Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Promoting your brand online can be a challenging task. Social media is a noisy space, with brands fighting to be heard above the paid content, native content and of course the all-pervading algorithms. YouTube offers more space for a creative approach, but video dwell time drops off dramatically and very quickly after your audience presses play.
Audio is a different kind of space, curated and controlled by your brand, but reaching an audience that is both engaged and curious. Most people listen to podcasts on their own, using headphones, and they generally come to podcasts to learn and be entertained. That puts podcasting in a unique space, with a receptive audience and a lot less clutter than social media or video.
Do you have an audio strategy for your business? Let’s look in more detail at why you should consider using a private podcast or a branded podcast and why they could be an incredible opportunity for your business to seize…
1. A curated space
Podcasting is very different from live radio or social media. It allows time, space and production techniques to craft your brand’s story. You can control the script, the tone, the voices, the message, and you can create something that becomes more than just words on a page. Your end product will be a fascinating and engaging piece of content that people will enjoy.
2. Personal interaction
When it comes to communication, the human voice is so important. The ability to cast the right voice and find the right tone to tell the story of your business is a critical part of your audio strategy. Letting your customers hear the voices of your management, or your teams, or even the voices of other consumers can have a powerful impact. If you’re thinking about using podcasts for internal communication, a spoken word message from the CEO has far more impact than an email that goes to the whole company.
3. Engagement
Podcast listeners are unique in that they genuinely want to learn something new, to entertain themselves and they search for non-linear audio content to do so. Remember, you have to hear about a podcast, search for it on a platform and then commit the time to listen to it, so you are getting an engaged and interested audience.
And most people will listen to more than one podcast. In fact, typically a podcast consumer will listen to 7 different episodes or shows in a week and 55% of the US population has listened to a podcast. So, with the right network and support, your podcast could find an interested, engaged and open-minded audience.
4. Storytelling
There is a lot more to podcasting than just switching on a microphone and chatting away. That’s why the strategy behind your podcast is equally as important as the medium. You need to:
- carefully craft the narrative for your series
- plot the key points of each episode
- consider how many different messages or themes you are including
- decide how this all works together in terms of audio design and quality
The better the production and the more focus on the craft of the podcast, the more likely it is to be successful and to engage your audience.
5. Call to action
Finally for now, a podcast series can be very effective as a call to action for your audience. They enable you to inform and educate your listeners, and then draw them into whatever your preferred outcome might be. Whether it’s visiting your website to find out more, or perhaps a live event, your engaged audience will be responsive if you give them the right opportunity.
So, now you should have a clearer understanding of not only why podcasting is a powerful tool, but why you need to enter this space with a strategy in mind.
