What do you do when you’re in the car or on the treadmill? Maybe you make phone calls or listen to the radio. These days, a lot of people are finding new audio entertainment in the form of podcasts. In fact, podcasting awareness grew by 105% from 2006 to 2012. And with mobile devices like the iPhone now making it easy to find and download new podcast content, agencies can now prospect at the speed of sound.
This is great news for your ad agency’s business development program, as podcasts offer numerous benefits over text- and video-based marketing content. They are surprisingly easy to create, convenient to consume, and they can expose new audiences to your agency.
Though commonly overlooked by marketers, podcasting is a growing avenue for digital content, and getting started doesn’t have to be difficult. Use these three simple secrets to create a podcast that builds an audience of prospective clients as a lead-generation tool:
1) Commit to delivering great, helpful content.
You have to make the commitment that your podcast is going to be about your audience — first and foremost. It can't be just about yourself and the promotion of your agency. You have to commit to providing your audience with meaningful, helpful, or educational content that makes them better at what they do because they listen to your show.
Probably the easiest way to do that is to focus your podcast on helping the listener solve problems. If you’re just going to make this an infomercial, it’s not going to be very successful. So produce a show that helps the audience and that you’re proud to claim.
2) Deliver your content on a regular schedule.
Just like blogging, podcasting requires a commitment to a schedule and an audience. Once you announce your publishing schedule, your audience is going to be looking for your show based on that schedule — so you need to stick to it. Keep in mind, your audience is busy. So if you publish erratically, it becomes easy for them to forget they haven’t seen a new episode from you.
Regularly scheduled episodes help your audience remember when to tune in. To ensure that you’ll meet this ongoing commitment, it’s helpful to establish a content calendar where you preplan the content of your shows many weeks (or even months) in advance.
3) Develop a personal relationship with your audience.
Just as onscreen talent makes or breaks your video marketing, selecting your podcasting on-air talent drives the success of your show. That’s why you really need to give a lot of thought and care to selecting a host for your podcast. Don’t just assign this role to the business development person, the president, creative director, or the owner of the agency. The host not only must have a great voice that’s easy to listen to, but more important, the host needs to have the ability to reach through the microphone and connect with the audience. If the person can’t do that, it doesn’t matter how much knowledge she possesses or what her title is — no one will be listening.
While not a necessity, podcasts are usually available through channels other than your website, such as directories like iTunes and Stitcher. Prospective clients can use these platforms to find and listen to your podcast, giving your brand the chance to be discovered by clients who wouldn’t otherwise seek you out or consume your content.
If you’re looking to change up your digital marketing strategy and attract new clients, start creating great audio content.