072 - Tess Neudeck: What Podcasters Should Know
Since the onset of the pandemic in the U.S., data from Acast has shown that podcasts aren’t just for your commute to work. In this episode, Tess Neudeck, Marketing Marketing, Americas for Acast, and Emily Binder talk finding guests for your show, the future of podcasting, and how to monetize your podcast.
Since the onset of the pandemic in the U.S., data from Acast has shown that podcasts aren’t just for your commute to work. In this episode, Tess Neudeck, Marketing Marketing, Americas for Acast, and Emily Binder talk all things podcasting:
How to turn networking into guests for your show
The future of podcasting
How to monetize your podcast
According to My Podcast Reviews, there are 1,200,000 podcasts and over 31 million podcast episodes as of June 2020. If you want to be successful in the podcasting, then this is one episode you won’t want to miss.
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Tess Neudeck:
Tess Neudeck currently serves as Manager of Marketing, Americas for Acast. She's responsible for shaping Acast’s marketing strategy across its 10,000+ podcasts, its advertiser business, and all of the products and services the company creates for podcasters, advertisers, and listeners.
Tess began her career on the agency side, spending more than eight years at Mediavest (now Spark Foundry) performing print and digital media planning/buying for a wide array of clients across almost every industry. Before Acast, she oversaw marketing at Urban Daddy and managed sales marketing for legendary brands like Sports Illustrated and Fortune.
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Topics:
01:20: Meet Tess Neudeck.
02:30: The state of podcasting during the pandemic.
“Acast is the world's largest global podcast marketplace that provides premium hosting, distribution and monetization. Acast’s app and web service provides on-demand audio content enhanced by additional interactive media and links.” - Acast LinkedIn
“We’ve seen more than a 10% increase in listens since the pandemic started, and we are just noticing that commuting is clearly not the only place that people are listening and they’re replacing that with listening in other places and forms.” - Tess Neudeck
03:45: People are constantly listening to podcasts and utilizing smart speakers to do so. It’s a common misconception that people only listen to podcasts during their commute to work.
04:50: Smart speakers and podcasting. How can you optimize your podcast for smart speakers?
“Podcasting is such a natural — I would say the number one most natural form of content for smart speakers with it being hands-free, germ-free, convenient audio that’s voice first.” - Emily Binder
06:30: The future of monetizing podcasts (sponsorship, donations, ads, and more).
“It’s not necessarily how we operate at Acast to make anything fully exclusive; we were founded upon the ideas of truly the democratization of audio and making amazing, premium content available to everybody regardless of where you listen. So, we’re platform agnostic. Our shows are available wherever you get your podcasts.” - Tess Neudeck
Acast Open is simple, smart podcast hosting and monetization for all creators. Get a $25 Amazon Gift Card when you sign up for a year of hosting on Acast Open.
08:20: Paying for quality: Acast’s new supporter feature allows for donations/listener compensation to the creator. Acast wholeheartedly believes that creators should be compensated for their work and creativity in the audio media space.
10:30: Shake up your platform! What works for one podcaster in one genre of podcasting might not work for you. Don’t be afraid to step outside of the box and experiment.
11:10: The democratization of the media and podcasting: anyone can do it with the right tools and resources, but there has to be a plan in place. You have to put time, thought, and energy into preparing for your podcast for success.
Live podcast streaming has become increasingly popular throughout the pandemic. Photo by Kate Oseen on Unsplash
“What is your point of view? What do you have to say that’s unique?... Batch up those episodes so that you can churn them out on a weekly or bi-weekly basis so that your audience can come to expect that content from you because once they’re there, once they’re ready to listen, you need to be able to give them that content.” - Tess Neudeck
16:20: Know your niche. Podcasting is evolving into so much more than traditional genres. Here are some podcasts that Tess recommends:
21:20: What’s missing from podcasting right now, and could live streaming be a part of the next generation of podcasting?
Check out last week’s episode where we spoke with John Andrews and WallStreetBooyah about his live streaming financial news show on Twitch.
Want expert help with your podcast or voice marketing strategy?
