From getting the fill of fads and trends to keeping your eyes on the industry shake-ups, it is an exhausting work being a marketer. Luckily, there’s a whole host of content on-the-go flying around the digital landscape right now. PODCASTS!

Podcasts are a great tool to absorb knowledge on-the-go, in the car, at the gym, or just while doing your work (In fact, I’m listening to The Digital Marketing Podcast as I write this post). Perhaps that’s why they are now big business.  

So, what’s a podcast anyway?

If I borrow Mike Judge’s word, a podcast is “radio on the internet”. it’s a hybrid between “iPod” and “broadcast” and loosely refers to recorded audio discussions on a specific topic, like startups or travel, and can be listened to on your schedule.

Generally speaking, podcasts:

• indicate spoken-word interviews and discussions rather than music tracks/albums.
• are ‘on-demand’, rather than live broadcasting.
• have standalone episodes that may last anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or so.
• have a recurring schedule: daily/weekly/monthly.
• are mostly free

Each podcast typically has a website where the episodes are hosted on. With downloadable media, you can either listen to it using apps like iTunes and Spotify or on your PC.  

How Popular Are Podcasts?

They are more popular than ever before! Just how popular are they, you may ask? The worldwide data looks something like this:

• 36% of the global population have listened to a podcast.  
• South Korea leads the world in the percentage of podcast listeners in the past month with 58% (Statista The State of Podcasting).
• Right now, there are 850,000 plus active podcasts, and more than 54 million podcast episodes (Podcast Insights, 2020).
• As of April 2020, Apple Podcasts crossed 1,000,000 podcasts in total (Podcast Insights, 2020).
• In 2019, Google has indexed over 2 million podcasts, says Zach Reneau-Weeden, Product Manager for Google Podcasts.

That’s a whole lot of podcasts! It also means there are thousands of podcasts just for marketers. Here are 5 of the top marketing podcasts every marketer should listen to in 2020.

5 Must-Listen Podcasts For Marketers

1.    The Garyvee Audio Experience

What is it? A mix of #AskGaryVee episodes, as well as interviews, marketing keynotes, and fireside chats of Gary Vaynerchuk.

Host(s): Gary Vaynerchuk 

Topics: Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Digital Marketing 

When? Daily

How Long? Everything from 30 minutes to an hour and beyond

This social media juggernaut has around 2.1 million twitter followers and a vast, loyal YouTube subscriber base. I suspect many of you already know Gary Vee very well. For those unfamiliar, Gary Vaynerchuk is a Business mastermind, CEO and Founder of VaynerMedia, public speaker, NY Times bestselling author, and has been named in the Fortune’s “40 Under 40” list.   

In what originally started as a YouTube series, Gary gives a no-fluff, honest pulse of what’s going in the world of marketing. We live in a digital age so, knowing what’s working, what isn’t, and what are the trends and innovations is imperative. That’s exactly why everyone from budding entrepreneurs to marketing pros bombard him with #AskGaryVee.

Gary’s podcast also documents his daily life as he bounces around keynotes, meetings and pursues his biggest dream of buying New York Jets – all while finding time for his wine projects. 

Heads-up – true Gary Vaynerchuk style may turn off some people. But if you can side-step the ‘colorful language’, this is the podcast for every marketing lover out there.

2.    Marketing School

What is it? Quick little sessions on Digital Marketing

Host(s): Neil Patel & Eric Siu

Topics: Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Business

When? Daily

How long? 5 – 10 minutes

Ever wonder why Marketing School is seeing close to a million monthly downloads? Because this is not the regular hour-long podcast we’re used to. The Marketing School is, typically, short 5 to 10 digital marketing bursts by Neil Patel and Eric Siu. Speaking of the duo, they need no introduction in the marketing community – they are the industry’s best SEO experts.

