To help guide your SMB marketing plan, we surveyed 500 principals of US SMBs on their perception and use of videos and podcasts.

1. VIDEOS, PODCASTS, AND THE SMB BUYER
March 22, 2018

2. INSIGHT  LEAD GEN  CONTENT  SALES SUPPORT
2
INCREASING SALES TO SMBS

3. Help marketing and sales professionals better understand how
to engage SMBs via podcasts and video
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
3
Podcast listener profile
Podcast listener behavior and preferences
Media consumption
Video preferences

4. Methodology
METHODOLOGY
4
1
2
3
HOW
WHO
WHEN
Online survey via the Bredin.com/SMBPulse
503 principals of U.S. companies with <500 employees (4% +/- CI)
January 16-19, 2018
Representative mix of industries, business ages, locations etc.
251 VSB
<20 employees
(97.7% weighting)
151 SB
20-99 employees
(2% weighting)
101 MB
100-500 employees
(.3% weighting)

5. PODCASTS

6. PODCAST AUDIENCE
6
More than 1/3 of SMBs listen to podcasts
Do you listen to podcasts?
n=503
39%
61%
Yes
No

7. 32% 31%
57%
55%
58% 59%
63%
70%
72%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
1 (just me) 2 to 4 5 to 9 10 to 19 20 to 49 50 to 74 75 to 99 100 to 249 250 to 500
PODCAST AUDIENCE: COMPANY SIZE
7
Podcast listenership increases with company size…
Do you listen to podcasts?
(% yes)
n=503
% yes
VSB SB MB

8. 8
PODCAST AUDIENCE: DETAILS
n=503
% yes
…and decreases with age
31%
44%
53%
0% 20% 40% 60%
50+
35-49
18-34
Respondent Age
37%
41%
0% 20% 40% 60%
Female
Male
Gender
40%
39%
41%
36%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Northeast
South
Midwest
West
Geography
25%
38%
49%
45%
0% 20% 40% 60%
20 or more years
10 to 19 years
4 to 9 years
3 or fewer years
Company Age
32%
42%
35%
46%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Other
M
RW
PS
Industry

9. LISTENING FREQUENCY
9
65% of podcast listeners listen at least once a week
(If listen to podcasts) In general, how often do you listen to any kind of podcast?
n=197
26%
39%
20%
14%
Daily
Monthly
Weekly
Less often than monthly
46% of Millennial podcast listeners
listen daily
47% of Gen X and 41% of Baby
Boomers listen weekly

10. 26%
39%
21%
14%
VSB (<20)
LISTENING FREQUENCY: COMPANY SIZE
10
Listening frequency increases with company size
(If listen to podcasts) In general, how often do you listen to any kind of podcast?
n=97
44%
40%
13%
2%
SB (20-99)
53%43%
3%
1%
MB (100-500)
n=90 n=72
Daily
Less often
than monthly
Monthly
Weekly

11. Business/finance is the most popular podcast category
11
What kind of podcast(s) do you listen to?
n=197
10%
19%
20%
23%
24%
26%
28%
36%
38%
52%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 55%
Other
Podcasts produced by companies like
Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple etc.
Science
Fiction
Biographies
History
Health
Humor
Politics and current events
Business, finance, investing, economics
In general, principals of larger
SMBs listen to more types of
podcasts
Fast growth SMBs (double-digit
growth in 2018) are most likely
to listen to business topics
‘No growth’ SMBs are most
likely to listen to biographies
GENRE PREFERENCE

12. 12 n=180
What podcasts do you listen to?
TOP-OF-MIND PODCASTS
“Named” podcasts bear out SMB preference for business and current events

13. 63%
37%
BUSINESS-ORIENTED PODCAST DEMAND
13
Most SMBs who listen to business podcasts actively search for more podcasts
(Of those who listen to podcasts on business/finance topics)
Do you subscribe to business-oriented podcasts?
n=102
41%
59%
No
Yes
Do you actively search for business-oriented podcasts?
No
Yes
Most likely to search:
Professional services firms (80%)
Firms with >20 employees (80%)
Most likely to subscribe:
Millennials (68%)
Firms with >20 employees (76%)

14. 14
BUSINESS-ORIENTED TOPICS
Tech and leadership are the most popular business topics
n=100
% Rated top-two box
2%
6%
12%
22%
27%
28%
29%
34%
34%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Human resources
International business
Law and taxes
Operations
Sales and marketing
Financial planning and management
News and trends relevant to your industry
Leadership and management
Technology
What topics do you most listen to business-oriented podcasts about? Please rank from most (top) to least (bottom)
important.

15. 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Human resources
International business
Law and taxes
Operations
Sales and marketing
Financial planning and management
News and trends relevant to your industry
Leadership and management
Technology
VSB (<20)
SB (20-99)
MB (100-500)
15
BUSINESS-ORIENTED TOPICS: COMPANY SIZE
VSBs like tech and leadership; MBs most like finance topics
n=100
% ranked top-two box
What topics do you most listen to business-oriented podcasts about? Please rank from most (top) to least (bottom)
important.

16. 16
Most SMBs plan to continue their current level of podcast listening
Will your podcast listening increase, decrease or remain the same over the next 12 months?
n=499
14%
80%
5%
Increase
Stay the same
Decrease
PODCAST LISTENING INTENT

17. 17
MBs are the most likely to increase their usage of podcasts over the next 12 months
Will your podcast listening increase, decrease or remain the same over the next 12 months?
n=499
10%
48%
43%
5%
68%
26%
5%
81%
14%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Decrease
Stay the same
Increase
VSB (<20)
SB (20-99)
MB (100-500)
PODCAST USAGE INTENT: COMPANY SIZE
Fast-growth SMBs (24%) are the
most likely to increase podcast
listening

18. 18
MEDIA CONSUMPTION: ALL SMBS
n=Varies
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Visiting company resource centers for
business management advice
Listening to podcasts
Attending online events like webcasts
Attending live events like trade shows
Reading print magazines or newspapers
Visiting any company website, like your bank
or other vendors
Reading online magazines or newspapers
Social media (for work)
Listening to radio (any kind)
Social media (personal)
Watching TV
More than 40 25-40 17-24 9-16 5-8 2-4 Less than 2
How many total hours per month, on average, would you say you spend on each of these activities?
Almost a quarter of SMBs say they watch more than 40 hours of TV a month
Want to watch the original
Fastcast? Watch it here.
Want the full deck as a PDF?
Email us at:
info@bredin.com