Marketing is an ever expanding horizon. More and more, people are looking for different ways to engage and improve their relationship with their audience. Which is why things like podcasts are becoming ever present in the marketing set up.
Not convinced? Here are a few of the ways podcasts are being used for marketing purposes and how they are being developed even further:
The Audience is Engaged
Podcast audiences are more engaged than the average marketing audience according to a variety of sources. In order to absorb the content, the audience needs to actively listen and take in what the person is saying. Glazing over, speed reading and other such ways of consuming the media are practically impossible.
With that in mind, audience engagement is an increasingly important and needed element to any digital marketing set up. Poor engagement is almost like a death kiss to your digital marketing channels. So, pursuing a channel with increased engagement opportunities is only
Content is Varied
Podcasts can exist on any topic; any topic. If you have a passion for it, then there’s probably a podcast all about that particular topic. Knitting? There’s a podcast for that. Video game development? There are several. Writing? You try and stop would-be authors talking about their craft. It’s a varied and exciting world.
Adds Marketing Variety
The trouble with digital marketing is that it becomes the same old, same old after some time. Adding a touch of variety to your digital marketing life, then, can be vital in order to engage a wider pool of people.
Not everyone will be on the classic channels such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. Some people choose to engage and consume content outside of the social media bubble. Accessing this audience then, outside of traditional channels, can be invaluable to your business. As it can certainly give you an edge above competitors. And considering more and more podcast apps are being developed by app developers and for convenient smart-home use in particular (thanks to Alexa developers), the access to this content is increasing day by day.
Advertising is Effective
Advertising via various digital marketing channels can be very hit and miss. What may be effective one month can fail to engage the next, it’s increasingly subjective.
A large proportion of podcast listeners are likely to visit a sponsor site or even outright consider buying the product/service on the other hand. This makes it a very powerful source for both marketing and advertising purposes.
Audio Quality is on the Rise
As technology improves, so too does the audio quality of your average podcast. So, even relatively amateur podcasters can now have a podcast which is fairly high quality–while the costs don’t break the bank. And editing software is becoming more and more inexpensive as well, which is surprisingly making this a very accessible channel for a variety of industries. Quality opens the door for many more people to enjoy the benefits that come from podcasting channels.
Now, podcasts have sound effects, they have voice actors and even famous voices (Stephen Fry, for example) voicing them. The rise of the podcast and its quality is well and truly underway, so jumping on this bandwagon can be quite an exciting prospect.
Storytelling
You might have heard that your brand needs to tell a story. This is never more certain than when it comes to a podcast, there needs to be a definitive arc and content direction for the channel to follow in order to be successful. The trouble with podcasts is that you can quickly fall in to a Q & A style format. Which, if done too much, can quickly become boring for your listeners to tune into every week. Variety and a continuing narrative help engagement, drawing people to continue with you past normal drop off points.