在短视频盛行的时代，我们为何选择做播客？

经常有我们播客的听众问我们，为何会选择用播客的形式分享我们的商业案例？所以我就在今天的文章里与大家分享一下。

内容特性：

《柠檬变成柠檬水》聚焦商业分析、品牌案例和社会趋势等话题。这类内容通常复杂且信息量大，需要充分的背景和故事铺陈。播客作为纯声音媒介，天然具有出色的讲故事和观点分享优势。相比于短视频的一闪而过，播客能通过缓慢构建故事、还原情绪来传递商业案例的脉络，让听众更深入地理解事件的来龙去脉​。

在这个节目里，我和Poy坚持以“通俗易懂的语言，有趣的视角”解读商业现象​，这种平易近人的讨论形式在音频中更能保持专注，不受视觉元素干扰。同时，声音媒介输出高信息密度且富有人情味的内容，节奏舒缓更易让听众消化要点​。因此，节目探讨商业趋势所需的深度和连贯性，与播客形式高度契合，音频平台给予了充分时间和空间去剖析案例细节、阐述观点，确保内容的专业性和可听性得到平衡。

听众行为：

播客用户的收听习惯非常契合《柠檬变成柠檬水》的受众定位。许多播客听众会在节假日或日常碎片时间收听节目。一位听众提到自己“上班通勤听播客，下班回家开播客”，周围同事也是如此​。可见上班族倾向于利用通勤路上获取有价值的信息。声音媒介释放了双眼双手，听众可以一边开车、走路、做饭等，一边高效获取节目内容​。相比文字或视频必须全神贯注，播客的包容性使其能融入听众忙碌的生活场景。当目标听众是商业领域的从业者或爱好者时，这种随时随地收听的灵活性尤为重要。

此外，播客用户的听觉专注度很高。有研究显示约70%的听众在收听播客时会全神贯注，不受干扰​。也就是说，即便是在通勤或家务等场景，听众依然认真投入于节目内容。这种习惯与节目希望触达的商业人士相符：他们可以在碎片时间里专注聆听行业见解，不必抽出额外时间阅读长文，从而更愿意长期追随节目。

品牌传播策略：

作为一种传播渠道，播客在品牌人设建立、知识输出和长期陪伴方面有独特优势，直接为《柠檬变成柠檬水》加分。首先，声音的亲近感有助于树立鲜明的人设形象。我和Poy本身也是经验丰富的品牌战略和营销专家，我们通过播客长期输出专业见解，在听众心目中建立起可信赖的专家型IP形象。音频媒介可以让这种专业度以聊天式的方式呈现，拉近与听众的距离。营销专家指出，音频内容自然而然地让人产生亲切感和陪伴感，长达几十分钟的节目非常适合进行深入的品牌沟通，很少有其他媒介能像播客一样在这么长时间内有效提升品牌互动​。

长期坚持输出的声音陪伴还能沉淀出牢固的信任关系​。听众逐渐把主播当作朋友来看待，愿意相信他们的观点。这对于节目的人设和口碑养成至关重要。 其次，在知识传播层面，播客提供了理想的平台。每期节目深入浅出地讨论商业案例和趋势，相当于一场生动的迷你商业课。与速食化的短内容不同，播客信息密度高且节奏沉稳，听众有足够时间跟随主持人的思路思考。​有听众反馈说，播客带来的“陪伴感很强”，听他人的观点输出还能锻炼自己的思考能力​。这种现象印证了节目通过知识输出与听众建立的长期连接：听众在潜移默化中汲取商业见识，同时对节目产生情感依赖和忠诚度。播客特有的强陪伴感和黏性依赖也使得听众更愿意持续订阅收听​。

总体而言，播客让《柠檬变成柠檬水》实现了内容价值与情感链接的双赢——既传播了品牌营销知识，又塑造了陪伴式的品牌人格，培养出高度黏性的听众群体，为节目长期发展奠定基础。

播客契合节目语调与节奏优势：

相较于视频或文章等形式，播客在呈现《柠檬变成柠檬水》的语调和节奏上更具优势。

首先对比视频，短视频以“短平快”为特点，依赖强烈的视觉刺激和碎片化的信息来吸引眼球，虽然传播速度快但难留下深刻印象​。复杂的商业案例若用短视频呈现，很可能因时长限制而流于表面。而播客不追求炫目的视觉效果，以内容深度取胜：节目可以用几十分钟深入剖析一个案例，不疾不徐地展开讨论。这种温和而深邃的节奏正契合节目分析话题的需要​。

