“[Content Marketing is] the marketing and business process for creating and distributing valuable and compelling content to attract, acquire and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience — with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”–Joe Pulizzi, founder of Content Marketing Institute
Every business in today’s marketplace needs a content strategy that attracts, informs, educates, and entertains its target audience. In a world where ‘Content is King’ has been the marketing mantra for over a decade, we currently see an over-saturation of text-based content such as blogs, ebooks, whitepapers, with video content not far behind.
The truth is that people are busy, and they don’t always have the time to read or watch your content. From the busy executive running between meetings to the overwhelmed mom running to basketball games and PTA meetings, people are looking for an easier way to consume content. People that work in front of a computer screen for eight hours a day want to unplug. Luckily for content marketers, there is a solution that is a bit of a sleeping giant: podcasts.
Podcast production and consumption, alike, have boomed in the last couple of years. Why? Because they are easy and convenient to listen to during critical parts of a person’s day. They can be listened to during a commute, at the gym, cooking dinner, or even while doing housework.
Ask your sales team how often they speak with a prospect that “didn’t have time” to look through the whitepaper they downloaded, or they started but only made it through the first page. It happens all too often!
If having a captive audience isn’t enough of an attractive feature, consider the podcast audience demographics: educated, tech-savvy, disposable income, and loyal. At this point, you should be seriously wondering why you haven’t been using podcasts as part of your content marketing strategy already!
We’ve put together some of our top reasons why you should be using podcasts as part of your content marketing strategy;
- Podcasts are easy to consume. Audio content is ideal for people on the go and requires little effort on the listener’s part to engage. Unlike a blog that needs to be read and comprehended or a video that needs full attention to watch, a podcast is as simple as hitting play. It’s perfect for consuming while multi-tasking, and finding time for listening is a priority for a loyal podcast listener.
- Podcasts add variety to your content mix. Embedding a podcast onto your blog adds a new element for your audience to relate to, aside from just text. Your prospects develop a much stronger relationship and level of trust with you when they can connect with your voice.
- Your voice has power. Audio content is intensely personal; it’s your content coming straight from your mouth to your audience’s ears! The opportunity to establish your thought leadership, authority, and expertise are unparalleled compared to text or video content. Your perfect audience can start to regard you as an actual human being with real advice and insights that will enhance their lives on a personal basis. Your listeners establish a relationship with you and look forward to your next episodes, as well as go back and listen to your archived shows. Your voice has tremendous power to amplify your message!
Is it time for you to add podcasting to your content marketing strategy? We would love to help point you in the right direction – we offer a complimentary discovery call where we can help determine how adding podcasting to your marketing mix can benefit your business.
