How to Use Podcasts as Part of Your Content Marketing Strategy

The rumble of traffic. The buzz of a bee. The whoosh of your coat in the wind. Sound carries with it a sensory experience like no other.

Audio stories are different from any other medium for this very reason. Podcasts are used by several influencers, industry experts, and entertainment artists to share perspectives, ideas, and unique insights with a target audience.

So how do podcasts fit into your content marketing strategy?

The Power of Content Marketing & a Great Podcast

As content marketing continues to evolve and adapt to changing consumer behaviors, it’s essential to stay ahead of the curve and explore new ways of reaching and engaging with your audience. And podcasts offer an exciting opportunity to do just that.

Podcasts are a way to educate your consumers on important topics and provide thought leadership to the marketplace. Hubspot recently released the Hubspot Podcast Network for professionals looking to build their skills in different areas of business.

Other businesses choose to find a thought leader to host their own podcast and sponsor them. Whether they pay to have an ad included at the beginning of a podcast, ask an influencer to hype up a product during their podcast, or pay for time to speak to the partner podcaster’s audience directly, there are several profitable ways to leverage podcast sponsorships. In fact, Influencer Marketing Hub reports that 60% of listeners search for a product after it’s been mentioned on a podcast.

Creating your own branded podcast

Whether you are in finance, healthcare, insurance, or entertainment, podcasts can be a great place to focus on thought leadership and brand awareness. The best podcasts do this organically by using hosts with subject matter expertise in a specific industry to talk about topics the audience genuinely cares about.

Take NerdWallet, for example. Sean Pyles hosts the Smart Money Podcast for a user base that wants to learn how to eliminate debt, build savings, and start their investment journey. This makes sense for their business model since they have an app that helps their users track their money and make smart personal finance decisions.

This can also be a great opportunity for partnership with other brands, which NerdWallet does well, too. From credit cards and travel to personal loans, mortgages, and insurance, NerdWallet partners with a variety of industry leaders to highlight the best financial products for their audience. Talk about a great place for financial organizations to advertise their services.

From building brand awareness to driving traffic and boosting engagement, content marketing podcasts can be a game-changer for your business. According to Claritas, podcasts can lift brand awareness between 24-79%, depending on the industry. That’s 30x the average of other channels. Claritas evaluated 158 campaigns over 36 months, resulting in 834 million impressions. They found the following brand awareness lift based on industry:

• Retailers: 79%
• B2B: 77%
• Consumer goods: 63%
• Pharmaceuticals: 37%
• Automotive: 30%
• Telecommunications: 26%
• Insurance: 24%

What makes a good podcast?

Podcasts are one of the most popular forms of content consumption today, but it does take some skill to create a podcast worthy of listeners. If you’re going to integrate podcasts into your content marketing strategy, make sure that you have the following attributes:

• Compelling content: Start by selecting relevant topics for your target audience. Good podcasts have interesting and engaging content that keeps listeners coming back for more. The topic, storytelling, and quality of research or interviews should all be well thought out.
• Quality audio: Poor audio quality can be a major turnoff for listeners, so it’s essential to invest in good recording equipment or work with professionals who can help produce high-quality sound.
• Consistency: Maintain a consistent schedule so listeners know when to expect new episodes. This means releasing new episodes regularly, whether it’s daily, weekly, or monthly.
• Authenticity: A good podcast is authentic and genuine, reflecting the personality and style of the hosts or guests. Authenticity helps build a connection with the audience and makes the show more relatable and engaging.
• Audience engagement: Invite feedback, questions, and comments to understand your audience. This will help you understand what they want and create content relevant to them in future episodes.
• Marketing: Promote and market your podcast to the right audience. You can use social media, email lists, or partnerships with other podcasts or media outlets. The best content in the world won’t get an audience if people don’t know about it.

Why Use Podcasts in Your Content Marketing Strategy?

When integrated into a larger content marketing strategy, podcasts can help establish a brand’s authority, build customer trust, and drive traffic and engagement across multiple channels. By incorporating podcasts into a content marketing plan, businesses can create a more cohesive and integrated approach that leverages multiple touchpoints to reach and engage with their audience.

Whether used as a standalone content format or as part of a broader multi-channel approach, podcasts can help to amplify your message, increase your reach, and build lasting connections with your target audience. Starting a podcast as part of your marketing strategy can offer a range of advantages for your business, including:

• Building brand awareness: Podcasts can help increase your brand’s visibility and awareness, as they offer an opportunity to showcase your expertise and thought leadership on a specific topic or niche. According to BBC, podcasts that include brand mentions deliver, on average, 16% higher engagement and 12% higher memory encoding than the surrounding content. This is unique to podcasts since global radio benchmarks score 5% lower.
• Connecting with your audience: Podcasts can effectively build a personal connection with your audience, as they allow you to communicate directly with them in a conversational tone, building trust and rapport.
• Creating valuable content: Podcasts allow you to provide your audience with valuable, informative content that they can listen to at their convenience, which can help to position your business as a valuable resource.
• Driving traffic: By promoting your podcast on various channels, you can drive traffic to your website or other content platforms, increasing the visibility of your brand and attracting new leads. In fact, Morning Brew reports that podcast ad revenue surpassed $1 billion last year and is expected to grow in 2023 and 2024.
• Leveraging multiple channels: By incorporating podcasts into your larger content marketing strategy, you can amplify your message and reach a wider audience across various channels, including social media, email marketing, and search engine optimization.

Integrate Your Podcast Into Existing Marketing Campaigns

Podcasts need their own promotional strategy to perform. What’s your great content worth if no one hears it? When you start planning for your new podcast, set your goals early. Align them with the company’s overarching marketing strategy and decide which channels to promote your new content. Work with demand generation to create promotional assets to let your audience know what to expect.

Podcasting is a versatile and cost-effective form of content marketing that can be used as part of a larger strategy to drive engagement and boost your brand’s growth. Combining podcasting with other mediums, such as blogging, social media, and video, creates a cohesive, multi-channel approach to help you reach your marketing goals.

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