Consumers are now “wedded” to their mobile devices, because they can use them for all of their needs while they are “on the go.”
Of course, that includes immediate access to information/news, where podcasts are now ruling the space. According to the latest Nielsen report, about 50 percent of households (over 60 million homes) are now fans of one or more podcasts. The Podcast Consumer Report by Edison also suggests that 45 percent of monthly podcast listeners earn over $75,000 annually with 16 percent of fans falling into the $150.000 and above bracket.
A lucrative segment to market to, right?
With over two million blog posts published daily, getting attention to your content gets tough. Besides, you’re also competing with some 60 percent of content being labeled as “dull and/or irrelevant” by readers themselves.
Podcasting, on the other hand, allows you to build a more personalized rapport with your customer. Once they’re “plugged in”, you are no longer competing for their attention with other business.
Here’s the best part: This method of content marketing that does not focus on selling that much. It focuses on brand storytelling, to develop engaging relationships with listeners who are potential customers and convert them later down the road.
The next logical question is this: How do you make a podcast work for your business? I have four simple strategies that should help you accomplish just that.
1. Don’t go advertising galore.
Subtle branding–you need to embrace it with podcasts.
Don’t make it all about advertising your services or shelling out promos. Instead, identify what your potential customers want to know about, what they will find as valuable and how that may subtly help you convert them later.
A great example of this is a recent podcast initiative of eBay. The series was all about how to build and launch a business, and it was hosted by a startup founder. The content was valuable to a large audience, even though it related to an eBay offering.
Here’s another example: A real estate company might run a series of podcasts on the real estate market in general for buyers and sellers. It might include episodes on what to do to increase the value of a home, for example.
2. Optimize for mobile.
The majority of your target audience will be on mobile devices, with their earbuds in while they are at the gym, in their cars or commuting in other ways, or cooking supper. If they find your podcasts valuable, they will tune in and absorb the content.
Remember this above all else: The content has to be engaging, and it does not have to necessarily directly relate to your product or service.
Listeners want to be entertained or given information that they find really important. If you are that real estate company, for example, podcasts that feature actual buyers or sellers and their stories will be appealing to both of those target audiences.
3. Audio quality is critical.
An absolute must is high quality sound. You may have the best podcast ever, but if the sound quality is bad, your audience will leave you and not return. You don’t want that to happen.
If you don’t have the capacity to produce the best quality sound or plan to target an international audience, it’s best to offer subtitles and/or transcription. Again, podcasts transcriptions can be later turned in a separate blog post or broken down into expert quotes. Trint is an affordable service to help you with that.
4. Cement your brand identity.
You do this by offering podcasts that are engaging, humorous, inspirational, or educational.
What brand identity do you want? Do you want to be slightly geeky, fun, or inspirational? What is the “personality” of your brand.
Your podcasts should reflect that personality. Dollar Shave Club is a brand that wants to be entertaining and humorous, as does Jack Daniels. Red Bull is a brand that focuses on extreme sports and risk.
What does your target customer find engaging? Craft your podcasts with your personality and the personality of your customers in mind.
Podcasts are here to stay, and the audience for them continues to grow. While videos capture sound and visual and are certainly popular with consumers, there is a strong position for podcasts in content marketing.
They’re available when the consumer does not want to read text and when video is not possible (e.g., driving or running). You should consider the value of podcasts and see how they can promote your brand.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.