Casted, the marketing platform that works with business-to-business marketers, has released the results of a new survey of content marketers providing insight into how podcasting fits into the mix as well as some of the biggest “pain points” for content marketers.
For podcasters, the biggest reveal was that one in three B2B content marketers (32%) think of podcasting as an effective channel. That compares to 61% who are producing videos or 47% that are releasing whitepapers. Podcasting’s lag comes despite the fact that they, on average, take less time to produce.
Among those surveyed, brand marketers said each podcast episode takes 4.8 hours to create compared to 6.2 hours for a videos, 5.7 hours for webinars and 5 hours for a whitepaper. Casted says, however, that it sees an “enormous opportunity” for podcasting since many brands already produce webinars and video series, but few are cutting those clips up for other uses such as on-demand audio listening.
There is never enough time in anyone’s day and among content marketers that is just as true. With all the responsibilities content marketers carry, including determining content strategy, Casted says it data shows there’s little time left in their weekly workload for planning and “extras” like podcasting. The survey shows that among the content marketers that have time to create content monthly, 45% spent that time on podcasts versus 72% who spend time creating emails/newsletters, 59% who spend it on video content, and 43% on blog posts.
“There’s a strong showing for podcasting, though, as most brands seem to release episodes every month. But depending on how they release their podcast seasons, this frequency could look more quarterly,” the report says.
Timing is not podcasting’s only hurdle. In terms of effectiveness, the industry apparently has some educating to do as it ranked fifth with a third (32%) of those surveyed saying podcasts are effective. Social media ranked first, in part because of the kind of detailed feedback the channel provides. It was followed by email/newsletters, webinars, and whitepapers. Out of the formats that scored highest in “Good” and “Very Good,” podcasting scored better – with 88% of content marketers putting podcasting in those categories.
While podcasting works, Casted says many brands still have preconceptions about how it would or would not fit in their content marketing strategy.
“Brands that have adopted podcasting are enjoying great brand awareness, audience growth, and in some cases, influenced growth in their pipelines and conversions,” the report says. It says the main barriers to podcasting remain attitude with some marketing leaders believing a podcast is a nice thing to have, but they already have other content stuff in motion to deal with. Casted also says “inadequate” ROI metrics hamper some brands from making the leap. “Not all content marketers can see the ROI for starting a podcast, yet it pays in the long run by being one of the most effective ways to achieve brand awareness,” it says. However, some of the gap may also be from what Casted says is a “disconnection” with the audience, and a failure to realize that podcasting works. “Customers want relevant, expert-driven content, and nothing engages them better than a conversation between experienced, insightful thought leaders. That’s where audio and video podcasting has the greatest potential in the near future,” it says.
Casted says the data shows there is plenty of reasoning behind a reprioritization of how marketers use various media channels.
“An overwhelming majority of content marketers see social media as their most effective channel, but we’re also seeing a rapid shift in the formats and channels audiences find engaging,” it says. “The rising demand for video is partly responsible for this shift along with innovations in content strategies, like adding a podcast, which help you keep up with customer behavior changes.” It also reports there is a “great desire” to include audio and video in email and blogs, with 87% using them heavily in social media messages (87% video, 86% audio, and 11% don’t use either). However, audio and video are used much less often in blog posts (31% video, 15% audio, 69% none) and rarely in email and newsletters.
“As a content marketer, creating content is just half of the job. Ensuring the content is used to its full potential is the other, and that part is where just over half of content marketers fall short,” said Casted CEO Lindsay Tjepkema. “Content marketers are short on time to do their job and lack the proper resources to execute an amplified marketing strategy. By amplifying marketing efforts and repurposing rich, creative content, marketers can make the most of their time, effort, and money — all while bringing the focus back to their audience’s needs.”
The Casted report is based on data collected from 100 business-to-business content marketers sourced from US. companies with revenues of $10 million or more.
Download a copy of the report HERE.
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