If the competition is who can hit the highest note, I’d give up now. If it’s who has the more successful podcast, here’s the good news: you don’t have to.
Sure, a podcast by Mary Poppins-slash-Maria von Trapp is probably going to have a much bigger audience. (Would you want to disappoint Mary Poppins? Yeah, me neither.) But for your business podcast, success is measured in several ways:
- Are you earning positive brand recognition?
- Are you providing value to listeners?
- Are you establishing yourself as a thought leader in your industry?
- Are you driving traffic and/or conversions?
- Are you connecting with complementary industry professionals who can accelerate your business?
If the answer is “yes” to one or more of these, then congrats! You’re already achieving success.
Podcasts are a great way to provide all of the above, very cost-effectively. Here’s an example of how it works:
Why do I need a podcast?
You sell wine. Probably three times a day, someone asks you: “How do I know what wine to pair with XXX?”
Answering the question person-by-person is terrific; it gives you a chance to zero in on that customer’s tastes, the foods they often prepare, whether they lean more to the sweet or the dry, etc.
All good. But as your business scales, your ability to talk one-on-one with each person who walks in your door declines. Even more, there are all those potential customers who will never ask, for whatever reason. Overwhelmed by the selection and everything they don’t know, they turn around and walk away.
Making a successful podcast
So you start a podcast. You give friendly, actionable advice and information, frequently reminding listeners whom they’re hearing it from (positive brand recognition).
When they’re ready to buy wine, they’ll remember the great advice they got from you and come to your shop or website to purchase (traffic and conversions).
You help your audience understand why people do that thing where they fill their mouths with wine, then breathe in to make it bubble. You talk about the flavors they can discern when they pay attention. You help them buy the right wine glasses. They start to feel more confident buying and serving wine (value).
You love a specific vintner, a specific region, you understand the value of growing seasons, of varietals, of rain, of age, of soils and sunlight. You explain these to listeners so not only are they better able to choose the wines they’ll enjoy most, you give them an appreciation for the process, the land, and the producers (thought leadership).
You invite a chef to your podcast to talk about the recipes they prepare and suddenly you find their restaurant adding your wines to their list. You invite a cheesemaker, a wedding planner, a sommelier, an etiquette expert, a florist (what wine pairs best with an apology or proposal?), a travel agent to talk about the wine cellars of Southern Moravia. Now you have a network of people to advocate for you as part of the service they offer (complementary industry professionals).
Podcasts are a great platform for doing all these things. Now … the questions I get asked three times a day:
How much time is having a podcast going to take?
There’s a lot that goes into creating a quality podcast. At minimum, you need
- A content calendar full of valuable ideas for listeners,
- A roster of great guests who are able to produce high-quality audio files,
- An editor/producer to take out the false starts and dead ends and produce smooth, elegant episodes that showcase your expertise,
- A publisher to make sure your podcast is on the apps listeners prefer, and
- The right equipment for clean, quality audio.
So how much time does it take? Not much at all, if you do it right. When you work with a podcast production company that can take you from whatever your starting point is, your time commitment may be as little as a couple of hours a month.
How much is having a podcast going to cost me?
Podcasts can be extremely cost-effective. Where a traditional ad on the radio might last 30 to 60 seconds and cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, a podcast is evergreen, can last 30 to 60 minutes, and can cost far less than advertisements in print or traditional broadcast media.
Furthermore, a podcast is an “opt-in” — people subscribe to your podcast because you answer their questions, entertain them, educate them, challenge them. Advertisements happen whether people want them to or not, and more often than not, they irritate, annoy, or pass by unnoticed.
If you’ve been considering a podcast for your business or organization, but you’re not sure where to start and you’re overwhelmed by choices of microphones, a full-service podcast production agency can save you time, money, frustration, and learning curve.
Shout your excitement and expertise from the mountain tops (to bring it full-circle with that whole “Julie Andrews” thing) with a podcast you can be proud of.