Latest / The CMO Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Leadership, Budgets, and Executive Strategy / How CMOs Are Marketing Through Branded Podcasts
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, I want to talk about a channel that a lot of CMOs still treat as a side project, but the numbers say it should be a core part of the marketing mix: branded podcasts. Luna: You mean shows that companies produce themselves, not ads they buy on other people's podcasts. Lucas: Exactly. And I'm not talking about a CEO recording a few thoughts in a closet. I mean properly produced, narrative-driven shows with a clear marketing objective. According to Edison Research's latest survey from Q1 2026, 47 percent of US consumers aged 18 to 54 now listen to a branded podcast at least monthly. That's up from 31 percent in 2023. Luna: Those are big jumps. What's driving that? Lucas: I think two things. One, the quality bar has risen. Shows like 'The Green Room' from Patagonia sound as good as anything NPR produces. Two, CMOs have gotten smarter about attribution. They're not just measuring downloads and smiling. They're looking at listen-through rate, share of voice within the category, and direct attribution via promo codes or unique landing pages. Luna: Let's talk about Patagonia's show specifically. I've listened to a few episodes. It's about outdoor athletes and environmental activism, not about Patagonia's jackets. That feels intentional. Lucas: Very intentional. Patagonia's head of brand marketing, Sarah Pearson, said in a 2025 interview that the show's goal is to deepen the relationship with existing customers, not to acquire new ones. And it works. Listeners of 'The Green Room' have a 12 percent higher customer retention rate than non-listeners, and their average order value is 8 percent higher. Luna: Those are specific numbers. How do they know it's the podcast causing that, and not just that engaged customers also listen to podcasts? Lucas: Great question. They ran a controlled study. They invited a random subset of loyalty program members to listen to the show, and then compared purchase behavior over six months against a matched control group. The treatment group outperformed on both retention and spend. That's about as clean as attribution gets in brand marketing. Luna: That's impressive. And it gets at the trust piece. When a brand tells you a story that isn't directly about its products, it signals that the brand has values beyond the transaction. Lucas: Right. And there's data on that too. Forrester published a report in late 2025 that found branded podcasts generate a trust score 23 percent higher than video ads for the same brand, and 15 percent higher than sponsored social content. The audio format forces a longer attention span — the average episode is 25 to 40 minutes. You can't fake authenticity for that long. Luna: But there's a catch, isn't there? Audience growth. Most branded podcasts have small audiences. It's not like you launch and get a million downloads. Lucas: That's the challenge. The median branded podcast gets about 2,000 downloads per episode in its first 30 days, according to a 2026 industry benchmark report from Sounds Profitable. That's tiny compared to a TV spot or a social campaign. But the argument CMOs are making is that the audience quality matters more than the raw number. Luna: So the CMO has to be willing to trade reach for depth. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that trade makes sense for certain categories. High-consideration purchases — financial services, travel, B2B software, outdoor gear. If you're selling something where the decision cycle is weeks or months, a long-form audio relationship can be really powerful. Luna: But for low-consideration, fast-moving consumer goods? A branded podcast probably isn't the right fit. Lucas: Probably not. Unless you can tie it to a community or a lifestyle. Think about Red Bull. They have a podcast called 'The Red Bulletin' that's about extreme sports and culture. It's not about selling energy drinks, but it reinforces the brand's association with high-adrenaline achievement. Luna: So what's the typical budget for a branded podcast that's done right? Lucas: For a weekly show with professional production — host, engineer, editor, distribution — you're looking at $15,000 to $25,000 per month. That's a fraction of what a national TV ad costs for one week. And some CMOs are bringing it in-house. 