Event Tech

Podcasts Are In: Grow Event Engagement With Podcasting

Eventually Learning Team

07 September 2022

Read time 6 Minutes 5 Seconds

“Your podcast content should not be about you, but about solving your prospects’ problems.” – Steve Lubetkin

Dear event organizers, take a closer look at the past few years. Do you notice any change? The pandemic has necessitated the need to take events and the entire industry virtual. With trends like live streaming and virtual meetups, one can often overlook audio-only events and podcasts. But you may be making a mistake!

The demand for podcasts and audio-only events has risen drastically. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Reddit have their own voice-based chat room spaces.

Twitter – Spaces
LinkedIn – Audio events
Facebook – Live audio rooms
Spotify – Podcasts and Greenrooms
Discord – Stages
Reddit – Reddit Talk

In addition, according to various event marketing and content professionals, podcasting is one of the biggest untapped marketing channels for businesses, brands and events. Since traditional marketing channels are saturated and being omnipresent is the new trend, why not venture into the world of podcasts to maximize engagement about your event?

Let’s take a closer look!

Why Should Event Planners Opt for Podcasting?

If you think podcasts are an obscure medium for entertaining a selected group of enthusiasts, you are wrong! The resurgence in podcasting after the pandemic has been tremendous and is currently being leveraged by big brands and event companies. 43% of US men and 39% of US women listen to podcasts and female listenership reached an all-time high in 2021. (Buzzsprout).

For example, EventLand is an extended community of event professionals from InEvent. They started their podcast known as ‘Event Horror Stories,’ which talks about real-life mishaps and horror tales that occurred in the lives of event professionals in the midst of executing world-class events! It currently has two seasons and the latest one debuted on 4th February, 2022! Through podcasts, you can actually get to know your audience personally, which is good for business. Organizers can even use podcasts as a medium to disseminate news about their future events to increase event attendance.

How to Get Started with Podcasting?

Through podcasts, attendees can meet one another before the event. They can easily pair up in networking sessions to discuss potential collaborations and business. Even the organizers can record the valuable feedback from attendees to tailor event sessions based on attendee preferences. But how to start with podcasting? Let us assure you that it is not complicated!

Here’s how to start your own podcast to increase event engagement.

Step 1 – Draft an email asking your event stakeholders for a suitable time to appear for the podcast.

Step 2 – Based on everyone’s availability, decide the topic of your podcast. Or it can just be about interested attendees joining you over coffee to discuss their interests.

Step 3 – Spread awareness about your podcast through different social channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Reddit. You can even partner with media organizations to spread the news about your podcast through ads, press releases and news.

Step 4 – Podcasts need not necessarily be virtual! You can even plan a hybrid podcast to meet some attendees in person while hosting others virtually.

Step 5 – Invite industry personas or venue hosts to co-host the podcast with you! An additional host will increase the chances of attendees coming to your podcast.

Step 6 – Use sound recording tools, a USB microphone and a podcast mic to host your show. In addition, you can also leverage platforms like Ringr that make podcasting easier using your smartphone.

How Can Podcasting and Event Engagement Go Hand in Hand?

If you have planned an event and it’s just around the corner, you can host pre-event mixes through podcasts to generate buzz around your event. Offering attendees with pre-event podcasts can:

Build anticipation around your event
Help attendees to know one another for B2B partnerships
Increase trust by offering interaction opportunities with the faces behind an event
Act as conversation platforms for knowledge exchange and query resolution
Build a stage where creative business innovation and ideas are exchanged amongst like-minded individuals

Podcast listeners are more likely to engage with brands and follow them on social media (Buzzsprout).

If you are running a big conference or a summit, you can create a series of podcasts and invite conference speakers and subject matter experts to share their unique insights. If it’s a multi-day event, you can record daily updates through your podcasts and upload them on platforms like Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

Wrapping Up

Podcasts are the sure-shot path to success in modern event content marketing! While other marketing channels are saturated, podcasts can be your golden ticket to increased event engagement and awareness. For example, if you plan to host a health and fitness event, you can invite a sports coach or a famous personality on a podcast to talk about his routine. Later, these episodes can be used as promotional tools for inviting attendees to register for your event.

Create well-matched podcasts for better event marketing and engagement in 2022!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you market a podcast for a B2B event?

Some of the best practices to market a podcast for a B2B event are:

Make sure that you go niche and create a podcast for a targeted group of individuals
Invite experts and famous personalities
Keep it short
Advertise on all social channels
Look for partners and sponsors
Broadcast frequently

How do podcasts go viral in the event industry?

The steps mentioned below can help your podcast become popular in the event industry:

Pick an untapped niche and become an early mover
Schedule a release of at least three episodes on launch day
Use tools that track listenership and leads to use for future marketing
Grow your mailing list to send out frequent invites
Interview esteemed guests and tell them to market your podcast on their channels
Send podcast links to aggregators and podcatchers for publicity

How do you monetize a podcast for an event?

Podcast monetization is possible, and this is how you do it:

You can create original content and gain exclusive rights and sell it to paying customers
You can use your podcast as a forum to market a brand product or a service
If it’s a charity podcast, you can ask for donations
You can create paid membership episodes
You can sell sponsorships or ads through your podcast
You can syndicate your show to YouTube and enable monetization.