The advancement in technology has lead to the implementation of digital tools and innovative products in the industries. As various aspects of businesses are transforming every day, these tools have proved to be necessary to stay up in such a highly competitive market.
Podcasting has gathered immense popularity over the years. A podcast is a digital audio file or a set of audio files that are available on the internet.
Anyone can download a podcast on the internet or on their phone. A series of each podcast has different episodes in it. Podcast providers also allow their listeners to subscribe to the podcast and receive the digital files after uploading them.
Many businesses are using podcasts to improve their prospects. A company or organization can use their podcast as a powerful marketing tool. The increased use of smartphones has led to the immense growth of podcasting.
Let us first understand the fascinating history of how podcasts have come this far. Then we will take a look at the benefits of podcasting for organizations.
History of Podcasts
One account has podcasting beginning in 2004. Dave Winner collaborated with former MTV VJ Adam Curry to create this program. Adam Curry wrote a computer program called iPodder. The program allowed him to download Internet Radio Broadcasts into his iPod.
As more developers found this program beneficial, they improvised this idea, and thus podcasting was officially formed.
The software, or podcatcher, had a specific way of working. The podcatcher goes through the files on RSS feeds and find specific enclosures related to audio content. Then it provided the option to download all the data in the enclosures. Soon the program was able to run on iTunes and became even more convenient to sync the audio to the iPod.
Dave Winner began working with Christopher Lyder, a leading journalist at that time. They worked on Lyder’s blog with the help of RSS feeds when Lyder found a great opportunity. He took the interview recordings of the 2004 Presidential Elections and began to post the audio files online.
In October of the same year, an article in The Guardian coined the term ‘podcasting.’ The journalist Ben Hammersley used this term to describe the new internet radio broadcasting in the article. This is how the term ‘podcasting’ came to be.
George W. Bush was the first American president who created his podcast after the addition of RSS 2.O feed on the White House website. From there, the number of people listening and downloading the podcast eventually began to grow.
In 2015 alone, there were over 100 million searches of podcasts globally. The podcast networks continue to grow as more and more media creators started their shows.
Eventually, big names like Yahoo! and Apple started their podcasts. In less than two years, there were 4.8 million downloads of podcasts from Apple.
Now, as wireless internet services continue to improve, podcasting experience is getting better and more convenient. Instead of a two-step download process of the audio files, you can now do it only one step: stream.
10 Reasons to Launch Your Organization’s Podcast
Are you thinking of starting your own podcast but not sure if it’s a wise decision to do so? Here we have the top ten reasons why your organization should have its own podcast.
1. Audio Content Is Convenient For Consumers
We are living in the times of over-information. One of the biggest problems for companies and marketers is to deal with the fact that their customers have an overwhelming amount of information around them.
Focusing on one specific piece of content is becoming difficult. You can’t always be sure that your target audience is giving 100% focus on reading your blog or watching your advertisement.
One great thing about a podcast is that the content is audio. Your listener can easily consume it while doing something else. Audio content is very portable and convenient. Your listener can absorb everything in it.
They can easily listen to your podcast while driving, cleaning their house, or exercising. This also means that your listeners don’t have to take out extra time to listen to your podcast.
2. Building an Audience
Just like with a blog, a podcast is an excellent tool for building your audience. As the popularity and size of your podcast will grow, the number of audiences will increase too.
Not everyone will come back for your podcast; however, those who like your content and style will listen regularly. Moreover, they will share your podcast with their family and friends. Eventually, you will build a tribe of listeners who will be eager for the next episode.
When you have your own podcast, you should host it on a popular platform like iTunes or Stitcher. This will help other listeners find your podcast.
New listeners will find your show when they search for specific topics on these platforms. Hosting your show on well-known platforms will significantly increase its search engine results.
3. Requires Minimum Investment
One of the best reasons to start podcasting is that it does not break your marketing budget. Podcasting can be one of the cheapest ways of marketing for you.
The initial investment would cost around $1000 if you Do-It-Yourself or $3000 for a Podcast-in-a-Box service like ours at PodcastPros. We can even consult on launching your podcast if you want to run it yourself.
At the core, all you really need is a computer (or laptop), internet connection, microphone, headset, and a pop filter. Podcast hosting cost $20 to $30 on average per month.
This is the total range of cost if you are doing the guest booking, interview, production, editing, show notes, transcription, and publishing yourself.
4. Provides a Great Money Making Opportunity
A podcast doesn’t have to be a hobby. You can make it a side business or even an integral part of your business. Look at how famous podcasters like Joe Rogan or Tim Ferriss have expanded their podcasts and are earning full time from it.
By putting in a concerted effort, you can make your podcast very profitable. As your podcast becomes popular, other companies will become interested in sponsoring you or collaborating with you.
The host of Entrepreneur on Fire, John Lee Dumas, makes over five figures per month from sponsors alone. He also teaches ways to monetize podcasts.
In brief, there are several ways to monetize your podcast. When your download numbers reach high enough, you can further charge your sponsors to mention them on your show. You can also promote your own business, products, or services.
Another option is to have a Recommended Resources section on the main website of your podcast and include affiliate links. When visitors click on the recommended resources and end up buying, you earn a commission from the sale.
