People are talking about podcasts, and cannabis brands like the sound of it. They’re powerful ways to connect with both prospects and customers. Podcasts are growing in popularity, too. Recent statistics show that podcast shows have shot past the 750,000 mark, featuring over 30 million episodes.
One of the most powerful reasons why your cannabis brand should start podcasting — if you’re not doing it already — is that 80 percent of listeners say they listen to all or most of each episode. In this age of short attention spans, podcasts have an average length of 43 minutes.
Podcasts cater to niche audiences. Listeners know that you’re going to keep the focus on what interests them — in this case, learning more about cannabis. This form of content is highly efficient at creating an engaged community. Some podcast hosts facilitate the sensing of belonging by creating names for their listener base, much like Lady Gaga calls her fans “Little Monsters.”
No cannabis podcaster out there that we could find has named an audience their “Little Cannabinoids,” but you get the picture. It’s a conversation. It’s highly focused. And you’ve got their attention. Here’s how some of the most popular cannabis podcasters approach the topic and their fans.
The first observation people have about this podcast is usually, “They’re three hours long!” Dunn believes in deep dives and getting in-depth information from his guests. If there’s a rumor, he’ll find the right experts to chase it down.
Listeners interested in the business and entrepreneurial side of cannabis tune into this podcast. Recent episodes have covered subjects from designing sustainability-driven cannabis technology to helping cannabis businesses develop their unique brands.
The podcast is mostly roundtable-style, with interviews with industry professionals.
Host Matthew Kind records his podcasts from Colorado, which he calls “ground zero in the rapidly evolving and immensely lucrative cannabis market.” And that’s the focus of his highly popular weekly podcast. Kind understands that his listeners are hungry for how-to information, so he finds experts who can spell out the details. Each episode rounds up the business impact of the subject under discussion.
Cannabis Cultivation and Science Podcast
The public is hungry for science-backed information about cannabis, and this podcast delivers. It’s sponsored by KIS Organics. There are more than 50 episodes dedicated to how to grow cannabis. Leading experts talk about cultivation, getting down to details like nutrient density and the best material for containers.
Access these podcasts directly from host Seth Adler’s website. He describes his audio episodes as a real-time history of legal cannabis, where he and his guests chronicle how “personal and industry histories” have combined to provide the current reality of cannabis. There are already 300 of these 30-minute podcasts, which tend to focus on the business side of the cannabis industry.
This podcast attracts listeners who are interested in getting into the cannabis business. The podcasts are available with transcripts so you can follow up on terms that may be unfamiliar, as they’ve been converted to hyperlinks.
Recent episodes have looked at diverse topics from a group of self-described “cannabis nuns” to how brands are approaching the normalization of marketing cannabis.
Your podcast host is “Super High Me” cannabis documentary maker Doug Benson, and he’s been entertaining a growing audience with his humor-injected interviews since 2014. There are hundreds of episodes, featuring guests ranging from Tommy Chong to Jack Black.
And yes, they do get high.
Sponsored by Leafly.com, this weekly podcast is a generous blend of cannabis news and culture. The episodes tend to be shorter than other podcasts — sometimes only seven minutes or so in length. They’re long enough to learn something new, and possibly convince you to listen to a few more afterwards.
It’s a popular and well-respected podcast produced by Cannabis Radio, which is an audio network devoted to the cannabis industry. The approach varies, but the subject is always about cannabis culture. If you hear about something on this podcast, expect it to be backed up by facts.
Podcasts zig where most marketing zags. It’s an audio play for consumer attention, and listeners can start and stop them at their leisure. You’re no longer competing for screen time. Even better, you can say what you like because you’re building relationships. Lady Gaga calls them her fans “Little Monsters.” For your cannabis brand? They’re your customers.
Take a look at our Bacon Bits blog to read more about cannabis marketing.