In today's business world, your name is only as good as your last marketing campaign. No matter what your niche is, what product or service you're selling, even small businesses have to be jacks of all trades when it comes to marketing. Luckily, there are still podcast SEO things you can DIY.
No one can afford to overlook any marketing tactics or even a single marketing channel. Trends change though, as experts find new ways to reach their brand's target audience. In recent years, content marketing has taken over, and among the different content marketing channels, one dark horse is slowly emerging as especially successful.
The Rising Star of Content Marketing
If you've been racking your brains about how to reach your target audience, all you need to do is go out in the street and look around. What's the one thing you notice about everyone around you?
Almost every single person you come across has earphones in. And sure, some of them are listening to the latest top 10 bop, but many of them are actually listening to podcasts.
Podcasts have been exploding in popularity over the past few years, and many innovative brands are catching up. You know how it works - if people show interest in something, businesses need to find a way to be there.
There are some 8000 branded podcasts that are available on podcast platforms, and many are real success stories that have contributed greatly to their brand growth.
Why Is a Branded Podcast a Sound Financial Decision?
A branded podcast is a much wiser financial idea than a sponsored message on someone else's podcast. An ad on a popular podcast could cost you a small fortune.
Podcast ad prices are usually calculated on a cost-per-mile (CPM) basis. CPM is basically the price per 1000 listeners, so the full price of the ad gets multiplied depending on the actual number of listeners a podcast has.
If you look at the most popular podcasts on Apple Podcasts, you will see that some of them have listener numbers in the millions. That makes even a single ad extremely expensive, let alone an ongoing campaign.
There are other potential problems with advertising on someone else's podcast. You need to identify which successful podcast aligns with your brand identity best and can help you reach your target audience.
And even if you choose well, there are no guarantees that the podcast content and your brand messaging will align in the long run.
When you create a branded podcast with your own content, there is no danger of that happening. You can tailor your content specifically so it supports your brand.
In the end, this is the eternal conversation between the paid and the organic traffic. Ads are fickle, but they can give you more instant results. Building your own podcast and with that building your brand - it’s hard to put a price tag on that since it’s a long game that you can’t really afford not to play.
What Goes Into Producing a Branded Podcast?
Producing a brand podcast might sound like an intimidating process, but it can be much cheaper and simpler than making video content.
You would be surprised how little money you need to start your own podcast. Of course, high-end podcast equipment can be expensive, but if you're working with a shoestring budget at first, it is doable.
Working with cheaper equipment and a smaller budget is much less noticeable on a podcast series than in a video.
Sometimes the only thing a new podcast needs to thrive is a charismatic podcast host, a good concept, and solid show notes.
And, of course, some patience. Take Gary Vaynerchuk's word for it. There's no such thing as overnight success. You have to put in the work.
What Are Some Things That Will Draw People to Listen to Your Podcast?
A branded podcast is content just like any other, and as such, it needs to be attractive and intriguing to the listeners. While you are using the podcast as marketing, it too will need some tricks to become popular.
First of all, make it appealing. Think of a concept that will cater to the tastes of your potential customers and listeners, then work from there to provide them with value and information they can't get anywhere else.
Even though a podcast is audio, don't underestimate the power of the visual. Creating a good logo and eye-catching cover art can do wonders for its recognition.
Another powerful tool you have at your disposal is SEO. Podcasting and SEO can go together, even though search engines still aren't the best at recognising audio. Instead, you should create transcripts of your podcasts using a captioning app, and focus on using those transcripts to get attention for your podcast.
Not only can you upload the full transcripts, but you can also use them to create compelling summaries, social media snippets, and blogs. The surrounding content is incredibly important and can make or break your podcast.
Podcasts About Branding
We talk about branded podcasts, but there are also podcasts about branding that can help get you where you need to be.
You need some podcasts on branding to help you find inspiration and help you in building your own brand and creating content for it? Here, help yourself to some recs. These branding podcasts are full of useful info.
Making The Brand
This podcast uses its investigative format to focus on consumer-facing brands and their brand stories. Each episode focuses on a company who has succeeded at building brand recognition and drawing the attention of the customers.
On Brand
The On Brand podcast aims to teach their listeners to tell stronger stories on their brand building journey. The guests are diverse but they all have one thing in common - they've worked with a company that everyone has heard of.
How Brands Are Built
Who better to give you advice on how to build a successful brand but people who have already done it? All you have to do is listen. The host, Rob Meyerson, a brand strategist, interviews an impressive line-up of communication thought leaders and brand experts.
Does Anyone Even Listen to Branded Podcasts?
You'd be surprised how many popular branded podcasts there are. Listeners don't care if a podcast is part of a branding effort or not. What they care about is quality content. Cindy Lauper was singing about girls, but she could just as well have been talking about podcast listeners. They just want to have fun!
Here are a few examples of brands who have created their own podcasts and reached their potential audience, and then some.
Brand Builder by Snack Nation
A branded podcast about branding? Whoa, we feel like we're in Inception! And it's a seriously compelling look behind the scenes of how businesses work and how some of the biggest companies built their brands.
Trained by Nike
If you need advice on fitness, well-being and health, who do you want to give it, ideally? It just makes perfect sense that arguably the biggest sports brand in the world would create a podcast in this niche.
The host talks to athletes and various experts to give you that final push that will drive you to excellence.
For The Record by Spotify
When Spotify decided they wanted in on this podcast game, they needed to figure out how to put their company on the podcast map. And what better way to do that than to create their own show?
Focusing mostly on the behind the scenes of the company, For The Record will help you understand the company behind Spotify's brand identity.
Inside Trader Joe's by Trader Joe's
The grocery store giant is one of the better brands when it comes to podcasting. Whetherpodcasting Whether you're interested in food trends or fresh ingredients, or whether you just care about how their brand became what it is, every episode is a compelling look at this company and its inner workings.
Into The Mix by Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's could have made a podcast about ice cream, but in a surprising yet brilliant move, they partnered with Vox Creative to make something entirely unexpected.
Into The Mix isn't about cookies and cream and pecans and caramel - it's about the mix of pop culture, arts, activism, social justice, civil rights and grassroot movements. And trust us, every episode is a gem.
Podcasting is a great tool when it comes to branding. Episode after episode you have the opportunity to strengthen and build your brand.
Using an app like Subly can help you expand the reach of all that branding so you can be sure it will reach your target audience.
