Podcasting Is Becoming More Popular - Small Business Trends

Listening is becoming the renewed brand engagement and advancement tool and content is its new currency:

?The US podcasting audience is ballooning, and eMarketer projects that growth will continue at least through 2013. By then, there will be 37.6 million people who download podcasts monthly, more than double the 2008 figure of 17.4 million. As a percentage of Internet users, podcast downloaders are expected to grow from 9% in 2008 to 17% in 2013.?

Podcasting has been an integral part of my content marketing strategy since 2009. This medium has opened up more doors and connections and established my professional credibility, more than just about any marketing platform that I have used.

By definition, a?podcast?is:

?A type of?digital media?consisting of an episodic series of?audio,?video,?PDF, or?ePub?files?subscribed to and?downloaded?through?web syndication?or streamed online to a computer or mobile device.?

Since the 1930?s there have been radio talk shows and news programs. Today, through the evolution of the Internet capabilities, along with cheaper hardware and software, audio podcasts are doing what was historically done through radio broadcast stations.

There is growing buzz?and data that suggests a big uptick and an increased usage of podcasting for good reasons. Podcasts are instructional, fun, mobile friendly, more personal, brand builders and easy to do. People are podcasting on?anything you can imagine from business, cooking, travel, sewing, sports,? investing, being a working Mom or single Dad, ?and are finding an audience for them.

One of the key benefits of audio podcasts is the power of listening, hearing someone talking to you, and that theater of the mind allows people to concentrate and learn better.

Reading an article or book is very effective but listening to someone talk to you, hearing their voice talking to you?about something you are interested in increases engagement. The archived podcast also allows people to go back and listen at their convenience and radio/audio?is an iconic, mature media that people know and trust.

B2B marketers, responding to an Optify survey,?reported the 3 most important elements of successful content. ?Survey respondents resoundingly chose:

• Engaging and compelling story telling?(81.5%)
• Originality (52.6%)
• Custom content (49.2%)

If you want to educate, entertain and serve people with great content, podcast radio is hard to beat.

Below I?ve listed 4 simple guidelines for creating and promoting successful podcasts:

Selectively Choose Content?

Align your content with who you are and what you want to be known for. ?Ask yourself, ?What?are you knowledgeable about that there is an audience for?? And, ?What do you?want to be known for??

Be Consistent

Consistently perform your segments?and integrate them into your overall content marketing strategy. ?Make your podcast, email marketing, social media and?blog all work together.

Pick The Format And Style That Best Suits You

Whether it be interview format, conversational style or instructional in nature. ?And if you are interviewing,?make sure you?feature people who have good energy and have their own active social marketing platforms.

Brand Your Podcast

Make sure you are branding and presenting your podcast with a graphic?logo or avatar and a produced?open and close segment.?Practice doing them for a few weeks before you go live?so that you get comfortable and always present yourself as someone who?is serious and professional.

There are some great articles on why you should podcast, so do some research. ?And if you?re interested in podcasting, below are some?of the top radio podcasting networks and platforms that you can research, too:

And be sure to check out what some of the top podcasts are talking about, as well as how NPR, Radiolab, and ESPN?present them. ?And tell us, what are some of? your favorite podcasts?

On The Air Photo via Shutterstock

About Deborah Shane

Deborah Shane is an author, speaker, media host, business and career brand/branding consultant. Deborah hosts her blog, Deborah Shane Toolbox, and weekly business radio show, Deborah Shane Metropolis. She writes for several national business, career, branding, business and marketing sites. Her new book, "Career Transition: Make the Shift is available through all major book sellers.

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Source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/10/podcasting-is-becoming-more-popular.html

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