It seems like podcasting has been very popular in the last few years.
It’s kind of weird to think about.
My generation really didn’t have radio shows that we listened to like the generations before us.
When I talk to my grandpa he’ll say that the radio was one of his connections to the world. He would listen to all kinds of shows on the radio each week.
My parents kind of grew up at the end of the radio era and the beginning of the TV era. And I grew up in the TV ear and am now in the Internet era.
But the cool thing is that podcasting is kind of bringing back that radio style show a little bit online.
I listen to probably five or so podcast episodes each week at the moment. I listen to golf podcasts. During football season I’ll check in on a couple Packer podcasts. And I also like the popular podcasts like Serial and Unsolved.
I even tried a podcast with my wife. We did about twenty episodes I think before we kind of moved on. We wanted to give it a shot, but didn’t have the commitment. We might come back to it at some point, but not right now.
And interest in podcasts is growing as studies show with about 30% listening to about 1-3 per month. Ad spending is increasing. That’s always a good sign of something that’s growing. Follow the money.
But is podcasting right for your business?
Let’s figure that out.
Podcasting As Content Marketing
Podcasting is one form of content marketing.
Here at Ghost Blog Writers we write about blogging often. That’s a form of content marketing we really believe in, but there are other forms and businesses use many forms successfully.
Podcasting is one great form. Many businesses use podcasting as a way to answer questions that a target audience has or to provide entertainment to a target audience.
It might be video, infographics or whatever. Content marketing is about providing content that a target audience will find interesting so you can earn their attention and from there earn their trust and their business.
With that in mind, podcasting is a great form of content marketing and a great way to build a following and grow your business, but like any form of content marketing it takes time.
If you’re considering podcasting for your business let’s look at some checks you can do to determine if it’s right for you.
Check #1. Does Your Personality Fit Podcasting?
I think this is a big one and one that my wife and I might have overlooked.
Over the years I’ve found that blogging is really a perfect way for me to express my thoughts. I’m okay when I’m around people, but I’m not the best thinker in the moment. I’m more of a person that needs some time alone to think through things before I express my thoughts and feelings.
So that’s where writing and blogging fit really well.
On the other hand, I know people that are really good at podcasting. They’re good in conversation. They’re good talking on their own or with others. They have expression in their voice and they’re good at garnering attention when they speak.
You can develop that over time, but I think it helps if you have the right personality for podcasting or that someone on your team does.
Check #2. Do You Have The Time?
This is a big one.
Businesses come to Ghost Blog Writers because they want blog posts, but they don’t like writing or they don’t have time to blog. That’s a big reason that we’re in business.
Blogging does take time and so does podcasting. Any form of content marketing really does.
I’ve seen entrepreneurs with great ideas for a handful of podcasts. They get excited about the idea of hosting a podcast and maybe they even start it, but once they get into it they realize the work involved and they realize they just don’t have the time.
When my wife and I did a podcast for a bit it took time to plan the episode. It took time to record the podcast. It took time to edit. It took time to schedule and format and get it posted. It took time to promote.
There’s a lot that goes into it.
Check #3. Do You Have The Focus?
Entrepreneurs are notorious for having all kinds of ideas. They have all kinds of ideas, but they have trouble focusing on one thing at a time. Things take up their attention and they can jump from one thing to the next.
The best ones are those that are able to focus on one thing at a time or that have people to push them to focus on one thing at a time until things are done or systemized so that others can take over.
Is podcasting your number one focus right now?
Can you make that type of commitment to it as a marketing strategy?
If you want it to really be successful that’s the kind of focus you’ll need.
Check #4. Do You Have The Ideas, System & Willingness To Experiment?
This is usually an easier part for entrepreneurs. Businesses often come to use and they have a handful of ideas for blog posts, but they don’t have the time to write the posts themselves (or they don’t like writing).
The same happens with podcasting, but not always.
Do you have ideas for podcast episodes and can you keep coming up with ideas?
Write down the ideas you do have for episodes. Then take a few days and come back to it and see if you can come up with more ideas. Then take a few days and come back and do the same.
With content marketing you need to be able to continuously come up with ideas. A good basic way to do it is to create a system for discovering questions your target audience has and to answer those questions. Or it’s about developing a system for finding new ideas, which could be for finding guests or finding topics or whatever.
I also think it’s important to look at your podcast as a system. You want things to be systemized from how it’s formatted to how you get ideas and everything.
But with that said you also want to experiment from time to time so that you’re looking for ways to improve and continuously get better.
Check #5.Do You Have The Patience, Commitment & Buy-In?
Finally, is your team bought-in to the idea of a podcast?
And do you have the patience and commitment to see it through?
My wife and I realized that we really didn’t with the podcast. We kind of went in looking at it as an experiment. That was fine, but it wasn’t sustainable. We really had to like it for it to work and it didn’t work out.
With blogging I do have the commitment. I’ve been blogging on this blog for six years. That takes patience and commitment because the traffic wasn’t there from the beginning or even in the first year or so.
It takes a long time for content marketing to start to take hold. Go into the podcasting effort with that in mind and you’ll be much more likely to succeed.
And that’s a good thing because while others fall off because they don’t have the patience you’ll be one of the few left standing for your audience to find.
Conclusion
I’m a fan of podcasting. I think podcasting is a great form of content marketing for businesses and organizations. But podcasting is not an easy marketing strategy. I think it’s very worthwhile, but you have to think about the things above before you jump into it. Take some time to think about podcasting and your business and then if things look good you’ll be in a really great position to succeed.