Podcasting for Business. That’s likely exactly what you searched to land on this web page. My team and I have put a lot of effort into getting this content ranking and in front of your eyes. We’re happy you’re here and we’re excited to give you some more insight on how YOU can start benefitting from podcasting for business. We know how valuable the market of podcasting can be for individuals AND businesses, which is why the Learn How To Work Online team has put time into creating this article – we want you to reap the benefits too! In this article, we go in-depth about podcasting and how you can start the process of podcasting for YOUR business.
The more we get ingrained with technology, the more it becomes a part of our everyday lives. Just like the Internet and social media became a part of our everyday lives over time, so did podcasting. Listening to a podcast is like tuning in to a modern radio talk show, but way better. These days, you can find just about any type of podcast format. There are podcast shows ranging from debunking conspiracy theories to giving solid business and life advice. Amongst a plethora of reasons, one of the reasons individuals and businesses are podcasting is to keep in direct touch with their user base. Now the question is, should you podcast for your business?
What Is Podcasting?
A podcast is a digital audio file broadcasted to the internet. Simply put, a podcast is a series of episodes. You can think of the structure of a podcast show similar to a TV show, with multiple “seasons” and episode releases. These episodes can be released weekly, daily, or even monthly. The frequency of publishing podcast episodes is entirely dependent on the creator.
At first, podcasting started as an independent way for individuals to create content for a community that shares similar interests. Meaning individual people were throwing together a content strategy and producing their own podcast just for fun and to create connections. Nowadays, podcasting as a form of content isn’t just being used by individuals to create a connection, but by businesses too.
Podcasting is becoming pretty popular worldwide. The rate of podcast listeners continues to increase as the media type gains popularity. In fact, the National Public Radio (NPR) and Edison Research recently released a report stating the growth of mobile listening to digital audio has increased by 278% in the past seven years. This means if businesses act accordingly and create a quality marketing strategy to target the proper podcast audience, they can reach a whole different market. Whether you’re an entrepreneur trying to build your brand, or a small business trying to connect with your target consumers, business podcasting could be just the thing you need.
Why You Should Podcast For Your Business
The efficacy of podcasting for businesses is under-rated. Podcasting is another way to interact with your user base or potential customers directly. Even with the boom of the internet and immediate access to social media, there are people that choose not to participate in using these social platforms. A lot of people prefer to stay off of these social media channels, but the problem is, that they’re missing huge pieces of informational content that can be adages to their everyday lives. To increase the likelihood of people (even those who abstain from social media) seeing your content and learning about your business, the podcasting business might be a great option for you.
People who choose not to use social media aren’t the only users that would benefit from hearing your business’s podcast. How many people want to improve their lives and intake new and valuable information, but just don’t have the time to sit down and read a blog post, or watch a 60-minute YouTube video? How many people have children that take up all the TV time? How many people work overtime or work two jobs and are too busy to tune into the form of content they love? Not to mention those who commute to and from work for hours. They can’t just install a TV screen in their car or install a book mount in their car to tune into their favorite content on their way to and from work. Just like businesses have social media pages to promote their content and build their email list, businesses should also consider having a podcast to connect with their target audience who aren’t interested in traditional social media.
To give you a little more context on how useful digital audio is to target a wider audience, here are a couple of other reasons an individual might rely on a quality podcast compared to visual content:
- People with disabilities, like impaired vision, who aren’t able to take in visual content.
- People who are pressed for time and are unable to dedicate time to staying seated and watching content.
- People who exercise and walk to get around.
- People with short attention spans or visual processing disorders.
- People who work or study but have the ability to multi-task during work or study hours.
There are so many other reasons you should set up a podcast for your business. People enjoy consuming content that is valuable, whether it’s for entertainment or to learn new things. Businesses and individuals can use this opportunity to make their podcasting audience feel special by giving listeners a one-on-one personal experience.
6 Benefits of Podcasting For Your Business
A successful business can benefit greatly from producing a business podcast. The biggest plus of business podcasting is the fact that it won’t take much effort or equipment to set up or maintain. The podcasting business isn’t a hard business to get into because digital audio content is an easy form of content to create once you have the proper flow and content strategy. With that being said, there are more than just material benefits to producing a successful podcast. Here are some other abstract benefits of podcasting for business.
Direct Personal Connection
When you’re releasing podcast audio on a consistent schedule where you’re directly addressing your listener in every episode, there’s a big likelihood that your listener will feel personally connected to you and your cause. Just imagine you find a podcast show that aligns with one of your biggest personal interests. You tune in to an episode where the host has invited some podcast guests. The host and guests are going back and forth, having a conversation about a subject that you’re passionate about. Immediately, you feel more connected to the podcast hosts because they share the same views as you, are within the same community as you, and even take some of your thoughts right out of your brain! Of course, when they keep saying what you’re thinking, you’ll feel resonation, a feeling of similarity, and a direct personal connection with the podcast hosts. This direct personal connection with your listeners can help your podcasting business create more leads, or convert the interest into any goal your business has.
Convenient Content Distribution
Podcasting is a better way to digest your favorite content without getting bombarded by the social media ads that come with visual content. There are too many YouTube and social media videos out there that are providing audio content with a lame visual. Not only are people wasting mobile data by playing a video just to listen to the audio content, but most people prefer to multitask while they digest content. When it’s in video format, people are required to sit in one place in order to take everything in. The reality is, within the podcasting business, you’ll be reaching more of your audience without making your ideal customer jump through hoops to get the adage of your business’s content.
