It’s been a couple of months since Studio Cotton attended and exhibited at The Podcast Show, so I thought now would be a good time to take a look back and reflect on our experience, talk about the highs and lows, and consider whether we’d do it again.
The Podcast Show is an ‘international festival for the business of podcasting,’ held at the Business Design Centre in Islington, for creators, fans, and podcast-related businesses. It dubs itself as ‘Europe’s biggest gathering of the global podcasting community’, and it was pretty darn big tbf.
In other words, it’s a trade show & exhibition where people who live, breathe and work in podcasts (and related tech) go to network and learn.
There are lots of stands for businesses big and small – from 2-person small businesses all the way up to giants like Spotify – as well as talks on all kinds of topics throughout the 2 days, opportunities to network and get advice from experts, and of course, a handful of freebies too.
Four members of the Studio Cotton team headed up to London during the second-to-last week of May to attend our first trade show, where we’d chat all things podcast websites, make connections, and hopefully generate some leads too.
We took along an extra special guest too – we’d been building a website for Liz Mosley’s Building Your Brand podcast, and wanted to use as an example of what we can do for other podcasters, so we asked Liz to tag along to share her podcast website design experience from the podcaster’s angle.
And as we all experience things differently, I thought I’d ask each member of the team their thoughts. I’m going to stop waffling now, and get into those juicy answers, because this is probably going to end up being a longy…
What were your expectations of The Podcast Show?
Aime: Alex really hammered home to set our expectations low/sensibly – which is where the “20 enquiries” goal came from – which we smashed with 65.
I also thought there would be more push-back on our podcast website package. From all of my research, it was kinda clear that the majority of podcasters – even big ones – don’t spend as much money on their website design as comparatively-sized businesses.
If someone is used to spending £30 per month on a Squarespace website, I thought it’d be a big ask to suggest anyone consider spending upwards of £10,000 on a professionally-designed website, even though we know that price reflects the quality of the project, the value it’ll bring to the podcast, and the time it takes to produce.
However, apart from a handful of people, generally the only ‘negative’ feedback we had on price was from a couple of industry professionals who said it was cheap!
Alex: I was expecting it to be a lower-profile event. I didn’t quite realise the amount of money, celebrity and time that is going into the podcast industry right now.
I was also surprised by the presence of the bigger players, e.g. Spotify. I don’t know why, but I thought it would be a relatively small event for them, but their stand was massive and custom-built, so they clearly thought the investment was worth it.
Cai: I didn’t quite realise how much there was within this niche. I knew that podcasting was a big business, however seeing all the different services, technology and industry insight there was interesting, to see the depth you can get to.
It was also so hard to know what the reception would be to what we were offering. Especially having never been before, we didn’t really know who the audience would be. It was great to actually meet people there and get a better understanding of their mindset and what they wanted to come away with.
Lyzi: I’ve never worked at a trade show, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but on a personal level (as an introvert who avoids networking and talking to strangers most of the time) I was pretty nervous, while also thinking that it sounded like a great thing for us to do as a business.
It was actually very lovely talking to all sorts of interesting people from the world of podcasting, and I had some really great conversations, and everyone we spoke to seemed really enthusiastic about what we do.
Liz: I guess from what I had seen before, I expected it to be a big and well-organised event, with lots of talks, quite a few celebrities, and lots of opportunities for networking.
I think all of those expectations were met. I found I actually enjoyed chatting to people in the exhibition area more than going to the talks, and enjoyed learning about different technologies and business related to podcasting.
Did you learn anything surprising at The Podcast Show?
Alex: I was surprised by some people’s reactions to our pricing – I wasn’t expecting anyone to say it was “cheap”! Not that I think we’re overpriced, I just didn’t think we were below people’s expectations.
Cai: It surprised me how many different reasons people had for getting into podcasting. I’d just really viewed it as “well, it’s another step for creating content,” however, there were all sorts of people there.
Some people just did it for the love of it, others for research, some to generate a solid income. And more! It meant there were lots of possibilities for people’s routes into podcasting.
I also learnt that there are so many different ways to monetise a podcast beyond just a big sponsorship agency (and this may be more what Aime was telling us to begin with) and actually there are all sorts of ways to make money from your podcast.
Though I didn’t actually find the talk that useful, it was interesting to listen to someone talk about TedX talks as a way of generating money and building your networks. But also just how massive the sponsorship world is.
Liz: I learnt some interesting facts about the differences between audiences in the US and UK, and how they respond to advertising in podcasts. Basically a listener in the US is worth more money than a listener in the UK, as they are more accustomed to podcast advertising.
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What were your highlights and lowlights of The Podcast Show?
Aime: Highlights: the positive reception to our package, and the amount of compliments we got on our stand design. Chatting with other exhibitors for the most part was a real highlight too – there’s no way a brand our size could get face-to-face time with businesses like Riverside without The Podcast Show.
Lowlights: A bizarre interaction with borderline-comically sexist exhibitor. When asking about our business, he kept responding to what I said to Alex, as if Alex had said it. Even at the end of the conversation where it was made clear that Studio Cotton is very much run by me, he insisted that Alex needed to take his business card.
It was a dampener on the mood, as it happened right at the end of the event, and it’s frustrating that behaviour like this still exists in 2024.
Alex: Highlights were the positive reception to the stand and our offering at the show, as well as the conversations with people who came to visit us (once I shook off my initial nerves).
Lowlights were that I had the feeling that the targeting of the event was a little off – it seemed stuck in a bit of a limbo between targeting bedroom podcasters and big podcast networks.
Cai: Positives – really just enjoyed talking to people about their podcasts and how we can help them. Also, Spotify had great merch.
