The Ensombl podcast catalogue can be found here.
Financial advisors have had a tough few years. Inflation, market volatility, QAR uncertainty, there has been a lot to keep them awake at night.
But spare a thought for marketers, who are facing challenges of their own, different yes, but equally vexing and equally demanding of innovative solutions.
Things once considered articles of faith – especially by B2C marketers – are increasingly under question.
You are more likely to climb Mt Everest than click a banner ad
Banner ads, for example, have long been derided debated throughout marketing circles. Scientists believe because we are largely conditioned to know what a banner ad looks like and where it is likely to appear (especially on sites we visit frequently), we tend to become ‘blind to them’, and as a result, click-through rates can be disturbingly low. A few years ago, one well known US study calculated that – compared to the likelihood of clicking on a banner ad – the typical website user was:
- 87.8 times more likely to be accepted into Harvard
- 475.28 times more likely to survive a plane crash
- 279.64 times more likely to climb Mount Everest
And then there is the ever-present spectre of invalid and fraudulent clicks, a problem estimated to cost marketers around the world more than $23 billion per year (according to a 2019 study by the University of Baltimore).
Let me say as a relatively recent – and satisfied – user of banners in local financial trade media, some generalisations don’t always apply. But you get the point – if your main objective is generating leads, a banner ad probably shouldn’t be expected to do the heavy lifting.
The death of organic reach
Organic reach through social media, once a reliable and cheap way to drive traffic, is on the wane, as more and more platforms are shoring up their bottom lines with a pay-to-play approach.
According to the Digital 2022 Global Overview Report, Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm restricts the average visibility of non-promoted content to just 5.2%, meaning only one in 19 people who like a page would see a particular post. Even LinkedIn has tweaked its algorithm to reprioritise paid content within a feed. Nowadays, your LinkedIn content will almost always only be seen by your first-level connections and direct followers.
Cookies to be phased out by Chrome
And then there are the myriad changes to privacy laws globally, the catalyst for the end of cookies. Already phased out by Firefox and Safari, the world’s most popular browser – Chrome – has just started a similar process, which will see it cookie free by the end of 2024.
It is cookies, with their ability to precisely track, identify, and segment users from their internet browsing patterns which made possible modern-day marketing mainstays, like programmatic and retargeted advertising.
And now they are coming to an end.
But there is a shining light at the end of the tunnel, and it isn’t an oncoming train. What marketers of all stripes should get excited about is that customers – both B2C and B2B – are hungry for content, and they are prepared to pay a price (in the shape of permission to use their data) to access content, provided it is relevant and credible.
Content is still King
Research has shown the #1 selling point for B2B buyers is insightful content, with 51% relying on content for pre-purchase research. In fact, buyers are 5x more likely to engage with sales staff who impart new insights about their business, meaning educating customers is more likely to shift the dial than aggressive ‘shot gun’ blast marketing.
In terms of formats for content, written thought leadership continues to be a winner and a mainstay of many successful ‘mid funnel’ marketing efforts. Whitepapers and eBooks can also be a fantastic way to overcome the tighter privacy provisions because they are the type of resources people will choose to opt-in for.
But the retro side of me also loves the resurgence of podcasting.
Podcasting is a shining light
A bit like QR codes, audio podcasting first came into our lives more than a decade ago, when the iPod was still a thing. However, it was soon usurped by this thing called YouTube, with video content being seen as far more exciting. Fast forward to today, and – thanks to a massive kick along from Covid and the popularity of smart speakers – audio podcasts are big. I mean HUGE. Like Spotify paying Joe Rogan $200 million to host his podcast huge (forget his politics, they aren’t relevant to the point here).
An interesting sidebar about podcasts is the way podcast sponsors are well rewarded by listeners. The effectiveness of advertising within podcasts has been shown to be incredibly effective, with a Nielsen study finding nearly 70% of respondents exposed to podcast advertising agreed it had increased their awareness of new products and services. A staggering 62% of them also correctly recalled the brand advertised in the podcast being tested (trust me, those recall numbers are off the charts).
In a separate survey conducted by HubSpot in the US, 38% of retail marketers said podcast advertising was the channel delivering the best ROI.
Does any of this surprise me? In a word, ‘no’.
Ensombl podcasts drive real impact with advisors
I have seen first-hand the power of podcasting advertising through our own work at Ensombl. Our corporate partners who have sponsored podcasts (either our ongoing Ensombl podcast or more limited episodes bespoke to their needs) regularly rate them among the most impactful elements of their entire marketing mix.
It’s not hard to see why.
You marry a powerful medium with content that based on the insights of our 8,000 platform users, and you are onto a winner – meaningful, relevant content for advisors from the most important influencers within financial advice (advisors themselves).
Unsurprisingly, the Ensombl podcasts are the most downloaded financial advice podcasts in Australia, by some margin.
At the time of writing, listeners our various podcasts had been downloaded more than 800,000 times.
We are seeing more than 15,000 downloads every month.
Which is enough to help any marketer get a good night’s sleep.
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