Podcasting for Business-Better Than Anyone Else
Do you think podcasting is just for entertainment? It’s true that the bulk of podcasts is about Star Wars, board games, family vacations, or anything else you might find on YouTube or Soundcloud. But now podcasting for business is being used to advance their marketing efforts. Podcast listeners are getting smarter, and more loyal. The statistics are undeniable—being on a podcast greatly increases your chances of being found by new customers.
Podcasts are one of the most exciting new mediums for businesses to find an audience. They allow you to build trust, connect on a personal level with your clientele, and they can improve your Google rankings too. But how do you make them work for your business? There are several Podcasts out there covering the topic of podcasts, but most of them focus on the creative side. This article focuses on how you can use podcasts for PR or marketing purposes.
Why do Podcasting
Before we get into the domain of podcasting for business, let us take a look at why should you be podcasting in the first place. There are a few factors that have made podcasting as popular as it is today. The benefits of podcasting are:
1. It’s free: You can use your computer and free software to start a podcast, and there’s no extra equipment to buy.
2. It’s easy: Anyone can do it—it doesn’t need any special training or equipment (unless you want to make it more professional).
3. It’s effective: Once you learn how to create a podcast and get the word out about your podcast, it’s a great way to share information with your audience and help grow your business.
4. It’s fun and creative: Podcasting is a new way to share stories in an interesting, fresh way that people enjoy hearing and listening to.
5. It builds community: Podcasts provide an opportunity for you to interact with your customers, build your network/audience, attract new customers and promote your business in the process.
6. Establish Credibility: It gives you instant credibility/recognition as an expert in your field or topic area by sharing your knowledge with others who are interested in what you have to say on any given topic of interest
7. Lead generation: It can be used as a lead generation tool for new clients or customers if done properly.
Discover if podcasting is right for your business
Podcasting has grown in popularity, but it can be difficult to know if it’s right for your business. Podcasts are a great way to get your brand seen. They are also a great way to get your name out there so you can gain potential clients. But there are only so many hours in the day, so how do you know if podcasting is right for your business?
If you have a lot of valuable content and you believe people will want to listen and share it, podcasting might be right for you. If you like producing and sharing content, podcasting could be the perfect opportunity for you. Do you have a valuable idea or knowledge that can help others? Podcasting is a great way to share that with them.
Once you’ve decided that it’s good to do podcasting for business, there are other things that need to be considered. You will need to come up with a podcasting strategy that suits your needs. Finding the right podcasting strategy requires you to know who your target market is. Are you trying to attract new customers? Are you looking to promote your business? Are you trying to keep your current customers? Or are you aiming to increase brand awareness?
Once you’ve identified your target market, develop a strategy that will help you reach out and connect with them. Your podcast should include engaging content that will draw people in and keep them coming back for more. Having people come back to your podcast is one of the most important parts when it comes to podcasting for business.
The podcast must be easy to access. It should be available on popular platforms like iTunes, Google, Spotify, and Stitcher Radio. You should also consider getting your podcast featured in an online publication or blog to increase exposure.
Some businesses choose to create the podcast themselves, but hiring a freelancer may also be one of your options. When searching for a freelancer, make sure they have experience creating podcasts for businesses like yours. This will ensure that the finished product meets all your expectations and delivers the results that you’re looking for.
Advantages of podcasting for business
Podcasts are great for making your business seem more relatable and friendly to consumers as you share your knowledge and expertise. They’re also a great way to establish yourself as an industry leader. There are three main ways to use podcasts if you’re trying to grow your business:
- Use your podcasts to introduce yourself, your products or services, and your website
- Use your podcasts as a way to promote sales on your site
- Use podcasts as a way to drive traffic back to your site
There are many benefits of podcasting for business. The following are some of the biggest advantages of starting a podcast:
1. Podcasts are more profitable than websites
Podcasts are driving more traffic and sales than just about any other form of media. With a podcast, listeners have a direct line to your products and services! Your access is through the digital audio distribution network, which puts you in front of more
2. Podcasts are easy to make and publish
To get started with podcasting, all you need is a computer or mobile device and an internet connection. There are many free tools you can use to record your audio, such as GarageBand on Mac or Audacity on PC. Once you’ve recorded your audio, there are several free and paid services you can use to host and distribute your podcast to millions of listeners around the world. Some examples include:
3. Podcasts can help build brand awareness and customer loyalty
Businesses don’t often take advantage of this marketing medium because it’s new but podcasting for business can be a great way to build a large and loyal customer base.
Decide what kind of podcast you want to do
Now that you have decided that podcasting for business is the right fit for you. And more than that, you have decided what your target audience is and what is the purpose of your podcast. The next important thing to consider is “What type of podcast do you want to do?”
There are three main types of podcasts:
- Interview-based shows: These are the most common. An interviewer invites someone on the show and asks them questions, usually about their life or work. This type of show is really popular with both audiences and interviewees because it allows people to talk about their experiences in a relaxed environment.