Not only do they bring the niche lessons learned over the years but also their success and failure stories. They broadcast plenty of content including SEO, SMM, SEM, and content marketing tactics that best work today. Occasionally they cover related topics as well – personal branding, mastermind groups, favorite marketing books, and running start-ups, for example.  

I really love the fact that they add links to several resources in the notes; this helps to learn something new every time.

Marketing keeps on evolving; second by second. Whether you listen to one quick episode, or you binge a few within your commute or lunch hour, there’s a lot of learning to take away from Marketing School.

3.    The Authority Hacker

What is it? Two online marketing veterans sharing their experience building and running affiliate & authority sites and blogs

Host(s): Gael Breton and Mark Webster

Topics: Niche Website Building, SEO, PPC, Marketing

When? Weekly

How long? 30 to 60 minutes

Before launching The Authority Hacker Podcast, both Gael and Mark used to run a digital agency together. Then, they started building authority websites that will rank on Google and generate some income. When the duo decided to share their experience, it was a no-brainer.

Sure, the weekly sessions are geared towards people building their sites, however, the lessons apply to SMB as well as enterprise marketers. They try to keep the audience informed about trending SEO, PPC, SMM, SEM topics, and more.  

The ‘X’ factor, according to me, is that they share actionable advice with strategies and tips. I find this a lot more helpful than vague ideas that many online marketing podcasts air.

Another favorite part about The Authority Hacker is its format – more like a discussion among two besties. They are transparent and they argue with each other a bit, which helps listeners see both sides of tactics.

Listen to them, and learn how to grow and monetize blogs and sites.

4.    HBR Ideacast

What is it? Insightful interviews with titans in the business and management world

Host(s): Alison Beard and Curt Nickisch

Topics: Career, Leadership, Business and General Marketing   

When? Weekly

How long? Rarely longer than 20 minutes

Harvard Business Review (HBR) is a hub for classic and innovative business ideas and insights – and their podcast, HBR Ideacast puts these into snackable audios. In each episode, the hosts Alison Beard and Curt Nickisch, senior editors at HBR, dive deep into different aspects of what makes the guest of the week a success.

HBR Ideacast has episodes on everything from the art of asking for help to rethinking poverty and business. Past guests include former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Google’s Eric Schmidt, and investor Marc Andreessen. You can expect a lot of brilliant minds – thinkers, innovators, academicians, CEOs —to be present in this podcast.

The HBR team keeps it short — 15 to 20 minutes long – but the lessons are invaluable for improving your professional and personal skills. The best part: for each episode, there are supporting articles and longer pieces of content available on the Harvard Business Review website.

5.    The CMO Podcast

What is it? A deep dive into the mindset of today’s CMO’s

Host(s): Jim Stengel

Topic: Business and Marketing

When? Every Monday and Wednesday

How long? 25 to 60 minutes

Jim Stengel, the industry trailblazer and former Chief Marketing Officer of Procter & Gamble, sits down with Industry’s best CMO’s to crack their marketing mindset.  

What makes The CMO Podcast different is how each episode turns out to be a masterclass. Jim comes with the right questions and has perfect empathy with the guest’s world and, you get to hear each CMO’s journey in its raw form. It is more storytelling than it is a Q&A.

Just in case you are not convinced yet, you need to check out the inspirational guest list: CMOs of Uber, Roku, KFC, Lowe’s…. it goes on!

Jim publishes new episodes every Monday and Wednesday. Last week, David Kidder, co-founder, and CEO of Bionic gave some serious advice on how businesses should use unconventional ways to reach out to the customers.

If you are a new marketer finding your passion, the CMO Podcast is a MUST – there are 60 killer episodes to listen to!  

Your Turn

There you have it, the top 5 niche podcasts that are equally brilliant in their way. These are my personal favorites, and I can guarantee that there is a lot of learning to take away. 

A few minutes each day, your smartphone or PC, and an active internet connection – that’s all you need to get answers to some of your burning business or marketing questions.

Happy Listening!