209 Million People Listened to Online Audio In The Last Month
From Gerber babies to grandmas there is something for everyone to indulge in these days with podcasts. Organizations, companies, non-profits, and the like, listen up! Your people, yes your employees, are already listening!
To be specific, 73% of the U.S. 12+ population (an estimated 209 million people) have listened to online audio in the last month*. As of this writing, over the last week, 217,595 podcasts published at least one new episode according to Podnews. New episodes are being published every week and capturing the attention of your employees. You need to get in on the action!
Many companies have realized their employees are already listening so as a result companies are using internal podcasts to better align their workforce with company leaders, goals, values, innovation, and news. Organizations are leaning toward an engaging information distribution medium that can support business goals as well as employee goals.
If podcasts already have your employees' attention, why not use that to your advantage? It may feel intimidating to understand where to start with creating a corporate internal podcast so I’ll share a few programming ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
Peer-to-Peer Interviews
Colleague Corner - Select pairs of senior leaders to have a rich conversation where they essentially interview each other. This style of even exchange interview offerers an opportunity for employees to see leaders connecting in real time and for little-known facts or stories to be shared.
Mentor Hour - Highlight internal relationships where a mentee interviews their mentor in the company. This can also be an avenue to honor rising stars allowing them to interview colleagues they admire. This fosters community building and growth opportunities for your work force.
Employee Profiles
Spotlight - Feature storytelling profiles of colleagues' career trajectory including clips from people who have worked with them in the past, impacted their lives, and people working with them in the present. Share how they make an impact on the company/business contributing to creating a better place to work. You can model interviews after podcasts like How to Be Awesome at Your Job or Switch, Pivot or Quit.
Microsoft reports that their internal podcasts, which features interviews with executives, product demos, and news updates, have a high engagement rate, with 40-50% of employees listening to the podcasts regularly.
Informative
Quick Takes - Share new and noteworthy information that impacts employees or the business in a concise and time-saving manner. You can model your style after news podcasts like The Journal or Skimm This.
When creating digital audio content for your workforce community in the form of a podcast, you want to create with intention. Think of the gaps in your internal communication channels. How can a podcast help you fill in the gaps in your employee communication channels? Think of the connection your employees have with your company culture. Can the connection with your company culture be stronger? Think of the reach your senior leadership has. Can the reach of your senior leadership be greater?
If you answered yes to any of those questions then you should explore how an internal podcast can strengthen your company culture and communication. Mayzie Media may be able to guide you. Click here to find out more.
* Edison Research - 2022 Infinite Dial study (https://www.edisonresearch.com/the-infinite-dial-2022/)