The f-word podcasters fear most is…
Friction is the thing.
It’s not as easy or simple as it should be to discover podcasts, or find the episodes you want to hear. Confusion and complexity are barriers to new listeners.
iTunes and other platforms urge you to “subscribe” to a podcast. That word usually implies cost, but podcasts are free.
Search is another example of friction. Our news solutions podcast, “How Do We Fix It?” aims to reduce political polarization with constructive conversation. But someone who searches for “how to fix it,” “solutions,” “fixes” or “what works”, won’t find us. Many other podcasters have similar problems.
More friction.
Smart speakers are now a huge thing. But the voice prompts for podcasts are not as easy as they should be. Friction!
All this presents a problem and a great opportunity. While voice search and AI (Artificial Intelligence) show tremendous promise, our industry needs its own industry association.
Investments should be made by Spotify, Audible, NPR, Google and other players in podcasting and voice, to produce witty and catchy public information videos and radio ads, reaching out to tens of millions of online consumers who’ve never listened. Facebook, where many non-millennials gather, is an obvious place to start. Then advertise on the next Super Bowl!
Friction fighters should launch a contest with a prize for the best five YouTube videos that explain how to engage with podcasts.
Fight friction with fun.
More than 550,000 podcasts live on iTunes — and the number is growing all the time. Two-thirds of Americans are aware of them, but fewer than one-in-five are regular listeners. With nearly 50 million regular listeners, podcasting has come a long way in the past few years. Now it’s time to take it to the next level.
At Podcast Movement, Tom Webster of Edison Research said: “The key to moving from 48 million weekly podcast listeners to the 100 million mark is understanding why those people familiar with the term “podcasting” have never listened.”
About half of them say they’re not sure how to find podcasts. A similar number believe, incorrectly, that podcasts cost money or suck up a lot of data on their mobile devices. 37% don’t understand what a podcast actually is.
The challenges are great, but so is the potential to reach into new, and often marginalized, communities.
Fewer than one-in-four podcasts have a woman host. Thanks to Kerri Hoffman of PRX, Laura Walker at WNYC and others, positive, powerful efforts are underway to correct this. Ethnic, racial, class, viewpoint and geographic diversity would also boost the authenticity, reach and range of podcasting.
The launch of the new Google Podcasts app may eat away at Apple’s iTunes dominance. Google says its goal is to help listeners and make it “easier for them to discover and listen to the podcasts they love.” If the search giant uses AI to improve podcast script and voice search, this would be a major breakthrough.
Nearly one-in-five Americans own smart speakers. They’re the fastest growing electronic devices since most of us got a smart phone. Smart speakers introduce a different way to listen. Others may be in the room with us. We are not on ear buds nor headphones. Podcast listening might become more social, and in some cases less intimate.
The future for podcasting may include more short quiz shows, games and drama.
How about a 12-minute soap opera with revolving characters that has audiences coming back for more every day? It’s already been tried in the U.K. “The Archers” has been running for nearly 70 years, with nearly 19,000 episodes under it’s belt. It’s the world’s longest running radio soap opera.
With podcasts, what’s old can be new again.
“Can Podcasting Save The Planet” is a recent episode of “How Do We Fix It?’
Richard Davies is a podcaster, consultant and media coach. He runs DaviesContent.
