Yesterday, I listened to a particularly interesting episode from the podcast ‘Advertising is Dead’ called Brands, Audio and Modern Platform Ecosystems which featured Arjun Kolady, Head of Sales of Spotify. The episode apart from tracing Arjun’s journey also talked about the rise in consumption of audio as product that is offered and how audio content is seeing a lot more user engagement as compared to visual content. This did not make that much sense at first but when they elaborated a bit on it, it almost surprised me as to how had I not noticed that about myself.
The past one year has brought a lot of change in what my daily routine used to look like as compared to the year before that. The cut-down in commute time to absolute zero freed up a considerable amount of time for other activities like taking an evening walk ,cycling or helping out in household chores. Though, these activities also gave rise to consumption of passive content so that these activities could also become a bit more fun. Unlike the feeling I get after completing a web series, listening to podcasts be it on productivity, mental models, public policy or anything that you find interesting leads to one feeling way more satisfied. But, have you noticed how advertising has also started seeping in into this medium? That is where things get interesting.
Last week I was reading a little about social commerce and how micro-influencer marketing is on the rise. Anyone who is familiar with Instagram knows how these influencers nudge you into looking or even buying that health care product or try that coffee scrub or be a part of certain FMCG’s xyz campaign. According to the statistics, influencers with following less than 35,000 see a 5.6% user conversion for that particular product but influencers with following more 100,000 see a less than 1% user conversion for that product. Though one particular thing about social commerce is that the products that are being sold on Instagram is the products that have high aesthetic value and low price. Most of us while scrolling would not want to make a purchase of more than a 1000 rupees. But, advertising through podcasts works differently.
For anyone who has been a fan of ‘Not Overthinking’ has heard numerous amount of times how Skillshare and Brilliant sponsors their podcast and how we can use their code to avail certain discounts. Over here, I would be keen to subscribe to brilliant which would introduce me to ways to enhance my analytical skillsets because the podcast is about productivity. So even if the membership price is nearly 5000 for a year, I would not hesitate as my intentions and expectations are different as compared to when I am on a social media app. Listening to the podcast mentioned in the beginning of this post got me thinking about this particular thing and how a medium becomes excessively important to understand consumer behavior and what could be the price range through that medium.
Similar to micro-influencers on Instagram , certain podcasts also develop a loyal audience over time and but unlike influencers, from my observations , podcasts are reaching an audience who is way more invested in them and their content as podcasts are usually for a minimum of 30 minutes whereas a post (apart from all the stalking :P) sees an engagement of less than a minute. Hence , you can also promote products that are expensive and add more value as compared to the products that the influencers promote.
It is interesting to note how targeted the advertising is becoming with each passing day and you will be buying or subscribing before you know it.
Weekly Musings 