Should Your Business Start Its Own Podcast?

Are Podcasts Important for Digital Marketing?

Stereotypically speaking, podcasts bring one of three associations to mind: the first is a happy night in, perhaps with a bottle of wine, listening to interesting and sometimes humorous conversions that take on a longer more relaxed and informative form; the second is a poor quality audio recordings of group discussions between nerds and people who like the sound of their own voice a bit too much, and finally we have the group of people who still either don’t know what a Podcast is or perhaps don’t know how to download one, I include my parents in this category, despite showing them how to do it last Christmas. If you still don’t know what one is I’ll give you the simplest definition I can:

A podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that a user can download to a personal device such as a Smartphone or PC and listen to when they want. They are often chosen for more reflective looks at topics as they provide a lot flexibility in terms of their length. They can be anything from a few minutes to several hours long. 

Podcasts Are Now Mainstream 

Podcasting has been around for over ten years now. In the last few years they have really started to gain mainstream appeal. As of 2019, 51% of Americans ages 12 older have ever listened to a podcast,In recent years, major players in digital media have been getting involved: since 2018 Spotify has increased its podcast catalog fourfold. Established media outlets such as the BBC are also getting involved: repackaging their radio content to fit the podcast format. This all means that in digital marketing terms, this year looks to be the biggest year yet for Podcasts. This makes it increasingly important for SMBs to consider their value for a whole host of reasons. So let’s find out if your business should start a podcast.

A Great Way To Re-purpose Content

You way already have everything you need to put out a podcast right now. Digital marketing is increasingly multi-channel and multi format. Many digital marketers re-purpose their video and make them into podcasts. This is a great way of expanding the reach of content. A common way of doing this is taking videos that have been posted on Youtube and upload them to a major podcast platform like Spotify, a smaller niece one, or even on a users site. 

Some Digital Marketers recut the video content and convert it into audio recut to create something very different, but it doesn't have to be complicated. With content such as video interviews I can be as simple as converting the video to audio. There is a whole host of free audio software out there that you can use to help you do this. I personally like to use the free version of Ableton Live, though this tool is a little complex so simpler options are available. Wherever you upload your Podcast be sure to use keyword rich descriptions for the Meta Title and Meta Description.

SEO Podcasts from Scratch

Podcasts can be made on a very low budget and are ideal for targeting specific niche markets. If you do feel like taking the plunge into podcasting and creating something completely new, remember that Search engines are not yet able to listen to podcasts, so Google is going to need some help finding you: if you host your podcast on your site be sure to post it with a transcript. That way you will get the full SEO benefit for your site. Many people also find recording a podcast an easier way of creating longer content.

What Can You Learn From Podcasts

If getting behind the microphone doesn't appeal to you sponsoring a podcast linked to your industry is also an option, but content marketing isn’t the only thing podcasts can be great for. The explosion in the number of podcasts is also leading to other benefits, Regardless of your industry, there is almost certainly a Podcast out there catering to it. Podcasts are great research tools. They can give you all kinds of great tips and advice and help you to identify key players in your industry. Not to mention great ideas for content. So make sure that this year you find out what the top podcasts for your industry are. If one doesn’t exist for your industry, perhaps this is another sign that your business should start one!