The technology advancement has trigged the explosion in content consumption, especially of audio and video content. While video content is still pegged to high-speed internet connectivity, the adoption of audio content has been on the rise. This has helped Postcasts to become popular among the users. An estimated 67 million people listen to the podcast in 2017, approximately the same number that listen to Twitter on a monthly basis. To put things in context, that was roughly 25% of the U.S. population over age 12 in 2017, up 45% from 2015, and up 180% from 2009.
Despite, businesses often overlook (or even outright dismiss) podcasts and prefer to focus on other types of content instead. That is a big mistake, and there are actually numerous reasons why businesses should want to create and publish podcasts of their own.
If you’re on the fence about creating a podcast or even leaning towards not creating one, understanding some of its benefits could help you to see how potent it can be.
Gain Valuable Exposure, Traffic, and Leads
The main reason why you should start to churn out podcasts is that it is a great source of exposure, traffic, and leads. In the last few years, podcasts have grown steadily in popularity, mostly due to how convenient and easy they are to access.
In the past four years, the number of people who listen to podcasts has nearly doubled, from 12% of the U.S. population in 2013 to 24% today. And this growth has benefited the ad industry too: in the past two years, podcasting ad revenue has grown by double digits from $69 million in 2015 to a projected $220 in 2017.
Aside from publishing it on your website, there are plenty of other platforms where you can promote or distribute your podcast. That gives you access to a much wider audience and far greater exposure, that you can then convert into traffic or even qualified leads seeing as they are already interested in what you have to say.
Connect and Build a Relationship with the Audience
Compared to many other types of content, podcasts are very effective in establishing a connection with the audience and helping to build a relationship. In part that is because despite being a one-sided medium, it is a much more personal and intimate.
Naturally, the podcast itself needs to foster that vibe by being conversational, injecting some humour, and making it sound like a face-to-face talk.
The below infographic from Concordia University Saint Paul represents some more interesting facts about the explosive adoption of podcast.
As you’re probably aware, building a strong relationship with prospective or existing customers is always a good thing and it will help generate more traffic and leads while increasing conversations at the same time. In short – it is exactly what your business needs.
Establish Yourself as an Expert Authority
Having a podcast will help you to establish yourself as an expert in the industry. It will let you showcase exactly how much you know about it, and build your personal brand and reputation.
That, in turn, will benefit your business, as not only will your audience be more inclined to follow your recommendations – but others will be too. It could even lead to other opportunities for your business, both in terms of attracting more customers or establishing relationships with other businesses.
Relatively Cheap and Easy to Produce
While it is true that other types of content can provide you with some of the benefits listed above with varying degrees of effectiveness – few are as cheap and easy to produce as podcasts.
All that you really need is a decent microphone and possibly a pair of headphones, and you should be all set and ready to go. The rest of the software and other tools you need to record and edit your podcast can be found easily, and for example, you could even use an online audio cutter such as MP3 Cutter to trim it.
Admittedly good podcasts do require some thought and planning, but as you start to get more experienced you’ll find that all you really need for each episode are a series of talking points – and the ability to riff off them.
Potential for Spin-Off Content
One of the other benefits of podcasts is they have a lot of potentials to be re-used and you can spin off content from them.
For example, you could use the transcript of the podcast to create a blog post or article. If you want you can transcribe the entire podcast, or just a particularly useful part of it with a call to action that gets people to listen to the rest of the podcast.
Another interesting option is to create a video based on the podcast and by adding visuals to it. Essentially the podcast will provide the voiceover narration, and can be edited into a short video that packs a punch with some interesting visuals.
Make no mistake there are lots of other ways you could spin-off podcasts into other content, including infographics, slideshows, and more.
Final Words
By this point you can probably see the potential of podcasts. Overall they are a powerful and type of content, and because they are cost-effective and easy to produce there is really no reason why your business shouldn’t try creating them.
Keep in mind that the key to a good podcast is to give listeners a reason to want to download it, and listen to more and more episodes. If you can do that – your podcast could very well turn into a major source of exposure and improve your conversions at the same time.
