Here’s why your company should have a podcast

If you know me personally, you are probably sick of the word “podcast.”  I’m an avid consumer and since August of 2011, also a producer of podcasts. I listen to podcasts on my commute to work, when I work out, when I’m doing the dishes, and when I can’t fall asleep at night.  On Thursday mornings I produce and record my own show.  Obviously I’m really passionate about this type of media.

There are many reasons why, and I’ll tell you today why I think your company should start thinking about starting your own podcast.

Podcasts are a great way for you to create content

If you have been around the world of marketing in the last few years and not lived under a rock, you have heard of the word “content.”  Content is king, they say.  Create content, they say.  The problem is, creating content takes work.  Sometimes it could be painful.

While most people mean blogging when they say we should create content, writing engaging and compelling posts might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Podcasting gives you a great alternative or complement to your blogging efforts.  In my case, keeping up a weekly blog posting schedule was a chore.  Podcasting, however, is a blast.

If you or your company is struggling with creating written content, consider podcasting as an alternative.

Podcasting is a fantastic way to engage an audience today (your target market)

I don’t know about you, but I find it harder and harder to concentrate while reading stuff on the internet.  I think it might be a combination of information overload, the millions of blogs that are available out there, and just overall being distracted.

An article published by the BBC suggests that online browsing can leave us with the attention span of only 9 seconds. The scary part is that this article is from 2002, before the distractions posed by social media even existed.  This was also before we had little smartphones in our pockets constantly buzzing and beeping for our attention.

A simple blog usually requires that the reader be in front of a computer/tablet/smartphone, when all these distractions are there to take your reader away from your content.

So, if you were having a hard time producing written content on a regular basis, now you need to create epic, compelling, can’t-live-without, better-than-facebook-and-lolcatz written content that blows your readers minds.  Weekly.  Perhaps 2 or 3 times a week.

 

Enter podcasts.

Podcasts are usually consumed when people are driving, working out, or performing some activity when they can’t read.  Now, consider that the average commute time around the world is typically 30 minutes or more, and that the average workout can last between 40 minutes to an hour.

This is a great opportunity to have your audience’s undivided attention (except for dealing with traffic and sweaty brows) for a good half-hour.  When people can’t focus for more than 9 seconds on written content, I’m sure you can understand why this is a golden opportunity.

Besides the chance to have people’s attention, podcasts let people hear your voice, and this makes it a lot easier to create relationships with your audience.  When someone listens to your voice, to the passionate way with which you talk about a topic, your humanity comes across to your audience.  This makes it easier for them to relate to you, and a lot harder for them to turn you off.

Also, there are WAY less podcasts out there than there are blogs.  That is why I was able to get away with calling my show THE Construction Industry Podcast.  The name wasn’t even taken.

A good podcast will create solid relationships between you, your company, and your audience, all the while having their full attention on what it is you are saying.  Bingo.

What are your thoughts on podcasting?