Before televisions took over, people could sit and listen to anything on the radio. Now, the internet has taken over and revolutionized the way people choose and consume information. This gave rise to on-demand platforms like Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify where people can watch videos or listen to audios at their own time.
For businesses to thrive in the internet age, they have to find their way and integrate their brands in these new forms of media—and that includes podcasts. Research indicates that podcasts are excellent for hyper-targeting audiences, which can help increase sales. Hence, they are effective marketing tools that can help a business reach a specific niche. But among all the other digital marketing strategies today, it’s right to say that podcasts remain largely underutilized.
The growth of the podcast industry is projected to grow steadily in the coming years. So, if your business has not considered podcast as a marketing strategy yet, it’s time to go deeper and determine if this strategy is feasible. Let’s start with the pros and cons of using podcasts as marketing tools:
The Pros of Podcasts As Marketing Tools
If done right, a podcast can be a cost-efficient way to market your business. Here are some of its benefits:
Potential To Reach New Audiences
Whether you decide to start a podcast or appear as a guest in someone’s podcast, there’s a huge potential of reaching new audiences. It’s easy to search a podcast by topic, making it easier for audiences to find you via shared interests. All you need is to share good content excitingly and compellingly.
Podcast analytics indicate that the majority of podcast listeners want to learn new things. Once the audience feels that your content is of value, they’ll stay for more, and your brand will become stronger as you keep them engaged. If someone is listening, they are already interested in your niche. So, they are more likely to become your customer or at the very least, regular listeners.
The key is to stick to exciting and valuable topics that people are likely to search around your niche. If your audience can connect with your content, they are more likely to refer others, creating an even bigger pool of listeners.
Also Read: Marketing Tips to Get New Clients (and Retain Old Ones)
You Become More Than A Business
Podcasting helps you become easy to relate to. When you speak, the audience hears you as an individual and not a business. When you narrate the journey of your business, its purpose, the lessons learned along the way, and the impact you’ve done, you can easily connect with your audience on a more personal level.
That kind of authentic connection is what customers find attractive and therefore feel compelled to support your podcast and eventually, your business.
The reason people listen to podcasts is that they feel connected to the speaker and the represented brand. The relationship builds trust, and it provokes listeners to act by supporting the brand through buying or by simply listening to the podcast.
It’s Quick And Easy To Produce
Podcasts don’t need much time, cost, equipment, and expertise to produce compared to video content. All you need is a quiet space, recording device, microphone, and editing software. After your brand name and logo, another thing you need is a description for your podcast. Ensure that it’s catchy, informational, and interactive and can be linked back to your website.
After the production, you only need to share it on podcast directories, your blog, and social media platforms. Remember always to link your podcast to your website to increase brand awareness.
Once you got your podcast up and running, what you need to do is focus on giving your audience something to look forward to in the next episode. To do this, you can try inviting an expert guest or feature a customer’s story to ensure that they’re always waiting for you to release the next podcast.
Your Audience Can Tune In Anytime
With podcasting, your audience doesn’t have to sit and listen like other multimedia marketing content. You can engage them wherever they are as they continue with their everyday tasks.
Compared to vlogs, for example, a listener doesn’t need to give their undivided attention when they’re listening to a podcast. They can keep listening while commuting to work, cleaning rooms, doing chores, or drinking coffee. They can also download the episodes to listen to later.
The Cons of Podcasts as Marketing Tools
As shared above, using podcasts to market your brand has excellent benefits but it has its downside too. Producing quality content regularly and consistently for your podcasts is not an easy thing. You also need to exert more effort if you need to make your podcast stand out. Here are some of the disadvantages of podcasting.
Adherence To Strict Timelines
Mainstream media have trained the minds of the audience to stick to a scheduled supply of content. Thus, once you start a podcast, you must adhere to strict timelines and release content timely, depending on your production frequency.
This can put a bit of strain on you, considering the content requires thorough editing before release. You might even need to hire additional staff to take care of the production process—which will be an additional cost for the business.
Difficulty Connecting With The Audience
Podcasting needs you to connect with a virtual audience by grabbing their attention and keeping it. Depending on your niche and the content of your podcast, that can prove challenging to do.
If you sound unsure or nervous and are not engaging enough, the audience will exit and look for other podcasts to keep them engaged.
There’s Litte To No Interaction With The Audience
Another downside of podcasting is there’s no real-time interaction with the audience. Podcasts are not conversational. An audience can’t ask questions, clarifications, or share their views. This makes feedback and engagement quite a challenge to keep up.
This just means that you cannot rely on a podcast platform alone. You still need to integrate it into your website and socials to open up an engaging and more interactive discussion.
Also Read: Why Businesses Need Marketing Qualified Leads?
Podcasts For Marketing
If you feel the need to start a podcast, nothing should stop you. However, a podcast alone isn’t an effective marketing tool but rather a complement of other tools like blogs, social media posts, and videos. To get the most out of podcast marketing, you can consider these tips:
- Don’t go too broad; stick to a narrow niche.
- Keep the podcasts short, compelling, and informative.
- Get a professional to help you refine and edit the audio.
- Consider promoting the podcast on your social media platforms or blog.
- Always include a Call to Action (CTA) in the podcast’s description.
- Consider sharing the podcast on multiple directories and platforms.
The accessibility and ease of creating a podcast make it a very attractive marketing tool for most businesses. It may take some time to get a large audience, but the benefits will start to show when you do.