According to a survey by Ofcom, 11 million people in the UK listen to podcasts at least once per week. This fast-growing audience consumed roughly 60 million hours of content last year – a number that has more than doubled since 2018.
Is your business taking advantage of this powerful tool for reaching millions of potential customers? If the answer is “no”, it’s high time you start exploring the far-reaching benefits a podcast can have for your business. From boosting your brand and sharing your knowledge to turning first-time customers into long-term advocates, a podcast can have a transformative impact.
In this post, we’ll look at all the reasons why your business needs a business podcast in 2024. We’ll break down the key benefits and give you some tips on how to get started. Whatever your business goals, we’ll show you why a podcast can help you reach them.
Why podcasts matter for your business in 2024
We live in a world that is saturated with content. From streaming music and on-demand video to social media and mobile gaming, your customers have endless options at their fingertips when it comes to entertaining themselves. And whether they’re at home or on the go, they are constantly bombarded with a never-ending barrage of information.
Amongst all this, there are countless companies vying to capture just a fleeting moment of their overloaded attention. From bitesized ads to social media product placement, companies spend millions trying to get ten seconds of their time. But with so much content out there, it can be hard to cut through the noise. It should come as no surprise that an engagement rate of just 3% on Instagram or Facebook is considered a success.
In many ways, the surging popularity of podcasts is part and parcel of this wider shift. According to the RAJAR survey mentioned above, most podcast listeners say they like to listen to podcasts when working, studying, driving or exercising. In that sense, they’re the perfect medium for our always-on-the-go world – something you can enjoy and engage with while busy at your other activities.
But on the other hand, they also buck this trend of dwindling focus. More than two-thirds of podcast listeners say they listen to the entirety of the episodes they download. Given that this can be anywhere from twenty minutes to over two hours of listening time, that’s a remarkable level of focus in a world of ten-second videos and 240-character posts.
This unique place in our changing media landscape is what makes podcasts such an essential tool for businesses. With a business podcast, you can cut through the relentless noise and captivate your customers with engaging, long-form content that will keep them coming back every week. And in a world where we’re spending significant ad budgets trying to snatch even the smallest fragment of our customers’ time, what could be more important?
Let’s look more closely at why taking advantage of this fast-growing medium could make a huge difference to your business.
5 key benefits of starting a business podcast
Perhaps you are a devoted podcast listener, and you’re well aware of just how compelling and engaging the medium can be. On the other hand, podcasting may be something you’ve heard more and more about over the past few years, but still not had chance to explore fully yourself.
Either way, understanding the popularity of the medium is one thing, and seeing how it can benefit your business is quite another. Yes, it’s a way to capture the attention of a fast-growing audience – but how does that translate into real growth for your business? How can a podcast impact the metrics that truly make a difference when it comes to meeting your goals?
Let’s look more closely at the benefits of starting a business podcast, and discover how audio storytelling can help you attract the perfect customers, position your brand as a leader, and boost results across the board.
1. Finding your niche
Whatever your familiarity with the world of podcasts, there’s one thing you’re certain to have noticed: there’s something for everyone. From true crime and self-help to home renovation tips and deep dives into ancient mythology, podcasts on every topic imaginable are a quick search away – and even the most arcane topics are racking up surprising amounts of listeners, too.
This presents a huge opportunity for your business to find its niche. What will your ideal customer be interested in? What topics would they want to learn more about? By building your business podcast around a subject that your customers are curious about, you’re no longer trying to interrupt them as they scroll social media or while they wait for a video to start playing. Instead, they’ll seek you out.
2. Building trust and authority
Your business podcast isn’t just a great way to attract an audience that your product or service will resonate with – it’s also a way to show them just how deep your knowledge runs.
By covering industry trends, exploring common problems or inviting insightful guests, you can show the true extent of your expertise in a way that social media snippets or short blog posts can’t.
When you consistently provide valuable insights, listeners begin seeing you as a trusted resource. They’ll actively seek your perspective, whether on your podcast or through your other business offerings. And this kind of trust and authority is something that can truly help you stand out from the competition.
3. Boosting your brand
You may have noticed that, when we talk about using a podcast to build trust and authority, there’s one word we keep using: you. And this points to another benefit of a business podcast you don’t want to overlook – it can help you establish a personal and human element for your brand. Potential customers who listen to your podcast will be able to connect with the people behind the product, and this will have a major impact on their willingness to make that first purchase.
And of course it’s not just potential customers who will value this kind of personalised connection. It’s a great way to get the attention of other brands, who will certainly see the benefit of cross-promotional opportunities and other collaborative activities your podcast can bring. Whether it’s about bringing on a guest host or building up a longer-term partnership with other brands, it can be a great way to place yourself right at the centre of your industry.
4. Creating a lasting connection
Podcast listeners are a dedicated bunch, listening to nine episodes each week on average. And part of this dedication comes from the fact that podcasts are more than just another form of content people consume – they’re mini-communities, hubs of shared interest and ongoing connection. Needless to say, there’s a reason why most successful podcasts will incorporate live Q&As and other audience-focused episodes.
A business podcast is the perfect way to build this kind of lasting engagement with your brand. It can help you turn one-time customers into long-term supporters of your company – customers who are willing not only to come back time and again but who will actively share your content and support your business.
5. Fuelling your content engine
It’s easy to underestimate the value of a business podcast if you see it in isolation from your other marketing activities. It can feel like just another task added to the bottom of a long list, yet another challenge you and your team will struggle to find time for.
In reality, the exact opposite is true. A podcast is a veritable goldmine of quality content that can be repurposed across multiple channels. You can:
- Share clips on social media. If you want to build your presence on Instagram or TikTok, a podcast is an invaluable resource. Turn each episode into multiple short clips capturing key moments and you’ve got engaging and informative social media content ready to go.
- Transcribe episodes for blog content. Blog posts are great for SEO and an excellent way to drive traffic to your website – but they can be time-consuming to research and write. By transcribing episodes of your podcast, you’ve got the building blocks for multiple posts already written, and you just need to fill in the blanks.
- Turn insights into infographics. Did you or your guest have some particularly useful insight on hand? This makes a great basis for a striking infographic to share on social media or add to your email newsletter.
- Build into a gated offer. With your business podcast, you’re sharing knowledge, building an audience, and establishing yourself as a trusted authority in your industry. This is the perfect basis for more in-depth content offers – eBooks, webinars, guides, white papers – which you can offer in exchange for an email or as promotional material.
As you can see, your business podcast can quickly become a content powerhouse that will make all of your marketing activities that much simpler.
Building your business podcast with Liverpool Podcast Studios
Hopefully, you’re now convinced that your business needs a business podcast in 2024. But the next question is: how do you get started? If you don’t have the experience – or the tech – it can seem like an impossible task. At the very least, it can feel like getting things up and running will take time and energy away from more pressing business demands. After all, a podcast can wait, right?
Well, if you don’t want to risk falling behind as the competition for your customers’ attention continues to grow, we’re here to tell you there’s another option. With help from Liverpool Podcast Studios, you can be producing a top-quality podcast and sharing your knowledge in no time.
We offer full-service podcast production at our comfortable, well-provisioned Liverpool studios. We’ll cover everything from recording to editing and post-production, from uploading your podcast to the major platforms to producing captioned, social-ready clips for you to share. Choose from six bespoke backgrounds to fit your brand with a fully customisable set, and we offer a monthly production plan to help you build your listener base with regular episodes.
If you’d like to learn more about what we can offer, get in touch.