ROI on Branded Podcasts

Why Your Brand Needs Its Own Show

By Carmen Elena Mitchell, Larj Media Marketing Director

A branded podcast is fundamentally different than the other content in your marketing mix. It’s not just another piece of content floating by on a lazy river of posts, reels, and infographics, hoping to catch your customers’ eyes. Podcasts create a uniquely powerful opportunity to shape brand perception through engaging storytelling.

A branded podcast is an opportunity to talk directly to your customers (current and future) in a deeply immersive way for 20-30 minutes at a time while simultaneously generating a fountain of branded content you need to reach your customer base. By consistently publishing high-quality episodes over time, your brand can build trust and loyalty with your target audience.

So, what’s the ROI on a branded podcast? And what metrics do we use to measure success? These are probably the top two questions we get asked by prospective clients.

Here’s what ROI can look like for six different business goals:

1.  Build Brand Trust

   According to the Edelman Trust Barometer the demand for “brand trust” is on the rise, with 71% of all consumers saying that it is more important to trust brands than ever before. Gen Z sets the bar for brands even higher. Of those surveyed, 79% said cited brand trust as a key factor and 62% assume that a brand is “doing nothing or hiding something” if a brand doesn’t communicate its actions to address societal issues.

   Considering that a podcast is an invitation for your target audience to spend 30-40 minutes intimately with you week after week, it’s a beautiful opportunity to give them a gift. Whether you’re sharing the story of how a product got made or highlighting how companies in your industry are innovating to mitigate environmental impact, by using your podcast to tell stories that align with your customer’s values, you demonstrate that your brand is about more than just the bottom line.

2. Brand Awareness & Favorability

   The very nature of how podcasts are consumed—with the host's voice in the listener's ears for 30-40 minutes at a time—fosters a sense of intimacy and connection with both the host and the brand they represent. Moreover, people listening to podcasts are typically engaged in non-mentally demanding activities (commuting, exercising or housework), giving you their undivided attention, which, in turn allows for deeper engagement.

   Statistics show that 80% of U.S. podcast users surveyed listened to all or most of each podcast episode. Compare that to video which has an average drop off rate of 50%.

3. Customer Engagement

   Podcast audiences by and large are educated, well-off consumers. They tend to be curious types who want to learn more. This makes them more likely to respond to a call-to-action in the form of website visits, social media discussion, or recommending the show to a friend.

   So, ask yourself, “what do you want your listeners to do after they take their ear buds out of their ears?” Do you want them to head to your Facebook or Instagram page to engage with other listeners? Do you want them to head straight to your website to learn more about your offerings? Do you want them to subscribe to your newsletter? Buy your book?  Podcast listeners are always hungry for more information and will follow your lead with minimal prompting.

   Check out our case study from Seattle Deign Center to see how a brand can use their podcast to drive more traffic to their website.

4. Generate content across your media channels

   Feeding the social media content machine and creating SEO rich content for the website are  evergreen goals for most businesses. A branded podcast can help check both these boxes. Thanks to AI, you can now upload your episode and generate unique branded content instantly in the form of blogs, quote cards, audiograms and video. For more on this subject check out Repurposing Your Podcast: 6 Ways to Get the Most out of Your Kick-Ass Content and read the latest on AI tools you can use to generate new content from your podcasts

5. Demonstrate Thought Leadership

   Position your executive team as thought leaders by having them deliver industry insights, best practices, and career advice via your podcast. By consistently providing valuable content, you’re gaining your audience’s respect and trust and, at the same time, demonstrating your brand’s expertise your field.

6. Recruit Talent and/or Inspire and Motivate Current Employees

   Capture the attention of prospective talent and generate interest in working for your company by showcasing your company's expertise, culture, and values. By featuring interviews with employees who have benefited from mentorship programs, or advanced professionally because innovation opportunities, you can showcase your commitment to employee growth and development.

   For current employees, a podcast can provide a platform to share industry trends and thought-provoking content related to their work. By featuring internal experts, leadership interviews, and employee success stories, you can inspire and motivate your workforce. (For more on this subject check out 5 Reasons Why Your Internal Comms Should Be a Podcast)

7.  Increase Revenue

   The goal of a branded podcast is primarily about building affinity, engagement and customer loyalty with your audience. Direct revenue is a longer game, but it will pay off decidedly for brands who get it right.

How do you measure podcast ROI?

The most basic metric that people obsess over when it comes to podcasting is number of downloads. However, for a branded podcast what we’re really interested is the impact on your brand. Here are the metrics that will help you determine whether your podcast is having a positive impact on your brand:

• Time spent listening/episode completion rate

• Positive mentions or increased activity on social

• Number of positive reviews of the show

• Impact on website traffic after show launch

• Sign-ups for mailing list

It may take several months to see traction with a branded podcast, but with consistent publishing schedule and a solid marketing strategy in place, you should be able to see your audience grow over time and stick with you. Podcast publishing platforms provide analytics that will give you a thorough sense of whether or not you are reaching your target demo, and Google analytics will help you see where you traffic to your website is coming from. Tools like Hootsuite allow you to measure “brand sentiment” and track positive mentions.

We recommend doing a baseline check of your brand’s health before you launch your podcast and monitor throughout your first season.

Some examples of branded podcasts done right:

Red Bull - The Red Bulletin podcast tells stories of interesting people and extreme sports athletes. By focusing on narratives related to adventure and exploration, they align with Red Bull's energetic brand image.

Casper - Inside Casper shares stories that aim to improve sleep and overall wellbeing. As a company selling mattresses and bedding, Casper uses the podcast to position themselves as sleep experts.

LinkedIn - The LinkedIn Podcast features stories of professional growth and workplace culture. They aim to inspire professionals which connects to LinkedIn's mission of helping people be more productive and successful.

Patagonia - patagonia.com features a podcast section telling stories aligned with their environmental mission. Topics focus on sustainability, protecting public lands, and responsible business practices.

 Have more questions about starting a podcast for your brand or business? Give us a shout!