10 Reasons Why You Should Start a Podcast to Promote Your Business

Are you considering starting a podcast to promote your business or online courses?

The new world of podcasting has given marketers and business owners everywhere a new way to reach their audiences.

In today's article, we will share our top 10 benefits of starting a podcast for creators and business owners.

#1: You Can Reach a New, Broader Audience

Almost 60% of all US consumers older than 12 listen to podcasts. Many people might even pick podcasts over other forms of content and might prefer listening to a 40 minute show rather than reading a long blog post or watching a video about the same topic.

As with any form of organic marketing, it is important to note that starting a podcast will not make you famous overnight. However, podcasts allow you to expand your audience reach and even be discovered by people who have not had the chance to consume your content in other ways.

#2: Increase Credibility and Get Recognized as an Expert

Another fantastic benefit of podcasts is showing off your expertise. Podcasts are not only growing in popularity, but they are also incredibly engaging. Studies show that 80% of the people who listen to podcasts on a regular basis tend to stick around until the end of most episodes.

This means that you have enough room to show your expertise in your topic and make sure listeners recognize you as an expert in your niche. When your audience can see that you are knowledgeable about your chosen topic, they'll want to learn more from you and potentially enroll in your paid online course or hire your services.

Learn other ways to be recognized as an expert in your niche: How to Position Yourself as an Expert to Sell Online Courses

#3: Build a Personal Connection With Your Audience

Why do podcasts feel much more "intimate" compared to other forms of content? Well, first of all, they are long-form content pieces where the host can sometimes talk for 20 minutes to over an hour straight.

Listeners really get to know the host and almost feel like they are having a conversation with a friend.

This can help you build a more personal connection with your audience and humanize your brand. Especially for business owners, it can make a difference in how your customers perceive your brand and your approach.

#4: You Can Build a Personal Brand

Building a personal brand means creating a business around your name and image. What differentiates personal brands from corporate brands is the human touch, which we already know is one of the benefits of podcasting.

With a personal brand, people will associate your business with you, and you are an essential part of it.

As an online course creator, building a personal brand is crucial: 82% of consumers are more likely to trust a company when they see that the CEO or senior executives are active on social media and share their image with others. The same goes with sharing your voice and thoughts with your ideal customers with a podcast!

#5: You Don't Need Money to Start a Podcast

Depending on what kind of set-up you want, starting a podcast can be relatively cheap and fast. You can start recording a podcast in a couple of hours and with basic equipment such as your smartphone or a cheap microphone and free or inexpensive recording and editing software.

We describe in more detail how to start a podcast in this article from our blog: How to Start a Podcast to Promote Your Online Course or Coaching Business

#6: You Can Become a Better Speaker

Podcasting is a great way to practice speaking to an audience and get better at talking about what you know.

For online course creators, this is a huge benefit as most of the material in your online course is most likely video content, so you need to be comfortable talking to a camera or a mic.

Regularly recording new podcast episodes can help you become confident while speaking to an audience.

#7: Collect New Leads

Starting your own podcast might be what you need to grow your business, reach a new audience, increase your website traffic and gain new leads.

If you start sharing information about your business products or services (without being too pushy with self-promotion), this will lead people toward your website.

You could create lead magnets specifically designed to attract your podcast audience and direct them to your site, where you can then collect their information to contact them in the future. Check out this article from our blog to learn all about collecting leads for your business: 7 Proven List-Building Strategies for Online Course Creators to Grow Your Email List

#8: Easy to Repurpose Content

Starting a podcast doesn't have to be hard: if you don't have the time to invest in researching new topics or interviewing guests, why not repurpose blog articles, and YouTube videos into podcast episodes?

If you have written blog or you worked on recording videos for your YouTube channel, you can convert those into audio podcast material. This kind of content is presumably the most relevant to your business or brand, so it is the perfect way to start your podcast.

That said, repurposing content doesn't mean that you can simply read a blog post out loud or take the audio file from your YouTube video and convert it to a podcast episode. You should take the material you already have and transform it into a podcast by recreating it from scratch and making sure it fits the medium.

#9: You Can Promote Your Online Course Business

Podcasts are a great place to promote an online course, as people who listen to podcasts are there to learn something, so naturally, if they like your content, they will want to learn more and check out your online course.

As with other forms of content, podcasting can help you expand your audience reach and increase website traffic. What's great about podcasting is that it can help you build a loyal audience of people who listen to your regular and trust you.

Your loyal audience might purchase other services or products from you or recommend your podcast to others. As a result, it increases your reach and can also lead to improved traffic and lead generation for your business.

#10: Podcasts Are Also Great for Listeners!

The benefits of podcasts do not limit to the host and business owners: podcasts are also beneficial for those who listen to them.

First of all, even if they are a one-way conversation, podcasts can be extremely engaging: you get to build an intimate relationship with your listeners and interact with them by asking questions and starting conversations.

Depending on the topics covered, podcasts can be a fantastic source of information and an entertaining way to learn new things.

Another reason why podcasts are getting so popular is because of their accessibility: anyone can listen to podcasts no matter where they are in the world or what they are doing. You can listen to your favorite podcast while driving, cooking, doing chores and so on.

Thanks to podcast apps such as Apple Podcasts or Spotify, these pieces of audio content have become extremely versatile. Listening to a podcast is as easy as listening to music, plus you are always learning something new, and unlike a traditional radio show, you can listen on your own schedule!

To get inspired by a real-life example, check out our podcast - The Creator's Adventure - where we interview a variety of creators from all industries to share their stories on how they started their businesses and were able to monetize their passions in creative ways.