This article first appeared as Anthony Bullick‘s column in the Daily Post on 13 March.
Podcasts can help brands develop deeper and more meaningful relationships with their customers and wider stakeholders.
And with it being a cost-effective marketing tactic, it’s arguably the most underutilised tool available to PR and marketing professionals.
A podcast is essentially a digital audio file that a user can download and listen to at a time that is convenient for them. This is often when other ways of consuming information such as reading or watching a video is more difficult eg commuting and walking the dog.
The aim for a host is to attract subscribers, who receive the latest episodes automatically to their iTunes or other similar podcast app.
Figures released by Ofcom in late 2018 revealed the number of weekly podcast listeners doubled in five years to 6m people, and the early signs for 2019 are that this is continuing to increase.
<Find out how we used podcasting to be shortlisted at the PR Moment Awards>
This is where quality over quantity comes to the fore: while the numbers may not sound sexy, someone listening to a podcast has chosen to do so, which means they are proactively engaged in the content. This is a huge trust builder.
The first step for a brand is to understand what topics are of interest to their audience, how it can offer expertise, and how it links back to overall business objectives.
Identifying and communicating the theme clearly ensures your audience knows what to expect, avoiding less engagement due to uncertainty of the content.
When it comes to equipment, episodes can be recorded in a number of ways including on a mobile phone, over Skype for a long-distance interview, or with microphones. There is also easy-to-use free editing software available before it’s uploaded.
Podcasts can be monologue, a group of people talking, interviews, or a mix of all three. They can also be of any length, with podcasts typically ranging from 10 minutes to 1 hour, and in terms of frequency, it’s whenever you have high-quality content to share, but should be minimum monthly to build momentum. Market research and reviewing analytics will help shape your format, duration, and frequency.
Help people find the podcast with targeted PR and marketing. For example, share on your existing channels including your website, social media and email marketing, and consider paid social media to place the content in front of target audiences.