同时，音频的优势在于听众不必被屏幕绑架——相比看视频必须集中注意力，听播客时双眼解放，可以一边听一边做其他事​。这意味着听众能够在更放松的状态下吸收节目信息，更好地接受节目偏理性、慢节奏的讨论风格。总之，播客为节目提供了一个“静谧的接口”，让听众仿佛置身于与老朋友深聊的情境​，这种连接感是快节奏的视频媒介难以实现的。

再看文字文章形式，虽然文字同样能传递详尽信息，但阅读需要读者全神贯注，且缺少语音语调所带来的感染力。《柠檬变成柠檬水》采用对话体和故事性的阐述，如果仅以文章呈现，幽默的语气、“吐槽”和语调中的巧思可能难以完全体会。播客中的口语表达使内容更有温度：声音的情绪传递效率更高，主持人的口头禅、笑声、停顿等即时反应让人感到真实，从而形成陪伴感和信任关系​。相比之下，纯文字的品牌故事往往显得生硬或距离感更大。

另外，播客制作门槛相对视频更低、灵活性更高。我和Poy身处不同地方，但是通过远程录音就能产出内容，并保证每两周更新一集​。如果换成视频，我们可能需要投入大量时间进行拍摄剪辑，还要考虑镜头表现力，这会削弱内容产出的效率和频率。显然，播客形式让节目可以专注于内容本身，以轻量的制作实现高频的优质输出。这种语调轻松、节奏从容但内容扎实的风格，通过播客得到了最恰当的发挥。

中文播客生态：

现在中文播客行业的蓬勃发展为《柠檬变成柠檬水》选择音频形式提供了战略性机遇。近几年被称作“中国播客的翻红期”，用户规模和内容供给都在快速上涨。据统计2023年中文播客听众数已超过2.2亿人，播客节目数量相比三年前增长了6倍，正从小众圈层一步步走向大众​。这样的增长趋势表明，越来越多中国受众开始接受并喜爱以播客获取信息的方式，市场空前活跃。

《柠檬变成柠檬水》播客于2022年初上线，正好踩在这波红利的起点上：小宇宙等播客平台在2020年前后兴起，使播客真正破圈成为年轻人的一种生活方式​。借助这一风口，我们的节目在各大平台同步分发（国内小宇宙、喜马拉雅，海外Apple Podcasts、Spotify等），迅速触达广泛听众。

我们的播客定位也比较独特（北美视角的中文商业剖析），在当时的中文播客中填补了一块利基市场，因而获得了亮眼的表现：上线至今已跻身Listen Notes全球**最受欢迎播客Top 1%**行列​。可见，选择播客让节目成功搭上了行业上升的快车道，在激烈竞争形成之前抢占了用户心智。随着中文播客生态的成熟和用户的增长，节目未来还有更大的扩张空间和影响力提升潜力。

当然，播客行业虽机遇巨大，但也有挑战，比如变现路径相对缓慢、总体受众规模仍小于视频等媒介。然而，《柠檬变成柠檬水》很好地将这些挑战转化为了长期战略优势。播客用户中六成以上是24～40岁的年轻人​，这一主力人群与节目锁定的商业职业听众高度吻合，意味着节目的内容能精准击中播客受众的“甜蜜点”。

面对短视频流量为王的环境，我们并未盲目跟风追求爆款，而是扎扎实实输出有深度的内容，迎合的是播客用户对深度和启发性内容的主动探索需求​。这种“慢而深耕”的思路契合播客生态的调性：播客不是一夜爆红的流量场，而是重视长尾效应、讲究用户长期留存的社区。

​有分析说，黏性的播客听众一旦被“种草”，不仅自己长期追随，还乐于向亲友推荐，可见播客能为优质内容带来滚雪球般的口碑效应。节目也充分利用了这一点，通过开设微信听友群、领英社区等方式加强与听众的互动和归属感，进一步稳固了用户基础​。

我们的初心：

除了以上所提到的市场趋势和平台优势之外，我们的初心，其实才是最重要的出发点。

在创办《柠檬变成柠檬水》之前，我曾经参与创建一个影响力颇大的华裔女性平台。虽然后来因为各种原因选择了退出，但当我回头问自己：在那个平台里，最让我感到热情与投入的是什么？