Tess Neudeck - Acast Marketing Manager for the Americas
Connect with Tess Neudeck:
Instagram: @tessypie
Twitter: @tessypie
Tess’ Blog: peachestoapples.com
Connect with Acast:
Twitter: @acast
Instagram: @acastforthestories
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069 - Steve Pratt: Podcasts - Your Brand's Unfair Advantage (VIDEO)
What makes a good podcast? How about a great podcast? In this episode, Emily and Steve discuss the best ways to create a valuable message to grow your podcast audience as well as how companies should be approaching podcasting as a new form of content marketing. They also discuss emerging opportunities with audio content and voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri.
Why do Facebook, Dell Technologies, Mozilla, Slack, Red Hat, NYT T Brand Studio, BMW, CBS, Charles Schwab, and more top brands come to Pacific Content when they want to create a branded podcast?
Steve Pratt is the Vice President and co-founder of Pacific Content, a company of 30 passionate podcast nerds that focuses exclusively on creating original podcasts with brands.
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Pacific Content joined Rogers Media in May 2019 and is one of Entrepreneur's 100 Brilliant Companies. Their shows have won Webby Awards, Digiday Branded Content Awards, MarCom Awards, and Shorty Awards.
What makes a good podcast? How about a great podcast? In this episode, Emily and Steve discuss the best ways to create a valuable message to grow your podcast audience as well as how companies should be approaching podcasting as a new form of content marketing. They also discuss emerging opportunities with audio content and voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri.
2:20: How Steve started working on branded content and more details on his background.
3:00: Sirius XM and the first podcast ever.
4:19: Getting bitten by the "podcast bug." Opportunities to generate exposure for new bands in Canada emerged through licensing agreements for podcasts.
4:35: The new wave of podcasting hits and with it the need for podcasters to think and act like media companies
5:37: Companies begin realizing a new medium to generate content to increase exposure, without overtly tying it to their brand. It doesn't sound like an ad.
Choiceology with Katy Milkman is an original podcast from Charles Schwab. It explores irrational decision making. The show was created by Pacific Content.
"They all understand that you have to put the audience first, and you have to have a lot of empathy for the people that you're creating this for. Anytime anybody makes a piece of content that is about themselves, it's an infomercial." - Steve Pratt
"If we make something that's about us, maybe people will listen once, and then they'll never come back." - Steve Pratt
7:22: Traditional advertising is becoming less and less effective due to the economic and global impacts of coronavirus. Advertising isn't always about showing off your brand and product; sometimes it's about just about creating something that adds value to the user's experience.
"This is a time for brands to serve instead of sell" - Steve Pratt
Loyalty and ROI
9:00: How do you play to the unique strengths of audio, and how do you measure your success in harnessing it?
11:10: Podcasting can reach people when screens aren't available
Podcasting hit a watershed moment in 2019 when, for the first time ever, over 50% of the U.S. adult population had listened to a podcast.
13:39: Everyone has a podcast, and the market is increasingly growing. Discovery and promotion can be a podcaster's biggest hurdle.
14:48: The same tips for growing your podcast can be applied as you're building a voice experience on Alexa or Google Assistant.
"This is all part of the concert of the marketing instruments; they play together." - Emily Binder
17:58: Word of mouth can grow ambassadors for your podcast or voice experience.
"You can't buy listens in podcasts, you have to earn them." - Steve Pratt
18:30: Goodpods is a platform for users to discover new podcasts and can help podcasters capitalize on the "word of mouth" marketing in a digital form. Goodpods is founded by JJ Ramberg, see our conversation with her here.
19:56: Establish patterns and comfort with users, and it will make them more drawn to new mediums. This will reduce friction to new technology and drive adoption.
"When we first had smartphones, you had to teach someone how to download an app and close an app...now, it has become second nature, and we can't live without it." - Emily Binder
23:05: This is the time to experiment with technology
24:53: Smart speakers are the training wheels of voice, but voice assistant is on so many more devices than just a smart speaker
"We had a 70% YOY increase in global shipments of smart speakers in 2019 over 2018. And voice in the car is actually the fastest growing and number 1 use case of voice." - Emily Binder
27:17: What has Google been doing in the podcast space?
