Podcasts have become a means for people to keep track of their favourite radio shows and learn about a variety of topics without having to tune in to a specific station at a specific time. It’s possible to download podcasts and listen to them at the office, in the car, at the gym – pretty much anywhere with a speaker or a set of headphones. In an age when practically everyone is hyper-connected, it’s time to tailor your marketing strategy to reach existing and prospective clients wherever they may be.
As I discussed in a previous post, “Podcasts as a Marketing Tactic,” it’s wise to consider adding podcasts to your marketing mix as a means of increasing your thought leadership and expanding your reach as an authority in your industry. Do you have good relationships with other collateral professionals who have interesting and intelligent things to say about the industry? Have you written blog posts, given radio interviews and penned newspaper articles offering solid advice to the public? All of these things can become fodder for a podcast episode.
If you want to turn your podcasts into another vehicle for lead generation, add a form that website visitors have to fill out in order to download episodes. Or, give them the option to sign up for email alerts when you have uploaded another installment. Both tactics provide you with the opportunity to add more prospects to your pipeline and regularly drip on them.
The simplicity of the medium is an added bonus. After a bit of practice with a free audio editing program and a few hours spent putting together a script, one can quickly produce an MP3 file and upload it to his or her business’ website or distribute it through the iTunes store. To give your website a Search Engine Optimized (SEO) boost, post a transcript of the podcast as well, making it easier for web browsers to find and index your content.
After putting so much effort into developing valuable, interesting content for your firm’s website and other channels, it makes sense to expand that investment by promoting those articles, blog posts and podcasts on other websites too.
Podcasts can be a great way to build social capital with other bloggers and thought leaders in the industry. If you interview someone else, ask them to tell those in their professional and social network about it once you’ve posted the piece. Chad Pollit, writing for Business 2 Community, notes that creating a media contact page for your website can also result in you becoming a go-to source for local journalists and news outlets. Go back through content you’ve created in the past and re-expose it to audiences on presentation-sharing platforms such as SlideShare.
