Driving in your car, going for a run, relaxing at home or sitting at your desk are all good times to listen to the latest podcast. You can find ones on just about any topic, from comedy and hobbies to music and politics. Some of the most popular ones even end up being turned into TV shows.
While video might have killed the radio star, podcasts have continued to grow their audiences. According to Edison Research:
- 112 million Americans have listened to a podcast, which is about 40 percent of American ages 12 and older
- 67 million Americans listen to podcasts monthly, up 14 percent from 2016 to 2017
- 42 million Americans listen weekly
- Users listen to an average of five shows per week
- More men (27 percent) listen to podcasts each month than women (21 percent)
- 80 percent listen at home, 47 percent in a car, 29 percent at work, 28 walking around, 20 percent at the gym and 19 percent riding public transportation
Beyond finding podcasts for entertainment, you can also tune into ones to help with your professional development. Looking for podcasts that will help make you better at your job? Here’s a breakdown of 12 of the top marketing podcasts and what each does best.
Marketing School
Best: Short and sweet
If you’re looking for a quick dose of information, this podcast serves up daily episodes that are about 6 to 10 minutes long. Even the busiest of marketers will have trouble finding an excuse for why they can’t spare a few minutes to better their skills.
The two podcast instructors, Neil Patel & Eric Siu aren’t afraid to go against some of the traditional best practices, encouraging listeners to think ahead and be innovative with their marketing efforts. They bring some new and proactive ideas to the table, which will at the least make you think about what you’re doing.
Some of the topics they cover include how to market your business for less than $1,000, creative hacks, how unhappy customers can help your company, productivity tips and how to convert visitors into customers.
This Old Marketing
Best: Applying trends
Joe Pulizzi (author and founder of the Content Marketing Institute) and Robert Rose (founder of The Content Advisory), know that content marketing as a strategy has been around for much longer than most of us think and that storytelling is one of the oldest forms of content marketing. Each episode of “This Old Marketing” runs less than 60 minutes and covers three sections:
- Content Marketing in the News (their perspective on what’s happening)
- Rants and Raves (a one-minute rant on something that doesn’t sit well with them in the content marketing industry)
- This Old Marketing Example of the Week (in this segment, the seasoned marketers chat about a marketing example from the past that practitioners can still learn from today)
“This Old Marketing” wrapped its final episode this past December, but all 211 episodes are still available for when you need a dose of content marketing inspiration.
Social Media Marketing
Best: Social techniques
If you can make it past the enthusiastic Australian man’s jungle introduction, you’ll find a wealth of social media pointers and strategies to improve your marketing efforts. Hosted by Social Media Examiner’s Michael Stelzner, the podcasts are posted about once a week and are on average 45 minutes long. Topics include Facebook ads, LinkedIn native videos, explaining Facebook’s algorithm, chatbots, YouTube remarketing, how to create engaging Instagram stories and ways to grow your business on Snapchat.
It shares actionable tips — not just general ideas — giving you the information you need to make something happen. The podcasts cover the what, why and how to achieve the social goal that’s being talked about in each episode, making this a good option for marketers focused on improving their social media presence and results.
The Chief Consumer Officer Human Duct Tape Show
Best: Customer-centric tips
To Jeanne Bliss, a company’s CCO, CMO, and CXO all act as the ‘human duct tape’ of their organization. In this podcast, the five-time Chief Customer Officer and author of “Chief Customer Officer 2.0,” converses with CCOs around the world to swap stories of how they transformed their operations, leaders, and businesses. If you’re curious about the leadership of some of the most established global companies (Airbnb, Walgreens, Audi, The Smithsonian Institute, Adobe, Barney’s New York), you’ll want to have a listen as they share winning strategies and various learning opportunities.
Many of the episodes even focus on industries where customer experience is sometimes overlooked (such as the education and healthcare industries). “The Human Duct Tape Show” is updated weekly, so there’s plenty of episodes to listen to on the way to work.
Marketing Over Coffee
Best: Timely information
Catch up on the week’s marketing stories with this podcast that’s recorded in a coffee shop. They post episodes once a week, and they’re normally about 20 minutes long. This podcast focuses on the current marketing updates without being “newsy,” as one of the hosts likes to say.
Some topics they cover include branding yourself, cutting-edge sales techniques, the future of modern marketing, SEO, email marketing and interviews with industry influencers. It’s a conversational podcast where you can really dive into topics that probably aren’t being covered in the office.
