Did you know that podcasts have become an attractive format to generate valuable content for your business or personal brand? Read on to find out their reasons.
What are podcasts?
The term “ podcasting ” comes from the union of the word “iPod” (the Apple company’s audio reproduction device) and the word “Broadcast” (information dissemination).
It was first used in 2004 with the intention of people listening to podcasts through an Apple brand device.
Currently, this is no longer necessary, since podcasts can be listened to from multiple technological devices and applications. In fact, by 2015 there were already approximately one million apps to download podcasts either through Google Play or iTunes.
Today, podcasts are defined as Internet radio programs, which can be presented in two formats: audio and video.
The first is usually accompanied by a referential image of the content or its authors and the second, by a video in which the people who lead the podcast are shown, speaking in front of microphones.
Although, ‘we can find podcasts that handle both styles (audio and video) to cover the largest number of audiences and take advantage of several communication channels at the same time.
This quality is what makes them so attractive to audiences because they can be heard at any time of the day, while cooking, working, exercising, etc.
Podcast, a world of possibilities
By 2019, there are more than 700,000 active podcasts, published in 100 different languages. These figures lead us to think that everywhere in the world, there are more and more people joining the world of podcasts, especially in Spanish-speaking countries.
According to studies carried out by Insider Intelligence, Latin America is positioning itself as an important audience that consumes podcasts.
There is a great diversity of podcasts and each of them can be classified according to the topics they address, for example: sports, general culture, entertainment, and marketing. etc However, the podcasts that have generated the greatest interest in users tend to be about culture and society, health, comedy, news, politics and business.
Podcasts in your digital marketing strategy
46% of podcast consumers are between 18 years old and less than 35 years old, that is, almost half of listeners are young adults.
As the world of digital marketing is increasingly competitive and where the majority of buyers are in that age range, podcasts have become an important tool to connect and build loyalty with those audiences who are constantly searching for information and who sympathize with companies and personal brands that can give it to them.
According to an infographic made by Music Oomphn, 69% of people who listen to podcasts say that they discovered new products and services thanks to them, that is, podcasts are a great platform to promote different types of products.
In this sense, podcasts can become a great complement to your marketing strategy, if your goals include providing attractive content to a more closed audience, with whom you can interact through comments. subscriptions and carry out a more assertive analysis of the content offered to the community.
Since new active podcast users are mostly natives of other social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, it is much easier to direct those communities of followers to your podcasts and make them listen to you there as well.
This is a great advantage to expand your digital presence, enhance your brand, create important alliances, give your business a competitive advantage and provide content on different platforms adapted to the needs or interests of your users.
What other advantages does a podcast offer you?
Podcasts offer you multiple advantages, including
Educate over selling
A podcast is easy to consume and is an engaging way to educate people. When it is not displayed in a video format, it does not require as much attention.
Therefore, it becomes an easy, practical and useful way to provide information that intellectually and personally nourishes people, which in the future can become an important purchase stimulus because it is a way to generate trust and closeness prior to the purchase. sale of a product or service.
Connect and retain potential buyers
The use of audio and video materials helps create an atmosphere of greater closeness between the authors of the content (companies and personal brands) and those who listen to the program, making them feel part of a community and loyal to the content.
Authority and leadership
The podcast, as a complement to other media, gives your business authority and credibility, since, when you decide to talk about a topic that is important within your market or industry, you need to first go to research, data, statistics and bibliographic sources that validate your information.
When you do this, you are showing how innovative, professional, and a leader you can be with the content you share.
Low cost
To make a podcast, you only need basic recording equipment and a script in which the topics and times of the conversations or monologues are structured.
The rest depends on how creative you are and how well you know your target audience.
On which digital platforms can you publish your podcasts?
There are a variety of platforms available in the market where you can publish your podcasts. However, the most important thing is to do it in those in which your market niche is located.
The most used digital platforms are:
- YouTube (ideal for those podcasts that are also made in digital format)
- iVoox.
- Spotify.
- TuneIn.
- SoundCloud.
- ApplePodcast
What should the best podcasts have?
To take full advantage of the potential that podcasts offer to generate valuable content, there are some considerations that you should take into account, these are:
- It must have good audio. If what you are saying is not understood, the message will not arrive in the appropriate way and it will be confusing to understand.
- It must have innovative content. It is important to innovate in each podcast with fresh content without straying too far from the central theme.
- It must be dynamic. Just because it is only audio does not mean that you cannot make edits, add sounds, music and special effects to make it more entertaining. Don’t miss out on wings to let your imagination fly!
Finally, it is important to highlight that a subscription system affiliated with your podcasts should not be your biggest source of money, but rather be part of your sales funnel and be an amplifier of your strategies to provide valuable content. Remember: Educating is more important than selling.
So, to position your business today it is important to connect strongly with people who, due to their characteristics, can become your potential buyers. This is why podcasts are a great tool to break down those barriers and get closer to them.
