I Thought Podcasts Were Stupid

Unless you’ve been staying away from all computers, smartphones and other connected devices the last few years, you’re familiar with the medium we call a podcast. If you’re new to the concept, it’s like radio, but on your schedule and on pretty much any device that is WiFi or cellular enabled. Even knowing of the ease of access, I wasn’t convinced of the value of podcasts prior to co-hosting ‘Digitiv. The Podcast.‘ Honestly, I thought podcasts were stupid. So, I’m here today to share with you why my opinion has been changed.

Engaging Content

There are more than 1.7 billion websites in the world, and within those, there are more than 600 million blogs. That’s a ton of text based content. Yes, there may be video interspersed here and there, but for the most part, these two mediums are providing content with text and images.

Podcasts, which can be embedded into websites and blogs, allow you to bring stories to life. Whomever your site visitors are, they are probably busy. It may be more difficult to read a 6-minute blog, than it is to listen to a 15-minute podcast. You can listen to a podcast on your run, in the car, at the gym, almost anywhere. To read a blog posts, or scan a website, it requires looking at a screen and stopping whatever else you were doing.

Humanizing

This is an area every company struggles with at some point. You are trying to do more than just be transactional with your customer base. A podcast can allow you to be real and raw with clients and the world.

In our podcast, we tackle problems we’ve faced starting a small business. We share stories of times we have failed, panicked or had no idea what to do. The humanizing factor drives listens because people are more interested in companies that have a soul.

Greater Value

For most of us, we utilize our email and SMS lists to share information with our customers and audiences. If you’re lucky, you have a strong social following. All of these are great places to get messages out, but they don’t always get a lot traction. Podcasts have another big benefit when you want to advertise something…even if it’s another brand. 56% of consumers are likely to engage a brand that’s promoted on a podcast they listen to and enjoy. This means as your growing audience, you can also add sponsored ads to shows to earn a few dollars. It may not make you a millionaire, but it’s a great way to create some additional passive income. It took me a while to come around on the value of podcasts. We were months into releasing episodes before we really saw results. Today, our show is one of the top drivers of traffic to our website. If you’re interested in starting a podcast of your own, reach out and let us help you.