Lowlights – The sheer volume of AI content there and people selling AI services. I know it’s an affordable solution for some people, but it feels as though it takes away from the focus on the podcasters themselves. There were also quite a lot of AI-based businesses, so it felt as thought they all blurred together.
Also, lol, the traffic getting to/from London
Lyzi: My highlights: Just chatting to a variety of interesting, creative people, who I wouldn’t have met otherwise. It was really uplifting to get lovely feedback from people who loved what we were doing and what we’re about.
Lowlights: It was a very big, loud and echoey space – there were rooms along the sides for talks etc, but I’d love to see more dedicated quiet spaces (and for them to be very easy to find) for people to retreat to when their ears are getting tired but they need to stay at the show.
I was also somewhat saddened to see the volume of AI-related businesses. I agree with Cai that they must be very useful for those who have a limited budget, but I think I have a bug-bear when it comes to AI taking over roles from creative humans.
And as Cai mentioned – wow, that London traffic though…
Liz: I think a highlight was definitely the interesting people I got to meet and chat to, and who connected with me afterwards. I also bumped into a few people I had a friendship with online but hadn’t met in real life, which was really fun.
I think the lowlight for me was that there wasn’t more content or talks aimed at indie podcasts. A lot of the talks I went to were interesting, but didn’t feel particularly relevant to me and my podcast. There were a lot of celebrities announcing podcasts or production companies.
Have any conversations with people at the show turned into potential projects?
Cai: We’ve had a few follow up conversations that have been really positive, and Aime has been on a podcast that’s resulted in some more leads to follow up with – have a listen to her chatting with The Podcaster’s Podcast about SEO and websites for podcasters.
There are a few people that have come back to us and said “now’s not the right time, but I’m going to get back in touch in September” (for example). It’s a big investment for podcasters, so I think it takes a while to build that relationship.
Liz: Yes. I had a great conversation with Riverside and they have got in touch about the potential of working together, which is very exciting.
Will we do The Podcast Show (or similar) again?
Aime: It does partly depend on how many leads turn into projects. However, one thing that was a little concerning was that a significant number of the podcasters we spoke to (those with an established audience, who may not have reached the magic ‘10,000 downloads’ number) fed back that they were a little disappointed that the show didn’t have much content aimed at them.
This is our target audience, as a big feature of our websites is helping podcasters to monetise their content independently of big advertisers.
So if our target audience doesn’t show up to The Podcast Show, it wouldn’t make sense for us to, either.
If we were to do it again, I would want to make sure we have something helpful to give away to podcasters who are DIYing their websites – like how we write a lot of blog content and Instagram posts for small businesses who are DIYing. I have some ideas for this…
Alex: I wouldn’t rule it out, but it’ll have to be the right event for us. The Podcast Show was the right event at the right time. Given the direction the event seems to be heading (towards podcasts bigger than we’re targeting) it’s less likely the “right event” will be The Podcast Show next year – but who knows!
Liz: I think I would, probably more for the networking opportunities rather than the talks.
Anything else you’d like to share about The Podcast Show?
Aime: Stand design was EVERYTHING! We approached our stand design more like the exhibitors at a retail show like Top Drawer or Spring/Autumn Fair, and we stood out loads. It really helped us to stand out from the crowd, and put us on a par with other creative stands like Spotify and Riverside.
Lyzi: I need to second Aime’s point about stand design! There were many stands which I will politely describe as lacklustre, with a banner that was either too busy or didn’t tell the audience enough about the business.
We, however, put a lot of thought and effort into our stand design, and not to toot our own trumpet too much, but it showed, and lots of people commented on it.
Not only was our stand warm and inviting, but it also very clearly stated what we do. Plus, we had matching Studio Cotton t-shirts, which looked super cool and meant we were advertising our brand even when we were away from the stand – smart 😎
Liz: Obviously the absolute best bit was getting to hang out with Studio Cotton!
We also added Ellie Kime to our guestlist, who you probably already know from her previous podcast with her pal Rachel, RE: The Podcast (formerly known as The Business Proposal Podcast), which they wrapped up in July. Ellie is also a wonderful copywriter (she’s on our roster at Studio Cotton for those months we’re inundated with SEO content projects) and an enthusiasm enthusiast.
Enough about all her wonderful talents, here’s what she had to say about her jolly to The Podcast Show with us:
I was thrilled to have been invited to The Podcast Show courtesy of Aime and the team, and even more thrilled to see them in the actual flesh at their stand (which was gorgeously designed, and stood out so well from everyone else — they’d even made their freebie stickers the exact right size to stick over the Mac apple on your laptop for photoshoots, because they’re good at that).
I picked up a decaf oat mocha and then had a gander at the other stalls and stages, including Rylan (aka the love of my life, if you haven’t heard his episode of DISH where he talks about being mugged by a fox, you have to do so expeditiously. Expe-dish-ously? More as I have it, folks).
While there were lots of exciting things there and loads of people who were obviously extremely passionate about what they did, I did come away wishing there’d been more for smaller, indie podcasters — so much so that I actually pitched them a hosted small business village for next year.
They haven’t replied, but I’ll keep you updated…
Sounds great to me, and I hope they take you up on that offer.
Overall, it was definitely a positive experience for all of us and Studio Cotton. It’s the biggest marketing investment we’ve made in our small business by a long long shot. Trade shows and exhibitions are always risky, but (so far) we have no regrets, had some great conversations, and made some lovely connections.
Phew… did you make it this far? Well done, that was a long one. If you’re still gagging for more juicy tidbits, you can find them in our Industry Insights blog posts, and there’s some under Small Business Life too.
