The podcasting landscape continues to grow extensively as a staple form of entertainment for people around the world. Could B2B podcast marketing help you to reach and engage tomorrow's customers?Podcasts, similar to other aspects of inbound marketing, should spark engagement, generate strong conversations with target audiences and stimulate thought leadership. With the information challenge facing B2B businesses today, there's a lot of scope in the B2B space for you to utilise podcasts as part of your wider marketing strategy.
According to Neal Schaffer, in 2021 alone there were 850k active podcasts with over 30 million total episodes. That’s quite the number and it keeps on rising.
You may have already noticed but attention spans are only shortening across audiences which can be challenging. With content being so readily available everywhere, it is essential to encourage various content formats to stand out amongst the crowd.
Still not convinced? Read on to find out how podcast marketing could help you to reach new customers.
5 key reasons why you should consider B2B podcast marketing
1. Encourage listeners to visualise which increases focus
Podcasts are generally audio based which means there’s not always a picture in place. This drives listeners to visualise what is going on which means they will need to focus. The benefit of this is that it helps with retention of information, making the content more memorable for the listener.
Consider the way this content type uses non-verbal communication through tempo, laughter and sighs to create an authentic experience for listeners about the topic that is being discussed. This is not something that can be easily executed in writing form.
2. Capture audiences in an authentic way
Similar to other content marketing types, podcasts are found by people who have a desire to learn about a specific topic. Their journey is not necessarily interrupted and they are able to search for the particular episode or series that answers the questions that they have.
One of the best things is that people can discover and learn about your company by searching for a podcast that discusses the topic they want to know more about. This is where you come in with some great content to build recognition and take on the role of ‘problem solver’ for the listener who is then more likely to convert as a B2B customer or client.
3. Generate brand awareness
It’s no surprise if you’re someone who consumes podcasts that you’ve often come away knowing the company and what they do after listening to an episode or two. This is commonly done to familiarise listeners with the brand across an episode with information being displayed in the show notes where they can find out more. This makes it simple to tie in the company’s narrative and to also grow their brand.
Learn more about brand awareness and why so many organisations are turning to inbound marketing to raise it.
4. Convenience
Something that is extremely useful with podcasts is how convenient they are. Whether it’s on your smartphone, laptop or on a desktop, they’re easily accessible via multiple devices. All that is needed is to download the app such as Spotify, search the topic that interests you and then to press play. Another plus is that they are generally free, unless they require a subscription. With podcast platforms being searchable, they can be filtered by genre or topic allowing your podcast to be discovered by many different people.
They are great for listeners who are on the go, at work, in the car, you name it. This is why podcasts are a favoured medium of content consumption - they don’t compromise someone’s lifestyle. Other social platforms often require people to be more intrusive which is why creating podcasts are great for attracting a listener’s attention.
5. Easy to repurpose
The most successful B2B marketers are constantly looking for ideas, which is why finding ways to generate content at a faster pace is important. Podcasts involve having a plan for all the episodes you want to publish, which is great because they can be repurposed into many content pieces such as blog posts and ebooks.
Think of it like this: A 30-45 minute podcast or 38 minutes being the average length, can be captured in video format also. A blog post can discuss the topic in more detail with the podcast episode embedded to engage listeners.
On the subject of repurposing, don't miss these 8 quick and easy tips for repurposing your content to LinkedIn.
4 quick tips on how to get started with B2B podcasts
1. Define your 'why'
It’s important to figure out what the objective is first when creating a podcast. Define the goals and the reason why you believe a podcast would work well. This will help you to produce effective content that reaches your target audiences to not waste your efforts, as well as helping you to stay on track.
2. Explore your podcast style
To get a feel of how you want to create the podcast, try listening to other podcasts. This can help you to determine the style you prefer, whether it be co-hosted, one person led, a panel or in interview style. An interview style podcast can work like the below for B2B:
Have a prospect, customer or perhaps a team member who is interviewed to talk about their experience using a particular product to engage listeners. This can be explored through different perspectives depending on the guest for the episodes. Through showing how pain points were resolved for example, this can encourage more leads and or prospects. This can also help listeners to build loyalty and trust with the brand.
Be aware of creating a process with a podcast involving scheduling, recording, editing and promotion of the content. This will help set the podcast content up for success and enable you to produce them consistently.
3. Record and edit
All you truly need is a good quality USB microphone and a laptop to get you started. If your podcast is going to feature interviews and guest speakers then these can be recorded using Zoom, Google Hangouts or other VOIPs - or there’s always Anchor. Find an environment that is silent enough to record and you’re ready to go.
Once you are done, then editing is the next step. Anchor is a very well known recording platform to use for podcasts especially at the beginner stage as little investment is required. Audio can be edited and when finished, the episodes can be distributed to podcast platforms such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Utilise the podcast show notes to add a short summary, the name of the guests if any, social media links and a call to action to encourage people to share the episode with others.
Speaking of social media, how useful is Instagram for your B2B marketing strategy?
4. Time to promote
Now it’s time to get people to listen to the podcast.
Post clips on social media, along with quote images. You can also look to engage with people who share their thoughts on the podcasts. Encourage them to share reviews via social media and on podcast platforms.
Use email marketing to keep your database updated on future episodes and to build a relationship with your audience.
Create a blog on your podcast topic to drive traffic to your podcast and help it get found by search engines. If you’re using a platform like Anchor, you can even embed the podcast recording at the top of your blog post around the same topic, like we’ve done on this one.
You might also be interested in:
- What HubSpot’s ROI 2021 Report Means For Your Future B2B Business Strategy
- How B2B Business Leaders Are Using Inbound to Adapt Their Operations (Part 1)
- How B2B Business Leaders Are Using Inbound to Adapt Their Operations (Part 2)
B2B podcast marketing: next steps
Now you’re well equipped to get started on your podcast. With the demand so high, it’s definitely worth adding podcasts to your B2B inbound marketing strategy to reach new prospects and generate more leads.
If you're looking for help with building and executing a robust inbound marketing strategy, get in touch!
