Podcast popularity is booming. Edison Research found 40 percent of Americans reported ever listening to a podcast and 24 percent say they tuned into one in the past month – a number they have seen increase over the past two years.
Audio enthusiasts praise podcasts because they are easy to consume and cheap to produce.
Conversely, video viewership is growing in a costly direction. Videos are expensive and time-consuming to produce, and social media users only watch an average of 30 to 60 seconds before moving on to new content.
However, while many believe attention-spans are decreasing and long-form content is dying, content marketing expert Ryan Hanley disagrees. The average listener of his podcast Content Warfare tunes in for 21 minutes, he says, proving his point: “People are willing to tune in, but your content has to be good.”
Though many podcasts act as a form of entertainment, they also serve as a key platform to inform, which means they can–and should– play a key role in your marketing strategy. Here are five reasons podcasts should be part of your content marketing strategy:
1. They are easily accessible
Anyone with a smartphone (that’s 68% of adults in the US) can quickly download and listen to podcasts from anywhere. Your content can be at someone’s fingertips in just a few simple taps.
2. They establish your voice
By giving a voice to your brand, you are humanizing your organization in a way that an image or text cannot do. This builds a sense of trust with your audience, a key factor in gaining and maintaining a loyal fan base.
3. They bring experts together
Oftentimes, podcasts feature guests to share insights in their perspective fields. These instances trigger fruitful conversation while allowing you to engage with other thought leaders in your community and building your own.
4. They are creative
Podcasting is similar to storytelling, and every good story has interesting characters, a compelling tone, an issue that needs to be resolved, and so on. This is your chance to color outside of the lines of traditional marketing to reach your audience in a way that consistently captures their attention to build a long-term relationship.
5. You can reuse the content
After your episode is complete, you can refurbish the topic and sources into a blog post or share insights from it on social media. That way, your content will reach a wider audience of those who prefer listening, those who prefer reading, and those who prefer to scroll through social media newsfeeds.
Our Content Marketing Podcast Recommendations:
Ryan Hanley
Amy Porterfield