Podcast Blog
Do yourself a favour, begin a podcast today.
We are social creatures, having evolved thanks to our power of communicating ideas, and working together for a bigger purpose. Communication, and its command has always been rooted in the human voice. It conveys so much more meaning through tone, and inflection, than printed words could ever. For any brand wanting to sell themselves, it is crucial to understand and harness this effective medium. Growing at an exponential rate in the last few years, Podcast’s are the fresh new medium on the bloc highlighting this truism and breaking new ground in what some thought was possible. These long form digital narratives have proven our 24/7 hyper-paced news environment is not as appealing as it may have once seamed. Shunning this sound-bite centric medium, and unabashedly forging ahead with conversation recordings lasting sometimes up to four hours, podcasts are counterintuitively highlighting peoples desires for in depth analysis and quality conversation. Podcasts are now more than ever incredibly important for an individual brand for several key reasons.
Mobility and accessibility
In this day and age of content on demand via portable devices, podcasts could not be better suited. The ability to download, play, pause, and restart on the fly on any device allows your podcast to be constantly at the fingertips of your listeners. This position provides and enormous platform for you to expand you narrative and brand with your dedicated supporter base. We have seen in recent years a number of big tech companies coming out and investing heavily in audio gadgets such as Bluetooth headphones and ‘home audio speakers. This is not a coincidence, the big players can see our desire for audio content is a fast growing market, and one your brand would be silly to discount.
Brand Awareness and Specific Distribution
The internet has opened up markets now spanning billions of people. Anyone with an internet connection is a potential customer or listener. With podcasts you are able to tap into an audience who are there to listen on demand 24/7, seeking portable, free and customisable content. By offering regular long form content, you are able to effectively keep people connected to your brand. These audio investments are now becoming brands’ mouth piece and are facilitating their message to stand out from the pack.
Engagement and Differentiation
By creating a podcast, you are not only differentiating yourself from all other mediums competing for the customers attention but are giving an alternative to written content. This can be huge in markets where podcasts have yet to tap into, awaiting your prowess and innovation. According to statistical site, podcastinsights.com, 52% of people listen to podcasts while driving, 46% while travelling and 40% while walking, running, or riding a bike. If you are to get your message out there, you have just accessed a moment in people’s lives that they are virtually unconnected and free from other mediums. The same sight highlights that according to their research, podcast listeners are much more active on every social media channel (94% are active on at least one). This underscores the immense power having an active listener base can have on your brand moving forward. And finally, the same site found podcast listeners are more likely to follow companies and brands on social media. Having a listening base that is enthusiastic about your content and then consequentially, following that brand on their social media platforms, can have a huge impact on your business and marketability.
Entrepreneurship mogul Gary Vaynerchuk hit the nail on the head, when he said:
“Just remember, audio and voice are by far the most natural interface for humans to interact. We like to speak and listen. There was roughly 1.5X more audio consumed than video according to Nielsen statistics on streaming in 2016. This is HUGE. If you’re medium is voice, now is your time. Start creating today. Start a podcast, turn your blog posts into audio, develop an Alexa skill or start experimenting with Google Home. Before AR and VR and AI, audio is going to be the next major platform shift for consumer attention. It’s here today! What are you going do?”
