6 Reasons You Should Start a Podcast to Promote Your Business
Updated
Podcasting is one of the fastest-growing content types, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. According to a new survey by Edison Research, more than half of U.S. adults have listened to a podcast. Not only is it relatively easy and low-cost to launch a podcast, it opens up an entirely new way to reach your audience, personalize your brand, and grow your business. Here’s why you should consider starting a podcast:
1. Podcasts help you form a more personal connection with your customers
Your blog, your email marketing, the messaging on your website, the content you post on social media platforms—they’re all an attempt to connect with your customers.
But none of these methods have the key element offered by podcasts—the human voice.
The brain is wired to be sensitive to the human voice and the emotions it expresses, which makes speaking directly into the ears of your customers one of the most powerful and personal ways to communicate with them.
Unlike a webcast or presentation, a podcast tends to be casual and unfiltered. Even if it follows a general script or outline, it gives the listener a much more authentic feel for the personality and individuality of your brand, and can create a more intimate connection with customers.
2. The number of people who listen to podcasts is growing
According to a recent report by Edison Research, the number of people listening to podcasts has more than doubled over the past decade. In 2018, 44% of Americans (approximately 124 million) have listened to a podcast, 26% (73 million) listen to podcasts monthly, and 17% (48 million) listen to podcasts every week.
And the people who listen to podcasts are tuning in even more—Edison Research found that podcast listeners consumed an average of seven different podcasts each week, a 40% increase over 2017.
3. People who listen to podcasts are extremely engaged
Most fans of podcasts are not casual listeners—of those who start a podcast episode, 80% listen to all or most of it.
Given that most business podcasts range from 15 minutes to an hour, that means podcast listeners will devote a lot more time listening to your voice in a podcast than they will reading your words in a blog.
According to analysis by Chartbeat, most online readers only scroll about 60% through an online article before losing interest, and one common statistic claims that 55% of readers spend 15 seconds or less on an article.
4. Podcasts are a great way to reach busy people
More than half of all internet usage is on mobile devices, and podcasts are perfectly suited to on-the-go consumption.
In fact, unlike blogs and videos, you can listen to a podcast while being visually focused on something else, which is why so many people listen to them while driving, doing chores, cooking, or exercising.
Of those who listen to podcasts, 69% do so primarily on a mobile device, and 22% listen to podcasts most often in the car, up from 18% in 2017.
5. Podcasts increase website traffic and improve your search rank
Podcasts have a number of benefits for your website. They boost traffic to your site, they increase average time spent on your site, and they can generate backlinks to your website, all of which are used as ranking factors by Google.
When you record a new episode, you can also publish a transcript, show notes, or related content on a dedicated page of your website, which will get indexed by search engines.
6. A podcast can help you reach new audiences
A podcast gives you the chance to more deeply engage with existing customers and turn them into enthusiastic brand advocates, but it also gives you the opportunity to reach new potential customers who may not know about your company, but are interested in the specific topic of your podcast.
When you host your podcast on a platform like Buzzsprout, Blubrry, Podiant, or Libsyn, you’ll also be able to upload it to iTunes for free, which then acts as a search engine, so anyone looking for podcasts on your chosen topic will be able to find your podcast, even if they’re unfamiliar with your brand.