If you’ve been searching for ideas to boost your brand awareness and engage your audience, chances are you might have come across the notion of using podcast for content marketing.
This is because podcasting offers a much more intimate way of connecting with fans and audiences than social media. It’s also considered an effective content marketing tool among digital marketers and content marketing agencies.
Podcast: Increasing popularity as a content marketing tool
As podcasts are quickly gaining ground in Singapore among consumers, they open up more opportunities for brands to engage their audience.
Its steady rise in popularity is mainly attributed to the fact that people nowadays enjoy consuming media on the go.
For instance, commuting on cars, buses, and trains would mean that they have time for long-form audio content. This makes it a perfect opportunity for brands to use podcast for content marketing.
Plus, podcasts are easily accessible and downloadable on smartphones.
Compared to video, producing a podcast is much easier and requires less technical ability.
Even with a limited budget, you can still create high-quality niche content through podcasts for your brand.
Learn more on how digital marketing is changing in the near future.
What is a podcast?
Podcasts are audio episodes on a particular topic or theme, such as health, beauty, or content marketing. An episode can be of any length, ranging from minutes to hours.
The good thing about doing a podcast is that it gives your brand the opportunity to get creative outside of blogs and social media. For instance, you could do a simple solo show or involve a couple of co-hosts for your podcast.
How is podcast different from radio?
Radio shows and podcasts can seem similar, but they’re not the same. While you can tune in to radio at different times, with a podcast, everybody starts from the beginning of the episode.
Here’s a table comparing the 2 formats.
| Podcast | Radio |
| A series of audio episodes focused on more niche topics. | Broadcasting of programmes via radio waves. |
| There’s no time constraint; listeners can download and listen to them anytime. | There’s a pre-set schedule with radio shows which you have to stick to. |
| Appeals to a more niche audience through its tailored and feature-rich content. | Broadcasts various content to appeal to a mass audience. |
| You’re able to see how many people have downloaded the podcast. | There’s no way of knowing exactly how many people have tuned in to a radio station. |
| Have a longer shelf life and can be listened to months or years later. | Once the show is over, you can’t replay it because radio is an instant medium. |
While the radio alerts listeners of live, breaking news that are happening in real-time, a podcast is audio on-demand.
Audio on-demand means that it’s available anytime. If the listener likes a particular series, he or she can listen to an episode or the whole series whenever it’s convenient.
This also means that to attract listeners, your podcasts have to be useful, relevant, and add value to the topics of interest in your niche.
For instance, while a piece of live or breaking news would be reported live on radio, a podcast might have a discussion on the topic instead. As it engages the listeners with open-ended questions, the conversation gets more interactive.
Why you should include podcast in your content marketing strategy
On top of your blog articles, social media posts, and email marketing, podcasts can fit right into your content marketing strategy.
As it creates awareness for your brand, it can help build a community of listeners, allowing you to engage your customers better.
You can also use podcasting to articulate your views as a thought leader and establish your authority in your industry.
The reasons why having a podcast would be ideal for your content marketing include the following:
1. It builds relationships
Although podcasts are a one-way communication street, it’s an effective way to build a long-term relationship with your customers.
This is because podcasting is a good way for brands to express who they are and what they stand for. With a more niche content, your listeners will be able to get to know your brand on a more personal level, thus establishing a sense of connection and trust.
2, It’s highly engaging
Creating engaging content for podcast episodes takes time and effort, but it is well worth the investment. After all, audio is easier to consume than text.
And when your podcasts are engaging enough, you’ll have a loyal listener community who tune in week after week for content.
Furthermore, if you include a clear and relevant call-to-action at the end of each episode, this can help increase traffic to your website or even conversions for your business.
3. It’s easy to produce
Another good thing about podcasting is that it’s easy to produce. Unlike video production, recording a podcast can be done fairly easily!
Even in a business setting, you don’t necessarily need a team to produce the podcast. All you need is a microphone and audio editing programme to spice up your podcast with background music. Got tight resources? You can even produce it on the phone!
Plus, podcasting allows you to speak naturally as you don’t have to stick to a script. In fact, this relaxed, conversational style is what many listeners prefer.
How to create a podcast for your brand’s content marketing
Ready to create your first podcast to boost brand awareness and reach out to your audience? Take note of these 10 pointers.
1. Review discussion topics
An often overlooked step is to review trending discussions on social media and blogs to discover what topics would matter most to your audience.
Let’s say your brand is in the telemedicine industry with a niche focus on sexual health among women. Based on your research, the discussion topics could revolve around personal experiences and expert advice on topics such as the menstrual cycle.
This essential step in making podcasts a part of your content marketing strategy will ensure your content will be relevant and useful for your audience.
2. Share your knowledge
A podcast serves as an education or knowledge-sharing platform. You shouldn’t use it to make a sales pitch for your brand as doing so can turn off your audience.
When your listeners are interested enough to follow your podcast series and learn more about your business, the leads will come.
3. Stay updated
As with any content marketing strategy, be sure to do some social listening to understand what your audience is saying and what they want to know.
For instance, you can start by creating polls or getting your listeners to suggest topics they’d like to know via your social media.
Based on the polls and suggestions, you can craft something valuable for them.
4. Repurpose your content
To save time and get the most out of your existing content, don’t hesitate to recycle them.
For instance, you can turn one of your popular e-books into a podcast, or create a round-up podcast to sum up a series of blog posts on a particular topic.
Need help in ranking your content on Google? Check out our tips here!
5. Check out the competition
If there’s an existing podcast on a similar niche, explore how you can make your podcasts different.
For instance, you’re in the travel industry and you have a competitor doing a podcast on the customs of countries around the world. To differentiate your brand, you could give your podcast a unique voice by talking about how to avoid tourist traps.
6. Get the right length and frequency for your podcast
Some podcasts are as short as five minutes, while some are three hours long. Regardless of what’s out there, you should go with what works for the content that you’ve prepared. But avoid making your podcasts longer than they need to be.
As a general rule of thumb, if you’re pushing out daily content, keep your podcasts short. Keep them to a maximum length of between 10 and 15 minutes.
If you’re looking at a weekly schedule, you can aim for a maximum of 60 minutes.
But if you’re planning to have a monthly podcast, you can go up to 90 minutes per episode.
Whichever duration you’re going for, you want to pace your podcast episodes to keep your audience entertained.
Next, decide on the specific day and time of release. If you choose to release a podcast every Monday at 8pm, be sure to stick to this schedule and let your listeners know about this.
7. Decide on the right format
Choose a format that you’re comfortable with and ensure that it suits your brand. Your podcast could be conversational, or it could be informative. You may also have a solo show for your podcast, or have two or three people hosting it.
To attract new listeners (and hopefully convert them to customers), consider inviting a guest who’s an expert in your industry onto the show. He or she could be an author, coach, consultant, or entrepreneur.
8. Sound natural
The best part about podcasting for content marketing purposes is that your audience can get to know you on a more intimate level.
Since the audience expects a natural voice, avoid using a commanding or salesy tone and speak comfortably.
9. Include an outline and links for your listeners
For better engagement, you can provide an outline to set the context for your episode.
A summary of takeaways, as well as helpful links (including your brand website) for further reading, can also be included to wrap up the episode nicely.
10. Provide value
As with the purpose of content marketing, you can use your podcast as a platform to help your customers solve their problems, or offer tips on how they can achieve their goals.
Captivate your audience with valuable content, and if they like it, they’ll be coming back for more.