我的答案是——帮助华裔女性企业家成长。

这个念头一直埋在心里。而《柠檬变成柠檬水》的诞生，其实正是那个理想的自然延伸：我们想用中文分享北美的商业案例，用轻松但深刻的方式，陪伴更多有志于职场与创业的人，走得更远。

其次，播客这个形式之所以吸引我，也跟我曾经被“流量”困扰的经历有关。

早年我经营微信公众号，起初是分享兴趣，但随着平台做大、粉丝增长，我却发现自己越来越被阅读量和点赞数牵着走。每天看着后台数字起伏，焦虑也随之增长，创作的初心开始被稀释。为了流量而迎合，慢慢地我成了算法的俘虏，成了流量的奴隶。

于是当再次思考要在哪个平台展开新内容时，我刻意选择了“看不见数字”的播客。

除了小宇宙之外，像Apple Podcasts、Spotify、Amazon这些平台，听众基本是看不到收听数据的。这听上去也许有点“好笑”，毕竟现在谁不在乎“曝光”与“热度”呢？

但也正是因为这种没有被量化的自由感，让我可以专心去做真正想做的内容，不再被数据驱动，不再为了点阅而修饰表达。这种回归本心的创作方式，反而带来了一种新的踏实和平静。

播客，让我们重新找回了初心。

声音，成为我们与这个世界分享故事的桥梁。

因此综上所诉，从整体战略看，我们当初把《柠檬变成柠檬水》选择播客作为内容载体还是很正确的决定。它顺应了中文播客崛起的大势，发挥了音频媒介在深度内容和用户黏性上的优势，匹配了节目定位和受众习惯，为内容价值和品牌影响力的长期积累铺平了道路。

Why "Turn Lemons Into Lemonade" Found Its Voice Through Podcasting

We’re often asked by our listeners: Why did you choose to use a podcast to launch the "Turn Lemons Into Lemonade" brand?

In this article, I’d like to take a moment to explain our reasoning—both strategic and personal.

1. The Nature of Our Content:

"Turn Lemons Into Lemonade" focuses on business analysis, brand case studies, and social and market trends. These topics tend to be complex, layered, and rich in detail. They need time, context, and storytelling to be fully understood. Podcasting, as an audio-only medium, is especially well-suited to this kind of deep dive.

Unlike short videos that prioritize speed and visual impact, podcasts allow us to build narratives gradually. This helps listeners follow the whole spectrum of a business story or trend and truly grasp what’s at stake.

Poy and I make a point to use approachable language to make business ideas easier to understand. Podcasts let us share thoughtful, high-density content at a steady, digestible pace, which is exactly what’s needed for the kind of in-depth, coherent storytelling that our topics require.

2. Listener Behavior Matches Our Target Audience

Podcast listening habits align closely with the type of people we want to reach. Many of our listeners tune in during commutes or while doing everyday tasks. One listener once told us, “I listen to your podcast on my way to work, and again when I’m cooking dinner.” We’ve heard similar stories from others.

The beauty of audio is that it frees up your hands and eyes. People can absorb meaningful content while driving or walking. Unlike reading or watching videos, which demand undivided attention, podcasts fit seamlessly into the busy lives of working professionals.

Even more importantly, studies show that about 70% of podcast listeners are fully engaged while listening. That means even during passive moments, they’re deeply focused on the content. For our audience, including professionals and entrepreneurs who are eager to learn, this flexibility and depth of attention are a perfect match.

3. Podcasts as a Branding and Relationship-Building Tool

Podcasting also supports our long-term branding goals. It allows us to build both credibility and connection.

Poy and I both have extensive backgrounds in brand strategy and marketing, and podcasting gives us a platform to share insights consistently over time. Through our voices and conversations, we’re able to build trust and establish ourselves as subject experts, what some might call a “personal brand.”

Voice, more than text or even video, creates a sense of intimacy and authenticity. Marketing experts often point out that podcasts foster a feeling of companionship, especially over longer episodes. Only a few media allow you to hold someone’s attention for 30 to 60 minutes, week after week. That consistency helps strengthen relationships and deepen trust.

Over time, many of our listeners come to see us less as content creators and more like friends. They trust our perspectives, value our analysis, and look forward to spending time with us.

Additionally, the podcast format lends itself perfectly to knowledge-sharing. Each episode is like a mini business class - deep, structured, but conversational. We often hear feedback from listeners who say the show not only helps them stay informed, but also sharpens their own thinking. That’s exactly the kind of long-term, value-driven relationship we hope to build.

