“Every podcasts starts with zero listeners…it’s a little daunting every time you do it”
Andy Bowers of Panoply said that he feels like working in podcasting is like working in the early film industry. There are some business models coming through: branded/custom, white label, subscription, windowing, donations, IP sales and Ad supported and at Radiodays Europe Podcast Day he discussed each of these options;
Branded content are podcasts produced for a specific company, Andy spoke about a partnership with GE. GE wanted to resurrect an old TV show but as a podcast, as a drama, something which listeners will enjoy. He showed the success that this podcast achieved through a branded podcast.
White label is good but doesn’t provide a pay day if the podcast become successful.
Subscription podcasts, how do you get people to pay a monthly or yearly fee? Slate+ is for dedicated podcast fans, this is for fans of the original show who then get a raft of benefits for being a member of this paid for service.
Stitcher is the biggest company trialling windowing, Sticher Premium is offering Wolverine at this time. But the jury is still out on if companies will get enough people jumping through these ‘windows’.
A donation model is interesting ‘Patreon’ / Paypal but it works only on very specific podcasts.
Intellectual Property for example - Gimlet has a whole unit for optioning but this is at the moment a bit of a pie in the sky concept. Watch this space…
Ad Supported podcasts are still the main area of revenue for podcasting. One example is Malcolm Gladwell and the Revisionist History ads.
Podcast Ads are effective for getting people to buy products. They are now at a premium and where as before Ads were burned into podcasts Panoply can create dynamic Ads. Megaphone (a Panoply product) can now send personal ads to individuals (in the US only). This is the first time podcasts can do this and it's attracting big brands to Podcasting.
Andy shared some ideas on content which included what’s working and what is not. What's working is True Crime. Underlying this is compelling narratives for any kind of story. Hosts are now recruited from people who already have a large social media following, this jump starts podcasts. “Shows which teach something you want to learn are really important”.
“Podcasting is 100% opt in all the time...what's compelling about yours”. Podcasting is all about the audience it’s not about producers or podcasts which talk down to the listener or dictate content to the listener.
Andy also spoke about building an audience and Google’s entry to the search for Podcasts. This could be revolutionary for podcast discovery!
He finished by saying the best way to promote your podcast through other podcast! Trading promos, partnerships etc but this is in its early stages.
"Podcasting maybe growing up as a business there is a lot of room for surprise hits...please take chances!'