True crime, personal finance, future of work trends, or industry insights...how many times a week are you told by a friend or colleague to check out a new podcast?
Considering that millions of people are enjoying this audible mode of entertainment, it’s likely a lot.
Whether your friends are asking for suggestions:
Or you are discussing your favorites.
Podcasts are one of the most popular and newest mediums for sharing information and entertaining the masses—which is why you keep hearing about them. According to Nielson, 16 million people in the U.S. are “avid podcast” fans. This group is a large one, with people who represent a variety of consumer bases.
Credit: Nielsen Q3 2017 Podcast Insights
Whether you are an educator, startup founder, or nonprofit organizational leader, a podcast can be an influential tool to communicate your mission to your employees and audiences.
It can serve as a critical vehicle for repurposing the content you and your marketing teams have created: whether it be a blog post, video message, email newsletter, or team conversations.
You don’t have to be an expert in podcasting to maximize its benefits. Understanding the far-reaching impact it has on your audiences is a critical first step.
Foster Strong Connections—The Far Reach of a Podcast
Fifty-one percent of the U.S. population has listened to a podcast. That means that over 150 million Americans have interacted with this medium of communication.
The reach of podcasts isn’t just an American thing; 58 percent of South Korean listeners engage with podcasts each month. Spain and Sweden round out the top three at 40 percent and 36 percent, respectively.
This data means that there are millions of individuals out there who can take a break from their favorite true crime podcast to consume your repurposed content.
Unlike popular marketing mediums like social media, email marketing, and even a blog post, podcasts enable participants to actively participate while taking on passive activities like working or driving.
This setup likely has led to it being widely adopted, which presents a unique opportunity to build stronger connections with your audiences. Whether you want to discuss future of work trends, the future of public education in America, or remote work from home tips, podcasting provides a creative and engaging medium for you to stand out in your industry while finding another use for your content.
Can a Podcast Be the Key to Repurposing Content? —Yes! But How?
A podcast can be one of the most significant ways to repurpose content in an interactive and compelling way.
But, you might be asking how it’s possible to do that. Below are practical examples of how you can transform your most engaging content into share-worthy podcast episodes. You don’t need to develop carbon copy podcasts of these examples. Nevertheless, the points below can give you some ideas on how to build out your own.
Combine the power of blog posts and website analytics - What were your most popular blog topics with your audiences? You can use this information to select blog posts you can expand into podcasts. An excellent example of how to do this is Hubspot’s Skill Up podcast. Their seasons of podcast episodes are based on topic clusters they have found to be valuable to their audiences based on previous blog posts, keyword search volume, and SEO research. Like Hubspot, you can treat blog posts that address similar topics like episodes that break down a broader topic each season.
Hubspot Twitter: https://twitter.com/HubSpot
Incorporate it into a social campaign - Are you promoting a specific product or service through a social campaign? See how you can connect podcasts to this push without sounding like an ad. An effective way to do this is to tell real stories and show how the problem your product solves brings attention to the bigger picture. Shopify has mastered this with their Shopify Masters podcast. Each episode features stories of real-life entrepreneurs that includes actionable tips for e-commerce business owners. While their product isn’t mentioned explicitly, Shopify strategically discusses topics that are related to their offerings.
Shopify Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shopify
Explain a case study or infographic - Did you just complete a case study or discover a relevant infographic in your sector? Dedicate podcast episodes to breaking this information down for your audience—bonus points if it is with a thought leader in the field. This approach has been shown to be popular in the medical field. In the tweet below, COREIM, a virtual medical community, pairs infographic and visual data regarding the COVID-19 pandemic with podcast episodes:
If data is critical to your work, this is an especially valuable strategy, as your podcast can easily show its value.
Get personal by using nuanced conversations as content - The dialogue you and your colleagues share can also become content. Start paying attention to the industry-related discussions you are having with one another, and consider turning these talks into a podcast. The conversations will feel authentic. They can be things you discuss in virtual team meetings or even remote mentoring sessions.
An excellent example of a company doing this is NPR’s StoryCorp. While their focus is on helping people share personal stories, they are a great example of showing authenticity to your audiences through audio. It’s about asking the right question and allowing yourself and your teams to be genuine.
The Value of an Exceptional Podcast
The value of a podcast isn’t always tangible. Yes, they can lead to higher clickthroughs or increased visits to your e-commerce page. However, there are other ways that podcasts are more than their name suggests:
They can lead to:
An invitation to speak at a conference
A request to write a guest blog for a notable online publication
A chance to cement yourself as a thought leader
Building your company’s reputation among your audience
An opportunity to engage in remote mentoring
Podcasts enable you to include your audience in relevant conversations while also repurposing some of your best content to have a lasting impact. These are two critical things that make podcasts worth the addition to your branding and outreach plans.
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