I finally got invited to meet my friend’s girlfriend of eight months, whom we’ll call “K.” My friend and I are like “Jerry and Elaine,” with our own shorthand and a lot of history. So, I was thrilled for his happiness with K., and that she doesn’t have “Man Hands” or a laugh like Elmer Fudd. She is, in fact, smart, funny, charismatic, and best of all, a fan of my B2B podcast, Insider Interviews with E.B. Moss. Because my podcast made her fall in love with my friend.
Wait, what?
K. told me that in vetting my friend, whom she met online, she did a little cyber-stalking, and discovered his appearance on my podcast. To be fair, my friend is kind of a high profile marketing executive and has been on a lot of shows, but my secret ingredient is that I like to “humanize” my guests, disarm them even, with anything from bad jokes to singing. In my friend’s case, we reminisced on the show about something from our 25-year friendship. To K., it was endearing: a man that had a long time female friend passed muster. So, bringing out the personal in my friend’s “executive brand” sealed the deal beyond his ad in the personals.
A personal touch is key for not just executives, but their companies, too. People place more trust in people they like. People buy from people they like, and from brands that exhibit similar values to theirs, and so on. And no other medium evokes more personal engagement and feel than podcasting….
Why Do I Love My Podcasts So?
There is the love of listening to podcasts, per this study from Sounds Profitable, which shows the clear passion for companionship provided by favorite hosts and shows….
That companionship – or in my case, fan-girling of hosts like Will Arnett and Sean Hayes for their comic wit on Smartless, and even business host James Cridland for his dry wit on Podnews Daily – stems from feeling that we know them, that we have a relationship. (Happily, Cridland is within reach during events like Podcast Movement, even if Hayes is my aspirational friend.)
“Listeners form a kind of parasocial bond with their favorite podcast hosts — and love learning more about them, along with the topic that the podcast is discussing,” explains Jen Moss (no relation!), Chief Creative Officer of JAR Audio. “That’s why it’s so important for podcast hosts to be real, imperfect, and authentic.”
Give That Brand a Halo
Then there is the lift brands gain from not only being associated with those beloved hosts and shows, but also from creating their own (non-salesy!) custom, or “branded” podcasts.
As described in April 2024 in Inside Radio, research company Signal Hill Insights analyzed branded series for companies including Google, Dell, Ford, OnStar, Amex and US Bank, and found they “drive upper-funnel and mid-funnel metrics for brands, including raising awareness, interest and consideration. That is due in part to the impact branded series have on the audience’s opinion of the brand.”
Significantly, the research showed 86% of the branded podcasts tested sparked an average eight-point increase in affinity score – creating a “halo effect” among those who heard the show. Signal Hill found that some 61% of listeners “have a more favorable opinion about a brand based on hearing the show the brand produced,” said CEO Jeff Vidlar, adding, “that warm and fuzzy feeling starts with the podcast itself.” (Then best practices are to rinse and repeat: ask me how to produce your own branded show: per Sounds Profitable, 41% of brand fans would opt to listen to a podcast about a favorite company or product!)
Branded or not, [Jen] Moss explains that “warm and fuzzy” response: “One reason podcasting — particularly audio podcasting — makes such a deep connection with the audience has to do with the act of co-authorship that is occurring. While the podcaster is talking — the listener is actively picturing what they’re describing. It’s a highly attenuated and engaged process — as opposed to, say, watching a video where you tend to sit back and let it all wash over you.”
Getting Buzzed
Listeners get a good buzz from podcasting also thanks to the literal buzz. As Moss adds, “Sound is physical. Sound waves are actual waves that impact your ear-bones and cause them to vibrate. You have a physical reaction to sound — to the human voice — that is intimate and connected. That’s also why it’s such a powerful medium.”
For advertisers, it’s really the whole package. As Vidlar notes, “’If the podcast delivers value, the listeners see it as a gift.’” The gift back to the brand is awareness and, per their research, an impressive 51% average brand recall, particularly if the show is well produced and entertaining.
From the Heart to the Ears
Quality production is table stakes for growing an audience these days. Of the almost 400,000 shows out there, it’s around the 1% of the pie that command more than 30,000 listens (or downloads) monthly making them of interest to the bigger brands buying into them versus producing their own branded content. Still, there’s something for everyone – from niche topics to broad comedy and, yes, love stories! So, aggregating inventory lets brands tap into one of the most responsive audiences of any medium.
But it’s a responsive audience for a reason, and it comes back to that intimacy. “Podcasting isn’t just about getting your message out,” advises the wise Heather Osgood, Founder of podcast rep firm, True Native Media, “It’s about building a connection that transforms listeners into loyal brand advocates. When your audience feels like they’re part of the conversation, brand love follows naturally.”
Of course, while trust in content and hosts and ad sellers is great, there should be impartial considerations, too, just like K. in vetting my friend. Signal Hill encourages objective analyses when measuring that brand love – or lift: it includes asking the right questions, but especially ensuring a brand’s own ad creative is, well, lovable, too!