Many people are listening to podcasts now. A recent survey revealed that 50% of U.S. homes are podcast fans. Podcasting is quickly becoming a more mainstream medium or entertainment, news, and education for millions of people.
Part of the millions of podcast fans include people like myself and many Chamber Champions like yourself. Some Chamber Champions fell in love with podcasts and thought, why don’t I do a podcast for my Chamber? Some others had member businesses approach the Chamber about doing a podcast and even offered to do it for them! Um, YES! What a great offer.
As Chamber Champions, we know that it is not always best to follow our own instincts. In most cases, we need to do a little research and collect data before pulling the trigger on an idea.
Chamber Podcast Benchmark Survey
I recently conducted a Chamber Podcast Benchmark Survey to provide the data you need before you start your own Chamber podcast. You can download the results of this survey here.
New Communication Channel
By looking at the results of the Chamber Podcast Benchmark Survey, you will notice that most Chambers who are podcasting have been doing so for less than 2 years. What we saw was a big pivot during the onset of the COVID pandemic as Chambers were looking for other forms of communications. Many saw podcasting as one of the answers to open a new communication channel to push out information to their community about COVID protocols and information for local businesses to stay alive. Others noticed the opportunity to share with their community the breadth of work that the Chamber does as most people have no idea.
Authority Influence
Some Chambers see the podcasting space as a way to create more of an authority influence in their community. They are able to go into in-depth topics with community leaders and experts. These Chambers are able to position themselves as relevant by showing their knowledge base and well of information to truly be the go-to resource for their community.
Engagement for Advocacy
We can all empathize with lower than desired social media engagement and email openings. Chambers have noticed that since most podcast listeners actually listen to 86% or more of each episode, that it is a great way to share the advocacy efforts that you are making on behalf of your members and community.
Promote Member Businesses
Almost every Chamber that I have received feedback from is using the platform of their podcast to promote their member businesses and non-profits. They do this through interviews and sponsorships. You can get creative with an “announcement” portion to highlight new members or members with exciting news to share.
Storytelling
Of course the best way to do all of these things is through storytelling. We have heard for years that Chambers need to be storytellers. Well, I can’t think of a better platform to tell stories than a podcast. You can tell the stories of your members. Your great members can tell stories about how the Chamber has served them over the years. People relate to and remember stories! When it comes to marketing your organization or your members, a story can stir emotions and resonate with the listener in ways that other mediums fall flat.
Start Your Own Podcast
If you want to learn more about starting your own Chamber podcast, I would invite you to visit chamberchatpodcast.com/pivot. I have provided some free resources to help you get started.
You may find this quick video from Izzy West helpful too. Izzy shares 5 ways that a podcast can benefit your Chamber.