Podcast Spotlight — 6 June 2023
This week:
· Want to speak to Gen Z? Podcasts are the way!
· Black-Owned News App Hayti Launches the Largest Aggregation of Black Podcasters in History
· How many shows to reach the majority of podcast listeners in the U.S.? Edison Research
· Who’s the best podcast host — how to choose
· Needing help to set up your podcast?
Want to speak to Gen Z? Podcasts are the way!
Via Podnews
From sxm media
SXM Media has done some deep dives into demographics and how people in those demographics engage with podcasts and their most recent report takes a close look at the 13–24 age group.
There’s a lot of great info there. So go across and take a look. But some of the highlights for me:
And the results are fascinating. Podcast listenership is growing across the board, but the growth is especially notable among younger listeners. Seeing a 57% increase compared to 5 years ago.
And they’re listening for longer too. 58% of the total time Gen Z spends with spoken word audio is with their favourite podcasts, up from 28% 5 years ago.
80% of Gen Z listeners don’t do anything else when they’re listening. Not like us oldies who are driving or doing chores. So they are way more engaged than most.
They’re more diverse, they are loyal, they are willingly open to advertising.
Can you reach Gen Z?
Black-Owned News App Hayti Launches the Largest Aggregation of Black Podcasters in History
Via Podnews
Minority podcasters in general, and Black podcasters specifically, can struggle for visibility in a marketplace that as default elevates White content and White voices.
For this reason services that aggregate Black voices are useful, not only for people in that community, but for those of us outside of it who would like to diversify what we are exposed to.
Social media is completely melting down at the moment, but Twitter exposed me to so much diversity it basically reprogrammed me as a person. But it’s such a trash fire now that it’s useless for being exposed to diverse voices.
So services like Hayti are so valuable. And interesting. Check them out, expand your horizons, find your community.
How many shows to reach the majority of podcast listeners in the U.S.? Edison Research
Via Podnews
From Edison Research
There are literally hundreds of thousands of active podcasts out there. But if you’re an advertiser who wants to reach as many people as possible without running ads in dozens of podcasts. How do you do it.
Turns out you can reach 35% of podcast listeners by running ads in 10 podcasts.
Take a look at their research. And see the near vertical curve of how listener stats escalate for podcasts.
Who’s the best podcast host — how to choose
From Podnews
This piece goes into a lot of excellent detail, but my perspective is as follows.
Choosing a podcast hosting service seems like a difficult decision for a new podcaster. Their charges are variable. Their services can seem confusing and there are unknowns like user friendliness and support quality.
So you may wonder which is for you? Which is best?
But this is a difficult question to answer perfectly.
I’ll give the short answer up front.
They’re all fine.
All reputable hosts will do 2 things. They will host and serve your file. And they will provide an RSS feed. This is the content syndication technology that most podcast apps use to pull content.
And they all do this almost without fail. Sometimes they may have server issues that cause delays in stats, but overall it’s a mature service that should never fail.
Where they differ is in their stats services, hosting capacity, how many downloads you get as part of your package and other peripheral concerns.
If you ask podcasters which is the best host, the answer is consistent. It’s the one they’ve selected for their needs. But it may not be best for your needs.
The considerations to take into account are:
1) How many minutes a month will you be uploading?
Does the host offer limitless minutes? Or a cost effective package at the level you expect?
2) How much data will you be uploading in terms of file sizes
Will you be doing video? Does the host even support it? Can you compress your audio without compromising quality to get under the limit?
3) Do you expect a large audience
Does the host charge for downloads above a certain level?
So you need to carefully assess what you think your needs will be.
But, a choice isn’t forever. Moving hosts is fairly straightforward and the company you’re moving to will be happy to help you.
So don’t overthink it.
If you’re curious about what I recommend?
For free hosts Spotify for Podcasters, previously Anchor. I have my issues with the company, but they aren’t going out of business and taking your podcast with it any time soon.
For paid. Libsyn, as long as you’re not doing video. Their packages are file size based, so while video is supported it’s prohibitively expensive. However,r they give you unlimited archiving and downloads. The support is also excellent.
Needing help to set up your podcast?
But if you’re not sure what you need and you want help to setup your podcasts and make the tough decisions. Reach out and I’ll be happy to give you some advice and while we’re chatting let’s talk about how I can make sure your podcast launches right without you needing to worry about anything.
Mail me at dave@brightvoxaudio.com, DM me on LinkedIn or check out my site at https://brightvoxaudio.com/
