To show that this article is about podcast trends

Emerging Podcast Trends 2023 and Beyond

By podcast | June 16, 2023

Podcast trends have significantly shaped the industry since the advent of podcasting in early 2004. What once started as a niche hobby has transformed into a mainstream medium, engaging millions across the globe.

If you follow podnews, you will note that these trends fluctuate weekly!

Looking toward the future, it’s clear that these podcast trends, both current and emergent, are redefining the industry.

So, let’s delve into some podcast trends that you should keep your eye on:

Increased Interactivity

Spotify has introduced Q&A and polls, allowing podcasters to engage their audience more effectively and gather feedback. This trend will likely continue, with more interactive features introduced on listening apps to make podcasting a two-way communication medium.

With Q&A, you can pose a question to your audience that shows up under your episode title on Spotify’s mobile app. 

Responses are private unless you publish them.

Once you receive responses, you can publish them so everyone can see the conversation on Spotify.

It's to show that interactive podcasting is a new trend that's coming down the pike.

Spotify Q&A

With the polls feature, you can ask your audience a question that will be shown below your episode’s description on Spotify.

Then, you can create several choice prompts for your audience to answer.

It's to show the new podcast trend Spotify is capitalizing on, "polls"

A screenshot of the polls feature

If you’re a podcaster, you can access these Spotify tools by heading to Spotify For Podcasters.

  • To get started, log in and add your RSS feed.
  • Next, click on “Interact.”
  • Finally, click on Q&A or Polls.

Video Podcasting

Video podcasting has been around for a while now. BUT it’s really blown up in the last 1-2 years. More and more podcasters are adding a video component to their show or taking a “video first” approach.

Driven by YouTube, this trend was pioneered by Joe Rogan and other comedic personalities.

The appeal of video podcasting lies in its ability to create a more immersive and engaging experience for the audience, often fostering a sense of connection between the host and viewers.

Podcast Clips, Shorts and Reels

Podcast video clips offer an effective method to promote podcasts on social media platforms by providing visually appealing snippets that can stoke the interest of potential listeners.

These short, shareable pieces of content can reach a wider audience, encouraging more user engagement through likes, shares, and comments and potentially increasing the podcast’s overall visibility and listenership.

Moreover, these video teasers provide:

  • A glimpse into the podcast’s content and tone.
  • Helping audiences to decide whether it aligns with their interests.
  • Thus aiding in attracting a more targeted and engaged audience.

Some of our video podcasting resources:

Growth of Niche Podcasts

As the podcast industry grows, there is an increasing demand for niche content. Listeners seek podcasts catering to their specific interests, whether a particular hobby, profession, or topic.

This trend should continue to grow, with more niche podcasts emerging and gaining popularity.

Here’s a list of some of our favorite niche podcasts:

AI In Podcasting

The trend of using Artificial Intelligence in podcasting is proving to be an invaluable tool in creating transcripts and show notes for podcasting.

AI-powered transcription services can convert audio content into text with high accuracy and efficiency, enhancing accessibility.

Additionally, these transcriptions make a podcast more search-engine friendly, improving its discoverability.

AI is also assisting in generating detailed show notes, allowing listeners to easily navigate through different sections of the podcast and making it easier to find specific information or topics discussed in an episode.

In post-production, AI tools significantly reduce the time and effort required to produce high-quality audio content. Solutions like Adobe Podcast and Descript’s Studio Sound offer automatic noise reduction, eq, and compression.

These tools enable podcasters to create polished, professional-quality audio without extensive audio engineering expertise.

The purpose of the image is to show Descripts workflow.

Descripts Workflow

AI tools allow podcasters to focus more on their content and less on technicalities, democratizing podcast production.

These Artificial Intelligence systems can conduct comprehensive guest research, summarizing a potential interviewee’s background, work, and perspectives, helping hosts to prepare informed and engaging interview questions.

Also, AI can aid in creating podcast scripts. Scripted podcasts are a trend that is continuing to grow. We love this and have used ChatGPT to script our podcast, Clipped. It  saves a ton of time and enhances the overall quality of the content.

Monetization Opportunities

As the podcasting industry grows, so do the monetization opportunities. While advertising has traditionally been the primary source of revenue for podcasters, other monetization methods are becoming increasingly popular.

These include donations, crowdfunding, premium content, and live events. 

The future could also see podcast monetization trends that still need to be explored.

Here are some trending services that podcasters are using to monetize:

B2B Podcasts

B2B podcasts, audio content businesses produce for other businesses are emerging marketing tools. By focusing on industry-specific insights, they offer value and foster operational improvement.

Primarily targeting decision-makers within particular sectors, these podcasts build brand awareness and establish thought leadership.

A casual and humanized approach allows brands to market without directly selling, thereby cultivating trust, credibility, and relationships. 

This method presents the faces and voices behind a company and significantly enhances brand affinity.

Some great B2B podcasts:

Repurposing Podcast Content

Repurposing podcasts into other forms of content has become a popular trend, significantly enhancing content reach, engagement, and marketing efficiency.

This process involves extracting valuable pieces from your podcast and adapting them into various content forms such as blogs, tweets, video clips, LinkedIn articles, or even inspiring quotes.

This podcast trend, which has seen substantial growth in recent years, taps into the potential of maximizing content multiplication.

It shows how podcast repurposing is a trend that's going to continue

Repurposing is relatively easy to do and is a highly efficient strategy. 

For instance, a single podcast episode could be transformed into a detailed blog post, social media posts, and engaging video clips.

This approach extends your content’s lifespan and enables you to reach different audience segments who prefer diverse content formats.

Some repurposing services for podcasters:

Internal Podcasts

Internal podcasts are audio content created by a company for its employees. These podcasts are often used for internal communication, providing updates, sharing company news, introducing new initiatives, or discussing industry trends.

Internal podcasts are valuable to companies and employees as they foster a sense of community and improve communication and employee awareness.

Companies use them as an effective tool to communicate company culture, goals, and updates casually and personally.

For employees, these podcasts can offer a convenient and enjoyable way to stay informed, as well as feel connected to the company’s mission and values.

Our bet is that more companies will adopt internal podcasts moving forward.

The Rise of International Podcasts

While podcasting has been predominantly English-speaking, the future will see more podcasts in other languages. 

As podcasting technology becomes more accessible worldwide, more creators from different countries and cultures can share their voices.

The Spanish market is blowing up, with many good shows shaping the podcasting ecosystem.

Here are a couple of cool Spanish podcasts to check out:

Navigating Future Podcast Trends

The medium has matured from humble beginnings to become a potent interaction, education, and entertainment tool.

The podcast revolution has only just begun – it is up to us, creators and consumers alike, to leverage these developments to keep the audio wave rolling, expand our worldviews, and keep the conversations going.

Keep Learning, Keep Engaging, Keep Creating,

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