In order to create an effective podcast, you have to first find your niche, the tone of voice to use, and do thorough research on the message that you wish to communicate. People rarely listen to a whole podcast but they can be motivated to listen to more if the information being communicated is useful and valuable. Additionally, you can catch the interest of people with trustworthy presenters.
Logistically, you should put effort into getting the best production. You should consider investing your money in a semi-professional kit that can produce high quality audio, or appoint an agency like an animation company who are increasingly turning their hand to podcast production as the skills are transferable between the two types of medium. That’s the least you can do for listeners who give their time to you!
Do marketing professionals need to start paying attention to the benefits podcasts offer when it comes to product placement and sponsorship?
Yes! Podcasting is a lucrative area that is relatively untapped. A lot of consumers are listening to podcasts. Today, consumers hear messages that come from sponsors and are highly aware of commercial podcasts, but presented correctly this isn’t a negative.
A company that gets involved with a podcaster, who is trusted by their followers, has a high online following and is proficient at engaging consumers, can spread their brand awareness quickly. When using your real voice to speak to prospective customers, you can say much more compared to other platforms such as print media. Due to the engaging power of a real voice, podcasts can tell the brand story more effectively and powerfully compared to traditional marketing methods.
Podcasts are a great way for engaging clients and building brand awareness.
How can B2C organisations monetise podcasts so they contribute to the overall profits in a business?
At Wellness with Liz Earle, we have proved that podcasts can be monetised if they have embedded content and a link. In the recent past, we achieved great success using this method during a podcast episode sponsored by Regelle where I was joined by Dr Rebecca Lewis, a GP and menopause expert.
Running parallel with the technique described above, you can easily monitor the number of people who are following your podcast. Additionally, you can also view the number of times an episode has been downloaded. When it comes to podcasts, it is very easy to see the audience that you have reached with each broadcast.
How can marketing professionals ensure that podcasts align with broader marketing goals and they are integrated across media platforms such as social media?
Podcasts can be easily integrated into media campaigns because they are easy to link and share. For example, putting shortened links of your podcasts on social media platforms is fairly straightforward. To improve the visibility of podcasts, you can also have scan codes on magazines or brochures. At Liz Earle Wellbeing, if there is content that has references to information that can be found on the Wellness with Liz Earle podcast, we usually put a scan code next to the content. This means that anybody reading the article can immediately access the podcast and listen or alternatively, they can download and save it for later. Podcasts can help a brand cross-cut through multiple media channels very easily.
Podcasts can be seen to be a one-way form of communication. How can creators of content engage and interact with their audience?
Through podcasting, brands have very many opportunities to engage their audiences. To enhance interaction, some brands invite guests on their podcasts to make stuff more interesting while other brands choose to appear as guests in other podcasts. Other brands also choose to sponsor podcasts.
In my opinion, brands have a great potential to get their message to the target audience through podcasting. This is a relatively young medium of communication. On choosing podcasting, interesting relationships can be built with a podcaster in early their career. The individual chosen can grow to become very powerful and influential.
I firmly believe that this is the right moment to start looking at podcasting as a major trendsetter when it comes to marketing. It is the ideal time to incorporate podcasting into marketing plans for 2019 and beyond.