Using podcasts in your e-commerce strategy: Now is the time to start thinking about it.

When people talk about podcasts within a digital strategy, most e-commerce brands completely overlook the topic. They see it as yet another content channel to fill, a nice thing to have to do like everyone else, or worse, a trend that will eventually fade. And honestly, you can’t really blame them. When your teams are already drowning in product page management, Meta campaigns, SEO, and customer service, adding a podcast to the pile can seem about as relevant as opening a physical store on Mars.
But here’s the thing: after supporting dozens of brands through their digital transformation, we can confidently say that the podcast is probably the most underrated tool in modern marketing. Not because it will skyrocket your sales overnight, but because it solves problems you didn’t even know you had.
Stop counting listens and start building relationships
The first thing that kills a podcast project before it even starts is the obsession with metrics. Often, marketing directors who launch a podcast look at the stats after three episodes, see 200 listens, and conclude it’s a failure. But in reality, it’s like planting a seed, coming back two days later, and being surprised there’s no tree yet.
A podcast does not work like a Facebook Ads campaign where you inject budget and see conversions roll in. It’s a medium for connection, not direct conversion. And that nuance changes absolutely everything about how you should approach it.
Let’s take a concrete example. You sell trail running gear online. You can spend months optimizing your landing pages, refining your product descriptions, multiplying UGC on Instagram. And that’s good—necessary even. But in the end, your potential customer remains at a distance. They see your products, maybe even your brand values, but they don’t really know you.
Now imagine that this same customer listens to your podcast for 45 minutes while running. They hear your voice, your hesitations, your passion when you talk about shoe design, your laugh as you share that story about your first failed ultra-trail. At the end of those 45 minutes, something has happened in their brain. They no longer see you as a brand but as someone they know. And that is priceless.
This closeness created by a podcast is almost unsettling. The podcast has done its job: it has built familiarity, trust, a bond that completely bypasses the usual steps of commercial relationships.
The podcast as an authenticity amplifier
Let’s be honest: corporate communication often suffers from over-control. Instagram posts are polished for hours, stories are planned ahead, videos are reshot multiple times until every word is perfect. Understandable—you want everything spotless. But somewhere along the way, you often lose something essential: the spontaneity that makes someone credible and relatable.
The podcast format changes everything. When you turn on a mic and record a one-hour conversation, something different happens. The usual barriers slowly fade. Real personality emerges, expertise reveals itself naturally, and passion becomes tangible in a way no script could ever orchestrate.
For an e-commerce brand, that authenticity has immense value. Your customers are increasingly sensitive to what feels real. They want to understand who’s behind the brand, what values you truly stand for, what challenges you overcame to get here. The podcast offers this rare space where you can share all of that naturally, without the usual marketing filter. And it’s precisely that touch of imperfection, that visible humanity, that creates a far stronger connection than any hyper-polished campaign.
Opening doors money can’t buy
Here’s something few people realize: creating a podcast gives you a golden excuse to contact almost anyone.
Want to talk to the founder of a brand you admire? Hard to reach out cold. Want to collaborate with an influencer in your niche? They probably get 50 partnership requests a week. Want to reach that premium supplier who never responds? Good luck.
But if you invite them to your podcast? Everything changes. Because a podcast invitation is not a commercial request. It’s a recognition of their expertise, a platform for sharing their story, an opportunity to reach your audience. It’s flattering, valuable, and above all, win–win.
For an e-commerce brand, this is a killer strategy. Want to develop a new product line? Invite experts from that field. Want to better understand your audience? Invite your best customers to share their stories. Targeting a new market segment? Invite influencers from that niche. Each episode is an opportunity to build relationships that turn into collaborations, partnerships, recommendations.
The short-form content machine you never saw coming
Now let’s talk about something ultra-practical that should interest every marketing manager struggling to feed their social channels: a long-form podcast is a factory for short-form content.
It’s almost ironic when you think about it. For years we were told nobody consumes long content online. Everything had to be short, punchy, instant. Then podcasts arrived—one-hour, sometimes two-hour episodes—and people devour them. But the real genius lies in what you can do afterward.
