If you’re looking for ways to market your business in 2023, starting a podcast might be a (surprising) answer.
You’ve probably heard that content marketing produces three times the leads as dollars spent while costing much less than traditional marketing. And when you think of content marketing, you probably think of email newsletters, writing a blog post on your site, and posting on social media.
But you may not have considered that audio and video content can be just as powerful tools for attracting and engaging potential customers.
For businesses that want to stand out from the competition, establish their credibility in their industry, and see an impressive return on their investment, podcasting can be a surprisingly great choice. In this article, we’ll walk you through the benefits of podcasting for business, how much it costs, and how to start a podcast of your own.
Benefits of Podcasting for Business
You may think of podcasts as something passionate hobbyists do. Maybe you picture movie nerds recapping their favorite television show, pop culture enthusiasts gossiping about the latest celebrity scandal, or tech bros sharing their “wisdom” about Bitcoin.
But a podcast can be much more than just a niche audio program. It can be a powerful tool for businesses and those looking to build their brand, too. Let’s check out a few benefits you can gain from starting a podcast for your own business.
1. It’s a Great Content Marketing Tool
Content marketing is the practice of providing valuable information to your target audience to build a long-term relationship of trust with them. Once your audience likes and trusts you, they’ll be more likely to purchase from you when they’re ready.
And what better way to develop a relationship of trust than with a podcast? It’s a great content medium for building a loyal audience base that connects with your topic choice, host personality, and delivery style.
Podcasting is also an easy way to repurpose content you’ve already made (or vice-versa) and get more traffic to your site.
2. It’s Very Affordable
We’ll get into the specific costs below, but you don’t need a massive budget to start a podcast—in fact, it’s possible to create a professional-quality podcast with $100 or less.
3. It’s a Great Way to Network
Hosting a podcast is also an excellent opportunity to connect with other experts or major players in your field. You might invite them on as guests or even become guests on their shows.
After all, a podcast is essentially a recorded conversation, so what better way to network and get to know others in your space?
4. You Can Build Your Brand and Establish Your Authority in Your Industry
Hosting a podcast lets you demonstrate your expertise by making your conversations, insights, and monologues public. With an established podcast, you can build a backlog of examples of your authority and knowledge of your field.
5. Statistically, Podcast Listeners Have Money to Spend
45% of podcast listeners earn more than $250,000 in yearly household income. That means they’re a great audience if you want to find potential customers.
But before you get excited about the prospect of landing more sales, remember the basic principle of content marketing: you provide value over time so that your audience trusts you. It’s a slow process, so don’t be overly salesy, or your listeners will be turned off.
6. Sponsorships Can Be an Added Source of Revenue
And, of course, the more listeners you have, the more ability you have to create an additional income stream through podcast ads. Brands can pay to be advertised on your show, or you can even offer paid interview segments from aligning interests.
For instance, if your golf supply company starts a podcast, the manager of a local golf course or an athletic apparel manufacturer might be interested in making an appearance on your show. You can have conversations about golf that interest your audience while everyone gets some publicity.
7. Podcasts can easily be converted into more content
To make the best of your podcast, a good idea is to repurpose it into other content material. Some people prefer to consume content through written text than hear everything audibly. You can easily use the transcripts of a podcast to create blogs, articles, and even online course written materials. This helps boost search rankings, creating more traffic possibilities for your business’ site.
Another idea is to convert your podcast into shorter shareable segments to share on social media platforms. This not only entices listeners to hear your full podcast, but this can serve as a great way to provide short snippets of content for different channels without going through the effort of having to create something new.
Riverside Magic Clips is a great tool to convert your podcast into these effective sharable snippets. All it takes is one quick click, and AI will turn your long-form recordings into multiple short, shareable highlights.
8. Get more clients from a new audience
When you start podcasting for your business, you can tap into a whole new audience channel. While some people are less reluctant to read content or buy a service/product through advertising, they might be more interested in listening to a podcast.
Through podcasting platforms, you also place your brand in a new space. This means you can reach audiences that originally might not hear about you from other marketing channels. A larger audience means you could earn yourself more clients and for this reason, podcasting for small businesses starting out is great for attracting new leads. Though, this is equally helpful for bigger businesses looking to grow their client base.
“We have all these amazing channels at our disposals as marketers and brand builders today where you can actually build an audience of your dream customers before you sell them anything and so I think that's to me where where podcasts fit in.”- B2B Marketing Expert and Educator, Dave Gerhardt
9. Podcasts are effective advertising tools
Although your business podcast is not a traditional advert, this type of marketing can be highly effective. In fact, according to research, podcast ads have high recall rates. Podcasts have 4 times better brand recall than display ads and in a Nielsen survey, 62% of respondents say that podcasts have made them consider buying a new product or service.
Another strength of podcasting for business is that you can make advertisements more organic. You don’t have to read out a super salsey podcast ad, but instead, you can mention your service more naturally in conversation.
For more on podcast advertising, read our blog on podcast ads.
To sum up, why do businesses need podcasts? Watch below:
Should a Business Have a Podcast?
Starting a podcast may not be suitable for everyone. But if the following characteristics apply to you, you may be a good candidate to start a business podcast:
- You have the time. While podcasting isn’t as time-consuming as other endeavors, it can take up at least a few hours every week. If you can’t take the time to record and edit an episode regularly, your podcast probably won’t be sustainable.
- You’re ready to expand your content marketing efforts but may not have a huge budget. Podcasting can be an extremely cost-effective way to do content marketing (more on that below).
- You’re passionate about your industry and can talk about it (and interview other experts) all day.
How Much Does It Cost to Set up a Podcast?
The cost of starting a podcast comes down to your goals and individual budget. There’s a range of equipment available, from top-dollar professional equipment to budget-yet-effective basics that can get the job done for practically nothing.
