So, you have started a blog and things seem to be progressing well in terms of readership. What else can you do to boost your content marketing ambitions? Sure, you can share your content on social media, carry out back linking activities, and all the other recommended blog promotion activities. Another idea you may consider pursuing is starting a podcast.
By now, most people should know what a podcast is. But just in case there is some ambiguity, a podcast is a digital audio recording shared on the internet. Most podcasts are part of a series based on a particular theme. The term is a joining of the words iPod and broadcasting. People listening to podcasts generally have to be subscribers or invited to listen and can access the audio files on their computers or mobile devices.
Getting started with podcasting might seem expensive (some people have actual studio setups with professional equipment) but you can start with a good headset and USB mics that can cost under $20. You may also need a bit of audio editing skill, although there are apps that can help you with this.
Podcast fast facts
Podcasting has grown exponentially over the last decade or so. Here are some facts about this type of content:
Apple Podcasts reports more than 750,000 podcasts on its platform but there are over 1 million globally
More than 50% of Americans have listened to podcasts
Around one-third of the population consume podcasts at least once per month
Most podcast listeners access seven podcasts per week, on average
Read More: How to Become a Podcast Guest
Based on these statistics, it is clear that podcasts are important instruments for bloggers and businesses trying to get their message out to their target audiences. For bloggers, there are real benefits and good reasons for launching a podcast. I have outlined some of these reasons below.
Giving your audience different choices to access your content
People absorb information in different ways. While a blog post can be infused with multiple forms of content, including images and video, not everyone will take the time to read them. Some people simply don’t have the time to give visual attention to a blog post, but would listen to an audio version if made available. What’s more, podcasts can be conducted in a variety of formats, including storytelling, one on one interviews, and group discussions. Having a mix of these gives your audience variety of content that they can’t really get in reading blog posts because of the audio factor. By starting a podcast, you would be diversifying the ways people can access and consume your content, and potentially gain a wider reach with your message.
Building trust with your target audience
Podcasting gives voice (literally) to the content creator. In a blog post, text lacks the ability to accurately communicate tone, inflection, and other vocal nuances that can better express an idea. Not so with a podcast. In this format, listeners can hear what you are saying in the way you intended to say it. Moreover, people find it easier to warm up to a voice talking to them than words on a screen. This all leads to building trust with your audience. Being able to hear you tells the listener that you are a real, live human being and not a bot running a blog. It also affords you a platform to really show off how good you are at what you do. While you can create lists that outline your knowledge, people will be more trustworthy of a voice explaining how to accomplish an activity they may find important.
Higher consumption of your content
When you start a blog, your aim is to grow your readership. But podcasting has the possibility of reaching an audience that will consume all or most of your content. While average blog bounce rates range between 41% and 51%, as much as 80% of podcast listeners tend to consume all or most of an episode. In addition, while one survey found that 77% of internet users interact with blogs regularly, the data also shows most read only about 1 – 3 blogs per week. By contrast, podcast listeners consume seven different shows per week, on average, and most have subscribed to an average of six shows in the past week. Maybe it’s because podcasts are still relatively new to most people, but whatever the case, the high consumption of content can be game changing for your business.
People can engage anywhere and any time
One of the alluring features of podcasts is that listeners can tune it at any time and while carrying out a wide range of tasks. Reading a blog requires you to be in a relaxed mode, whether sitting or lying down, and giving your entire attention. Listening to podcasts, on the other hand, is similar to consuming music. You can be doing any number of activities while listening to an episode, including working, cooking, jogging, working out at the gym, while commuting, and even when shopping. This versatility gives people more time to consume the information you are sharing, so there is a chance you can make a bigger impact than you can with only having a blog.
You can deliver more content in a podcast
Content marketing statistics suggest that the average blog post length nowadays is about 1,150 words. Such a post takes roughly 5 – 6 minutes to read, providing the reader goes through the entire article. It is possible to cover the important points of a topic in a post of that size, but if you need to go in depth with your subject, it often requires something longer. Longer blog posts must be extremely engaging and interesting in order to keep the reader on the page. When it comes on to podcasts, the average length in 2019 was said to be 38 minutes and 42 seconds. This means you can go more in-depth with your topics in a podcast, giving listeners more content than they can get in a blog post. On top of that, your podcast can include different content delivery methods that make it less likely for listeners to get bored. For instance, you can play music, audio clips from other people, and other recordings to further reinforce your ideas.
Conclusion
Whether you are getting great results or not from being a blogger, there is a great chance you can get even better results by becoming a podcaster as well. The important thing is to have a podcasting strategy, as you would with a blogging strategy, and having the right equipment.
Until next time!
Casey
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80% listen to all or most of a podcast. My goodness! Podcast, podcast, podcast.
Good food for thought Casey!