Podcasts have become all the rage this year. More than half of Americans listen to a podcast in 2021 (Podcast Insights). As of February, there were 1,950,000 podcasts and 47+ million podcast episodes available for listening. To give you some context in 2020, there were 30 million podcast episodes available (Podcast Insights). What growth we’ve seen in these early months of 2021!
Like me, you may have your favorite podcasts. And you may be wondering why in 2021 podcasts are even more popular than in 2020? Well, in this blog post, I will discuss 3 reasons that podcasts are even more popular in 2021 than in 2020. So, stay tuned!:
Reason #1: The COVID-19 Pandemic:
Around this time last year, like me, you found yourself in the very real and unsettling early days of the pandemic Staying at home, living under lockdown, and experiencing massive disruptions to everyday life drove us all to find new ways to stay connected with one another, informed, and entertained. As a result, more people turned to podcasts to do just that. And that habit has only continued to grow in 2021 as we all continue to live through this pandemic. In fact, 60% of podcast listening occurs at home (Forbes).
Reason #2: Low barrier to entry:
In my previous post entitled “How to Start Podcasting,” I talked about how easy it is to begin podcasting. And 2021 has proven that the ability to start a podcast has become even easier. It’s more affordable and accessible. For example, to start your podcast, you simply need a good microphone, beginner-friendly editing software (e.g. Audiogram or Audacity), a computer, and some headphones. Afterwards determine your podcast’s host (e.g. Libsyn, Podbean, Blubrry, and Anchor) and you’re good to go!
Reason #3: Effective Marketing Tool:
In this multi-media landscape we find ourselves in, podcasts have become a dominant player in terms of businesses successfully marketing. In another one of my posts entitled, “Are Podcasts Good for Business? ” I touched on the benefits of podcasting like building your brand awareness and building relationships. 2021 has shown that businesses small, medium, and large are finding podcasts as a great way to reach audiences, build brand awareness, and brand loyalty as well as continue to foster relationships with audience members. In fact, 68 million Americans listen to podcasts weekly (Podcast Insights). The opportunity to have such a captive audience for your brand messaging has led to many joining the bandwagon and getting into podcasting.
So, what are you waiting for? What’s holding you back from starting a podcast of your own? If you desire to host your own podcast, start now. You can learn and tweak along the way as you gain audience feedback on your way to hosting a successful podcast.
That’s all for now folks. Until next time!
-Paula