By Gerri Detweiler | In: Content
Marketing, Marketing
Always on the hunt for ways to grow his
financial and insurance advisory firm, Ken Greene recently turned to a less
conventional form of marketing: He started a podcast.
With just under 20 episodes released, the
audience for the Engineer of Finance is growing and attracting
inquiries from prospective clients across the country. “It might be one of the
best things I’ve done marketing wise,” he says.
Greene’s success isn’t an accident. Podcasts
are becoming a valuable part of a small business marketing strategy. Here are seven reasons your
business may want to consider launching a podcast:
1. Your prospects are listening
More than one-third (39%) of owners of SMBs
listen to podcasts, and 65% listen at least weekly, according to a survey
by small business research firm Bredin. Listenership increases with company
size, as Bredin’s survey found that 70-72% of owners of businesses
with 100 to 500 employees are tuning in.
“If you’re a business in an industry that has
a high customer value, then a podcast may be one of your most effective
education and marketing tools,” says Spencer Shaw, founder of the podcast
production firm PodKick Media.
“I find podcasts work great in the legal, financial, and business services
industries. It can work in other industries, like real estate, where the show
is representing a geographic area or high-end services or products.”
2. Reach more qualified prospects
Greene says one of his strengths is being
“very good one-on-one with clients, and very good with education.” But he can’t
do hundreds of one-on-one consultations with prospective clients every week.
Instead, the podcast allows him to reach that many listeners—and more. Those
who are interested in his approach to building wealth can then reach out to him
“on their time frame,” he says.
“You can’t demonstrate your credibility
without sharing your expertise, and by sharing your expertise you become
helpful. You become valuable for your listeners,” explains Stephen Woessner, on
his podcast Onward Nation, a daily podcast for business
owners. “It’s much more likely you can then develop a business
relationship from someone in your audience when you’ve established your
credibility.”
3. Attract high-quality customers and clients
Marketers frequently wrestle with
“churn”—clients who fail to stick around. “A podcast is especially valuable in
industries where churn is expensive, and where the customer lifetime value is
high,” says Shaw. “Many of our clients say that the podcast isn’t the largest
driver of leads; however, it is the best education platform (beating video).”
Greene recently spoke to a listener who had
listened to all his episodes before contacting him—a marketer’s dream.
Prospects may not listen to your podcast every week, but if you build a
following, many will come back again and again, deepening the relationship.
According to Shaw, “Prospects and clients come prepared and require less
hand-holding, making the onboarding process faster.”
4. Fits into a busy schedule
Anyone who starts a podcast will tell you it
can be a lot of work. But in reality, as the host, the only thing you have to
do is show up and talk. Depending on your time and interests, you can outsource
everything from booking guests, editing, publishing, transcription, show notes,
and promotion. Greene outsources his production to Shaw’s company, PodKick, for
example. “All I have to do is speak,” he laughs.
Woessner, who has also written Profitable
Podcasting: Grow Your Business, Expand Your Platform, and Build a Nation of
True Fans, launched his first episode just 30 days after he
came up with the idea—and went on to launch podcasts for clients shortly after.
Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:
5. No need to break your marketing budget
You can start a podcast with just a mic and
hosting. Shaw’s favorite mic is the ATR 2100, which currently costs less than
$70 on Amazon. “Podcast hosting is about $20 a month, and that’s the total cost
if you are doing all the editing and production yourself,” he says. Shaw adds
professional services that can take tasks off your to-do list can start at just
$500 a month, depending on how often you publish and how much assistance you
require.
6. Podcasting can be lucrative
Onward Nation is listened to worldwide and has
generated $2 million in revenues. In his book, Profitable
Podcasting: Grow Your Business, Expand Your Platform, and Build a Nation of
True Fans, Woessner attributes his success in large part to his
“Trojan horse” method of selling, where he is able to get in front of industry
leaders and key decision makers by interviewing them on his show, a strategy
any podcaster can emulate.
In addition to bringing in leads and
sales—which can be reason enough to start one—a podcast can become a source of
additional revenue through sponsorships. “You’ve attracted an audience that
other companies (non-competing of course), will want to pay you…to get in front
of,” explains Woessner.
7. It’s fun
Above all, hosting a podcast can be work you
look forward to. You get to meet and interview interesting guests, and you can
connect with listeners you may not have heard from any other way. “Every week I
look forward to my podcast,” says Greene. “I love sharing stories and ideas
that can make a huge difference financially for listeners.”
No comments:
Post a Comment