There’s something special about waking up on a cool, Fall Sunday morning and wrapping my hands around that first cup of warm coffee, preparing for a relaxing day of watching NFL football. I settle on the couch and turn on the TV to watch my favorite team, the Kansas City Chiefs.
The thought of relaxing is replaced with panic as I flip through the channels, searching for the game. Living in Ohio as a Chiefs fan means that the games are rarely on TV, unless they’re playing the Browns or Bengals.
Feeling defeated, I quickly search online to look for alternatives. I happily discover I could listen to the game and other features online – via a live podcast – through the NFL.com or Chiefs online radio network! Crisis averted!
The thought of relaxing is replaced with panic as I flip through the channels, searching for the game. Living in Ohio as a Chiefs fan means that the games are rarely on TV, unless they’re playing the Browns or Bengals.
The benefits of creating podcasts for your clients
Podcasts are audio files/segments that are available for download through the Internet. Think of hosting your very own radio show where you can provide quick, archivable snippets of information to your consumers. While standard articles and video have their place and shouldn’t be put aside, podcasts can help expand your market reach and give your customers another way to receive and digest content.
Audio also provides people with the ability to hit play and listen while continuing on with
other tasks – which is what busy consumers desire today.
Forbes predicted in early
2014 that podcast downloads would continue to grow as mobile mania progresses. The evolution of tablets and mobile devices makes it easy and
convenient for people to listen anytime, anywhere (in the car, at home, while
jogging, etc.), to an endless array of topics such as sports, medicine,
wellness, politics, education, self-help, and yes, insurance. People simply
subscribe or download podcasts from company websites, sites like iTunes or
Amazon, or from specific podcast apps on their mobile devices.
What does this mean for you?
Podcasting is another way to grow your content marketing strategy and connect with your customers on a more personal level. The exciting part is that you can easily record an audio segment right into your mobile device or computer, either through a standard media program or an app downloaded from your app store. If you don’t have enough storage space to host audio files on your website, you can use low-fee hosting services like SoundCloud or Libsyn, which are platforms that allow you to upload, record, promote and share your content.
Here are some reminders and some tips as you get started:
- Adding audio to written articles and social posts can help you create a stronger connection with customers. They crave content, and they want to hear it directly from you.
- Podcasts can be downloaded and played on mobile devices, making it easy for customers to listen to you while they’re on the go.
- You can be as innovative and creative as you’d like: feature a single presenter, a host and expert, or a roundtable with multiple guests. You can even tell a captivating story through multiple audio segments to keep people interested and coming back. Listen to one of our associates as he shares his 9/11 survival story in a recent StateAuto.com podcast.
- Play around with your delivery; imbed and promote your podcast within other content: e-newsletters, your website, social posts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
The bottom line
Podcasting is an inexpensive marketing platform that you can add
to your toolkit today. A good resource is the Content Marketing Institute, which provides more
information on why you should develop an audio strategy for your business.
For additional examples, please visit http://www.podcasts.com/.
Comments
Post a Comment