Books and Podcasts Steve recommends:
Connect with Steve and Pacific Content:
Steve Pratt is Vice President and Co-Founder of Pacific Content, an award winning podcast studio
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043 - Mics and Podcasting - Ben Thompkins, Blue Microphones
Guest: Ben Thompkins, National Sales Manager- Pro Sales, Blue Microphones
Topics:
Ben runs professional sales for Blue in North and South America, has been with Blue ten years
He handles B2B business, distribution, and educational sales
How does Blue differentiate in the microphone industry?
Blue’s unique history (very music focused, podcasting has been recent)
Started as a high end microphone company (many of their mics are still $6,000-$10,000)
Took premium sound and made it affordable (see their podcasting mics)
Blue’s marketing stands out - fun names like Yeti and Snowball <— please use my link if you want to buy a snowball, this helps support the show!
4:34 Story: Snowball was originally called Softball - founder story
Softball (Snowball) was built for GarageBand, per Apple’s request- a simple USB mic
Founder Skipper turned them down
Emily used Snowball on her first podcast (throwback: The Digital Dive Podcast)
Blue Microphones are the #1 SKU on Amazon for Music / Musical Instruments (these mics are not in the electronics department) - if you want to purchase a Blue Yeti, please click here to use my link to support the podcast!
Hear about podfading (half of podcasts fade after 6 episodes) in Emily’s episode with Phoebe Mroczek
8:10 Emily asks: are people ready for a more passive media experience (e.g. podcasting and voice - audio content) due to social media overload?
"Half the picture is sound" - George Lucas on the importance of audio in film
High quality audio is paramount for communication and marketing
Bad audio on YouTube is worse than bad visuals
Ben is seeing a trend of XLR mics, not just USB mics (XLR is used at major music recording studios)
If you’re paying for an expensive computer and Alienware, it makes sense to upgrade your audio too
Video games are part of his market - gamers are buying nicer mics
Joe Rogan uses a broadcast mic
People are spending more money on higher quality mics
Ben is seeing a consumer purchasing trend with XLR mics, not just USB mics (XLR is used at major music recording studios)
If you’re paying for an expensive computer and Alienware, it makes sense to upgrade your audio too (gaming)
Video games are part of his market - gamers are buying nicer mics and willing to pay
Example- Joe Rogan uses a broadcast mic
Ben with Chino Moreno, Deftones singer. “We all had the same music manager for a bit. Alice in Chains and Deftones are still with them but I’m a mic guy now.” - Ben Thompkins
Instagram: @bthompkins, @bluemicrophones
016 - Voice Marketing from Stubb's BBQ (Alexa Skill)
Neat use of real warm audio - true voice of a brand - that offers novelty, fun, and some utility. Good example of early voice marketing. Playful and I like that it’s based on archival material.
Example of CPG (consumer packaged good) product marketing on voice with “Alexa, order more Stubb’s Original Bar-B-Q Sauce”). Note: Tested and still working in December 2021!
Stubb’s Legendary Bar-B-Q Sauce was created by the west Texas barbecue hero and beloved Stubb’s founder, C.B. Stubblefield. Now Stubb has his own Alexa skill. The “Ask Stubb” skill pieces together past voice recordings of Stubblefield to bring recipes, stories, cooking tips, BBQ tunes, and some larger than life personality to Alexa users, straight from the man behind the brand.
December 6, 2021 update from Emily:
The Ask Stubb Alexa Skill appears to be down and no longer updated but you can see the skill page here and check out the marketing ideas, which are still solid and IMO should be revived and shared. Doing this in 2018 was pretty ahead of the game and today it would even be beneficial to simply promote the hands-free add to cart phrase below.
Ask Stubb is an Alexa Skill promoting Stubb’s BBQ Sauce and featuring recipes and archival audio
Skill created by Proof Advertising in Austin.
•” The skill includes ten tips, more than 20 recipes and a few of Stubb’s favorite songs.
• Users can order Stubb’s Bar-B-Q sauce directly from the skill.
• After the first week of launch, Ask Stubb was featured as a popular skill on the Alexa Skills Store.” -via CommArts
Takeaway:
With Alexa skills and voice right now, done is better than perfect. Establish a presence like this because this is all leading toward voice search optimization on Amazon, one of the largest search engines. Stubb's will ultimately sell more BBQ sauce because of this. In this case, it’s content marketing to drive ecommerce through voice.
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