More Connections With Clients
Podcasting for your business can do more than just create personal ties and make it convenient for your target group to digest your content. By releasing podcast content and bringing on podcast guests, you are exclusively broadening your business’s networking pool. Your business’s podcast may come across the feed of one of the businesses you aspire to work with, or even across the feed of an individual who can bring tremendous value and adage to your podcast show as a guest. You might even come across an ideal customer who will share your show and bring you more unintended traffic. Long story short, having a polished podcast show can bring your business a certain level of prestige that can help you network and create more opportunities.
Building Online Presence & Business Authority
Has your business already established an online presence? If not, don’t worry. Another benefit of setting up a quality podcast is building your online presence and business authority. By being consistent, sharing valuable content, and appealing to your audience, you create a connection with your listeners which builds credibility. Your business being a credible source in your target niche will help your business establish authority in your market. Producing relatable content for your audience creates a direct personal connection with them which further helps your business build an online presence and business authority.
Referral Traffic & Increased Traffic Generation
Some people look up and google podcasts to listen to. Other people have a source or website they use to find the podcast shows that are trending. When you’ve established your podcast’s online presence and consistently create good content, your podcast may very well get popular and pop up in the top results of a podcast directory site. Once you start trending, you start generating an increased amount of referral traffic from other websites to yours. For reference, referral traffic is when your website is receiving traffic from other sites without searching for you on Google. This means, your podcast is now bringing your business new traffic that you otherwise wouldn’t be receiving if you stayed with sole visual content. This organic way of traffic generation is way more likely to bring your business leads and sales compared to PPC advertising or social media marketing. The traffic generation cost is lower too which saves your business money on marketing and advertising.
It’s Easy To Produce
In addition to all of the above benefits of having a podcast, the biggest benefit is how easy it is to produce! The podcasting business is relatively easy to get into and is one of the most cost-effective ways of marketing your business. You don’t need many digital services or physical equipment to get started, just time. Most of the digital content that is produced nowadays goes through many different obstacles before it’s finalized and published. With podcasting, all you need is a device to record with, a host, and an interesting topic with valuable adages that listeners can easily digest. There is minimal editing in the production of a podcast episode. In most cases, minimal editing isn’t even necessary unless your business wants to be seen as super polished. You’re producing valuable content in the form of a story, conversation, or speech for the fraction of the cost of other marketing practices.
How To Start Podcasting For Your Business
Now that you’ve read about the ins and outs of having your own podcast and the benefits of having your own podcast, we can start talking about how you can start podcasting for your business. There are five simple and easy steps.
Figure Out Your Goal
So, what’s your goal in starting your own podcast show? Are you looking to provide value or information? Are you looking to connect more with your target audience? Are you looking to create a new stream of income? Or, are you just doing this to build up a loyal audience? Whatever your goal is for starting a podcast for your business, set it. It’s important to know what your end goal is before you start so you can figure out what type of content you want to introduce on your show, how often you release an episode, and whether or not this show will be a source of income for your business. If you’re planning on making money through podcasting, in addition to broadening your consumer base, you may set up a few affiliate marketing deals or make an exclusive deal with a sponsoring company. However, if you don’t set a goal before you start on your podcasting journey, you may miss out on opportunities down the line since you didn’t prepare for them.
What Will You Be Talking About?
Other than figuring out your goal, the next most important thing is figuring out what you will be talking about on your podcast. We recommend creating a content schedule and strategy for your podcast before you begin recording. Creating a strategy in addition to setting up a consistent schedule for recording, producing, and releasing your episodes will help you maintain a sense of structure. It will also allow your listeners to keep up with you on a regular basis and tune in whenever you’re set to release an episode. Ensure you are picking out interesting topics related to your business and niche to ensure optimal podcast audience engagement.
Who Are You Targetting?
Hopefully, you already know your target audience as an established business. If not, read on! We’ll have a couple of tools you can use to figure out your target audience linked below. If you’re just starting out in the podcasting world as an aspiring entrepreneur or small business, it may be a little tough to determine your target audience. Don’t worry, we can provide you with a couple of resources that’ll assist you in targeting your audience and choosing topics that aren’t difficult to rank for. We use a keyword research tool named SerpStat to determine keyword search volume and difficulty. If you have no idea what keyword search volume and difficulty mean, it’s time to read up on keyword research and search engine optimization!
To determine your target audience, you’ll have to do some market research. Click here to read an article assisting you in finding your target audience.
Will You Be Inviting Guests?
You’ve figured out your end goal, what topics you’ll be covering on your podcast, and who you’re making audio content for. Now that you’ve got that all figured out, will you be a single host or will you be inviting guests? Starting solo isn’t the wrong way to go, especially if you don’t know many people who would be comfortable being on the show. Having podcast guests can be beneficial if you plan to produce an episode with an influential or well-established guest because you’ll also benefit from their audience coming to see the guest on your show. Additionally, having guests on your show will give you the opportunity to network with other influential people. Landing a good podcast guest might also lead you into finding a new guest for your next episode.
Make It Official
You’ve got it all figured out. Now, make it official! It’s time to record your first episode and pick out a podcast hosting platform that will house your podcast episodes. If you haven’t already picked out a podcast hosting platform, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Click here to see a list of podcast hosting platforms ranked from best to worst. Most of these platforms will help you automatically distribute your podcast episodes to popular audio streaming services like Spotify and Apple Podcasts so you don’t have to worry about individually publishing your podcast episode to each audio streaming service.
