Here's What You Need To Know About Establishing A Podcast For Your MENA Business We look at the MENA region's podcast scene, and examine some of the most crucial points to consider.

In all their varied glory, podcasts have enjoyed an unprecedented boost in popularity and engagement in recent years. In the UAE alone, there are an estimated 1.3 million regular podcast listeners, with the KSA topping over five million regular listeners.

And with that astonishing increase in popularity comes a golden opportunity for marketers to take advantage of daily podcast listeners numbering in the millions to strengthen and enhance brands—and to catch the ear of potential new customers.

A significant contributor to the podcast's growth seems to be its popularity among two key demographics: women and young people. In Saudi Arabia, one in four women now listens to a podcast every week.

But how do marketers tap into this huge potential to widen their sales and engagement channels? And what do you have to do to maximize your chances of getting it right? Here, we look at the MENA region's podcast scene, and examine some of the most crucial points to consider.

Related: Reclaiming Our Voices: The Rise Of The Female Storytellers

THE PODCAST SCENE WORLDWIDE: WHAT'S THE STORY?

The USA, birthplace of the podcast, leads the world in podcast engagement. Almost 40% of the US population listens to podcasts, a massive 125 million people. In the MENA region, historic statistics are hard to come by, because listener numbers were either poorly recorded or listed by genre only and not specific programs, but growth in podcast penetration is expected to grow in all quarters.

Why? Because the format is perfect for storytelling, something that is woven into the very fabric of all cultures worldwide, especially Arab ones, as well as into the DNA of individual human beings.

Podcasts in the MENA region have enjoyed unprecedented success in the last three or four years, with the UAE, Egypt, and Jordan leading the way with runaway successes like Kerning Cultures, Radio Ideas, and the And series from Jordan. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that the UAE could leapfrog global podcasting leaders with a few years; industry data shows that the UAE is already on par with the UK, and is catching up with the US, which, as mentioned above, is still the biggest podcast market in the world.

PODCASTS: THE IMPORTANCE OF MASTERING THE FORMAT

Business owners understand the importance of having a strong digital presence; the young demographic—and your main growth market—simply won't engage if you don't have one. But your digital output means more than just X and Instagram; businesses need to engage in digital mediums like podcasts, because these offer a golden opportunity and an affordable means of promoting products and services, either directly or indirectly through original thought leadership and high-quality content marketing. That's what builds trust with audiences.

And once you build that trust, you will see those audiences coming back to your podcast week in, week out. With a solid community established around your business or brand, you can build sales and revenue. To a certain extent, marketers already have a head start in the UAE when it comes to podcasts, as industry data reveals that over 15% of the population in the UAE now listens to a podcast at least weekly. Perhaps more crucial to the medium's potential is that MENA listeners have significantly more trust in podcast content than they do in legacy television and radio.

In other words, as interest in podcasts from the digital-native youth demographic grows annually, corresponding trust in legacy media plummets. And that's a golden opportunity for marketers and business owners to harness.

WHAT FORM SHOULD YOUR BUSINESS PODCAST TAKE?

Looking around at the Arabic podcast content currently available, what we see is huge room for growth and improvement; much of it currently takes the form of interviews. That's not surprising, as the format is a great way to inform people, harnessing expert comment with minimal production costs. What your podcast needs to do is tell a story, so it's no surprise that the top 10 trending podcasts are ones with strong narratives.

In the US, both Drowning Creek, the ongoing story of an unsolved disappearance in Atlanta, and Where Everybody Knows Your Name, the story of the lives of two of the actors in US 1980s hit comedy Cheers after it ended, are both in the top 10. The details of your journey, brand, or product can make a podcast more engaging and dynamic, and if you can throw in at least a bit of fun on the way, all the better.

One way of expanding your audience is to vary the genres your podcasts cover; this will help you reach more potential customers and can give businesses new and innovative ways to monetize their podcast. Audio podcasts are a great way of keeping production costs low, as no filming is involved. And what's more, there's no distraction from the content of the conversation.

Having said that, video podcasting has grown in popularity of late, especially since Spotify now lets users upload video directly to the streaming platform. Variety can pay off, as industry analysis shows that over 90% of podcast listeners trust podcasts more than other formats and 25% spend more than non-podcast listeners.

PODCAST AND GROW

Business owners and marketers who aren't already presenting listeners a regular podcast and building an audience for their brands should rethink their approach; to miss out on this huge potential to widen sales and engagement is, in this digital age, is an oversight. And one that in all probability will cost you dearly in lost sales, a weaker brand, and disengaged customers. Can you afford to not be doing a podcast then?

Related: Entrepreneurial Lessons From The Frontlines Of The Podcasting Scene In The Middle East