No matter your budget level, you’ll need to start with these basics:
- A quiet recording studio
- A microphone
- Headphones
- Optional podcast camera
Then, choose a high-quality recording software like Riverside.fm that’ll give you top-quality audio and video. You can start with our free plan, or check out our affordable plans starting only at a price of $15 per month.
How Do I Start a Podcast for My Business?
1. Decide on Roles
First, you’ll need to decide who will manage and create your podcast. If you’re an entrepreneur or a small business owner, you may want to be the face of your show yourself.
But if you have a marketing department, the day-to-day task of creating your podcast may fall to someone on that team. Before you go any further, choose the host (or hosts) who will be the face of your show.
Then, decide who will produce and edit it. Will you hire a professional producer? Outsource your production to freelancers on sites like Upwork and Fiverr? Or do you have an internal staff member with the skillset to handle it?
2. Choose the Topic and Tone
Next, what will your show look like?
It’s not good enough just to decide to host a branded podcast, and hope you find something to talk about. No one will listen to your show unless it provides some value to them, right? So decide what topic or format (which aligns with your industry) will provide value to your intended audience.
For instance, if you’re a golf supply company, you’ll probably make a show that golf fans would care about. You could interview pro golfers, teach your audience how to get better at the sport, and even discuss related topics like strength training and where to vacation if you want to get a good game in.
You might host a casual interview podcast or an educational monologue show. Or you may even go with an audio drama! There are many categories, formats, and tones to choose from, so don’t be afraid to let your imagination run wild.
Check out our post on the Best Branded Podcasts for a few examples to inspire you!
3. Think About Presentation
For a professional-looking show, you should have all the bells and whistles squared away before you begin. For one thing, you’ll need a logo and podcast cover artwork that’s both appealing to your audience and represents your show’s topic and style.
And what about your theme music? You’ll probably want to hire a composer to create a unique jingle that you can use in your intro and outro.
4. Record, Upload, and Distribute
Record your episodes, whether that’s in-studio, remotely, or even on the go using your smartphone. And don’t forget to use editing software and add elements like intro/outro music and sound effects.
Once it’s ready, upload your first episode(s) to your podcast host of choice. A host is a place where your podcast’s video/audio files will live online, so make sure you choose one that works best for your needs. It’s probably a good idea to pick a host that has reliable data analytics and marketing features so you can get the most bang for your buck.
Now that your show is live and uploaded to the internet, you need to submit it to podcast directories so that it’s available to listeners. A podcast directory—like Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes), Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher—is a podcast listening app that pulls in episodes for your audience to discover, subscribe, and listen to.
It’s best to submit your show to as many of these directories as you possibly can to maximize your show’s visibility. To learn how (and where) to submit your podcast, check out our article: Ultimate Podcast Directories Guide: Where to Submit Your Show.
5. Get into a Regular Recording Cycle
To have a successful podcast, you’ll need consistency. Create a consistent content schedule that your audience can count on. Whether it’s your marketing team or just you, make sure the people responsible for creating your podcast have reliable processes to make the creation process go smoothly.
That process may mean deciding on an outline and script ahead of time, then batch-recording podcast episodes on a predetermined day of the month. Or perhaps you set aside one afternoon to record your episodes each week. Find a process that works for you, and stick with it.
6. Promote, Promote, Promote
Finally, don’t forget to promote your podcast!
You’ll need to do more than upload your podcast and share its RSS feed with all the top podcast directories. There are more than two million podcasts for your target audience to choose from, so you probably won’t stand out from the crowd unless you find ways to capture their attention, like:
- Announce your show on all your communication channels like your blog, website, newsletters, etc.
- Use social media to promote your podcast, whether by creating new accounts just for your show or posting about it on your main accounts.
- Use SEO best practices like targeting keywords in your episode titles and show notes.
- Invest in paid advertising; advertise your new podcast on other podcasts in your niche. Odds are good that those audiences would be interested in your show if they’re already listening to that one!
FAQs
Do You Need to Register a Podcast as a Business?
What businesses use podcasts?
A lot of different businesses use podcasts. Even the team at Riverside has a podcast, Hit Publish, which aims to help creators grow. Some of the top and best business podcasts you can check out include:
- Shopify Masters - Shopify
- #LIPSTORIES - Sephora
- Open For Business- eBay
- The Daily - The New York Times
While it’s not legally required to register as a business or get a license, it’s a good idea to start an LLC for your podcast. LLCs and other business structures (like corporations) help protect your personal assets from business risks such as debt and lawsuits.
If you already have an LLC or corporate structure, there’s no need to start a separate business. You can run the podcast in the business’s name.
Is Podcasting a Profitable Business?
Podcasting can be very profitable, whether it’s a single part of your overall marketing strategy or if it’s a full-time endeavor. With a podcast, you can land sponsorship deals, sell products, and ask for direct sponsorship from your audience through platforms like Patreon and GoFundMe.
For more information on monetizing your podcast, check out our article: How to Promote, Grow, and Monetize Your Podcast in 2023.
How Many Views Do You Need on a Podcast to Make Money?
The audience size needed to land sponsorships depends on which brands you’re hoping will sponsor you (and how much you want to charge them). But in general, it’s a good idea to shoot for at least 5,000 downloads per episode before you begin approaching brands looking for sponsorships.
Why Is Podcasting Is Good for Your Business?
Starting a podcast can be an excellent marketing strategy for your business. Podcasting comes with benefits like brand recognition, networking with others in your industry, becoming an authority in your niche, and organic (and affordable) lead generation.
Even if your business doesn’t feel “flashy” or on-trend, you’d be surprised how successful your branded podcast can be if you find the right angle and provide value to your target audience.
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