mConnexions Podcasting

The world grows more digital by the day, yet we’ve never craved human connection more. For any business owner, appeasing the two is the secret to meeting the needs of your audience. How? The numbers and trends point to podcasting… the marketing tool that is creating its own golden age, and for good reason! As of February 2021, there were more than 1.75 million podcasts and more than 43 million episodes.

A podcast is an online audio broadcast that you can subscribe to, allowing anyone to listen to it at any time, from anywhere, on almost any device. It’s the only digital format that doesn’t require eyes on a screen—just ears and minds during downtime or on-the-go, while doing house chores, jogging, or during your daily commute. Perhaps the easiest to consume of any format, podcasting is an effective and unique way to access and captivate a niche audience, build those relationships, increase leads and conversions for businesses, and establish brand awareness.

Sure, it’s been around for a few years and growing more popular with time, but recent wildfire success shows us that podcasting is no longer a fad—it’s a strong way to market to an audience. At mConnexions, we use and see podcasting for exactly what it is: a powerful tool for an effective longform content marketing strategy. When it’s done right, podcasting can change the way you connect with your audience and represent the voice of your brand.

Let’s take a look at the benefits of podcasting and the power of developing an effective podcast strategy for your brand.

Podcasting builds brand awareness through relationships and trust

While they don’t allow for conversation between consumers and providers, podcasts do give you the opportunity to share the voice behind your brand and showcase the personality and character of your organization. By default, this allows you to build more authentic client relationships—being more present and sharing an abundance of information in a conversational way makes your audience feel connected to you at a deeper and more personal level. In many ways, this established sense of connection and trust can attract more clients and increase sales goals in a natural way. Unlike traditional advertising tactics that can feel pushy, effective podcasting feels more conscious and less forced.

By building this sense of trust and authority, you’re likely to build a loyal returning customer base that will approve, share, and comment on your podcast, helping your brand reach more people and expand your client base.

Podcasting delivers engaging, convenient, and valuable content

No two podcasts are alike, which is exactly what people love about them. Starting a podcast gives you the freedom to explore formats and messaging—solo hosting, guest hosts, scripted stories, candid advice, group interviews, Q&A sessions, and more. Through the right strategy, you can combine humor, entertainment, storytelling, and education into valuable, engaging, and convenient content—you have the power to build a podcasting experience that entertains and educates your audience on their own time and terms. Whether people in your audience listen the moment an episode is released or download it and tune-in later, they can walk away feeling fulfilled by their listening experience; they’re informed, entertained, and satisfied by their interaction with you.

The bonus? Audio is the easiest way to consume information, making podcasts the best way to get and hold your audience’s attention—93% of people listen to all or most of each episode, proving that engaging, valuable, convenient podcasting content is a powerful tool.

Podcasting drives SEO and social media presence

Podcasts are sustainable—they don’t eat up the budget and they’re easy to repurpose and share across social channels. With the subscribe feature, your audience is alerted when a new podcast is available, eliminating the need to implement a new marketing campaign. You can make social posts across all platforms, embed episodes in email newsletters, turn episodes into YouTube videos, and transcribe them into blog posts. A carefully crafted podcasting strategy uses these tactics to drive people to your website and social channels without busting your budget.

The repurposed material, transcriptions loaded with keywords, meta titles, and meta descriptions filled with backlinks, and consistent posting across all social channels will help make you an SEO powerhouse. Have we mentioned how incredible podcasting is?

Our experts at mConnexions see this trend as a powerful tool that can be effectively integrated into any existing digital marketing plan. We help our clients podcast with purpose by design of solid strategy. We can help you maximize the benefits of podcasting and make your way through the millions of listeners so you’re heard, seen, and streamed.

Ready to incorporate podcasting into your digital marketing strategy? We provide a range of podcasting services, from consulting to production to distribution, and more. We’d love to hear about your podcasting project and how we can help. Connect with our team today to get started! And, check out our mConnexions Marketing Minute Podcast, designed to give you bite-sized snippets of marketing guidance.

 

Julie Holton is the Founder and Principal Strategist of mConnexions, a full-service marketing and communications agency. Prior to launching her agency, Julie spent more than ten years working in top television newsrooms across the country, as an Emmy award-winning writer, producer, and executive producer. Julie coached reporters, producers, writers, and videographers. She also worked with her news teams to develop digital and social media strategies. Julie currently hosts two podcasts and is a featured author in numerous blogs and publications. Follow her directly on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.