If you are looking for a new way to advertise your company, utilizing the various forms of media that are out there is the best way to start. From explainer videos to vlogs, the visual media side shows no bounds. But if you are working on developing a solid customer base, or a fan base, then it may be time to enter the world of pod casting.
Why You Should Use Podcasts to Market Your Business
In the world of quick clicks and 10-second clips, the podcast is a bit of an anomaly. By its very essence, it shouldn't be as successful as it is, yet there is a huge popularity of shows like This American Life or Sword And Scale that deal with real-life tales. Right through to health-related shows like The Fat Burning Man Show or self-improvement podcasts like The Tim Ferriss Show.
It is showing that there has never been a better time to get involved with using the podcast as a method for promotion. Why is this so popular now? Well, with the rise of commuting and people looking for a way to engage their brain in a short amount of time, the length of a standard podcast is perfect for many people making their daily trek to work, and it is a cut above the standard videos of cats on YouTube!
Podcasts require a bit more engagement with the subject matter, and this is why it has more in common with talk radio than anything else, but it still has millions of subscribers across the globe. It also helps that it is incredibly simple to make a podcast. You don't even need expensive equipment, a microphone, and a recording device will do just to get you off the ground. So how can you use it to your advantage?
To begin with, the content must be relatable to whatever it is you are selling. If you are a business selling shoes, then fashion is an obvious topic to get into. But engaging content means being very specific, creating a podcast discussing fashion may be good for one episode, but does it guarantee additional people tuning in for the next podcast? It is very unlikely. So make sure that the topics you are putting on are relatable to your business or product and are compelling enough to make people want to tune in.
Podcasts can fall into two categories in terms of how they appeal to people. One is where people will tune in based on the topic in the description of the episode. For example, if there is a guest that piques the listener's interest, or if the podcast channel is one that has a dedicated fan base that will tune in each episode regardless of the content of that episode.
These may be more episodic than anything. But you really need to think hard about the content of each episode. If you are doing a business podcast, then people may only tune in when you are speaking about a really specific topic that benefits them, whether it is KPIs or how to deal with workplace conflict. That way, you are engaging the listener right off the bat.
Once you have settled on how your content works for your audience, you need to make sure that they tune in with every episode. This largely depends on your target market, do you cater for teenagers or do you target people in their 50s? Being more specific with your content is the way to go.
If you generalize too much in the hopes that you will bring a larger audience to your podcast, you will only succeed in driving people away because you are not giving them exactly what they want. The great thing about the format of a podcast is that you can invest a lot of time in each episode. You don't need to have all of the information crammed into a quick 2-minute vlog or 30-second advert. You can let the episode unfold naturally.
The length of a podcast can vary. Short ones could be as little as 10-minutes and can go all the way up to 90-minutes depending on the topics discussed. The optimum time is an hour for most podcasts, and as a rule of thumb, it is best to not exceed this amount of time because you can lose your audience's attention.
Once your podcast is created, and you are happy with the content, the marketing is the next step, and this will depend on your audience and where they gravitate to. YouTube is a handy place for podcasts to live, and many people do put their episodes on there to "rest." But if you are using YouTube one of the prime ways to promote your podcast, then you need to make sure the channel is as personalized as possible and that every aspect of the design and image is the standard you want it to be.
Something like a YouTube thumbnail is a small thing, but for the casual browser, it needs to be something eye-catching, so they will click on it. It is your advert on YouTube so you should make it as appealing as possible. The other method to getting a podcast out there is to go down the usual routes, which are things like Itunes and Podbean, and you need to make sure the podcast is on as many platforms as possible.
The last thing to do is the 3 Ps - promote, promote, promote! Put it in your emails, on social media, on your website, anywhere you can! Encourage new subscribers and keep updating on a regular basis, or add live links, and keep releasing content. A podcast gains momentum by the amount of subscribers, and it needs to be promoted like anything else, by constant mentions and updates.
A podcast can be a really useful tool in your business arsenal, or it can be a great way to communicate yourself and your personality. It is a very intimate art form, and as a result, it is a perfect way to advertise to customers in the most personal of ways. 🙂
