There’s nothing new about podcasts.Insider Intelligence estimates that monthly podcast listenership will increase to 424.2 million this year in the 18 countries they monitor. According to Statistica, almost 75% of podcast listeners want to learn new things. If you add podcasts to your marketing arsenal, you’ll expand your efforts to reach highly engaged, targeted audiences.
Reasons why you should create podcasts for your business.
A salesman will tell you; the more conversations you have, the higher your chances of selling your product or service. Podcasts are the ideal way to do this. Not only will you be speaking to a highly targeted audience, but a very engaged one to boot. Everybody leads busy lives. Nobody wants to spend hours consuming information. People like bite-sized content they can enjoy on the go. Ecommerce Podcasts, particularly English business podcasts, are some of the best vehicles for this in Europe. They will drive traffic to your website, help you repurpose other content and open up an extra marketing channel for your products. People also recall details more easily after listening to a podcast. Much more than when they read text. Most important of all. Podcasts give your brand a voice. Literally. What’s more memorable than a voice?
How to set up your podcast
Have you ever played a sport? Let’s take tennis for example. When you walk onto the court and see your opponent arrive with the latest and best gear on the market, you think they mean business. Until they hit a ball…
The point is you don’t need to do a Ben Hur when you decide to produce a podcast. You just need the basics. A great host, microphone, computer, guest and perhaps some elementary audio editing software. That’s it. Oh yes, and a good topic. Let’s unpack some of the tasks you should focus on when you start your podcast.
Find an interesting guest
The most important aspects of any podcast are who you are talking to and what you’re talking about. Reach out to your network and employees to find interesting guests. You can also find thought leaders in your industry and approach them to make a guest appearance. Choose people with diverse opinions and points of view. Just a note. Try and find people who speak clearly and are audible. It’s pointless talking to someone who stutters terribly, has an extremely high pitched voice, or heavy accent. If you really want to broadcast their views, a written article might be a more appropriate vehicle.
Research
Topics and opinions are a dime a dozen. Everybody has one. You need to find topics that will help your brand grow and stand out. Do some research about your target market and their habits. Tools like Meltwater, Semrush, BuzzSumo and Ubersuggest will help you analyse and find the best topics for your industry. It’s also a good idea to listen to other podcasts to learn what works best and what doesn’t. There are some things you should avoid. Don’t pick topics that are too controversial. It will hurt your brand. Don’t lean over to the boring side either. People want to be entertained and informed. Put yourself in the listener’s ears. If you find something interesting, your audience will as well. A word of caution. A podcast is not a soapbox to shout your sales pitch from. That’s what ads are for. The biggest no, no of all is don’t spread fake news. Make sure the views and opinions expressed in your podcast are valid. It’s also a good idea to publish a disclaimer. Something like: “The views and opinions of guests belong to them. Not to [your company name.]”
How often should you publish?
Some producers publish daily. Some weekly or bi-weekly and others monthly. It’s really up to you. It also depends on the agility of the industry you’re in. If a lot is going on all the time, it makes sense to publish more regularly. If you work in a slow-moving industry bi-monthly might be a better call. Publish the dates on your website and with your first cast, and stick to them. It should run like clockwork. Like radio programmes do.
At Truevo, we like practising what we preach. That’s why we’ve started working on our very own bi-weekly podcast. We’ll talk with entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes. We’ll talk about ecommerce trends, business news, digital marketing, entrepreneurship and growth hacks that are applicable to your company regardless of business size as well as payments fraud and everything in between. Stay in touch to hear about our official Spotify Podcast launch soon. In the meantime, you can listen to some of our #TruevoTalks prelaunch episodes on the links below.
