So we thought this would be the perfect time to share with you the reasons why starting a company podcast is so beneficial to your business.
1. Communicate Brand Ethos & Expertise
Since the dawn of digital, there’s been a lot of discussion about the different ways in which your company or organisation can demonstrate their brand ethos and expertise. Undeniably, one of the most effective ways of engaging with your audience is by telling your story, because everybody loves a good story, right?
Blogging is acknowledged as being a great platform for storytelling. And indeed it is. But think about it. People spend an average of 5 or 6 minutes reading a blog post, if you’re lucky. But they’re going to spend a whole lot longer engaged with a podcast, which generally runs for 30 minutes to an hour.
This means they spend much longer consuming your content, getting to know you at a deeper level, and building a better relationship with you. Podcasting gives you a prime opportunity to position yourself as an expert, to demonstrate your expertise, and showcase your skills. And being seen as an authority really helps to sell your products or services.
2. Get More Intimate With Your Audience
The online world is a crowded space; there are a zillion brands and businesses all vying for attention. So if you want to stand out, you need to be a little different.
Podcasting adds a different element: the chance to actually hear your voice. And the human voice is a powerful thing; it’s much more intimate. You have the ability to speak directly to your audience, so they connect with you on a much deeper level than if they’re simply reading a blog.
All of the guidelines to blogging mention that you should use your blog to show the human side of your business. Well by podcasting, your listeners can literally hear your voice and listen to your enthusiasm and warmth.
3. Less Competition
Although podcasting has been around for a while, it’s only recently started to really take off as a medium for brands and businesses. And despite the benefits and the relative ease of getting started, few businesses have actually taken the plunge. So jumping on the bandwagon now gives you the leverage to stand out from your competitors and stay ahead of the game.
Let’s talk statistics for a minute. There are approximately 400 million English language blogs, 4 million hours of YouTube videos uploaded each month, and about 275,000 podcasts. Enough said!
4. No Distractions
Online content has a lot to compete with. There are ads on pages, links to related content and many other distractions. But podcasts are audio, therefore they have a single point of focus. People tune into them as they’re engaged in other mindless tasks – folding the laundry, doing the ironing, exercising. Podcasts don’t need to fight for people’s attention against all the noise. They have it.
5. Reach a Wider Audience
Today’s society is busy, busy, busy. And reading blogs or watching videos is just one more task that requires focused screen time. And who wants more screen time?
Podcasts can be downloaded to a number of different listening apps, and they can be consumed on the go. Which is a great way to fill in that long commute home or improve the school run.
This means you have access to a new audience. People who otherwise might absently log your blog in the ‘must-read’ pile, only to promptly forget all about it.
What’s more, your audience is self-selecting. They’ve downloaded your podcast because they want to hear what you have to say. Which means they’re more likely to be responsive to your CTAs.
6. Increase Social Media Engagement
There’s another way in which they reach a larger audience too.
It’s common to broadcast a podcast on your blog, but you can spread your reach by including it on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and others. These podcasting apps have featured podcasts on lists, such as ‘new and noteworthy’ or ‘what’s hot’. So the more popular your podcast becomes, the more likely it is to feature on these lists, which will open it up to a whole new audience. And once people have subscribed, you’re in their feed as most of these apps automatically download episodes into their listening app of choice.
In addition, you can combine your podcast with your social media activity to form a tight-knit, loyal community. Social media gives you the chance to speak to your audience directly, so share your podcasts, and use Twitter lists and Facebook groups to build a community of your loyal listeners. You can encourage conversation and connection between your listeners, and use them to test out new ideas and products.
7. Strengthen Relationships with Clients & Partners
Podcasting doesn’t only provide high value to your own business. If you use it wisely, you can also provide value to your clients and partners. By inviting them to participate in your podcast, you’re giving them access to an audience they may not have otherwise reached. It’s a win-win: you get high quality guests and interesting content, and your clients and partners get exposure to new audiences, without having to put in the hard work of arranging the podcast themselves or paying for marketing.
Naturally, this will strengthen your relationship with your clients and partners, which may bring about the possibility of other joint ventures, or an invitation that will promote you to their audiences.
As a side note, you can also use your podcast to connect more with your own employees, by using them for training purposes, making announcements or simply praising people for good work.
8. Meet, Chat & Learn from Interesting People in Related Fields
Strengthening your business relationships with your clients and partners is one thing, but that goes a little deeper too. Today a lot of business is conducted via email and telephone calls, but you don’t always have the opportunity to meet people face-to-face.
By inviting your clients, partners, and other interesting people with similar ideas, products and services to come and chat to you on your podcast, you get the opportunity to connect with them at a deeper level too. You could strike up new friendships, learn from each other and share your expertise.
9. Improve Your Confidence & Public Speaking Skills
If you get butterflies in your stomach or break out in a cold sweat at the thought of public speaking, you’re not alone. Approximately three-quarters of the adult population has a fear of public speaking.
You’ve all heard the old adage that one of the best ways to conquer your fears is to confront them, right? Well, with podcasting, you have the opportunity to do just that, in a safe environment – you’re speaking to an audience, but you still get the opportunity to edit out any bits that don’t quite go to plan, and only your voice is being recorded.
The longer you speak for, the more your confidence will improve and you won’t give it a second thought next time you need to give a presentation.
10. Inexpensive to Set Up. Free to Listen to!
You really don’t need very much equipment in order to set up your podcast – just your computer, a microphone, and a broadband connection. Of course, if you really enjoy podcasting and start building up a sizable, loyal following, it’s a good idea to invest in some better equipment, but there’s a very low outlay required to get started.
And for your listeners, it’s absolutely free!
11. Have Fun!
Finally, it’s great fun! Which is a fantastic reason alone to reach for your microphone…
A Little Note
There’s one important note to add to all of this: you still need great content in order for your podcast to succeed. While there’s less competition, if you’re not providing anything of value to your listeners, they won’t be returning. So plan well and ensure you have something useful to share.
Podcasting is an incredible tool to develop long-term engagement with your audience, to show the human side of your business and the personalities behind it, and to build a deeper bond of trust with your listeners.
So grab your microphone and recorder, and get out there and have some fun with it. It’s one of the smartest decisions you could make for your business.
Do you agree with our reasons for starting a company podcast, and do you have anything to add to the list? Tell us below…