Podcasts are on the rise people – and for good reason! The thing is, they’re a bit like that fashion trend that disappears and then returns every 15 years or so. Only this time – I reckon they’re here to stay!

What happened to the Green Umbrella Marketing Podcast?

A few years ago – having a podcast was a unique and highly desirable element of a marketing strategy. Green Umbrella Marketing had one and we were blessed with an amazing number of downloads and subscribers. However, as the popularity of video began to increase and the functionality of social media channels began to embrace and prioritise video, we saw those numbers start to slow. The labour of love started to weigh heavy and we took the opportunity to take a break from the podcast at that time due to the intensity of work spent producing and delivering each episode.

In 2018/2019, creators had leveraged video and we started to see the evolution of preferred interview style and episodic formats. Marketers were also thinking ‘How do I keep up with creating all this stuff?!?’ and started to figure out how best to repurpose their content. That ties in with when we started to see an increase in podcasting – creators were stripping the audio from their video content and adding this to their podcasts. We did exactly that ourselves and relaunched our podcast, renaming it ‘The Social Snippet Show’.

At this time, the technology had sprinted ahead and producing podcasts became much, much easier too in that mics and recorders were suddenly compact and easily transportable and options for high quality remote recording became realities. We were using Live streaming tools that would produce exactly what we needed to make podcasting simple and minimal effort.

Should I admit this? Probably not!

At the end of March 2019 there were some changes in the business, and we did something regrettable – not we, I did something regrettable. It was something we actively work to stop our clients doing when they produce content. I didn’t refresh our plan, and I didn’t produce the next episode of the podcast and I allowed us to lose momentum. The days turned into weeks, and I procrastinated. The weeks turned into months and I was overthinking things. All of a sudden, we were in 2020 and there still hadn’t been another episode.

I take full responsibility for this – Podcasting wasn’t something I was passionate about – I had other exciting stuff to work on and so I focused on that instead! Sound familiar? The reality is, creating content (in whatever form) is a commitment. You have to be prepared to commit and maintain consistency if you want to find success.

So where am I going with this? Why am I saying this to you? Well, have you heard the phrase ‘Physician heal thyself’? In January this year I decided to immerse myself in podcasts, I listened to different episodes, different formats, I engaged in training workshops and webinars and grew a passion and understanding of the podcasting world. And I’m so glad I did!

The power of a podcast

There are, for me, two very clear benefits to podcasting.

• If you have a message to deliver – imagine being able to download that message directly into someone’s brain? I realise that might not be the best analogy but think about it. Most people when they listen to a podcast are consciously choosing to block out the world around them by putting something in or over their ears. They are choosing to have the voice of that podcast host in their heads. They’re choosing to listen.

• Self-development and self-education are major trends. I use the word trends but in reality that suggests they may fall out of favour – I don’t think that will happen. Listening to an eBook takes hours (usually) and absorbing that content is often interrupted. Listening to a podcast episode offers the opportunity to consume easy to digest chunks of information, making it more convenient and accessible. You can get a real flavour of the message of that creator, and by listening to more episodes you can learn more detail from them without the interruptions.

In another, future article, I’ll talk to you about the commercial benefits of podcasting as a marketing activity specifically and ways in which you can monetise your podcast, but for now I really just want to explain where we are with ours!

The Social Snippet Show Is Back In Business!

So, here’s where I’m getting to… I’ve gone from being ‘not bothered’ to a complete Podcast addict. Yep – I’ve got the bug.

In January 2020 I vowed to restart The Social Snippet Show and as part of the learnings I immersed myself in I came up with a plan. I decided who the podcast was going to be for and Why it would exist. I thought about the format of the podcast and how to promote it and I am pleased to say… We’re live and kicking!

I’d love you to subscribe and download the latest episode, and future episodes too! I can promise episodes of me talking about all things marketing, whether it’s specific strategies or the latest developments in the social media world, we’ll be adding interviews and also sharing the weekly Live Lunch show on the Podcast too. So there will be something for everyone – I promise!

Go and check it out now!