4. Why Podcasting Works Better Than Other Formats

Compared to video or written articles, podcasting is a more natural fit for the tone and pace of our show.

Take short videos, for example: they’re fast, visually stimulating, and great for grabbing attention. But they often lack depth. Complex business ideas can’t be fully explained in 30-second clips. Podcasting, on the other hand, doesn’t rely on flashy visuals. It relies on substance. We can spend 40 minutes thoughtfully unpacking one topic, which fits the nature of our content perfectly.

Audio also offers freedom. You don’t have to stare at a screen. You can listen while on the go, while doing chores, or even while relaxing. That creates a more relaxed, immersive listening environment - ideal for our thoughtful, slower-paced discussions.

As for articles, while writing can also be detailed, it lacks the emotional texture of voice. Our show uses humor, personality, and spontaneous dialogue - elements that don’t always come across on the page. In a podcast, tone, pauses, and even laughter convey energy and warmth, helping listeners connect with us on a human level.

Podcast production is also far more efficient than video. Poy and I live in different cities, but we can record remotely and publish new episodes every two weeks. If we were filming video content, the editing, filming, and visual presentation would slow us down and shift focus away from the ideas themselves. Podcasting lets us stay nimble while keeping the content front and center.

5. The Growth of Chinese Podcasting

The rapid growth of Chinese-language podcasts also helped shape our decision.

In recent years, the Chinese podcast ecosystem has been booming. As of 2023, there were over 220 million podcast listeners in China, and the number of shows has increased more than sixfold in just three years. What was once a niche medium is now gaining mainstream traction, especially among younger, urban audiences.

"Turn Lemons Into Lemonade" launched in early 2022, right at the start of this new wave. Platforms like Xiaoyuzhou made podcasting accessible and popular in China. We took advantage of this momentum by publishing across all major platforms - Xiaoyuzhou, Ximalaya, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more - allowing us to reach a diverse and growing audience.

Our unique angle (Chinese-language business analysis from a North American perspective) filled a niche that wasn’t being addressed at the time. As a result, the show quickly gained traction and today ranks in the top 5% of all podcasts globally on Listen Notes.

Of course, podcasting also comes with challenges. Monetization is slower, and the total audience size is still smaller than video. But we see these not as roadblocks, but as part of our long-game strategy.

Over 60% of podcast listeners fall between the ages of 24 and 40, exactly the demographic we aim to serve. And while short-form video dominates in terms of traffic, we intentionally chose not to chase viral fame. Instead, we committed to depth, consistency, and meaningful engagement. Podcasts reward that kind of approach.

It’s also worth noting: podcast listeners tend to be more loyal. Once they discover a show they like, they stick with it, and often recommend it to others. We’ve leaned into this strength by building listener communities on WeChat and LinkedIn to deepen connection and loyalty.

6. Our “Why”: Rediscovering Our Creative Freedom

Beyond all the market logic, platform benefits, and strategic alignment, there’s something more personal that guided our decision: a return to our creative roots.

Before launching this podcast, I helped build a large community for Chinese women. Although I eventually stepped away, I’ve never forgotten the part of that work I loved most - helping Chinese female entrepreneurs grow. That passion still drives me, and "Turn Lemons Into Lemonade" is a continuation of that mission.

Another reason podcasting appealed to me is that I’d been burned by chasing data.

Years ago, I ran a WeChat blog account. It started as something I loved, but as it grew, I found myself increasingly obsessed with data: follower counts, pageviews, likes. I became anxious, constantly checking performance, and eventually lost sight of why I started in the first place. I began writing to please algorithms, not myself.

So this time, I deliberately chose a medium that doesn’t show you the numbers.

Except for Xiaoyuzhou, platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon don’t display download counts. That might sound counterintuitive, especially in an era obsessed with metrics and reach. But for me, that invisibility was freeing.

It let me focus again on the content, not the performance. I didn’t have to worry about optimizing for clicks. I could say what I really wanted to say. That creative freedom brought peace, clarity, and a renewed sense of purpose.

Podcasting helped me return to my roots.

And voice became the bridge between our stories and the world.

7. Final Thoughts

Looking back, choosing podcasting as the medium for Turn Lemons Into Lemonade was absolutely the right decision.

It aligned with market trends, leveraged the strengths of audio - depth, intimacy, loyalty - and matched both our content style and our audience’s habits. Most importantly, it gave us the space to reconnect with our roots and mission, stay true to our voices, and grow something meaningful, one episode at a time.