This session was hosted by Peter Blomme, co-founder of the Relaas podcast and audio storyteller at Chase Creative, and independent podcast creator Eva Moeraert. They invited a full table of other podcasters to discuss topics such as funding your podcast and diversity within the podcasting industry.
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Seated around the table were Thomas Smolders from the tech podcast Computer Club, Reine Nikambote from Yaya Talks, Jan d'Hont, who creates podcasts for brands with Chase Creative, and Wederik De Backer, who is also an independent podcast creator. Later, Anthony Bosschem of Silence is Not an Option joined them at the table. The first question asked was:
Once again at the table were Thomas Smolders from the Tech Podcast Computer Club, Reine Nikambote from Yaya Talks, Jan d'Hont, who creates podcasts for brands with Chase Creative, and Wederik De Backer, an independent podcaster. Later, Anthony Bosschem from Silence is Not an Option joined the discussion. The first question asked was:
Who are you, what do you create, and can you make a living from your podcasts?
Pieter: “We produce the Relaas podcast, which has about 10,000 listeners per episode—reportedly the critical threshold in the Netherlands for pitching your podcast to advertisers. However, we don’t really have a loyal community tied to our podcast.”
Thomas:“Computer Club has about 1,500 listeners per week on Spotify, which is a very consistent and loyal group. The proof of this is that we have a Facebook group with 500 members, and one in seven listeners has already bought a €40 sweater. Advertisers approach us because we have a loyal audience, but we choose not to pursue that. We prefer Patreon over advertisers.”
Reine: “I started Yaya Talks with Tracy out of boredom and frustration. We felt underrepresented in mainstream media. Our target audience consists mainly of women with an immigrant background or people connected to others with similar stories to ours. English and Dutch are the primary languages we use in our podcasts.”
Reverend: “I’m an independent audio creator specializing in audio fiction, radio documentaries, and podcasts. I’m part of the Belgian podcast collective ‘Listen,’ where my podcast ‘Plantractors’ is featured. Together with Lucas Derycke, I work on this project, for which we invite other creators to produce a single episode.”
Jan: “Chase collaborates with organizations, companies, and publishers to develop, produce, and promote podcasts. Some of our recent clients include Mediahuis, Mediafin, KPMG, EY Belgium, ING Belgium, and the City of Ghent. We are still working on several projects that we can’t share details about yet. Podcasting is one of the three services we offer, alongside Social Strategy and Social Media Management. We work with teams of up to eight creatives on a single project, and it’s profitable today.”
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Host Pieter Blomme, co-founder of the Relaas podcast and audio storyteller at Chase Creative.
How can you expand your podcast's reach?
Thomas: “My biggest challenge is promoting podcasts on social media, which is primarily image-based. I still find this very difficult.”
Reine: “I use a visual soundwave with a snippet of audio to promote our podcasts.”
Anthony: “I’m filming the podcast and releasing it as a video. Video has enormous marketing value, so combining video and audio is important. Our best episode of the year was 2 hours and 20 minutes long. It used to be common wisdom that people don’t have a long attention span anymore. But that’s just not true.”
Pieter: “We organized a live storytelling evening where the audio was recorded. We noticed that our community mainly discusses our stories during this event, rather than online.”
Reine: “We also go live sometimes, for example at the Festival of Equality. We recorded the second season of Yaya Talks before Tracy moved abroad. Interacting with the audience during that live event was a fun experience. Sometimes we also do a Q&A on Instagram or ask people to submit questions. We stopped using Facebook because we think it’s outdated and our audience isn’t there.”
Eva: “I used to be resistant to video. But now I realize that video is an important part of promoting your podcast.”
Jan: “We strive to create an audience development plan for every client. This ranges from publishing on the right platforms to social ads, media buying, and PR initiatives. We also advise companies to invest heavily in social video and promote it on social media. It’s especially important to consider the brand’s communication power—such as a large newsletter, a newspaper, or a strong social media presence—and leverage that power. All of this is aimed at building a community around the podcast.”
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Jan D'hont, COO of Chase Creative, which produces podcasts for brands, and Reine Niambote from Yaya Talks.
Let's talk money! Who handles sponsorship? Is that the best way to generate revenue?
Anthony: “We currently have five people working full-time for Silence is Not an Option. With the donations we receive through Patreon, we cover the salaries of three people. We’ve found that this model works better than a paywall. A subscription to our platform starts at a minimum of ten euros per month. The salaries of the other two people are covered by a loan, which must be repaid within five years.”
Jan: “We see opportunities with publishers. In an ideal world, you could sell compelling stories or series to larger publishers, who would then secure advertisers for them. It seems like it’s only a matter of time before this becomes a viable option for podcasting. On the other hand, micro-payments could also be a good thing. I’m happy to pay for certain podcasts. If, after a good episode, you asked me for a small in-app contribution, I’d gladly donate.”
Anthony: “I do believe that working with sponsors is possible without editorial interference, but I think the Belgian market is too small for sponsors.”
Thomas: “I’ve turned down sponsorship offers. Going along with investors would take away the club’s spirit.”
Reine: “If we were to work with sponsors, it would be important to uphold the same ethical standards!”
Pieter: “With Relaas, we had Albert Heijn as a sponsor for six weeks. They paid 1,500 euros to be mentioned in six episodes.”
Thomas: “That’s peanuts; I wouldn’t have done it.”
Anthony: “Exactly, that’s why it makes more sense for us to offer memberships instead of ads.”
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Where do you want your podcast to be in five years?
Thomas: “I want to promote more products through the podcast, but I don’t want any sponsors. Maybe I’d like to collaborate with a media company.”
Reine: “I’d like to keep things as they are now. We might be open to ads, and we’re definitely open to sponsorship.”
Anthony: “I want to pay off my loan and start a ‘Silence is not an option’ hub in Amsterdam. That way, I want to build a bridge with the Netherlands and maybe even expand it into a European initiative.”
Jan: “I hope that in the coming years we can convince companies to create podcasts featuring stories that people want to hear, not content that companies want to push. I also think technological innovation needs to move faster so that, in the future, more podcast features will be implemented and copyright issues regarding music in podcasts will be resolved. Music labels could play a major role—just look at how TikTok is used to promote new music; the same could happen with podcasts.”
Wederik: “I want to keep doing what I’m doing now. Stay independent and take on even more fun projects.”
Eva: “I want to create the new Flanders series and get paid for every day I work on it.”
Pieter: “With Relaas, I want to see what Silence is Not an Option is doing and draw inspiration from it.”
Why Use Podcasting as a Marketing Tool?
Audience. Podcasts also create new touchpoints with your audience, as they can be listened to anywhere while doing other things. When done well, podcasts can build trust and authenticity. They are ideal for marketing content, offering a great way to convey opinions and emotions, and you can also use the transcripts for SEO. The concept is also relatively new, so your brand will definitely get attention when you launch your podcast. And you can make a difference—globally, there are over 500 million blogs, around 80 million Facebook business pages, and only 700,000 podcast titles, of which 250,000 are active.
Article by Helena Verheye, content marketer at Chase Creative.
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