A single one-hour podcast episode, properly filmed, gives you enough material to create 10 to 15 short-form contents. Thirty-second video clips for Instagram Reels, punchy quotes for LinkedIn, highlight moments for TikTok, audiograms for Twitter. Each piece keeps the authenticity and energy of the long format but in a shape adapted to platform algorithms and user habits.
And these clips often reach far more people than the full podcast. For every person who listens to the entire episode, there are ten who discover your brand through a social media snippet. These clips become your main visibility engine, your entry point, while the full podcast remains there for those who want to go deeper.
For an e-commerce brand constantly needing to feed its social media channels, this is a game changer. Instead of struggling every week to create content that feels authentic, you record one podcast episode per month and you have your editorial calendar for the next four weeks. More efficient, less stressful, and far richer, more engaging content.
The internal podcast: the secret weapon for team cohesion
Now let’s talk about a podcast use case that may sound counterintuitive if you’re focused on customer acquisition. But it might be the most powerful one.
The internal podcast. Yes, you read that right. A podcast made for your employees, not your customers.
Imagine a 50-person company, with remote workers, field sales teams, a logistics warehouse, customer support, and a tech team. Everyone does their job, but who really knows Patrick from production? Who knows that Sophie from customer service has an incredible expatriation story before joining the company? Who truly understands the daily challenges of the marketing team?
An internal podcast changes all that. You interview one employee every month. No corporate jargon, no HR communication. Just real conversations about their journey, their job, their struggles, what drives them. Suddenly, the company is no longer an abstract organization—it’s a collection of human stories.
For this type of podcast, 100 listens is not a failure—it’s a victory. Because 100 listens in a 50-person company means each episode is listened to twice on average. It means information circulates, people talk, silos break down. ROI is not measured in euros, but in cohesion, culture, and talent retention.
And for a fast-growing e-commerce brand, where teams multiply and the original culture risks fading, it becomes a tool for preserving the company’s DNA like nothing else.
The magic happens before the episode is even published
There’s something no one says enough about podcasts: the real magic doesn’t happen when someone hits play. It happens in the studio, during recording.
When you create a podcast, you build what’s often called a “safe place,” a secure space where people can truly open up. Not in a therapeutic sense, but because the environment encourages sincerity. The mic creates a bubble. The conversation gains unusual depth. Guests share not only their expertise but also their passion, doubts, vision.
For a company, this means your podcast project is already a success before it even goes live. It has generated joy, cohesion, genuine relationships. The rest—the listens, the potential virality—is just a bonus.
So, where do you start?
If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably wondering how to integrate all of this into your strategy. Because yes, creating a podcast takes time, energy, and consistency.
My recommendation? Don’t think “podcast” in the traditional sense at first. Think “recorded conversations.” You already have calls with interesting clients? Record them (with their consent, of course). You run internal trainings? Turn them into episodes. You meet inspiring candidates? Why not document those conversations?
The classic mistake is trying to create the perfect podcast from day one, with a polished concept, professional jingle, designed logo. In reality, the project never starts because it’s too heavy. Start simple. A good microphone, a basic recording tool, and most importantly: conversations you genuinely care about.
Because that’s the podcast’s final secret. If you don’t enjoy making it, it will be obvious. And if you do enjoy it, that will be obvious too. And people want to hear that authenticity.
Ultimately, a podcast is a revealer. It reveals whether you really have something to say beyond your marketing message. It reveals whether your company has a soul beyond its products. It reveals whether you can build real relationships beyond transactions.
And in an e-commerce world that’s becoming increasingly automated, where chatbots replace humans and customers are treated like order numbers, the ability to reveal the human behind the brand becomes a competitive edge.
So no, a podcast won’t double your revenue next month. But it might create that connection with a customer who becomes your best ambassador. It might open the door to that strategic partnership that changes your company’s trajectory. It might strengthen that internal culture that keeps your best talent from leaving.
A podcast is a relationship investment. And in a world obsessed with short-term metrics, it may be exactly what your digital strategy needs to truly stand out.
The real question isn’t “How many people will listen?” The real question is “What essential connection could my podcast create tomorrow?” And once you find that answer, you’ll know exactly why it’s time to get started.
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