To boost engagement, broadcasters and digital publishers need to educate consumers

The biggest hurdle to growing podcasting may be helping consumers understand exactly what a podcast is and how to find it.

New data from Edison Research notes that 64% of Americans, of 180 million people, say they’ve heard of podcasts, up from just 22% in 2006, but only 17%, or 48 million, have ever listened. That leaves a lot of room for improvement.

“The number of people who actually listened to a podcast in the last week is significantly smaller than those who are familiar with the term,” Edison said. “The key…is understanding why those people familiar with the term ‘podcasting’ have never listened.”

With producers and podcasters’ help, Edison estimates that podcasting can attract 100-million listeners, a critical threshold to be considered mainstream media.

What are the biggest obstacles to growth? The answer is surprisingly simple: Many Americans don’t understand how to find and stream podcasts, while others have misconceptions, like thinking podcasting will eat up a user’s data plan.  Among those who don’t listen to podcasts, 37% said they don’t really understand what podcasting is, while 48% said they weren’t sure how to listen; while 65% say there are so many podcasts, they don’t even know where to begin.

With high-quality and engaging shows for every niche and interest imaginable, the podcast industry is booming. More advertisers are signing on to the medium and local broadcasters are upping their podcast game, launching new shows and adapting on-air content for podcasting.

To grow the audience, local broadcasters can spread the word, offering tips on where to find podcasts and how to stream, and regularly promoting their podcasts. Use on-air promo time to discuss podcasts and post regularly on popular social media channels. On-air talent can promote their podcasts or talk about their own favorites, then remind listeners how to find their own unique content. Providing the early podcast education is critically important and here’s why: in the recent Edison study, most Americans don’t know that 80% of smartphones are preloaded with a podcast listening app such as Apple Podcast.

At Futuri Media, a global provider of SaaS technology for broadcasters and digital publishers,  our platforms make it quick and easy to create on-demand content for podcasting, and to share that content across all media channels.

Our POST system makes it virtually effortless to produce podcasts for both Android and iOS devices.

“POST is extremely flexible for editing and including OTA or original content,” said Sophie Fry, Futuri’s SVP, Sales. “With POST, we can help broadcasters create, edit, craft, and distribute whatever programming content and advertiser sponsorship platforms the station desires.”

POST provides:

• In-studio, touch-screen system so hosts and producers to quickly and easily capture audio and convert it into podcasts.
• Ad-insertion, allowing stations to deliver custom messaging inside podcasts.
• Easy distribution to multiple digital channels, including Facebook, Instagram, station websites, and more – with fully licensed images available to attach to podcast content to make it even more discoverable.

For high-quality streaming, Futuri Streaming, provides the best-in-class streaming experience available on the market today. And, with our custom-built Alexa skills, we can incorporate your podcasts for playback on any Alexa-enabled device.

Want to learn more about how we can help grow your podcast production and sales? Contact your Futuri Media partner or reach us here.