Podcasts are everywhere nowadays. You can listen to podcasts about conspiracy theories, news, Dolly Parton, gaming trends, how the brain works and just about anything else. They are becoming increasingly popular as everyone from Shaquille O’Neal to Seth Meyers to Neil deGrasse Tyson seems to be starting their own podcasts. But it’s not only famous people who start podcasts, in 2020, there are over 1,000,000 podcasts, not all of those are hosted by famous people. Lots of people become known through their podcast.
Not only are there a large amount of podcasts being produced, there is a large audience for podcasts to be received by. 50% of US homes are podcast fans and 68 million people in the US listen to podcasts weekly. Podcasts are popular worldwide as well. In Italy, 7 million people listened to a podcast in the last month. This data, from PodcastHosting.org, begs the question, why do so many people love podcasts?
Why People Love Podcasts
To put it simply, podcasts are easy to engage with. There’s no need to sit down and take your reading glasses out, you don’t even have to look at a screen to watch because all you have to do is listen. For a busy parent, listening to a podcast while washing the dishes or folding laundry could turn those work moments into a peaceful moment for self care.
For the business person, the commute to work might be the perfect time to put on a favorite podcast and relax. What about the artist? Packaging orders might be more fun with an entertaining podcast on. What about the bored kid on a long drive? Maybe a podcast full of short interesting stories and songs might make the car ride much more bearable.
Teachers listen to podcasts to learn more about a subject, entrepreneurs listen to podcasts for inspiration, and your potential clients listen to podcasts too. There’s a good chance a good portion of your audience listens to podcasts. Why not capitalize on that?
Podcasts and Digital Marketing
If you are not yet convinced to start a podcast let’s look at how they are incorporated into digital marketing.
SEO
Just like any other digital marketing channel, SEO is the key to success. Choosing the title to your podcast and what keywords to choose is the best way to incorporate SEO. If your podcast is on Spotify and it is about how you started your brand, having a title that includes brand building or success story will help you reach the right audience. These keywords are what people will search for and make your podcast searchable.
Making sure your podcast is optimized to appear on the first page of google search results will help you get listeners. When choosing the title of your podcast, making it something that stands out but is also searchable is important. For example, there is a podcast called But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids. The podcast answers childrens “but why” questions, like “why is the sky blue” or “why do baby teeth fall out” in a fun but informative way. The podcasts title is pretty searchable because it has a good keyword “podcast for curious kids”.
It’s not only about the title. You need to use keywords in your podcast description as well. Incorporating broader keywords and more success keywords will help you reach the right audience. When looking at what to make your episodes about, you need to consider SEO. you want episodes that will speak to your audience as well as incorporate keywords. Putting in time to make an editorial calendar and do keyword research will help your podcast be search engine optimized.
Audience Expansion
Just like any other social media platform, there is a new audience on each one. There are more potential clients listening to podcasts. Podcasts allow you to expand your brand and portray a new side of it. This will help you reach a wider audience. Let’s imagine you are a digital marketing agency and post blogs about digital marketing trends and give advice, in your podcast you could tell success stories and also make things a little more fun. You could even interview clients or talk about your branding journey. Podcasts are a place to get creative and talk about what interests you. They can be educational focussed or more fun. Just keep your audience in mind when deciding what to make your podcast and individual episodes about.
Brand Awareness and Recognition
Podcasts portray your brand, they really give it a voice. They create more brand loyalty because they make your brand more real. Just like video puts a face to your brand, podcasts give it more personality through voice. Having a podcast helps your brand stay top of mind for people. If you want more tips on how to increase brand awareness, check out this blog.
Choosing Your Podcast Style
If you are still reading it’s probably because you see the power of the podcast and want to know what steps you can take to start your own podcast. The first thing you need to consider is what type of podcast you will have and how it will portray your brand while also considering SEO. Then you can start thinking about where you will post your podcast, making an editorial calendar, and promoting it. The good news is there are tons of podcast styles for you to choose from. Let’s look at the most common styles:
- Interview. Podcasts are best with more than one person because they are more of a conversation so this style is very common.
- Solo. Solo podcasts do exist! Although it is harder to pull off, there are some great solo podcasts out there. The trick is to make this type of podcast more of a un monologue than just someone reading.
- Fiction storytelling. This type of podcast may nor be the style for your business, but it is a popular form.
- Nonfiction storytelling. This type of podcast has a very broad range of podcasts. Anything from crime stories to the well known podcast, This American Life, fits under this category.
- Panels. This type of podcast has a few guests or hosts discussing different topics. This is a style that could work well for businesses.
- Repurposed content. Think A Prairie Home Companion. It’s all about retelling stories and repurposing content. It’s easy to start because think of all the content your business probably already has.
- Conversational. This type of podcast is more low key and about having fun. Most commonly it has two hosts chatting about their interests. For a business this could look like two people chatting about some interesting news they read recently and then get into a more personal story and maybe talk about some business tips.
- Educational. This could be a great type of podcasts for business. YOu can teach about certain topics and explain how things work. It makes you a trustworthy resource to people in your field.
- Comedy. People love having a good laugh. Usually this type of podcast is an aspect of another podcast, like interviewing a comedian. But it is still its own style.
- Hybrid. Lastly we have the hybrid. This is where you mix and match different types. Maybe one week you tell a story, the nest you have fans call in and tell a story and after that you interview someone. Don’t be afraid to get creative with your style.
When picking your podcast type, you really need to consider what type of content you want to talk about and what your listeners will want to hear. (Hint: ask your audience what they are curious about). You also want to think about how your podcast will best represent your brand and brand voice. If your brand is education focused, having a fiction storytelling or comedy podcasts won’t make sense. Instead an education style podcast maybe by interview or solo, makes more sense.
The final thing to consider is how you will stand out. If you are making a podcast that is exactly the same idea as someone else, you won’t get many listeners. Of course this is hard when there are 1,000,000 podcasts out there but putting thought and time into it will help. Don’t forget to ask your audience on other social media if they would be interested in listening to your podcast and if so what would they like to hear.
Digital Marketing Podcasts
If you want some inspiration or want to learn more about digital marketing be sure to check out some digital marketing podcasts. One of the most popular is This Old Marketing where experts talk about digital marketing trends and give lots of insight into content creation. It might help inspire you on what to make your podcast about.
Another popular digital marketing podcast is Modern Marketing Engine. This show is all about marketing tips through interviews. To give you a better understanding as to what it’s about, I will list some titles: “Growth Marketing Through Hyper Personalization”, “Why B2B Marketing and Sales is Broken and How To Fix It”, and lastly “How To Harness Customer Conversations In Real-Time To Drive Results”.
Takeaways
Podcasts are not easy, but don’t be afraid. They are a great new avenue of digital marketing to be explored. Any sort of business can start a podcast to help build their brand and market digitally. They help you reach your audience, portray your brand and build recognition and also incorporate SEO. Podcasts are making a comeback so don’t get left behind. The most important thing to remember when making a podcast is to have fun and get creative!
Author Bio
Colibri Digital Marketing is a B Corp certified digital marketing agency in San Francisco. Contact us for a 30 minute complementary strategy session to learn more about how you can improve your digital marketing strategy.
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