A guest blog article from The Podcast Host, our TCMA 2015 Gold Partner
written by Colin Gray
Trends are funny things. They can seem both invisible and unmissable at the same time. They’re invisible because often you don’t see what’s happening right under your nose. They’re unmissable because, by the time you realise what’s happened, you can easily think back to all the signs that you spotted along the way.
Content marketing is full of them. Take blogging as an example. How many months or years did you faithfully follow blogs that you enjoyed, before you suddenly realised it was a movement. Right then, with trend in full flow, the point of entry is so much harder. It was the same with social media. How easy was it to grow a huge Twitter following if you went all-in at the right time? Now, it’s still possible, but the effort is leagues apart.
So, with that said, I’m going to make my trend-predicting statement and wait for the howls. I believe Podcasting is at that tipping point. It’s still at the invisible stage, because vast swathes of the population are completely unaware of the medium’s existence. But it’s unmissable because the word appears everywhere, almost covertly (as in, people aren’t entirely sure what it means) on radio, in the media and on your smartphone.
Now is the time to get in, before we tip over into full trend-flow and the rush begins. I know, I know, that’s been said a dozen times over the past decade. But I’ll stick by it. And best of all, I’ll even try to convince you. So, without further hyperbole, Here’s why now, really, honestly this time, is the time to get into podcasting.
Podcasting is (Still) New
First out of the gate, the simple one, podcasts remain an impressive creation. The platform is still perceived as new and innovative despite having been around for over a decade.
If you’re in podcasting, you’re seen as an early adopter and a leader in your field. Despite the fact that the technology is very easy to use, it confuses people, so being a podcaster is still something that impresses people.
Furthermore, tied to that is the fact that, because the platform is (still) in it’s infancy, the competition is much, much smaller than many other mediums. The last stats I heard stated that there were hundreds of millions of blogs in existence, but only around half a million podcasts. How’s that for an easier market?
Podcasting is (Still) Growing
Again, even though podcasting is over 10 years old, the medium is still growing steadily. In the past 12 months, however, progress has really picked up. We’ve seen a whole new round of “the renaissance in podcasting” hype, thanks to a few different factors.
The first of these is the tech. Podcasting apps have improved by leaps and bounds, and last year Apple made the decision to have their Podcast app as a default on the iPhone. That means millions of iPhone users now have an app that they can’t get rid of just sitting there screaming the word ‘podcast’ at them. It can’t help but attract some new listeners.
The second factor is the success of two shows in particular: Serial and The Startup Podcast. Serial went seriously viral last year when it covered the story of a high school murder that occurred many years ago. It was a relatively new format for podcasting – more of a reporting, documentary style, and with a very high production value. Serial hit the news and got the word out about podcasts in a way noone had before. It showed that podcasts could be mainstream and has encouraged a lot more production money to enter the field since.
The Startup podcast didn’t make it quite so big, but it still hit amazing numbers relative to the average show. The remarkable thing about The Startup Podcast, though, is the fact that it charted the ‘Startup’ of a full-scale company dedicated to making podcasts. To be honest, this isn’t new and shows have been produced by companies like this under the radar for years, but thanks to the great storytelling, this caught people’s imagination.
Here was a fledgling company, Gimlet Media, entering a media space which, if not a young area, is certainly still in it’s professional infancy. They showed that professionals, founders and investors see enough potential here to throw some serious money and effort at getting involved. If they see the potential, then surely it can benefit everyone else, from small to big business.
Now is (Really) the time
As I said earlier, it’s been said before and it’ll be said again: now is the time. The difference in this case, to me, is the confluence of tech and industry money.
The technology is finally here that makes it easy for your average user. You no longer have to be a geek to figure out how to download one of these things.
The money is now here for new businesses to form around podcasting, and for old business to invest in it. This is important, because with that, many more will start to advertise on the medium. And that’s what we need: pennies and pounds thrown into making podcasting visible to the wider public, now that the tech is there to support them. That’s something that Serial has started, albeit in a viral way rather than funded and sustained.
I really believe Podcasting is set to explode for all these reasons, and if you’re not in before the crowd, then you ARE the crowd. So, get moving.
Colin Gray.
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