As you know, radio broadcasting has been around for as long as we can remember. There are people all around listening to different channels, whether it was from the car or the stereo. Since the rise in technology, we have come across a new platform called podcast. This platform closely resembles what we hear on the radio, however, most of the podcasts today, are just people talking, having a conversation. With the number of different podcasts today, you can find one that appeals to you. Whether it is something you are interested in or something you want to learn about. Podcasts are all around and there are many places to find them. Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, Castro, and Overcast are a few places you can find different types of podcasts.
What is Your Purpose?
If you are thinking about starting a podcast, you have to be able to establish its purpose. Businesses are in a little bit of a different boat than people who do a podcast for fun. You either want to draw people into buying your product or service or establish trust and brand awareness for your business. Will the podcast benefit your audience in one of the three categories: inform, persuade, or entertain?
Inform
- You may find a lot of educational podcasts in this category, of course, on many different subjects. These podcasts want to give their audience more information. It seems that informative podcasts are good for businesses that are providing a service. Most likely your service solves a problem that people have. For example, a nutrients company may benefit from having a podcast that talks about health and wellness. This will increase their brand’s name and establish trust between the audience and the company. The goal is that the audience will think of that brand when they go to buy nutrient-related products.
Persuade
- This you do not see too often for a podcast, however, it is still an option. You want to be careful in this category because you never want to over-push your product or service on anyone. For example, a company may sell special football gear to decrease the chance of long-term injuries to players. They may have a podcast that talks about current events in football, football injuries, and lastly the benefits of their products. This company would hope that its audience consists of football coaches and boosters, who would influence purchasing the gear.
Entertain
- This is the most popular type of podcast. Many famous people and all types of companies use podcasting to entertain their audience. How can your business benefit from this category? If you give a broad target audience something fun to listen to, you can draw people into your brand by introducing it in small doses or when you give offers. For example, a travel company that posts trips through its website may benefit from an entertainment podcast. That podcast could talk about food, culture, and living within different cities and countries. The goal would be for listeners to choose their travel website when planning their trip.
Can you find the time and expenses?
It may be too much of a tackle if your business cannot find the time or the expenses. A podcast is nothing you need to rush into. It will still be there when you are ready. Many business owners are too busy with the hustle and bustle of running a business, that they may never find the time. Some things to consider are having a trusted employee take on the podcast or set aside a least an hour to two hours a week to record. Many podcasts are done and edited ahead of time before they are posted. There are live podcast out there, but they are not top competition. They may have a more flexible schedule. Expenses are also a huge part of a podcast, as you must consider the equipment and expense of your time.
After thinking those over in your head, here are three more things to ask yourself:
- How long should it be? It is important to understand that podcast listeners are willing to listen longer than other engagement platforms, like reading a book. On average podcasts stem anywhere from 20 minutes to 40 minutes. Your podcast does not need to be the same length every episode.
- Do you have enough content to post? After thinking about the inform, persuade, or entertaining type of podcast, you then need to ask yourself if you have broad enough material to talk about. Many podcasts get stuck talking about the same things. Before you start your podcast, you want to make sure your material can almost be infinite and refreshing every episode.
- Is there a possibility to earn money from it? Besides increasing engagement, the whole point is to lead that engagement into conversions. This is usually the goal for businesses. Right? Who would not want more money? Neat thing is, there is another way to possibly earn money. After getting some viewers on your podcast, you can potentially start receiving sponsors. Other companies will pay you to talk about their product or service through your podcast. Many podcasts today set aside a “commercial break” to take the time and advertise their sponsors.
In the end, will your podcast help your business?
After considering all of the questions we want you to ask yourself, you may be able to decide whether or not a podcast would benefit your business. After all, a podcast can be considered a source of marketing. In marketing, we always think about if what we are doing is benefitting us. Ultimately, we want the podcast to achieve three things: increase engagement, bring more traffic to our websites, and boost sales figures. If you feel confident your business can accomplish this marketing platform, we say go for it. If you feel your business would be better off not taking on this task, not a problem at all.
We encourage you to listen to other podcasts that have something to do with your business so that you can study your competitors and increase your knowledge.
