Marketing strategy: building customer loyalty with podcasts

There are many strategies for building customer loyalty, but few that work. 

And yet it's a crucial issue, since bad customer experiences cost brands 9.5% of their revenues. 

But I've got good news for you: the podcast can be a game-changer. And it's currently only used in this way by 36% of brands.

You doubt it? Give me 5 minutes of your time to prove my point...

Here we go!

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The rise of user experience (Post covid)

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If e-commerce giant Shopify has invested $100 million in customer relations platform Klaviyo, it's for a good reason... Customer experience is crucial.

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This is confirmed by the Qualtrics study, which indicates that 73% of companies will devote more energy and effort to customer engagement.  

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However, this trend has been going on for several decades and has been accelerated by covid. 

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Brand growth

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In the past, creating a brand took a considerable amount of time. 

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But above all, the cost of entry made it almost impossible for new, low-budget actors to get in on the action.

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Digital technology and changes in the law have drastically altered this element. Inevitably, competition is increasing, and so is consumer choice.

Consumer infidelity 

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"74% of French consumers say they are ready to stop buying from a brand that has betrayed their trust" (Adobe Trust study - April 2022). 

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One bad experience and your brand is in jail. 

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Consumers get what they want in 3 clicks. 

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The need for renewal

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The result? 

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Brands are looking for new techniques, strategies and tactics to evolve their customer experience and build loyalty. 

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In luxury goods, for example, many brands have created concepts such as : 

• Jimmy Choo and his Choo Café in London
• The first Louis Vuitton Restaurant in France 
• Dior and its spa on the Seine

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But these brands have all developed one strategy in common: creating their own luxury brand podcast. 

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Podcasts: a UFO for building customer loyalty

There are many ways to determine whether a new marketing tactic or strategy is worth the investment in time, money and resources. 

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These may include : 

• Sales, 
• Customer loyalty, 
• Total number of prints 
• Acquired knowledge. 

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Branded podcasts can achieve all these goals when done right.

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But above all, podcasts, by their very nature, go further... Read on to find out why podcasts are the best way to build customer loyalty. 

A medium adapted to the uses of 2022

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"We conducted research with users and learned that they want to stay informed but are busy, so they appreciate an option to keep up with the latest news while cooking dinner, running errands or exercising."

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Emily Chow, Site Product Manager at The Washington Post

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These words from Emily Chow sum up the power of the podcast. It's audio content adapted to the needs of modern consumers. 

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This is confirmed by all the podcast statistics, both in France and abroad, since : 

• 59% of listeners listen to podcasts while doing household chores
• 52% listen to podcasts while driving

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A medium that doesn't sell a product (but a story)

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"Consumers buy stories - and podcasts are a very effective way to tell those stories." 

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Tom Webster, podcast expert and vice-president of Edison Research

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Tom Webster sums up another power of the podcast in a few words: storytelling.

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Because it's the best way to win over customers and build brand loyalty.

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It's no longer a brand that sells a simple product, but a brand with a history that is rooted in time, with its craftsmen of yesterday and its employees of today. 

The "Dior Talks" example from Dior

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https://www.calliope-agency.fr/references-agence/clientssecteurs/luxe 

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This type of podcast works extremely well to build customer loyalty. 

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Particularly for brands with a strong heritage or values. 

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This is the case with Dior, with whom we have launched Dior Talks, highlighting the people who make up the House of Dior through a series of speeches over time. 

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Weekly broadcasts are an excellent way to keep in touch with all your communities.

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A medium that provides more qualitative data on your customers

Why do you think marketing, communications and sales managers are the hosts of their own brand podcast? 

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Quite simply, because the more human podcast format delivers much more customer data than a 5-star rating based on customer experience. 

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Here you have the chance: 

• To hear your customers' stories about your brand, 
• Their fears, 
• Their hopes,
• The problems they encounter, 
• Their joys...

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In other words, everything that advances brand identity. 

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A medium that offers a deeper connection with your customers

As a marketing or communications manager, when was the last time you had a long, non-product-focused conversation with a customer? 

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It goes back up, doesn't it?

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This is exactly the kind of experience the podcast offers, but best of all, these conversations are available online for all your other customers to discover : 

• How you listen to their needs,
• How you adapt your products/services for them,
• How you think about your whole brand so that it's based on deep-rooted values.

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This information will help you decide : 

• What type of content to produce,
• What a new product to launch, 
• How to promote a new product/service, 
• Which influencers to work with.

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Examples of podcast strategies to build customer loyalty

While keeping abreast of current events remains extremely popular, the advent of the internet and social networking has had a major impact on the world's leading magazines. 

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And if many of them still exist today, it's thanks to their ability to innovate. 

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The creation of specific audio magazines 

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Whether it's "The Daily" from The New York Times, the BBC in the UK or Les Echos in France, they've all launched their own audio "publishing programs". 

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The aim of all these programs is to attract and retain audio fans, so that they can continue to consume their news. 

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"Yesterday's readers are tomorrow's listeners".

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The powerful idea behind it is to have understood that paper is not the only format, and that yesterday's readers are tomorrow's listeners. 

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Now these magazines can also be enjoyed via Google Home or Amazon Alexa. 

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Audio text with Danish magazine Zetland

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Zetland, a Danish online magazine launched in March 2016 with over 14,000 Danish-speaking members. 

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Since the summer of 2017, this magazine has published, every morning, two/three long articles available in text format and... In audio version. 

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Why this choice?

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Faced with the magazine's loss of growth, and with no audio business model in existence at the time, Zetland wanted to respond to the demands of its members and launched into audio. 

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The result? 

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• In just 2 months: 40% of consumption was audio.
• In less than 6 months: 50% of consumption was audio.
• Today, audio accounts for 70% of product consumption. 

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Best of all, audio has improved member loyalty and satisfaction. 

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Who consume more, for longer and in a more committed way. 

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Proof of this can be found in the magazine's latest operation, which involved turning members into brand ambassadors. 

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Results: +25% growth with 2806 new paying members. 

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And you underestimated the power of the podcast...

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