As an entrepreneur and startup founder, keeping up with the latest industry trends and best practices is always good to ensure you're ahead of the curve. But all that learning and competitive intelligence come at a cost—your time. There's not enough time to read all the articles and books out there, so you turn to something you can do while you're on the go: podcasts.
Podcasts are significantly rising in popularity. So we pose the question, should your startup have a podcast?
In the past decade, podcasts have become a goldmine of value-added content and ideas, offering no shortage of inspiration and new perspectives. While they can boost your startup marketing and provide that unique brainstorm that genuinely defines your USP, do you ever wonder if you should give back?
Why You Should Have a Podcast
1. Podcasts Result in Increased Traffic Generation
With over 32% of the population listening to podcasts regularly, this method can help you to reach out to a fresh and wide-ranging audience for your business and build familiarity for your brand/product. The beauty of podcasts is that listeners usually subscribe to the series and regularly listen. As long as your content is consistent, your audience will stick with you and keep listening.
Also, if your audience loves what you're offering, there's a good chance they'll recommend your podcast to others who may be interested in it, thus increasing your reach considerably. This can quickly lead to increasing traffic generation.
2. Podcasts Offer an Alternative to Video
When it comes to marketing, there's no debate over the efficacy of video. But not everyone is comfortable in front of a camera, and that's fair. If you are camera shy and don't come across well on-screen, it can be bad for your business reputation and image.
At the same time, video costs add up. You can be deep in the red when you factor in lighting, sound, background, location permits, and recording equipment. And many small businesses probably won't afford the high-quality equipment you'll need to make a good-looking video. Something that looks and sounds cheap will affect you and your product badly.
Podcast production, on the other hand, is easier than you think. The equipment is cost-efficient, and a lot of free software can get you started. All you need to start is a microphone, headphones, and a USB audio interface/mixer, and you can even use Skype or GarageBand to record. That's it.
3. Podcasts Can Build Better Relationships
There's something intimate about a podcast. While it feels like a one-sided medium, it’s good at building a relationship with your listeners. Listeners develop a sense of familiarity with the person speaking on the podcast. And people listen to podcasts because they have something in common with the speaker and the brand the speaker represents.
This relationship helps build trust and invites the listener to participate with the brand. This, in turn, then leads to improved conversions.
We all know that people are more likely to buy something from a friend than a stranger.
4. Podcasts Get High Engagement
There's no denying that we live in an age of advertising saturation and information overload. Print media, out-of-home, and the internet have no shortage of written and visual content, and it seems like there's no escape. But there is. Podcasts offer audio information that attempts to engage customers and can offer a welcoming break from the monotony.
And the numbers don't lie. Over 54% of podcast listeners have considered buying the advertised products, and 45% of listeners have a household income of about $250,000. Also, 39% of all podcast users are small to medium business owners.
This indicates that podcasts can positively engage the audience and influence buying decisions.
5. Podcasts Reach Customers When and Where Other Media Can't
Finally, podcasts can reach a consumer in places where they're usually unreachable. People opt to listen to podcasts when they're doing something else. They could be vacuuming the apartment, going for a run, sitting on a crowded subway, or being stuck in traffic. These everyday events take up a lot of time when your potential audience can't browse the web, read a book, or watch a video.
Podcasts are an effective startup marketing tool because they allow your audience to multitask and fit them into their busy lives. This means new and unique opportunities to reach your target market and generate leads. Plus, they're easy on the content marketing budget with a high opportunity for a solid ROI.
It's time to invest in a microphone. It'll pay off in the long run.
