Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles about business related podcasting.
What was once known to be consumed as on-demand radio, podcasts have evolved to become a marketing tool for businesses.
Podcasts are a series of audio episodes made to inform and entertain to put it plainly. With a medium so simple, the possibilities are endless to make a good sounding audio episode where you get to decide what the content is. The content is key.
If you’re looking for a new instrument to market and grow your business, producing a podcast specific to your industry and company might be the string to pull.
As the podcast industry grows, so does competition for listenership time. Despite that, flirting with the question if your business needs a podcast is still valid. Because the industry is ever growing, being able to latch on to even a small section could turn listeners into clients. Your podcast need not compete with other podcasts, it need only stand out within your industry or genre of podcasts.
If you are not already convinced, here are 9 reasons why your business needs to start a podcast.
1. Popularity of podcasts
“By the end of 2025, there will be over 144 million monthly podcast listeners in the US,” says Insider Intelligence in a new report. With celebrity talk shows and news organizations expanding their way into the industry, more and more people are becoming religious podcast listeners tuning into their daily list of podcasts.
2. Easy to make
If you set your podcast to a good launching strategy, consistently putting out episodes shouldn’t be a trouble. This doesn’t go to say that podcasting is a complete piece of cake, rather it is a more accessible medium as compared to TV or radio. The bare essentials of a podcast calls for a host who can talk with a good microphone. With the many podcast distribution platforms up and coming, focusing on the content is imperative. And the programming or content of the podcast is entirely up to you.
3. Economical marketing tool
Compared to traditional marketing tools, such as email campaigns, customer loyalty programs, etc., producing a podcast can be cost-effective. At the bare essentials, you will be paying for a good microphone and a hosting platform. Podcast production or editing can also be outsourced from professional services.
4. Branding
When your business starts a podcast, the medium is yours to establish your brand and share your goals, visions and expertise to listeners. Customers will be able to connect to your brand and as your business shares your perspective. Podcast episodes can act as a communication tool to show customers what your business believes in and stands up for. While advertisements can do the same, podcasts can be more personal.
5. Customer trust and connection
Podcasting as a medium is extremely personal and intimate, and podcast listeners are the most engaged kind of consumer base. Your host will be able to communicate mouth to ear with your audience sharing direct knowledge and information that many podcast listeners seek. As compared to webinars and long presentations, podcasts are casual and can be listened to anytime and anywhere. Your listener might be doing laundry while listening to an episode about cybersecurity.
Podcasts are also known to build a community because podcast listeners are the most engaged. According to a report by Edison Research, of those who start a podcast episode, 80% listen to all or most of it. With a loyal listenership, your business can directly cater offers and exclusive deals to your community.
6. Thought leadership and authority
There is no better way to be a thought leader than to have a podcast specific to your business’s industry. With the content you produce and your expression of business ideas and future goals, customers will be listening to you to set precedent and highlight recommendations in the industry at hand. Podcast listeners are listening for new ideas and new information; they are looking to grow their knowledge base and creating a podcast is an effective strategy to set your business as the expert in the industry. Podcasts are effective tools to showcase a long-form message as compared to surface level marketing channels that give it to you as is.
7. Repurpose content
Since the podcast is yours, what you decide to feature on it is entirely up to you. Because of this, your business can repurpose presentations, webinars, videos, and even blog posts into audio episodes. A blog post can be an idea for an episode, a YouTube video can be altered to an audio file. Repurposing content into a podcast episode is just another avenue for outreach untapped.
8. Website traffic
There’s a new podcast in the industry? The next direct source for listeners to check out more about a podcast is your business’s website. Podcasts can also be used to drive web content. Episodes can easily be embedded into blog posts with more supplemental information and exclusives. All of this contributes to more traffic to your website thereby improving your search rank.
9. Advertising income
With a growing consumer base, podcasts have also opened its doors to advertisers and sponsors following the footsteps of it sister medium, the radio. And with the investment of companies like Spotify, Apple and Google, the Insider Intelligence report expects US podcast ad spending to nearly double, from $701.0 million in 2019 to $1.33 billion in 2021. Your business’s podcast can serve as an advertising medium for other services that directly target your industry’s consumer base.
Need more information on where to start with a podcast for your own business? Contact Ameicaneagle.com and we can help you get started!
Next up: What is my podcast content?
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