About the author: Smith Freeman is the co-host and producer of She's In Russia, a podcast that aims to lessen the resurgence of Cold War rhetoric by having nuanced and joyful conversations about Russia and Russian people. Smith lives in Brooklyn and her co-host lives in St. Petersburg.

Smith Freeman (on the right), with her cohost (left).

Finding the Simplest Possible Setup, for Quick and Easy Podcasting

There’s a lot to be said for simplicity. Especially when it comes to podcasting. If you want to get episodes out on a regular basis then, without a doubt, simplicity is key to that. 

This applies to equipment more than anything else. There’s a big danger, if you’re a gadget geek like me, that you can get lost down a very expensive and very complicated audio-gear rabbit hole...

I want to share with you three different setups that offer the simplest, quickest ways to podcast. That means when you sit down to record, you can record immediately. You won’t spend half an hour figuring out the mic settings, or the software setup, or why there’s a weird buzz in your headphones. You can just plug in and play. And that is how we build a loyal audience. By showing up every week and putting our all into the content…NOT the equipment.

How Do You Podcast?

First off, let’s look at your format. This is the deciding factor in which of the three setups you should choose. By format I really mean two things: 

1.     Who’s on your show?

2.     How do you record?

Take number 1 first, because... well, it’s number 1, isn’t it? Is it just you on the show? Or do you have a co-host? Do you also have interviewees? The number of people on your show, both hosts and guests, is a factor. 

Then, number 2. This applies only if you have someone else on the show. How do you record them? Will they be in the same room as you (in-person), or will they be online?

Once you've answered those questions, it should be easy to choose the right setup below. 

1. The Simplest Setup for One Person

If it’s just you, that makes things simple. We just need one mic, and a quick way to record it. 

For me, this comes down to the piece of kit we always have in our pocket: a smartphone. I could talk to you all day about how great the Zoom H5 recorder is. And it is. But, it’s an extra thing we have to carry around. And a new thing to learn. 

Instead, your smartphone is easy, familiar and, often, very powerful. 

The only thing they're not top notch on, is recording quality. For that we need an external microphone, and my favourite smartphone mic is the Rode Smartlav+ (see some comparisons here). This is a lavalier mic (a small tie-clip device that clips onto your shirt) and it plugs into any smartphone. Then, when you fire up your recorder app, it’ll draw audio from the Smartlav rather than your phone microphone. Much better.

Finally, how to record? Well, every smartphone that I know of has a dictation or a voice recording app as standard. Use that! Don’t bother with fancy external applications that offer bells and whistles. We’re going for simplicity here. The default iOS and Android ‘voice recorder’ apps work perfectly and make it really easy to share the file to Dropbox or to email it to yourself. 

2. The Simplest Setup for 2 People, IN-PERSON

The great thing is, the 1 person setup above is easily expanded for 2, especially if they’re in-person. All you need is the Rode SC6 adapter and a second Smartlav+. The SC6 adapter is a great little gadget that lets you plug two microphones into one smartphone. As an added bonus, you can also plug a set of headphones in to monitor the recording.

Once that’s set up, you can take a seat across from your co-host or your guest, pin on a mic each, and start chatting. The quality of the conversation is brilliant!

The only downside is that you have to sit still, since you're tied together by a few cables. That's fine for a half-hour conversation, but what about some quick on-the-go soundbites? Perhaps you want to move around an event and grab short conversations with other attendees. In that case, you want a handheld USB mic, like the Samson Q2U.

Just like the Smartlavs, you’ll be using your smartphone, because it’s simple! You’ll need a USB conversion cable for your phone - whether it’s USB to iPhone or USB to Android - but with one of them in place, you can plug the Samson Q2U right into your phone. Recording is then carried out with the same type of dictation app. 

3. The Simplest Setup for 2 (or more) People, ONLINE

Now that we’re online, the options change a little. This is because we need to record a call via the internet. It's still familiar, though: the recording software changes, but the mics stay the same. 

The most common method, and a really simple one, is to get hold of a good quality USB microphone - like the Samson Q2U I mentioned before - and record a Skype call.

If your guest has a Skype account already, this is pretty simple, but you are at the whim of the Skype gods. Call quality can be… ahem… variable. 

The alternative is a tool like Zencastr, of course. It works perfectly with a USB mic like the Samson Q2U, and it’ll get great quality audio from both sides of the conversation. Plus, it adds a few elements of simplicity to your workflow, like an easy link for your guest to jump onto the call. 

What About Editing?

Of course, if we’re going simple, it’s worth a quick chat around editing. For me, the simplest method is to record a show as if I'm doing it live. I'll act as if I'm going out on Facebook Live right there and then, so there’s no takebacks. Any mistakes I make are just laughed about, corrected and breezed past.

This approach means there's no editing afterwards. No post production, as the audio pros call it. It’s a much quicker publishing workflow, since all you need to do is make sure the volumes and the sound quality are polished up. And best of all, Zencastr can do a lot of that for you with it’s post-production tools.

Or, if you do need to do a bit of editing - there are a few mistakes or tangents that just can’t stay - then there’s always Audacity. Audacity is a free audio editor that can do just about everything you need. It’s reasonably easy to learn and pretty quick to work with.

