When Amy Poehler started her podcast, she said, “I like to be five or six years late to any trend,” which perfectly encapsulates how people feel about podcasting.
Everyone and their neighbor has a podcast these days, which means, if you don’t have a podcast, you might be feeling left out.
Should you start a podcast? Will it help you build your business? Or will it be just another time suck?
Is it already too late? Have you missed the boat?
On the one hand, the FOMO (fear of missing out) around podcasting is real. On the other hand, podcasting can be pretty overwhelming. If you do decide to start a podcast, you need to decide what that podcast is going to be:
- Is it going to be just you talking into a microphone alone?
- Will you interview guests?
- Do a mix of both?
- What kinds of topics will you cover?
- If you do have guests, what kinds of guests will you interview?
As with any marketing endeavor, there are a lot of questions around podcasting. I can’t answer them for you, but I can lead you through some important elements of marketing to help you decide if you should start a podcast to grow your business.
Table of Contents
- What’s the Goal of Your Podcast?
- Do Your Ideal Clients Listen to Podcasts?
- Podcasting for SEO
- How to Make Your Podcast Work for You
- The Marketing Spotlight
What’s the Goal of Your Podcast?
It’s easy to assume that the goal of every marketing effort (including podcasting) is to get more leads for your business, but that’s not always the case.
Networking
I had a business coach at one point who started her podcast to create networking opportunities for herself. She wanted to talk to people who were at a higher level in their business than she was in her business. The kind of people who wouldn’t give her the time of day if she asked if they’d like to get together for a cup of coffee.
But if she asked them to be on her podcast, she was much more likely to get a yes. Now she can have a conversation with them and leverage that conversation into a relationship she could then use to grow her business.
Guesting
Being a guest on podcasts has been a part of my business development strategy for a few years now, and I’ve had some great conversations with marketers and non-marketers alike.
But some people are picky about who they have on their podcast, and the more valuable the podcast, the more likely they are to be selective about who they have on their podcast.
I’ve been on a few podcasts that won’t even consider a guest who doesn’t have a published book. By the way, did you know I have a published book?
Other podcast hosts require a kind of tit-for-tat from their guests: have me on your podcast and I’ll have you on mine. That means having your own podcast can make it easier to got onto other podcasts.
Conversations with Clients
While my coach wanted to have strategic partners on her podcast, other people aim to have their ideal clients on their podcast. As with interviewing power partners, it’s an easier way to get to yes. No one says yes to a sales call, but few people are going to turn down an opportunity to be a guest on a podcast.
While interviewing them for your podcast, you can ask them questions that can open the door to a sales conversation off mic. The goal of these conversations is just to get them thinking about the problem you solve for your clients, especially if it’s the type of problem most people aren’t aware they have, or if it’s a low-level problem they’re aware of, but not motivated to solve right away because they don’t yet understand how much easier their life can be once you solve that problem for them.
Growing Your Visibility
Last, but certainly not least, is just good old fashioned branding and marketing. You need to get the word out about your business and you think a podcast will help you do that.
But will a podcast actually grow your visibility?
As with so many other marketing questions, the answer is less than satisfying: it depends.
Do Your Ideal Clients Listen to Podcasts?
Only about half of Americans listen to podcasts, which leaves millions of people you might be trying to attract who aren’t listening to podcasts. So, the first question you need to ask yourself before starting your podcast is whether your ideal clients listen to podcasts.
Statistically, most podcast listeners are between the ages of 18 and 35. While there aren’t many listeners below that age group, there are plenty of listeners above that age group, but the older the age group, the less likely they are to be listening to podcasts.
If you’re in the B2B space, your ideal clients are probably listening to podcasts. Business owners and executives tend to listen to podcasts to stay up to date on the latest trends and updates, either in their specific industry, or in business in general depending on the size of their business and their job title.
Podcasting for SEO
Podcasts are great for SEO. The search engines love them, and a lot of people search directly in their podcast app of choice to look for podcasts that cover the topics that interest them.
The SEO factor alone can make investing in a podcast worthwhile, especially considering the credibility that comes with showing up in search.
How to Make Your Podcast Work for You
If you’ve considered all the above factors and decided, yes, your ideal clients listen to podcasts and it could be a great way to get the word out about your business, here’s what you need to do to make sure your podcast gets results for your business and isn’t just a vanity project.
