The popularity of podcasts has exploded over the last couple of years. As of April 2020, there are over 1,000,000 different active podcasts available, with over 30 million episodes. This is almost double the amount reported by Apple and Fast Company just two years ago.

Consider these recent stats from Edison Research Infinite Dial 2020:

• 75% of the population in the United States is familiar with the term “podcasting”
• 155 million people in the United States have listened to a podcast
• Podcast listeners are more likely to be educated, loyal, and affluent
• 68 million people listen to podcasts weekly
• Podcast listeners are more likely to follow brands and companies on social media and are regularly active on social media
• Educational podcasts are the second most popular podcasting genre after comedy

For marketers, marketing podcasts provide professional growth benefits with opportunities to learn from experienced professionals who are down in the trenches discovering what works best in an ever-changing business climate.

Here are five of the top marketing podcasts that every marketer should consider subscribing to help fine-tune their skills.

1) Everyone Hates Marketers

Marketers often take a bad rap because of the shady and over-aggressive tactics of some that give the industry a bad name. The weekly marketing podcast Everyone Hates Marketers is for people who are tired of lousy marketing tactics and want a more ethic.

Host Louis Grenier chats with marketers to discuss how they are doing marketing the right way and creating their competitive advantage with no-nonsense tips and strategies, including:

• Treating people the way they would want to be treated and being rewarded with leads because of that
• Solving marketing problems without being spammy and respecting customers’ privacy
• Being able to sell and be honest at the same time

You can subscribe to Everyone Hates Marketers on Site, Spotify, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts platforms.

2) The Tim Ferriss Show

Tim Ferriss is well-known because of his famous book, 4-Hour Work Week. His weekly podcast is consistently rated as the #1 business podcast on Apple Podcasts and has been selected by Fortune Magazine as their top business podcast. Ferriss often interviews well-known guests in his marketing podcasts where he:

• Deconstructs world-class performers in various areas, including business, investing, sports, and art
• Extracts takeaways such as tools, tactics, and routines that you can use
• Reverses the trend of “gotchas” by making suggestions for positive tactics you can use

You can subscribe to The Tim Ferriss Show podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Castbox, and other platforms.

3) Marketing for Martians

The Marketing for Martians podcast shares quality advice and insights on how to grow your brand with cutting-edge marketing and sales techniques. This weekly podcast uses straight-forward guidance and occasional humor to help anyone, whether a new small business owner or experienced marketing manager, grow their skills with topics, including those that are relevant to current challenges facing all businesses.

Produced by Rizen Inbound, the podcast:

• Started in 2019 to provide a voice for the inbound marketing approach to reaching customers
• Features a roundtable of expert guests discussing a wide range on inbound marketing-focused topics
• Is designed to be digestible for both newcomers and seasoned professionals alike with detailed overviews of fundamental topics and in-depth explanations and actionable resources

You can listen to or subscribe to Inbound Academy on many podcast providers, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, and Copy RSS.

4) I Love Marketing

Hosted by Joe Polish and Dean Jackson, the I Love Marketing is perfect for marketing professionals who are just starting out, working for small businesses or are involved with startups. Each week offers a new adventure that is presented in a fun way.

The I Love Marketing podcast:

• Features a wide range of topics, including new marketing ideas, stick strategies, lead generation, and conversion
• Marketing insights and strategies, you can use to grow small businesses
• Marketing insights and strategies that tie back to current situations you may be facing

You can subscribe to the I Love Marketing podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

5) Social Media Marketing with Michael Stelzner

In his weekly marketing podcasts, Michael Stelzner from Social Media Examiner discusses social media marketing with leading marketing professionals. This podcast has over two million subscribers and provides useful information in a fun and entertaining way.

Listeners of the Social Media Marketing podcast:

• Learn new strategies and tactics
• Hear tips and tricks they can use to build strategies that can help improve their businesses’ social media marketing efforts
• Listen to success stories and interviews from top social media marketing pros

You can subscribe to the Social Media Marketing with Michael Stelzner podcast on Apple Podcasts.

The Bottom Line: Podcasts Help Marketers Grow!

During these challenging times, marketers need to make use of every tool available to continue their professional growth. Smart marketers use podcasts as a regular growth tool for reinforcing the latest best practices and strategies that allow them to stay on top of what works as their customers’ needs change.

Keeping up with the newest information allows them to direct their staff and efforts to respond appropriately and quickly as needed.