The B2B Podcast Wave: Grow Your Brand Through Podcasting

In 2019, people said B2B podcasting would never catch on. It’s just a fad. It’ll fade. And we’ll get back to our tried-and-true marketing channels in a year or two. 

Casted didn’t see it that way. We predicted a B2B podcast wave, and, ahem, it’s happening. 

But don’t just take our word for it. Let’s look at what the data says about how powerful B2B podcasting is for brand growth.

Podcast Audiences Have Grown Significantly in the Past Few Years

In 2018, there were over 525,000 active podcasts with over 18.5 million episodes (FastCompany). By 2021, active podcasts had tripled to over 2 million with over 48 million episodes (Podcast Insights).

In 2022, monthly podcast listeners grew by 6.1% year-over-year to 125 million listeners (eMarketer). By early 2023, Edison Research found that:

• • 42% of Americans 12 and older have listened to a podcast in the last month, a new all-time high and up from 38% in 2022. 
  • The majority of Americans aged 12-54 (53%) have listened to a podcast in the last month. 
  • 31% of Americans 12 and older have listened to a podcast in the last week, up significantly from 26% in 2022.  
  • Weekly podcast listeners listened to an average of nine podcast episodes in the last week, up from eight episodes in 2022.

Seven out of ten podcast listeners (CloudIncome) consume the channel at times when they consume no other digital marketing channel, often while doing other things like exercising, housecleaning, commuting to work, and going for a walk with 49% of podcast listeners tuning in at home and 22% listening in the car (Podcast Insights). 

Edison Research has also learned that in terms of how audiences discover podcasts: 

• • 30% of new podcast listeners search the internet to find new shows.
  • 19% ask friends and family for podcast recommendations.
  • 17% use social media.
  • 6% take host recommendations.
  • 7% hear suggestions from advertisements on other audio programs.

According to Edison Research’s Super Listeners 2021 survey, audience members who listen to at least five hours of podcasts per week also discover podcasts through YouTube most often (19% of super listeners).

Podcasting Has Become a Powerhouse Marketing Channel 

Because podcasts impact audiences unlike any other channel, it should be no surprise that B2B brands continue to expand investing in them, and branded podcasts are playing a bigger role in overall marketing strategies.

• • Podcast ad spending is expected to hit $1.74 billion this year (Statista). 
  • 18% of US-based companies plan to leverage podcasts and audio content in their marketing strategies (HubSpot). 
  • The amount of branded content in podcasts increased by nearly 82% between 2020 and 2021 (Chartable). 
  • In 2022, 82% of marketers plan to continue investing the same amount or increase their investment in podcasts or other audio content (HubSpot). 

B2B Decision Makers Listen to and Watch B2B Podcasts

As a B2B business, you want to know how to reach your target audience, and podcasting has become the perfect channel for connecting with the decision makers you want to become your customers.  

• • 43% of decision makers say they use branded podcasts to get business-related content as a top channel for B2B content (MarTech). 
  • 44% of C-suite executives, VPs, and department heads consume podcasts (LinkedIn).
  • Roughly 50% of customer service reps have listened to a podcast at work (EX-IQ).

According to Sapio Research, podcasts tie with email newsletters, webinars, and social media as the most preferred channels for buyers. They beat out industry-specific publications (39%), newspapers (36%), virtual industry events (35%), and in-person conferences (9%).

What a B2B Podcast Does for a Brand

Sometimes an organization’s leadership is skeptical about the ROI and growth a B2B podcast can deliver. The truth is podcasts are a longer play, but they garner an engaged audience and drive a brand’s business goals unlike any other channel. 

According to a BBC study, organizations with branded podcasts see:

• • 89% higher awareness.
  • 57% higher brand consideration.
  • 24% higher brand favorability.
  • 14% lift in purchase intent (consideration of purchase upon hearing ads) on average.
  • 16% higher engagement and 12% higher memory encoding among listeners than the surrounding content.

Additionally, podcast listenership is relevant to B2B brand growth:

• • 52 million US households listen to business podcasts (Nielsen). 
  • 54% of podcast listeners consider buying brands they hear on podcasts (Edison Research). 
  • 61% of podcast listeners are at least somewhat more likely to consider buying from a brand after hearing a podcast advertisement (CloudIncome).

And if you amplify your podcast content across multiple channels using clips from the episodes, your audience is more than willing to share that content with other potential listeners and viewers:

• • 62% of podcast listeners say they'd be more likely to share podcasts with friends if they were able to share one short segment or highlight of it, rather than an entire episode (CloudIncome).

Let Your Podcast Grow Your Brand

The B2B podcast wave is still rolling on and shows no signs of fading away. Whether you leverage your show for brand awareness, thought leadership, or customer outreach, podcasting is the most authentic way you can connect with your audience and show them who your brand really is. 

Here at Casted, we see podcasting as the best way to create content for repurposing and promoting your show across all channels. In fact, we call this Stage 4: Multichannel Expansion where you begin to use your show to further grow your brand and your marketing strategy. If you’d like to see which stage your podcast is at on our B2B Podcast Maturity Curve, take our quick assessment.