How Does It Fit With Your Brand?
If you’re using your podcast to increase your visibility, you need to make sure, not only that it’s aligned with your larger business goals, but that it’s aligned with your brand. If people listen to your podcast and don’t realize they’re listening to someone from your company, that doesn’t do anything to increase your brand awareness.
That doesn’t mean you have to name your podcast after your business, but it is an option. At the very least, you should include some links in your show notes back to your website so people know where to follow up with you.
Your podcast also needs to be aligned with your larger messaging goals. What topics do you cover? How do you talk about those topics? What type of language do you use (salesy? formal? casual?)?
Consistency across all your marketing channels (including your podcast) signals to people they’re hearing from the same person/company that posts your social media content, your website content, sends your emails, etc. When they know what to expect every time they encounter your brand, they’re more likely to come back when that’s what they need.
What’s Your Publishing Schedule?
I have podcasts I follow that publish new episodes twice a week at 8am. Other podcasts I follow release episodes at midnight every other week.
The frequency doesn’t matter as long as I know when I’ll hear from them next.
That said I do find it requires more intention for me to keep up with the biweekly podcast because they do tend to get buried under the podcasts that publish more frequently. On the other hand, publishing every week is a big commitment, so if you go that route, make sure you know you can stick to it even when you’re busy.
But the podcasts I stopped listening to entirely are the ones that seemed to drop off the face of the earth. When I didn’t hear from them for months, I gave up and I never went back.
The lessons here are:
- Pick a schedule you know you can stick to even when you’re busy. If every week feels overwhelming, publish every other week.
- It’s OK to take a break, but schedule old episodes to be republished during your break so your followers don’t think you vanished.
To Video, or Not to Video
I think video podcasts might have started when people started loading their podcast episodes on to YouTube. It became so popular that now other podcast platforms that used to be strictly audio are offering video.
Whether you choose to take advantage of video or stay old-school is entirely up to you, but I do think you’ll be missing out on a significant audience if you choose to ignore video.
Decide If You Need Help
Running a podcast isn’t nearly as technically challenging as you might think. All you really need is a computer with a camera and a microphone, and you’re good to go.
Will a nicer microphone make you sound better? Absolutely.
Will a ring light help make sure you don’t look like you’re in witness protection? Yes.
That said, none of those things are necessary. And the fancy audio editing equipment isn’t necessary. You can just upload your podcast as you recorded it and be good to go!
There are some AI software out there that will clean up basic things like the dreaded “ums” and “uhs” from your content, but if you want more extensive editing, you either need to figure that out yourself or hire a professional podcast producer.
A podcast producer can help you with everything from editing your podcast to making suggestions on the length of your episodes and when you publish to helping you strategize around your podcast. What is it you really want to accomplish with your podcast? What’s the best approach to accomplish those goals?
Give It Time
There’s no such thing as an overnight success. I mentioned Amy Poehler at the beginning of this article, and yes, her podcast has been a huge success, but you are no Amy Poehler.
Poehler had a built-in audience from the years she has spent on some little-known shows like SNL and Parks and Recreation. Her podcast starting point is not your podcast starting point.
So before you decide podcasting isn’t for you and give up, make sure you’ve given your podcast a chance. Give it at least a year of publishing regularly, getting the word out, having your guests spread the word to their audiences, etc.
If you’re not where you want to be, but you’re seeing growth, keep at it.
If you’re not even seeing growth, it might be time to ditch the podcast in favor of other marketing efforts.
Check Your Stats
You might be surprised at the amount of demographic data you can get on people listening to your podcast, and you should look at as much of that information as you can.
In addition to their information, you should know what content they’re checking out. Who are your biggest fans? What topics do they engage with the most? Which is your most downloaded episode? Which is your least downloaded episode? What made one so much more successful than the other?
The Marketing Spotlight
I probably spent two years thinking about starting my own podcast and another year and a half talking about it before I finally launched it, but it’s done! I have my own podcast!
It’s called The Marketing Spotlight and new episodes will be released every Tuesday. In each episode, I talk with another marketer about an aspect of marketing. We cover everything from SEO and branding to intellectual property for marketers.
You can find it on your favorite podcast app, or you can listen to it here. If you want to follow the show on YouTube, you can do so here.
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