32 percent of branded podcasts are now produced entirely internally, according to the same Sounds Profitable report. That number was 18 percent two years ago. Luna: I want to talk about the in-house piece. Because if you build a studio, you can also use it for internal comms, investor updates, training. It becomes a multi-purpose asset. Lucas: That's a smart framing. And some companies are taking it further. Shopify has a podcast network that includes shows for merchants, developers, and entrepreneurs. They're not just producing one show; they're programming a slate. That signals serious commitment from the C-suite. Luna: If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used, maybe a tactic you've tried or a framework that changed how you think about a campaign — a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going. Buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Lucas: Yeah, it's a small thing that makes a big difference for us. And it keeps the show ad-free, which we love. Luna: Exactly. It's listener-supported, no sponsors, so every episode stays exactly what we want it to be. Anyway, back to branded podcasts — what about measurement beyond retention and spend? Lucas: Right. The other metric CMOs are tracking is share of voice within the podcast category. Using tools like Chartable or Podscribe, they can see what percentage of all podcast mentions for their industry are coming from their own show versus competitors or independent podcasts. Patagonia, for example, now has a 31 percent share of voice in the outdoor-adventure podcast space. Luna: That's a dominant position. And it's probably cheaper to build than buying that share through ads. Lucas: Much cheaper. A 30-second ad on a top-tier outdoor podcast might cost $50 per thousand listeners. Producing your own show and getting 2,000 downloads costs you about $7.50 per thousand listeners if you're spending $15,000 a month. And you own the audience relationship. Luna: But CMOs still face an internal challenge. They have to convince the CFO that a channel with 2,000 downloads per episode is worth the investment. Lucas: That's where the retention and order-value data really matters. You present it as a customer retention play, not an acquisition play. CFOs understand retention because it directly affects customer lifetime value. If you can show that listeners stick around longer and spend more, the conversation changes. Luna: Are you seeing any brands go beyond audio — like turning the podcast into a live event or a video series? Lucas: Yes, and that's the next frontier. Some CMOs are taking the podcast concept and repurposing it for YouTube, or hosting live recordings at industry conferences. HubSpot does that — they record 'The HubSpot Podcast' live at their Inbound conference every year. It creates a feedback loop: the podcast drives conference attendance, and the conference creates content for the podcast. Luna: That's a nice flywheel. So the podcast isn't just a standalone channel; it's the hub of a content ecosystem. Lucas: Exactly. And that's how you justify the budget. When the podcast feeds social clips, blog posts, newsletter content, and live events, the ROI becomes easier to calculate. I spoke with the CMO of a mid-sized B2B SaaS company last month. She told me their podcast generates about 40 percent of their top of funnel content, even though it's only 12 percent of their content budget. Luna: That's a compelling stat. And it also points to another shift: CMOs are starting to think of audio as a content engine, not just a campaign. Lucas: Right. A campaign has a start and end date. A podcast is an ongoing relationship. And if you build it right, that relationship compounds over time. The 50th episode is almost certainly going to be better than the first, both in quality and audience engagement. Luna: What about the risk? What if the host leaves, or the content gets stale? Lucas: That's a real risk. Branded podcasts often depend on a charismatic host. If that host leaves, the show can lose its voice. Some CMOs are mitigating that by using multiple hosts or a rotating cast of internal experts. Others are using the podcast as a platform for external voices — customers, partners, industry analysts — so the show is less dependent on one person. Luna: So the CMO has to treat the podcast like a media property, not a marketing campaign. That requires a different skill set. Lucas: Yes, and that's why we're seeing CMOs hire former journalists or podcast producers into their teams. The job title 'Head of Audio' is becoming more common in marketing departments. I've seen it at companies like Mailchimp, Salesforce, and even some consumer brands like Nike. Luna: And what's the one piece of advice you'd give to a CMO who's considering launching a branded podcast? Lucas: Start with the audience problem you're trying to solve, not with the format. If your customers are already listening to podcasts in your category, and you have a unique perspective or access to interesting people, then a podcast makes sense. But if you're just doing it because it's trendy, you'll end up with a show nobody listens to. Luna: It goes back to the fundamentals. Know your audience, know your value. Lucas: Exactly. And be patient. Most successful branded podcasts take at least 12 to 18 months to find their audience. The CMO who expects instant results will be disappointed. Luna: But the CMO who treats it as a long-term investment in brand trust and customer retention could see returns that compound over years. Lucas: That's the bet. And more CMOs are making it. I think five years from now, having a branded podcast will be as common as having a company blog. The question is whether you'll be ahead of the curve or playing catch-up.