Podcasts: “AI will be used even more”

Podcasts continue to be all the rage. More and more brands and companies are also discovering this format and leveraging it. Felicia Mutterer, Managing Director and Co-founder of the Berlin-based audio and podcast specialist Achtung! Broadcast, shares with us in an interview what will be important in 2024.

Felicia, recently there’s been talk in the communications industry about video podcasts. Do you think video is the future of audio?

Well, to be honest, I don’t really understand all the hype around video podcasts. Spotify has around 100,000 video podcasts today, and about 4 to 5 million podcasts. Video is video, and audio is audio. Each medium has its own advantages. One for audio being that CEOs can make an appearance without any elaborate styling, and listeners aren’t forced to watch anything – they can simply listen, like while going for a walk. Audio is a medium that plays when you’re doing other things, making it a suitable add-on in communications. But of course there is also a purpose to filming audio recordings, to use them on platforms like YouTube and particularly for social media.

Why is video marketing important for audio formats?

At the heart of the huge range of offers, the discovery of podcasts continues to be a challenge. Which is why it should be made easier for users to come across your own podcast. Inevitably, this means being even more present on visual platforms and grabbing attention on these in line with the respective platform. Social media is a popular place for communication – between audio formats and potential listeners, especially for Generation Z, who listen to lots of podcasts and like the medium for providing more in-depth insights.

Let’s stick with video marketing for podcasts. We often hear that TikTok is the channel where you have to be with a podcast?!

Yes, TikTok is useful, but the highest conversion still takes place through YouTube, at least according to the data from the USA. In the report from Edison Research, 84 per cent of Gen Z learned about a podcast while on YouTube, followed by TikTok at 80 per cent.

Videos on video platforms work better than stills with audio. That makes sense.

Precisely. We also noticed this. As our experience has shown, audiograms alone don’t work well on social media, which lures users with visual stimulation, and will certainly continue to become less relevant in 2024.

Now let’s focus on the significant aspects that are on our mind. Like the mega-trend AI. Together with Bosch, you at Achtung! Broadcast have already created a format which is hosted by an AI voice avatar. You started with the work of training the voice, and such back in 2021. Which role is AI playing in terms of audio and your work today?

We’re using AI every day, both for our AI voice avatar format and for our creative and editorial work. Bots help us develop concepts and scripts, ChatGPT optimises copy, and with tools like Amper Music, we are experimenting with sound and music compositions.

When it comes to production, we have always been using smart tools for optimising quality. These are getting better and better, but we still have humans doing the editing work. In future, AI will be used even more in all the relevant areas of editorial work, also audible work in audio formats. And there will certainly be a transformation of processes and job profiles.

What will remain important for audio communication in 2024?

AI will continue to gain importance. Also certainly in addition to cross-media docutainment formats and the marketing of formats. Along with the interaction between podcast-makers and their followers.

If you could make a wish?

I wish for decision-makers in communications who have the courage to stand out from the mass of communication, without being afraid to do so. People like companies and brands which face the issues of society and communicate in a targeted way. There’s already enough average content out there.

And apart from the audio world?

I would like for the women of FC Viktoria Berlin to move up in the league as quickly as possible.

(Editor’s note: Felicia Mutterer is co-founder of the female football team of FC Viktoria Berlin. She is dedicated to helping the team move up in the football league and making Viktoria Berlin a love brand nationwide.)