Crack the Customer Code
Best: Career advice
“Crack the Customer Code” offers tons of “timely and timeless” strategies for engaging with today’s consumers and improving their experience with your brand. Many of the episodes feature interviews and conversations with executives, entrepreneurs, and other customer-facing professionals who share lessons they’ve learned throughout their careers – the good and the bad.
New episodes of “Crack the Customer Code” are constantly being released (nine in November alone!). And with over 300 episodes to date as it is, it’ll probably be quite some time before you catch up with Adam and Jeannie completely.
Online Marketing Made Easy
Best: Startup tips
You aren’t given some magical how-to guide when you start marketing your company, so this podcast from Amy Porterfield helps get you going and fills in the gaps with tips and techniques you might not know. Her weekly podcasts typically range from 45 minutes to an hour and feature marketing experts, masterclasses and step-by-step guides.
Listeners will learn from topics like content creation process, generating traffic and profits on Pinterest, a behind-the-scene look at businesses, success stories and getting started with Facebook ads. Even longtime marketers can learn from this podcast, especially if there are certain areas or topics you aren’t as experienced with. Plus, the guest speakers share insight that anyone can appreciate.
Experience This!
Best: Retention specific
Customer experience expert Dan Gingiss partnered up with retention advisor, speaker, and teacher, Joey Coleman to create “Experience This!,” a podcast that delves into innovative and engaging ways to surprise your audience. Each episode of “Experience This!” runs through relevant and hot-button issues in the world of customer relations.
Gingiss and Coleman are huge believers in practicing authenticity and engaging with customers in a personal and personable manner. With sixteen episodes currently available, “Experience This!” Is just getting started – but Dan and Joey have already released multiple episodes in 2018, so their future looks pretty bright.
Social Pros
Best: Real social insight
Named the best marketing podcast by the Content Marketing Awards in 2015, it’s no surprise this one makes the list. Through a variety of interviews with influencers during the podcast, hosts Jay Baer (Convince & Convert) and Adam Brown (Salesforce) share how big companies succeed with social media.
The episodes run anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, and you’ll hear from social media strategists like the CEOs of Bitly and Foundr, just to name a few. Some of their topics include the role of social in B2B and B2C, benefits of location-based social efforts, how to grow your Facebook page, how Krispy Kreme does social media and new social strategies. For a marketer deep in the trenches, this podcast gives you real examples of how others are succeeding and what’s new in the industry.
The Sales Journey Podcast
Best:Sales’ cycle focused
If you’re an entrepreneur, Tasha Smith’s “The Sales Journey Podcast” may be a great tool at your disposal. Each podcast episode falls into one of three categories: making more sales, setting more appointments, and self-improvement that will translate to your business. Many of “The Sales Journey’s” episodes revolve around building confidence as a service provider; in doing so, you’ll feel more prepared when helping your customers or clients achieve their goals.
This podcast is updated weekly, and currently has close to 200 episodes, so you’ll get plenty of tips on how to take your business to the next stages.
Bonus Podcast Picks:
Navigating the Customer Experience
Best: Psychology based
Navigating the Customer Experience, dives deep into the theoretical aspects of customer service and experience, and advises how to put those theories into practice. The show is hosted by Yanique Grant, a customer experience expert and business coach who works with entrepreneurs and chats about how improving their teams physically, emotionally, socially, will help their business.
Grant often discusses the psychology behind consumers’ actions, and how companies can meet these psychological needs. Navigating the Customer Experience is updated pretty sporadically, but currently offers almost 60 episodes for you to catch up on.
TED Talks
Best: Relevant inspiration
A good way to get your day started is by listening to one of Ted Talks’ podcasts. They aren’t all focused on marketing, but the insights, current events and expert advice these episodes cover are messages all professionals can learn from and appreciate.
Their videos are normally 18 minutes or less and cover a range of topics including artificial intelligence (AI), conservation efforts, benefits of good business, the search for “aha” moments and dozens of others.
They also currently have 22 talks on marketing featuring a variety of speakers, along with two playlists on marketing: “Work Smarter” and “How We Make Choices.” You can find these by searching TED Talks by topic and clicking “marketing.” The group posts multiple podcasts each week, so there’s bound to be something that catches your attention. And with such a large following, you’re sure to find others to discuss the latest podcasts with.
Find the Right Marketing Podcast
There are plenty of knowledgeable experts sharing their advice, so take advantage of the insights you can find. You can subscribe to one or 10, depending on your schedule and what all you want to learn more about. And one of the best parts about podcasts is that the vast majority are free.
If you’re more of a visual person, many of the marketing podcasts are also available in video format so you can see the faces behind the voices. There really is something for everyone, so start subscribing and learning!