by Lori Berson | May 10, 2022 | Digital marketing, Marketing, marketing technology
Overview
With pandemic shutdowns, the ‘great resignation’ (leading to millions of start-ups*), supply chain disruptions, and increasing inflation, it’s been tough to bring in new business.
We’ve seen many small businesses, professionals, and independent contractors struggling to either jumpstart sagging sales or get a new business off the ground. Many have considered hiring a marketing agency, a marketing consultant, or adding to staff but that can be expensive when budgets are tight and talent is limited. In looking for a way to help the business community that has been so good to us over the years, we came up with the idea to write ‘Ready-Made Marketing.’
Take the guesswork out of marketing.
Designed to help people succeed, the book is a quick and easy DIY marketing resource that enables those who don’t have marketing expertise (or the money to hire it) to market themselves, their services or their businesses and start seeing immediate results. Ready-Made Marketing is not about writing marketing plans or strategies; it provides practical, customizable templates for a variety of business-building situations, step-by-step instructions for using proven and effective marketing tactics, and over 400 technology resources that are affordably priced or free.
Abbreviate what you have to do to lighten your workload.
The book is action-oriented; it’s not a novel to read through nor does it require a major time commitment. For example, if you need to write a cold email, you can choose from a variety of templates or if you need a video script, you just go in and pick one. Or if you need a technology resource (e.g. video recording software, content creation tools, podcast hosting, among others) you can select from 21 categories or use the authors’ choices.
Whether you’re starting a new business, want to increase revenue for your current business, or know of someone who needs to jumpstart sales, this book is a game-changer.
To make 2022 a better year, check out Ready-Made Marketing.
*According to the U.S. Census Bureau:
- In 2020, there were more than 4.4 million new businesses; the highest total on record.
- This is a 24.3% increase from 2019; 51.0% higher than the 2010-2019 average.
- ½ million new businesses were started in January 2021 alone.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in marketing and sales automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
![Podcast Engagement [Research]](https://bersondeanstevens.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Podcast-1080x675.jpg)
by Lori Berson | May 6, 2022 | Marketing, Podcasts
According to results from the latest Edison Research Infinite Dial report, produced in partnership with Wondery and ART19, podcasts have are increasingly popular with middle-aged adults.
Mixed Trends in Podcast Reach
This 2022 report finds that 79% of US respondents ages 12 and older are familiar with podcasting. The podcast audience also continues to expand, as 62% of respondents say they’ve ever listened to a podcast. This figure has climbed virtually every year since 2006, and is up from 40% in 2017.
However, while more people have listened to a podcast than ever before, regular engagement with podcasts has slipped, which the report attributes to a return to pre-pandemic routines. As such, this year 38% of respondents report having listened to a podcast in the last month, down from 41% in last year’s survey. However, this figure remains higher than those registered in 2020 (37%) and 2019 (32%) as well as in prior years.
Likewise, weekly podcast listening has also dipped slightly. This year 26% report having listened to a podcast in the previous week, as compared to 28% last year. Once again, this year’s result continues to be higher than in 2020 (24%), 2019 (22%) and earlier years.
Middle-Aged Adults Go Against The Trend
The percentage of Americans ages 13 and older who listen to podcasts on a monthly basis declined across age groups and genders, with one exception: 35-54-year-olds. Instead, the proportion of Americans in this age group having listened to a podcast in the previous month ticked up from 39% last year to 43% this year. By comparison, the percentage of 12-34-year-old respondents listening in the past month fell from 56% to 50%, while for those ages 55 and older it dropped from 26% to 22%.
Meanwhile, slightly fewer male respondents this year (41%) than last (43%) had listened to a podcast within the prior month, with engagement also dipping among female respondents (39% to 36%).
Another measure of podcast listening also shows that the middle-aged group is heavily engaged. Though the report doesn’t break out the percentage of respondents who listened to podcasts in the previous week by age group, it does look at the number of podcasts listened to among weekly podcast listeners by age. The results here show that although one-third (33%) of weekly listeners ages 12-34 listen to more than 5 episodes in the previous week, that figure rises to 38% among 35-54-year-olds. Indeed, the number of episodes that weekly podcast listeners tuned into during the prior week averaged 8.9 among the 35-54 bracket, compared to 8.3 for the 12-34 group and 4.9 for the 55+ group.
Recent study results suggest that Comedy is the most popular genre among 25-54-year-old podcast listeners, followed by News, Society & Culture, and True Crime.
The Monthly Podcast Listener
Men are over-represented in the monthly podcast listening audience, according to the Infinite Dial report. While they account for 48% share of the 12+ population, they represent 53% of monthly podcast consumers of that age, compared to 46% share for women and 1% for non-binary/other. However, men’s share of the monthly podcast listening audience has edged down over the years, from 55% in 2017. A recent Nielsen report has also found an increase in female listeners, noting that the number of heavy female listeners – those tuning in 10+ times per month – almost doubled between November 2019 (5.38 million) and November 2021 (9.27 million).
As for the age distribution of monthly podcast listeners, a declining share are ages 12-34 (47%, down from 51% in 2017). The share who are aged 35-54 remains flat from 2017 at 33%, while the share who are aged 55 and older has grown from 16% to 20% during that period. This also aligns with research from Nielsen, in which adults ages 55 and older have been found to represent a growing share of the podcast audience at the expense of younger adults.
As for the race/ethnicity of monthly podcast listeners, this year’s study finds that 59% are White, down from 66% in 2017. Some 16% are African-American, up from 12%, while another 16% are Hispanic, up from 11%.
Online Audio Engagement Rises
Unlike with podcasting, the percentage of US respondents ages 12+ who listened to online audio in the previous month rose this year, reaching 73% after spending the past couple of years at 68%. The rise was particularly noticeable among the 35-54 (81%, up from 72%) and 55+ (52%, up from 46%) age groups.
Weekly online audio listening (referring to AM/FM radio stations online and/or streamed audio content available only on the internet) also climbed to reach two-thirds (67%) of respondents, up from 62% last year and 60% the two years prior.
About the Data: The results are based on a January survey of 1,502 people in the US ages 12 and older.
Need assistance with podcast production and promotion? Schedule a call or email Lori Berson at lberson@BersonDeanStevens.com.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in marketing and sales automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
by Lori Berson | Apr 26, 2022 | Digital marketing, Marketing, Podcasts
EMarketer forecasts that US podcast ad spending will surpass $2 billion next year and $3 billion by 2026. Podcasts will account for over a quarter of digital audio services ad spending in 2022 and will be more than a third of spending by the end of 2026.
Most digital audio monetization will come from recorded music for the foreseeable future, but podcasts’ share of the market has grown—and will continue to do so. Previously only employed with experimental budgets, podcasts are becoming a crucial component of multimedia ad campaigns.
More than half of advertisers said they planned to increase their podcast ad budgets in 2022, according to a poll of 255 US advertisers conducted by Advertiser Perceptions in August 2021. Nearly half (46%) planned to keep their budgets the same, and just 1% planned to reduce podcast ad spending.
The survey also showed overall digital budgets were the most commonplace that advertisers pulled their podcast ad budgets from.
Most advertisers did not have dedicated podcast budgets. About half used their digital audio budgets to fund podcast campaigns. As podcast ad spending increases and accounts for a greater share of total audio ad dollars, more advertisers are expected to break out podcast-specific budgets. Having dedicated budgets could help centralize campaign planning and measurement for advertisers committed to podcasts over the long run.
Need assistance with your podcast marketing strategy and production? Schedule a call or email Lori Berson at lberson@BersonDeanStevens.com.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in Marketing Automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
