“I won’t get many downloads.”

This statement is among the first of many thoughts someone has when they think about starting a podcast.

I was there.

I’ve started a half-dozen podcasts and after all the prep-work and setup, that lingering thought would start to creep. Let me tell you what I’ve told myself and dozens of other business owners as they begin their podcast journey:

“PODCAST DOWNLOADS ARE IRRELEVANT!”

DEFINING YOUR PURPOSE AS A PODCASTER

At Wayne Media, we love the podcast game. It’s why we have invested in Speakeasy Podcast Network and we use the medium ourselves. The benefit is exponential if it’s used properly and framed in the right way. When we start someone on a new show, we look at the purpose of the show. There are many different purposes, but here are a few:

• Educational

  • You have a message about your industry that you want to share to educate the listeners

• Sales

  • You have a product that you want to push via an audio/video outlet

• Awareness

  • You want to highlight the inner-workings of your company and what makes your company great

• Mutual Highlight

  • You interview other business owners or consumers to highlight your business and their business

So, what’s the benefit for my business?

Generally, every time we have a new prospect come into our studio for either podcasting or marketing services, we always bring up THE CREDIBILITY CHECK. This is a process used by consumers in either business-to-business or business-to-consumer markets where they evaluate a business based on a few things.

1. 88% of customers start their search on Google (this means your reviews and how easy it is to find your website is important)

2. Your website is your business’s first impression to most consumers (so it needs to be a good one)

3. Consumers look for resources and details when evaluating businesses (this is where blogs, podcasts, reviews, and case studies are super important)

A podcast helps your credibility check. Consumers may not listen to your entire catalog. They may not even finish an entire episode, but by simply having a podcast and having topics that are relevant, people will assess your credibility higher than competitors that are missing those attributes.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying consumers won’t listen, more often than not, they will. But simply having a podcast and featuring solid topics will help consumers have a simpler buying choice. Who would your trust in this scenario?

SCENARIO #1 (Electrician A)

• 3.8 stars on Google

• 4.2 stars on Facebook

• no blog

• no podcast

• mediocre website

SCENARIO #2 (Electrician B)

• 4.5 stars on Google

• 4.3 stars on Facebook

• monthly blog

• weekly podcast

• well built website

Obviously, you’d select Electrician B. This is where a cumulative marketing strategy beats competitors. Not only is Electrician B better rated, they also do educational blogs, podcasts, and invest in their website. Most companies are not this far apart. More often than not, a podcast will be a deciding factor and consumers love businesses that have podcasts because it shows their dedication to the industry and their knowledge on the subject.

HOW DO I START?

There are a ton of options. First off, I would recommend scheduling a time with our team to talk about what a podcast looks like for your business. From there, we can decide if getting a dedicated time in Speakeasy is a good option or if there is another option on the table. More often than not, if you’re in the Louisville area, Speakeasy is a great option as we take the time of editing and distribution off of your hands.

If you’re not near one of our studios…

We can still help! We’ve set up studios for individuals before and given people quality advice on what they need to do to get their show off the ground. We’ve even extended our editing and distribution services for people remotely, outside of Speakeasy.