Seven reasons to include a podcast in your online marketing strategy
Podcasting is a bit of a mystery for some of us, but it’s already an expanding communication channel that you should assess and incorporate into your content marketing action plan.
Audio, compared to visual, allows you to share information in a more original and complete way. Besides, it’s a format that can be consumed on any device, and without the need for an Internet connection. These and other factors have created large and, above all, loyal audiences which makes podcasting the perfect tool for inbound marketing strategies.
In a context where customers are looking for attractive and valuable content, podcasting is experiencing a golden age. Although initially podcasts were merely the audio version of blog posts, they’ve evolved into their own entity and become the fundamental pillar of the content creation strategy for many companies and professionals.
Podcasts can contain everything from tutorials and chats to news, radio plays, music, training, magazines, contests … It’s the younger (and sexier) brother of the good old fashioned radio.
Today, no one denies that podcasts offer companies and brands a perfect opportunity to connect with and retain their audience. In fact, this is their main goal: to create a long-term bond with them. Because, compared to other online advertising formats that are based on short-term impact, such as a video ads or a story on Instagram, a podcast seeks to retain the audience, who listens to long-term episodes on a regular basis. But, in addition to those mentioned so far, there are more reasons that explain the growth of this multimedia file distribution system:
Consumption without the need of attention
A podcast can be consumed while doing other daily activities, such as driving, walking the dog, running, washing dishes, or even during an intensive work day.
“Low cost” production
A podcast must be recorded, edited (optionally), and published. And today these three phases can be executed with a very small investment or cost obtaining high-quality results in comparison to video and other audiovisual assets.
Low level of competition
One of the main advantages of using podcasting for content creation is its low level of competition compared to other channels, such as blogs or YouTube accounts: there are more than 23 million channels on YouTube and more than 600 million blogs. But how many podcasts are there right now? According to the latest research, they just hit the 2 million mark in 2021 (globally). This is where you should see the window of opportunity! But you have to take advantage of it as soon as possible, as the year-on-year growth is pretty fast. In a few years, it’ll be more difficult for a business or company to make itself known through this channel, as it has happened with blogs or videos. You have to seize the moment, and the moment is now.
The industry bets on it
Apple, for example, has committed to the new channel from the very beginning, boosting its catalog of podcasts initially in iTunes and currently in its exclusive application “Apple Podcasts”, which is incorporated by default in each and every one of their products.
High niche conversion
The main podcasting categories are society, culture, business, comedy, news, politics, and health. And, within these, the level of niche or micro-niche that can be reached is very specific, since the conversion rate of a podcast is much higher than that of any blog or video channel.
Suitable for any sector
Podcasting is a dissemination tool that fits into virtually any industry and niche. Today, there are podcasts of all kinds: from tutorials to learn English or shows to improve our social relationships or practice meditation, yoga or mindfulness; to know how to undertake or improve our skills as a manager, salesperson or CEO. There are podcasts for large or single-parent families, for nursing mothers; for moviegoers, zombie lovers and quantum physics aficionados...
It generates engagement
All podcasts have something special - their audience, their community, a group of people who share a genuine interest in a specific topic, their desire to learn, to have fun and to know more about something. But, most importantly, they are also your "consumers" or "potential customers". Therefore, if you’re able to create quality content (whether it’s news, humour, experience, a novel, etc.) aligned with your client or potential client profile, you’ll be creating a “magnet” (symbol of inbound marketing) that will attract all those people, interested not only in what you can tell them, but also in your value proposition. A podcast has four times more engagement than a video on social media and it lasts longer, which just means that you have more time and more opportunities to add value.
Podcasting is here and it’s not going anywhere. Now it’s time to seize the opportunity and make it a part of your content marketing strategy.
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