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Podcasts started to find expression as far back as the 1980s with online radios and downloadable audio shows, but in the year 2003, Software developer Dave Winner created the first audio RSS feed and, with former MTV video jockey Adam Curry, developed iPodder, a program that allowed users to download Internet radio broadcasts to their iPods.
In the same year, someone by the name of Christopher Lydon, a former New York Times Journalist, launched Radio Open Source, the longest-running podcast in the world.
The term podcasting was created by Journalist Ben Hammmersley in the Year 2004 by combining iPod and broadcasting together, and it became popular.
Podcasting went through so many phases but actually became more recognized in the year 2014 with the release of Serial, an investigative journalism show that captivated millions with its interesting stories.
Now, podcasting has evolved so drastically that we can enjoy any niche we want just by sitting and watching from the comfort of our homes.
But for this article, we will be focusing on something entirely different; how podcasting has evolved into a marketing tool used by businesses and brands to market services and products to reach millions of people across the globe.
So whether you are a beginner marketer or an expert, this article is for you; buckle your seatbelt as we dive into the various opportunities podcasting affords businesses.
What Is Podcast Marketing?
A podcast is a recorded audio/video show content that can be easily downloaded and listened to on different channels and platforms Such as Spotify, YouTube, iTunes, etc.
Podcasts have different niches and can cover different topics depending on what you are looking for.
Podcast Marketing is a marketing strategy/tool that focuses on promoting and selling your products or services using audio content/means.
Its primary aim is to reach a larger/new audience, build your brand identity, publicize your brand story, and grant more potency to word-of-mouth marketing.
Importance of Using Podcasts as a Marketing Tool
Podcasts offer many benefits when it comes to marketing, making them a go-to for marketing strategies, below are a few of the many benefits that podcasts can offer to any business:
1. Increase Brand Visibility:
Podcasts help to advertise your brand identity and personality and give your voice a unique and engaging taste. Releasing podcasts consistently can help to build your brand as an expert on a particular niche and also a staunch following.
2. Reaching your target audience:
Podcasts help you to reach the right audience by choosing the niche/channels that your audience is interested in or likely to be on, thereby allowing you to reach a highly engaged and devoted audience.
3. Nurtures audience relationship:
Podcast offers your audience and you a deeper connection in an authentic way; through telling stories and sharing insights and experiences, you can cultivate a connection with your audience that can last for long.
4. Cheaper rate Marketing:
A podcast is a very cheap marketing tool, unlike TVs or billboards; all you need is a mic, a good camera, and a computer where you can begin podcasting and record massive results.
5. Trackable Success:
It is easy to keep track of and measure the success of your podcast marketing progress, unlike other forms of marketing.
Reasons Why Podcasting Is A Powerful Marketing tool?
1. Deep Connection and Engagement
2. Repurposing Contents
3. Improving User Experience
4. Forging Trust and Credibility
5. Community Building
1. Deep Connection and Engagement
Podcasting is a powerful tool because it allows brands to sell products and services and also tell an authentic story that helps to connect with your audience.
When listening to a podcast, you feel like you are having a one-on-one conversation with the host; this creates an atmosphere that allows connecting with your audience on a deeper level.
Podcasts are usually longer than other forms of marketing, so the audience gets to have an in-depth knowledge of the topics discussed, and topics will be intensively explored, thereby granting your audience high value, which translates to higher engagement rates.
2. Repurposing Contents
Podcast as a marketing tool allows you to convert your podcast sessions into various other forms of content like blog posts, ebooks, carousels, and reels, which allows you to cater to the desires of other target audiences, thereby expanding your content reach.
3. Improving User Experience
Podcasting allows you to cater to the needs of different audiences without breaking a leg.
You can tailor experiences to the preferred needs of each audience by repurposing your content; some listeners who prefer reading can read a blog post and still get the same information someone who is listening to the audio can get.
4. Forging Trust and Credibility
Trust and Credibility are very important in doing business in today’s marketplace. Nobody wants to work with any brand that cannot offer trust and credibility to prospects.
Podcasting offers a channel where people can get to know and understand a brand from the kind of connections it makes with professional industries and the privileged knowledge it gives to its audience, thereby fostering trust among prospects and giving credibility in the industry.
5. Community building
Podcasts offer the opportunity to build your very own community where listeners get together to discuss and share insights on each episode to foster trust and deeper connections and as your community grows, your audience will make it a goal to bring more people in to come enjoy and partake of the incredible knowledge you are dishing out.
3 Powerful Ways To Use Podcasts as an Effective Marketing Tool
1. Craft an episode for a specific niche
2. Do not come off hard
3. Invite Guest or Experts
1. Craft an Episode for a Specific Niche
Podcasts allow you to reach a target audience by creating episodes in your podcasts that touch specific interests of your audience; you are more likely to gather attention and get your audience to listen to you.
You can use podcasts to reach a specific demographic; for example, if your podcast is targeting Teenage boys and girls, you can make a podcast talking about how to navigate school challenges and make friends.
2. Do Not Start-Off Hard
When using podcasts, brands make the mistake of trying to sell at all costs. Do not come off so hard while trying to sell your products or services by dedicating an entire episode to a commercial which is a big turnoff.
Your audience wouldn’t want to watch or listen to the next episode. You should better still kick off with giving your audience some value to go home with and then in between the episode you can advertise your products and services, as long as you don’t make selling your products the focus of each episode you are good to go.
3. Invite Guests and Experts
Inviting guests and experts to your podcast is a powerful way to give out value and build valuable relationships.
Your audience will learn a lot from the guest and your guest can also boost your podcast reach by sharing it with their own audience and you can also collaborate with your guest on other partnerships and events to foster trust and build relationships.
Conclusion
In the evolving marketplace, podcasting has shown itself to be one of the strongest and most powerful ways to market your brand, business, and products.
Podcasting helps to grow your brand, making your brand a leading expert and creating and nurturing relationships between you and your customers.
