Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many people spent their days sitting and staring at a computer screen for work.
Now, since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of people looking at a screen all day has increased. As a result, the number of people suffering from eye strain and fatigue caused by all that blue light has also increased.
That’s not good news for most digital content marketers, who rely on the fact that people will spend enough time bathed in that blue light on their computers, tablets, and phones that they’ll see the ads for their brands.
Instead of scrolling through their apps after work, many people are giving their eyes a break and safely getting outdoors.
Also, since many people are spending more time at home, they’re noticing more things that need to be cleaned and they’re taking up more home improvement projects, too.
While running through daily chores, working on a home improvement project, or going for a walk or a run, many people give their eyes a rest and listen to music or podcasts.
In this article, we’ll discuss just how to start a podcast and why it can be an effective marketing tool. Specifically, we’ll go into detail about:
- How to plan and record a strong podcast
- How to distribute a podcast and grow an audience
- Why podcasts are a missed opportunity for content marketing
How To Plan Your Podcast
First, you need to have a plan for your podcast. What is your niche? What are your goals? Are you promoting a product or a service? What topics should you discuss?
You’ll also want to plan out how many episodes you’ll have in a season. Decide if you want to focus on one theme for the season, or if you want to jump around and discuss current events or whatever strikes your fancy.
Make sure that you have a plan to tie each episode back to your marketing goals.
How To Record Your Podcast
One of the great things about podcasting is that it’s relatively inexpensive to do. You can start with a basic microphone, which can be bought for less than $100. Macs come with Garage Band, a recording software program, pre-installed, and there are similar options that come pre-installed on higher-end Microsoft products.
When you record, make sure your episodes are no longer than 30 minutes. Remember that people have busy schedules and are often interrupted.
After you have your microphone and recording program, you need to make sure you know enough about editing to smooth out the bumps. If you don’t have the time to learn basic editing skills, then you might want to consider hiring a freelance audio engineer to polish up your episodes.
How To Distribute Your Podcast
After you’re happy with your episode, it’s time to publish it and make sure the world sees it. Luckily, as soon as you upload your podcast to the major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and others, the app does it for you.
So, for example, let’s say your podcast is all about productivity. As soon as you tag it that way, the podcast platform will list it in the directory for productivity podcasts. There’s not a lot that you have to do!
How To Grow Your Audience
Once your podcast is readily available to the public, it’s time to make sure you’re promoting it. That means you need to be post when you launch the podcast and every time you release an episode on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
These posts will help your loyal listeners remember to listen to your podcast the next time they’re on a run or doing laundry. Social media posts also give your listeners a way to share their love of your podcast with their friends, which will help your audience grow!
Why Podcasts Are A Missed Opportunity
Some people might think that podcasting seems like a lot of work and it’s easier to blog or post to social media. However, the payoff makes podcasting worth it.
As we’ve already discussed, people are listening to podcasts more often. According to a study conducted by Edison Research, “In 2020, for the first time, a larger percentage of American consumers listened to podcasts weekly than attended church or religious services weekly: 24% to 23%. 68 million Americans are weekly podcast listeners.”
That’s an impressive figure: 68 million is nothing to sneeze at. While not every American will listen to your podcast, the potential audience is still huge.
Edison Research also found that, “Among Americans who listen to podcasts at least weekly, the average amount of time spent per week listening grew in 2020 to 6 hours, 39 minutes.”
Almost seven hours of listening time per week means there’s plenty of potential for marketing. If your 30-minute episode contains three mentions of the product or service that you want to promote, then it’s well worth it.
Finally, there are more than 80 million businesses with Facebook Business pages. That’s a ton! But there are only 1.5 million podcasts. So, podcasts are truly a missed opportunity and a way to set your brand apart from the crowd.
In Conclusion
After you plan, record, distribute and promote your podcast, you will have a new opportunity to market your business. It’s easy to get lost in the digital sea of social media pages and websites, but podcasts are an island of opportunity for a new type of marketing.