Pleasantly Persistent PR Blog
Radio vs Podcasts
April 23, 2021
When it comes to interview platforms, it's safe to say that podcasts are so hot right now.
Podcasts have exploded in popularity, in part due to COVID and the social changes it has inspired.
The appeal of podcasts are that they can be played at any time and are low- or no-cost for the audience. Just as importantly, podcasts can create a sense of community among their listeners. This is accomplished through recurring hosts and guests, as well as the episodic nature of podcasts, which allow audiences to binge on content that dives deep into niche issues.
Most of my clients are extremely interested in using podcasts to promote their books, as they should be. But my advice is to not forget about traditional radio.
Podcasts have exploded in popularity, in part due to COVID and the social changes it has inspired.
The appeal of podcasts are that they can be played at any time and are low- or no-cost for the audience. Just as importantly, podcasts can create a sense of community among their listeners. This is accomplished through recurring hosts and guests, as well as the episodic nature of podcasts, which allow audiences to binge on content that dives deep into niche issues.
Most of my clients are extremely interested in using podcasts to promote their books, as they should be. But my advice is to not forget about traditional radio.
While podcasts are the it thing now, in no way, shape or form is radio obsolete. Terrestrial radio remains as important as ever for marketing purposes.
Read on to learn more about the benefits of promoting your brand via interviews on radio vs. podcasts.
Podcasts' Exploding Popularity
Everyone and their mama hosts a podcast these days. This exploding popularity is good and not-so-good.
One the one hand there is a podcast for every community - from the strange history of gnomes to sci-fi futuristic musicals. On the other hand, it means there are a ton of podcasts that are diluting the effectiveness of promoting on the platform (unless you land a spot on an established popular podcast).
In fact, there are an estimated one million plus podcasts as of the spring of 2021. This mind-boggling number suggests that a lot of podcasts don't have much of an audience, and there is little to no transparent demographics data for most podcasts.
Media databases are being developed to capture the details of the growing podcast platform, but from the standpoint of somebody promoting their brand on a podcast, it is hard to ascertain how effective being interviewed on a given podcast will be. What is the podcast's reach? How many people will actually listen?
One the one hand there is a podcast for every community - from the strange history of gnomes to sci-fi futuristic musicals. On the other hand, it means there are a ton of podcasts that are diluting the effectiveness of promoting on the platform (unless you land a spot on an established popular podcast).
In fact, there are an estimated one million plus podcasts as of the spring of 2021. This mind-boggling number suggests that a lot of podcasts don't have much of an audience, and there is little to no transparent demographics data for most podcasts.
Media databases are being developed to capture the details of the growing podcast platform, but from the standpoint of somebody promoting their brand on a podcast, it is hard to ascertain how effective being interviewed on a given podcast will be. What is the podcast's reach? How many people will actually listen?
Fun fact: as of the spring of 2021, there are estimated to be more than one million podcasts and counting.
Radio's Dynamic Reach
Terrestrial radio has become the proverbial red-headed stepchild of sorts, but you really should embrace that child and here's why.
Talk radio shows on the AM and FM dial, unlike podcasts, have an expansive built-in audience with established and transparent demographics.
With podcasts, you have to rely on downloads and the very uncertain hope that the host is popular enough to compel listeners to go to their website, or subscribe to the podcast, and download the specific episode in which you appear.
With terrestrial radio, depending on the market, the audience may be tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of regular listeners. It is not uncommon for a local market broadcast to have 50,000 listeners in a given city or region. That gives interviewees a heck of a lot more exposure than a few dozen people downloading a podcast.
That's to say nothing of syndicated radio shows heard in multiple markets nationwide. These interviews can easily garner over a million listeners. What's more, interviews on terrestrial radio are usually repurposed as podcasts on the show's website so that additional listeners can download and listen to the show at a later time.
Talk radio shows on the AM and FM dial, unlike podcasts, have an expansive built-in audience with established and transparent demographics.
With podcasts, you have to rely on downloads and the very uncertain hope that the host is popular enough to compel listeners to go to their website, or subscribe to the podcast, and download the specific episode in which you appear.
With terrestrial radio, depending on the market, the audience may be tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of regular listeners. It is not uncommon for a local market broadcast to have 50,000 listeners in a given city or region. That gives interviewees a heck of a lot more exposure than a few dozen people downloading a podcast.
That's to say nothing of syndicated radio shows heard in multiple markets nationwide. These interviews can easily garner over a million listeners. What's more, interviews on terrestrial radio are usually repurposed as podcasts on the show's website so that additional listeners can download and listen to the show at a later time.
In other words, with terrestrial radio, interviewees get double exposure via the day of the broadcast and later podcast downloads. A podcast doesn't offer this advantage since they rarely, if ever, repurpose content for terrestrial radio.
The Big Takeaway: Do Both
As you may have guessed, I recommend that my clients do interviews on both podcasts and radio broadcasts. By limiting yourself to podcasts you are not maximizing your exposure, especially to mainstream audiences that stick to terrestrial radio.
I recommend the podcast-radio approach to all clients, especially those who want exposure beyond their niche demographic and are looking to:
Remember, you may be a regular listener of a lot of podcasts and have a lot of friends who are also avid listeners in the podcast sphere.
But your beloved grandma probably isn't.
She's still tuning into Mark Levin or Fresh Air with Terry Gross every day at the same hour on her local AM or FM station. She's not going to pick up her smartphone to stream a podcast any time soon.
And there are a lot of grandmas out there.
Not only are you missing out on a sizable population that only listens to radio, but are skipping an older demographic known for word-of-mouth advertising.
So remember you heard it here folks: radio is not dead! Don't skip out on this important platform when promoting your book or project.
I recommend the podcast-radio approach to all clients, especially those who want exposure beyond their niche demographic and are looking to:
- Sell a lot of books
- Become a thought leader
- Establish their brand to pivot to other endeavours
Remember, you may be a regular listener of a lot of podcasts and have a lot of friends who are also avid listeners in the podcast sphere.
But your beloved grandma probably isn't.
She's still tuning into Mark Levin or Fresh Air with Terry Gross every day at the same hour on her local AM or FM station. She's not going to pick up her smartphone to stream a podcast any time soon.
And there are a lot of grandmas out there.
Not only are you missing out on a sizable population that only listens to radio, but are skipping an older demographic known for word-of-mouth advertising.
So remember you heard it here folks: radio is not dead! Don't skip out on this important platform when promoting your book or project.
To learn more about radio vs. podcasts - and how each can boost your promotional campaign- reach out to me today.
Feel free to contact me
Julia Brown
Book publicist
Phone: +1 619-888-7956
E-mail: Julia@pleasantlypersistentpr.com
E-mail: Julia@pleasantlypersistentpr.com