- Narrative-based shows: Narrative-based podcasts tell stories. They can focus on true stories (like This American Life ), fictional stories (like Star Trek )
- Commentary-based shows: Commentary-based podcasts are like having a conversation with your friends while driving in the car. They don’t always have a specific topic, but they can cover everything from sports to politics to what happened on The Walking Dead last night.
Moreover, there is another consideration that you need to make before making a podcast for business. And that is to decide whether you want your podcast to be audio-only or video podcast. Audio podcasts are listened to on the radio or downloaded to MP3 players, smartphones, tablets, computers, etc. Video podcasts are watched on computers or mobile devices.
The type of podcast you want to do will determine how you produce it. For example, if you want to do an audio podcast that will be broadcast on the radio, then you need to talk into a microphone — which most laptops have built-in — and then record your voice using software like GarageBand (Mac) or Audacity (PC).
Video podcasts are different. You’ll need to either create your video recordings or pay someone else to do it for you. You can use a webcam or a professional camera and professional lighting equipment which will make your videos look good. As the host of your podcast, you’re responsible for its production. You’ll need to choose between audio and video, decide who you want to interview, handle sound equipment and editing, and market your podcast.
How to start podcasting for business
Starting a podcast for your business is an exciting way to increase your visibility, grow your audience and establish yourself as an industry leader. But it takes more than just a microphone and a room in which to record to create a high-quality podcast. If you have a business, podcasting may be a relatively cheap and easy way to reach your customers. If you’re already producing video content, you might as well consider adding podcasts as well.
The first step in creating a successful podcast is deciding what you want to focus it on. You can choose from a variety of topics, from interviews to discussions to product overviews. The most important thing is that the podcast is interesting, so you should select a topic you know well and enjoy talking about.
Here’s how to start a podcast for your business:
- Brainstorm podcast topics: You need to start by coming up with topics that your customers want to hear about. It’s important to find something that will be of interest to your audience and will keep them coming back for more. Keep in mind that the idea for a good topic can take time — if one doesn’t immediately spring into your head, don’t worry. You’ll come up with something that fits later.
- Are you creating products or services: depending on what you are doing with your business, the content of your podcast will have to be curated according to it.
- Pick a platform and format for your podcast: Whether you decide on audio recording software, video recording software, or decide to use YouTube, you want to pick the easiest one for you and make it work. You can always change it later if needed, but this is the starting point for your podcasting journey.
- Decide on your frequency: Are you going to do weekly podcasts? Twice-monthly podcasts? Or will you record more sporadically? Do what works best for you, but no matter how often or how long each podcast is, make sure that each one serves its purpose of informing your audience about the things they want to know about related to your business.
What your podcast needs to grow
Podcasts are a powerful way to engage your audience and get your message out. This becomes all the more important when you are podcasting for business. As with any kind of content, you have to have a good product, but that isn’t enough. You also have to have a plan for promoting it. Podcasts aren’t just for listeners anymore. They’re also a rapidly growing tool for companies to reach and engage with customers.
Podcast listeners are highly engaged and active. They spend more than an hour a day listening, which means they’re both receptive and willing to share. With the older generation, podcasting is becoming a preferred form of media consumption. As millennials and younger generations grow older and begin to make more buying decisions, the popularity of podcasts as a marketing tool will continue to grow as well.
A podcast, to be successful needs the same things that every other content marketing platform needs:
- Promotion: You can’t get people to listen to your podcast if they don’t know it exists. It’s up to you to make sure they do know. Here are some ways you can do that:
- Transcripts: If you use a podcast service like Libsyn or Blubrry, you can publish transcripts of each episode on your website and in some external locations like Medium. That way, people can read your content on their own time and at their own pace.
- Full episodes: Your full episodes should be easily available from your website’s podcast landing page or from an iTunes listing page that links directly to full episodes on another site (such as YouTube).
- Stitcher Radio: Stitcher is a great tool for sharing your podcast with people via social media and email — just send them the link or embed it in an email or blog post!
- Short clips: Use YouTube and SoundCloud for short clips.
Podcasting to complement other marketing strategies
Podcasting for business is a great way to promote your business, but it shouldn’t be your only marketing strategy. You can use podcasting as a complement to other strategies, such as blogging and social media, rather than using it as the sole platform for your marketing plan.
There are many different ways to get started with podcasting. If you’re not sure how to produce a podcast, find someone in your niche who is already successful and ask them how they got started and what their process looks like. You’ll also want to check out some of the tools that podcasters use, such as WordPress and Audacity.
Once you’ve produced a couple of podcasts, start promoting them on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Consider offering special content — such as an exclusive interview — for people who follow you on social media. If you do this frequently enough, followers will come to expect valuable information from your podcast and will tune in regularly. You can also drive traffic to your podcasts by promoting them on Google Ads.
Summary
Podcasting for business is going to be the one of best ways that people and businesses promote themselves. The sooner you decide to get into it, the better it would be to grow your business. It will help you build a large customer base that is loyal and keeps coming back for more if the content of your podcast is good enough.