Amazon Affiliates is an excellent platform for this automated tracking and affiliate commissioning service.
5. Become an Authority in the Industry
Regularly giving helpful advice on specific topics helps position you as an authority in your niche. Holding a podcast can have a similar or even more significant effect than writing a book or running a blog post.
More people can consume your content on-the-go. Speaking consistently about your niche will build your reputation as an expert over time.
As you gain authority in your market, you will attract other and better opportunities. When you become a well-known podcaster, you might even be invited to speak at conferences or events in your industry.
You will get further know-how on your niche and become an expert in solving related problems. People will naturally begin asking you for advice on your area of expertise.
You may even be able to consider forming coaching or consulting services from the expansion of your brand. Ultimately, hosting an interesting, informative, and entreating podcast can go a long way for you.
6. A Simple Yet Genius Way To Market Your Products And Services
Hosting podcasts can be a great marketing tool. As a marketer, you will have to put up with clients who don’t stick around.
A podcast can be valuable to those industries where customer lifetime value is high. Not surprisingly, podcasts are one of the best education services you can provide to your clients and audience.
Your loyal audience will keep on listening to the episodes as your podcast grows. This way, your churn rate will significantly decrease as your customers will always remember and continue to use your services or products.
7. Helps You Build Personal Connection With The Listeners
When your audience listens to you regularly, they can build a personal connection with you. They can hear all your emotions.
They can hear you exclaim, get excited, or worry about something. Delivering emotions is more natural when speaking as compared to writing.
With just a podcast, you can converse with hundreds of people at a time. When your audience listens to more of your episodes, they will develop a connection with you.
They will like you not only for the content you share but also for your specific communication style. When hosting a podcast, make sure you sound helpful and friendly.
8. Increase The Size And Value Of Your Network
One of the most apparent benefits of inviting guests on your podcast is building your web of contacts.
Having an interview or chit-chat based podcast is a great way to expand your network. You get an opportunity to reach out to influential people of industries with whom you haven’t been able to interact with prior.
One reminder is that you must keep in touch with all the guests of your podcast. You never know if and when one of them will be your next business partner or just a great long-term friend and confidant.
9. It Doesn’t Require Much Time Or Effort To Maintain
Publishing podcasts daily requires considerable effort, but it is okay to publish an episode once per week or twice a month.
Here is good news, once you launch your podcast, maintaining it isn’t as hard as most people think it is. There are a few steps to carry out when publishing an episode.
Plan
You need to plan how the episode will go
Record
The next task is to record the episode
Edit
Ideally, you planned your episode, and the recording went swimmingly.
Typically, you have to edit the episode to add intros, outros, and theme music in addition to editorial cuts. You can find tools and software from as simple to as complex as you would like in our resources section.
Publish
Find and upload your episode to one of many podcasts hosts out there. You can also find this in our resources section.
Most podcast hosting service can automatically syndicate your episode to the top podcast streaming services (e.g., Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher). If you want your audio on YouTube and SoundCloud, you will need additional tools to upload onto those platforms.
Market
We recommend you have a website for your podcast. This is a service PodcastPros can provide. For better SEO visibility of your podcast episodes, we recommend creating a specific page for each episode.
As you start building an audience, it is essential to promote the podcast in newsletters, online ads, social media, or wherever you find appropriate. All of these steps can take 2 to 3 hours.
So it is better if you have an assistant to help you with the editing, publishing, and promoting the podcast episodes. You can also hire us! PodcastPros provide Podcasting-in-a-Box service, where we can provide as little to as much podcasting services as you need.
As a podcast host, we highly recommend that you give the planning portion of each podcast sufficient attention, which will typically save a lot of time in post-production editing. It is especially crucial to take time to do some preliminary research on your guests and preparing questions to ask the guest.
Next up, heed our advice section or the advice of other experts for your recording process so the audio comes out clean and will not require extra work fixing poor audio, loud background noises, or audio loss. Put your maximum efforts into these two steps to avoid headaches producing your podcast, or leave it to us!
10. Podcasting Is Fun!
Above all, hosting a podcast needs to be fun. It has to be something you look forward to doing. While the benefits we mentioned above make a lot of sense, what is the point in investing your time and effort into something you will not enjoy?
Regardless of what business or organization you run, hosting a fun podcast will create intriguing content for your audience. You will get to meet and interview interesting people and maybe learn a thing or two in every interview!
If you have a lot of passion and knowledge on a particular topic, you should consider having your own podcast. If there is a topic you are interested in but don’t have enough expertise to speak throughout a podcast, you can always host interviews.
Invite business leaders, entrepreneurs, and other experts to share their experiences and advice, and you will have a podcast that people will want to listen to every week.
Wrapping Up
Whether you host a one-man show or an interview-based podcast, starting a podcast can be very beneficial for you or your organization.
Your personal or organization’s brand value can dramatically increase with the presence of a podcast. You will get to market your products and services in a very unique and effective way.
Someday when you have a popular podcast, you will not only get to build your audience and a new customer base but will also develop a personal link with them. We can’t rave enough about starting a podcast for you or your organization. Contact us today to see how we can help you get started!
