My Favorite 11 Marketing Podcasts

This blog post is the latest installment of my growing Advertising Agency Resources list. I’ll get to the Top 11 essential marketing podcasts below. But, first, a bit of my personal podcasting history. I’ve been hot – then cold – then hot on this subject.

I was early into the podcasting arena starting a series of podcasts for my Oregon agency Ralston360 (it eventually became Citrus) the mid-2000’s. I fell in love with podcasting because a producing a weekly audio podcast series was relatively easy and being early into podcasting made our agency look like we were ahead of the curve. Sometimes I get ahead of the market – I think we were in the case of podcasting. It was one of my ‘shiny pennies’.

Our audio content included 1:1 interviews and episodes based on our thought leadership white papers. I liked that the podcasts could be delivered via RSS and it got my agency on the global iTunes platform. It also gave the agency something fairly new to talk about to our clients and prospects – looking like you have your agency’s finger on the digital pulse is a very good thing.

Here’s a review on how we promoted our podcasting skills from a 2006 article on our program from BuzzSonic.

Podcasting FAQ Via the Virtual iPod

Here’s a clever idea. Marketing and design specialists Ralston360 have come up with a great angle to market their services, a streaming video that explains all the basics of podcasting all wrapped up in a ‘virtual ipod’.

There’s also a free 14 page whitepaper, ‘Podcasting-the Pod Has Landed’ (in PDF format) on the website (in exchange for your email, natch!) which explains a bit more. They also have another free download, ‘To Blog or Not to Blog’ which kind of speaks for itself but is worth a look for newbies if you’re thinking of starting your own.

We promoted our podcast skill set via a website that featured an interactive iPod that you could scroll to get to various ‘how to’ sections. That’s the scrollable iPod to the left. It was one of the agency’s coolest and best promotional efforts and got us lots of attention. Here is a link to the podcasting white paper on SlideShare mentioned above. Remember, this was written over ten years ago.

The Shiny Penny Has Landed: Podcasting is Hot

Podcasting has seen a recent surge. Much of it, unlike the olden days, is now slickly produced by large media companies like NPR. Here are a couple of resources that help to explain the current positive interest in podcasting. That said, take a look at the Six Degrees of Separation podcast below. There is at least one major agency cranking these out on a very consistent basis.

TechCrunch.

TechCrunch’s article “The Future Of Podcasting” is a smart article on where podcasting is going and why. As you can see from their chart, podcasting is rising after a fall from grace (remember my shiny penny dates) in the mid-2000’s.

PEW.

Additionally, PEW Research center published its Podcasting factsheet in 2015 that shows the growth of podcasting.

In the fall of 2014, the medium of podcasting achieved a milestone moment. The podcast Serial – which reinvestigated the 1999 murder of Maryland high school student Hae Min Lee – became the fastest podcast to reach 5 million streams or downloads in iTunes history. Although the success of Serial – a spinoff of WBEZ’s This American Life – clearly represented a new peak in the popularity of podcasts, Pew Research Center data show that the medium has, in fact, been steadily growing its audience over the past two years.

Read the factsheet here.

11 Best Advertising and Marketing Podcasts

Finally…the list of the top 11 advertising related podcasts. Like most of you, I listen in my car or at the health club. I was a major listener when I lived in New York and had a lovely hour-long commute. My Portland commute is now only ten minutes. This has severely reduced the amount of time I listen. I wonder if the use of podcasting is higher where people spend more time in their cars = Los Angeles and even Montana or on the subway.

Build A Better Agency. Drew Mclellan’s series is dedicated to the art of advertising agency management and new business. Listen up.

Tim Ferris. I became a Tim Ferris addict after reading his brilliantly titled best seller, “The Four Hour Work Week.” Tim combines a very active and curious mind, an effervescent talent for self-promotion in the best sense and a very long list of talented friends to interview. I find at least 75% of his podcasts (and blog posts) to fall in the zone of high mental stimulation. Of course, one of his recent interviews is with Seth Godin.

Duct Tape Marketing.  Another serious and broad look at the tools and techniques marketers are employing today. 

Foundr Magazine. Nathan Chan interviews some of the most successful founders in the world to find out what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur. Go for the osmosis.

TED Radio Hour. If you don’t have the time to watch TED Talks, then listen to them via their podcast.

Six Pixels Of Separation. A secret…  Leverage the power of social media to grow your agency. One of the most active advertising agency leaders using social media is Canada’s Mitch Joel (CEO of WPP’s Mirum) and his Six Pixels Of Separation podcast which, as of today, get this, has 508 podcasts. Clearly a record and what should be an inspiration to any agency CEO who values the marketing power of looking smart and building fame for his agency. Oh, you’ll see just one of the reasons why I love this podcast by clicking on the link.

Sound Opinions. Now that we’ve killed the record / CD store, it seems like it is more difficult (as in time consuming) to know what’s going on in music. I get my fix from MBEZ’s Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis. Listen to this and have something other than Steph Curry to talk about at those client dinners.

Freakonomics Radio.  The Freakonomics team explores “the hidden side of everything”. From the economy, headline news to pop culture. A great example is the “Economics of Sleep” show.

#ASKGARYVEE. Best-selling books, one of the fastest growing advertising agencies, and a renowned wine business. Gary is the energizer bunny of agency CEO’s. Listen to this show about how to accelerate business growth. Your clients are probably listening to him.

Smart Passive Income. This podcast series from Pat Flynn will do two things for you. 1. It will make you much smarter about the universe of digital strategies and tactics (even how to do a podcast series). But, more importantly, 2. It will help you figure out how to make money by building your own online business. Pat made over $171,000 last month – not working for the MAN and he will tell you how. A way to get past advertising.

Social Media Marketing. Michael Stelzner’s podcast is designed to deliver the latest news and perspectives on social media. There is a very good chance your clients listen, so you better too. Need an up to date Facebook strategy? Listen to this show.

More & More Online Resources

This post is just one more element of my Big Advertising Agency Resource List. Let me know if I am missing anything.