If you want to make it even simpler, though, then you might want to take a look at Alitu. That's our tool designed to make audio editing and publishing as simple a process as possible.

You simply upload your recording - from your phone, from Zencastr, from Facebook live, or elsewhere - and then Alitu helps you with the rest. We have really easy tools to let you clip mistakes, cut out silence and split up clips. Then you can piece together your episode with the builder, bringing in listener clips, adverts, FX, etc, before publishing right to your media host. It can even add your theme music automatically during the export. 

Start as Simple as Possible

I’ve talked through some of the simplest setups possible here, so it’s just down to you, now, to get started.

Remember, the rule - keep it simple.

Don’t be sucked into a fancy equipment setup, thinking that a shiny mic and a digital recorder will somehow gain you listeners. It’s not about the mic or the editing. It’s about you and your message. Save time on setup and spend it on planning, practice and delivery instead.

Regular, engaging content beats pristine audio quality every day of the week.

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About the author: Colin Gray is a podcaster, a speaker and a PhD in education. He and The Podcast Host team create podcasts on everything from mountain biking to space exploration. They teach how it’s done in the Podcast Host Academy and provide the tools to do it with Alitu, the Podcast Maker. 

Ideas on the Future of Podcasts

When Apple announced support for podcasts in iTunes, the movement of podcasting was christened and blessed, but it still had a ways to go. Early podcasts were mostly split between two categories: the standard “two dudes talking” podcast and re-uploads of NPR shows. While the most popular podcasts still fall into these categories, it was the podcasts that would follow that would innovate within the medium and let podcasts grow into their own right.

The biggest shift, by far, has been the rise of podcasts that justify the need to BE podcasts. You probably think of a handful, but the biggest by far is Serial. It was a show that grew alongside its audience. Both Sarah Koenig and the more than 5 million people who downloaded Serial every week had no real clue where the case of Adnan Sayed would end up and, when Serial did conclude its first season, I imagine she was just as disappointed as we were with the dead ends it left us on. Serial could have never been put to air for several reasons: it’s episode lengths varied wildly, the subject matter was too taboo, and it didn't end cleanly. That last reason is why TV never would have taken it either; networks like conclusions and nicely wrapped packages, Serial had none of those things. It’s spinoff show, S-Town, also told an intriguing story, but also would have never carried enough weight to justify a TV or Radio presence.

Critical Mass

Serial brought with it an unprecedented awareness of podcasts which can probably be directly linked to the success of the handful of independent podcast networks that would be started in its wake. These networks give support to shows that probably would have been lost to ambiguity in a pre-Serial world: improvisational “Shark Tank” spoofs, people arguing for hours about video games and comics, women talking about the experience of being Black, female, and single in New York, all of these podcasts have found audiences of varying size because of the strength of their networks, while not having to deal with the overwhelming stress that comes with a film or TV deal from a more mainstream media network.

Another large presence in podcasts is, oddly enough, YouTube creators. Personally, my favorite shows come from people who found initial success on YouTube, and they bring with them even more people who mostly consume their content online. Depending on the creator, their podcast will exist either alongside or separately from their channel. Some creators, film critics in particular, use their podcasts to discuss further what they said in a 4-10 minute movie review. Others merely use their podcast to talk about things that do not fit in with the “brand” of their channel. My favorite podcast, Hello Internet, is run by two huge education Youtubers: CGP Grey and Brady Haran. They use their show to talk about media, culture, and the world at large. While the podcast is entirely different from the carefully curated content that makes it to their YouTube channels, it is nonetheless entertaining. I expect more YouTubers to enter the podcast space as the promise of more loyal advertisers and a YouTube algorithm that favors longer videos both become stronger influences in their lives, and I’m excited to see what ideas they bring to podcasting.

What’s Next?

Podcasts are still a growing medium, and everything looks as if it is at a tipping point. Brands and creators are still after the NEXT medium, and podcasts certainly have the potential to be that medium. Podcast listeners engage with advertisers at a much higher rate than any other medium, and they are much more loyal to the shows they follow as well. Brands looking to start projects as podcasts may find relief not having to compete in busy time slots, or higher budgets. Anyone with a half-decent editing skills, a good idea, and a microphone can make a podcast worth listening to. There is, however, one big hurdle for podcasts that I have yet to see a solution for. There is no real way to discover new podcasts related to the ones I listen to. In other words, there isn't yet a “Netflix for podcasts.” To build such an application would require a bot capable of listening to every podcast in the iTunes catalogue, transcribing keywords, and sorting it into the relevant genres. Then, it would need to determine which shows are actually good before recommending it to a user. Such a bot would be expensive to build and run, but it would finally give podcasts the same ease of discovery that Netflix and YouTube have pioneered, and give podcasters the tool they've needed to expand their audience. 

About the Author

Samuel Polay is a blogger and podcaster from Atlanta, GA currently living in Austin, Texas. His site, Culture Vacuum, and its accompanying podcast (also called Culture vacuum) focuses on the world of entertainment and movies diving deeper into why some stories matter and why others don’t. He also hosts the improv based podcast Unwatchable with his two best friends from high-school and the interview podcast Camper Berries with his best friend from Summer camp.