Podcasts have become mainstream in American media consumption, giving businesses another way to reach audiences through long-form, personality-driven content. RIAs can use podcasts to create deeper connections with clients and prospects, showcase their thinking and generate material that can be repurposed across video, social media, articles and email.
But podcasting is not automatically the right use of an RIA’s resources. Firms with $1 billion to $15 billion in assets under management (AUM) may have the scale to support a podcast, yet still need to weigh production costs, time, ability to commit, audience fit and opportunity costs against other marketing and prospecting channels.
In Part 1 of this two-part series on podcasts, we examine what RIAs should consider before deciding to launch a podcast.
“While resources are always a battle, the great thing about podcasting is the limited budget required compared to the considerable output delivered,” said Christopher Norton, Chief Marketing Officer of Potomac. “Every episode provides long-form opportunities for engagement with your brand.”
But experts warn podcasts are no surefire strategy. Firms must do them well, including finding the right host and audience and producing high-quality content that consistently engages audiences.
And then there’s the opportunity cost. For RIAs with $1 billion to $15 billion in AUM, does dedicating long-term resources to podcasts represent a better investment than more traditional marketing content and client development?
“Podcasting isn’t for everyone,” said Kelly Waltrich, Founder and CEO of Intention.ly. “It takes personality and the ability to carry a conversation without it sounding scripted. You need a point of view, not talking points. And you need to project whatever tone your firm wants to represent your brand.”
Time And Money
Producing a podcast can require three to five hours per episode or up to 10 hours a week, if producing it in-house. Susan Theder, Chief Marketing and Experience Officer of FMG Suite, estimated outsourced production at $200 to $1,000 a month, while Waltrich put agency costs at $3,000 to $5,000 a month.
“The biggest lift isn’t recording itself but the operational elements: planning the conversations, handling scheduling, and building the promotional assets, then post-production and distribution,” Waltrich said.
Potential Benefits
“Podcasts create a personal, intimate connection that’s hard to replicate elsewhere,” said Theder. “Other benefits include brand authority, deeper client education, expanded organic reach, and networking opportunities through guest interviews.”
Katherine Paulson, Chief Marketing Officer and Partner of Haven Tower Group, said
“A podcast gives advisors and executives more room to share their thinking (and) an opportunity to share their stories and allows clients and prospects to get to know the people behind the firm.”
Said Waltrich: “Podcasts build thought leadership over time. They humanize advisors and generate content you can slice into clips, quotes, blog posts, which keep working long for you after you hit publish. Podcasts can also deepen relationships with clients and centers of influence, and they pull in prospects looking for more substantial information than an ad. Unlike paid media, podcasts compound.”
Moreover, a really good episode or series of episodes can produce a seemingly endless stream of content the firm can use in the future, including clips, quotes, blog posts and social media posts.
“You are literally building a library of content about your brand, your story, why you do what you do, and why you work with the people/partners you have chosen,” Norton said. “This can then be repurposed across mediums for promotion, furthering the efforts of the podcast to brand-build.”
Challenges
Firms must commit to producing a consistent, high-quality product.
“Inconsistent publishing is the biggest risk,” Theder said. “Many podcasts stall once the schedule slips.”
She also cited compliance and record-keeping issues, slower measurable ROI and difficulty standing out in an increasingly competitive market.
Paulson said firms should first ask themselves the purpose of their podcast.
“The biggest drawback is starting one without a good reason for doing it,” she said. “There are already a lot of podcasts competing for attention. If the subject matter is too broad, too promotional or episodes are produced inconsistently, it can be difficult to build and keep an audience.”
And producing inferior, half-hearted podcasts can damage the firm’s reputation.
“Sporadic publishing does more damage than never starting,” Waltrich said. “And a bad podcast can hurt your brand more than no podcast at all.”
Podcasts Or Something Else?
Most experts say firms should carefully think about whether podcasts can accomplish their goals better than other forms of marketing, but Norton sees the equation more favorably, saying podcasts can deliver considerable marketing output with relatively few drawbacks when done well.
“I would start with who you are trying to reach and what you want to accomplish,” Paulson said. “A podcast makes sense when your audience will listen and you have people who are good in that format. If those things aren’t true, the same time and budget may be better spent on other marketing efforts.”
Said Theder: “Firms should match tactics to their capacity: newer/smaller firms with more time than money often lean into content like podcasts, while larger firms weigh the soft-dollar time cost against proven channels.”
Errors To Avoid
“The biggest mistake RIAs make with podcasts is a failure to commit,” Norton said.
“They start, don’t see immediate results, and give up. The average podcast has about seven episodes. It took Potomac three years before we started seeing meaningful results, but we kept our head down. Now we have individual episodes with 100k+ views.”
Theder said RIAs should focus their efforts on reaching specific groups rather than courting a mass audience.
“Too many advisors aim for broad appeal instead of speaking to one ideal client type: a retiring engineer, a business owner exiting a sale, etc.,” she said. “Narrowing the audience makes topics easier to generate and makes the show more useful to the listeners who actually become clients.”
Paulson said a podcast shouldn’t be too promotional in tone and advisors should avoid assuming the show will attract an audience on its own. Even quality podcasts still need marketing support.
And a podcast’s success depends not just on download numbers but audience interest, she said.
“A smaller, highly relevant audience can be far more valuable than a large disengaged one,” Paulson said.
Thomas Lee, Senior Editor and Staff Writer at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at thomas.lee@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
