Podcasts as a Marketing Tool: Are They Effective?

However, podcasts are often underutilized in professional settings. Many business owners are considering podcasts for the first time, wondering if this new media could provide a marketing breakthrough. Done well, podcasts are powerful. Creation and distribution are extremely simple.

If this is the case, shouldn’t every marketer start a podcast? Maybe! Podcasts can be potent marketing tools, but they also take dedication, patience, and perseverance to pay off. In the following content, we’ll discuss podcasts as a marketing tool, looking at the benefits of podcasting as well as a number of questions to consider before jumping in.

The Benefits of Podcasting

1. Growing audience

As mentioned, there are over 2,000,000 podcasts with millions of people listening monthly. The potential audience is massive, and podcast hosting platforms, such as Spotify, iTunes, and Apple Podcasts, are consistently growing in membership. Your target audience is likely among these listeners.

2. Brand awareness

Podcasting helps spread brand awareness and visibility. How? Well, firstly, because your brand is simply more places online. Additionally, podcast hosting platforms include sections for show notes and links where podcasters can encourage listeners to check out their website, social media platforms, etc.

Thus, if your goal is to drive traffic to your website, podcasting is not a disparate strategy. In fact, your podcast listings are another avenue for increased site traffic from interested potential customers. 

3. Relationship development

Building relationships with your target audience and current clients is undeniably important. Building relationships with your target audience is not always fast or efficient, but leads to loyalty, trust, and deeper connections among prospective and current customers.

4. Podcasting goes hand-in-hand with SEO

Many businesses are already engaged in an SEO strategy, and podcasting can enhance these efforts.

• Podcasts demonstrate industry expertise
• Podcasts can be added to a website page, providing additional ranking opportunities
• Podcasts often bolster current newsletters or email marketing campaigns; additional incentive for someone to sign up
• Podcasters distribution networks are additional platforms for brand distribution
  

5. Podcasts can be consumed passively

Unlike blog posts or website pages, podcasts can be listened to passively, while driving, working, cleaning exercising, etc. Americans love to multitask. Everyone does it. Podcasts provide a worthwhile backdrop to daily tasks.

Diversifying your content marketing strategy allows more users to absorb your content throughout more hours of the day.

Is a Podcast the Right Tool for Your Marketing Strategy?

It depends!

Podcasting can certainly be a worthwhile and rewarding marketing opportunity, but it is a commitment. Like most valuable marketing tools, excellent podcasts take vision, endurance, consistency, and effort. Consider the following questions (not uncommon to ask about all marketing endeavors) when deciding on podcasting for your business.

Once these questions are answered, starting and maintaining a podcast will be much easier!

1. What's your market?

What’s your niche? Who’s your target market? Consider the value your podcast will add to your market. What will make an audience listen to your content and come back for more?

2. Do you have a team with the enthusiasm to stick with it?

A podcast is not something that can be just tacked on to your current endeavors without dedicated team members. Once the passion of a new strategy fades, your team will need to see the podcast through – a stagnant channel is often worse than no podcast at all.

3. Do you have access to necessary technology?

Successful podcasts are launched with proper preparation. Focus on production quality. Every piece of content you publish should represent your brand well, including a podcast. Consider your recording equipment, studio, video content, etc. Do plan to record in-house or in a studio? Who’s going to host your podcast?

The decisions you make related to technology should provide value to the listener and represent your brand well.

4. How much time do you have to publish new material?

Podcasting is about consistency. Whether you publish twice a week or once a month, deciding on a schedule and sticking with it is key. Once you’ve selected a time, choose your topics and stick with them. Your listeners need to know when you’ll post and what they’ll hear from you at that time.

5. Where will you distribute and build an audience?

Choose your podcast hosting platform and outline a strategy to build an audience. Podcast audiences are often built organically over time, but you can consider various promotion opportunities, such as paid ads or simply sharing your content on social media channels.

RivalMind: Holistic Digital Marketing

At RivalMind, we are in the business of growing businesses. Often, this looks like a strategic conglomeration of services – from SEO and social media to PPC and video production. Every business is different, in need of various marketing tools to see real growth.

Are you interested in seeing your business grow? We would love to talk about a customized digital marketing strategy for you. You can start a conversation with our team at (331) 228-9636, via our online contact form, or on any of our social media channels.

Meet the Author

Josiah Flex

Senior Search Manager

Josiah Flex, a digital marketer, is passionate about helping companies see real, lasting growth. With a background in personal training, he enjoys helping people identify and achieve their goals – from online visibility to increased leads. Ultimately, consumers use search engines, like Google, to identify the best answer for their needs, and companies engaged in great SEO have the highest likelihood of winning prospective consumers, one step at a time. This is true success.

Specialties: Building Client Relationships, RivalMind Hype Guy