trafficmansionNot that long ago, podcasting was considered as a self-indulging hobby for people who are in love with the sound of their voice. In today’s society, however; things are quite different. In the current media landscape, podcasting has proven to be a great cost-effective marketing tactic for engaging different audiences and building up authority in specific niches and markets.
According to Convince & Convert’s study, 32 percent of the US population listens to podcasts at least once a month. The same report shows that 22 percent of Americans listen to podcasts each week—and that’s just in the US alone. What about the rest of the world?
Regardless of what you specialize in, there’s a great chance that you could benefit from running a podcast. For example, if you’re interested in digital marketing, there are loads of active business and marketing podcasts today that everyone can learn from. SEMRush’s Marketing Scoop, Drift’s Seeking Wisdom, Everyone Hates Marketers, Call to Action, Marketing School, Growth Marketing Toolbox, Duct Tape Marketing; these are just some of the more popular ones that have a growing base of listeners.
At Traffic Mansion, we love this format and closely follow as many industry podcasts as our busy schedule allows. We believe that all affiliate marketers should consider running their own podcasts, and here is why.
1. A New Audience and a New Stream of Revenue
As above-mentioned statistics claim, people have fallen in love with this format. They have developed a habit of listening to podcasts at home and on the go, which means that you can win big here if you put in the effort.
Hosting a podcast can help you find a new audience and build new relationships. As your following grows, you will start to develop an actual community of listeners that will start to believe in your expertise, product, and service recommendations.
Of course, this will lead to relevant revenue opportunities. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, in 2020 the podcasting industry will reach $659 million in revenue. If you do a good job with your podcast, you may even see a spike in your site’s traffic because your active listeners will probably be tempted to browse through your pages to find more content.
A nicely followed podcast with a profiled and engaged audience will certainly generate interest from all sorts of brands and advertisers. One of the best ways for a sponsor to get involved with a podcast is by contributing content aimed at its target market. It helps a brand build its authority and be perceived as a trusted leader in the market. With podcasts, you can sell ad space, direct URL affiliate deals, distribute premium content, receive donations, etc. If you play your cards right, you might even turn this podcasting gig into a full-time job.
The goal here is to think about your listeners—not just monetization. If you plan to use this platform for affiliate marketing, make sure that you promote brands, products, and services that are relevant to your core audience. Make a genuine effort to discover their needs. Ask them questions about their pain points, what they enjoy, how they use your content, and so forth.
Certain brands, products, and services might seem like a perfect fit for your audience but they may not need it, want it, or be able to afford it.
The goals here, like on any other platform, is to meet your audience’s needs with recommendations (usually within a relevant context) that appeal to them and provoke them to take immediate action. That’s how affiliate marketing is done well.
2. Brand Authority
Just like with any other type of content, quality plays a crucial role when it comes to podcasting. If you really invest yourself in this and do a good enough job of getting authority industry figures to appear in your podcast, share their stories, and help you educate your listeners on a wide variety of relevant issues to them, you’ll certainly be on a solid path to building a better public image for yourself and your brand.
In addition, people will start to recognize your expertise and continuous efforts you invest, which will automatically help you become an authority figure in your niche and market. Once your audience starts to grow and your listeners develop a habit of coming back for more, it will be a lot easier for you to reach out to them and get them to test/buy whatever you decide to promote in your podcasts.
Once again, however; we’re obligated to say that you cannot really promote anything and everything in your podcasts. As we already covered in the previous segment of this article, relevancy plays a crucial part here. So, when we say that you can get people to “to test/buy whatever you decide to promote in your podcasts when you develop authority,” what we actually mean is that it will be easier for you to get your listeners to test/buy whatever you decide to promote in your podcasts when you develop authority, as long as your offerings are RELEVANT to them.
3.Cost-Effectiveness
Just like blogging, running a podcast doesn’t cost you a lot of money. Sure, you’ll need to invest a lot of your time, passion, and expertise in order to make your podcast successful, but from a financial point of view—it’s one of the cheapest forms of marketing out there.
To get your podcast up and running, all you really need is:
- A host: A place to store your podcasts. You can use your own website or pay for a separate hosting solution
- An RSS feed: Subscribers can automatically get new podcasts via RSS
- A podcasting software: Something that doesn’t cost a lot of money and is simple to use
- Quality gear: A decent microphone that will help you with the quality of your records, but you can record audio without it as well (if you really want to do this on a shoestring budget)
That’s basically it. The rest depends on your creativity, will, and effort. Even though a lot of marketers tend to favor blogging far more than podcasting, for most people, podcasting is a far better solution and it can be a great way to connect with your audience. To make a certain blog successful, you need excellent writing skills—something most people don’t have—especially those who don’t write a lot and don’t have a rich background in journalism or literature.
If you’re not a great writer, podcasting can help you reach out to your audience in a way that won’t cause a lot of headaches and force you to hire an editor or proofreader. With podcasts, people with communicational and organizational skills can easily shine. This format allows audiences to hear the sound of your voice and understand the way you think about things. Having a chance to hear the person behind the ideas is a great way to provide a more intimate experience for your audience, plus it allows them to get to know you on a deeper level.
With text, it’s different. If you’re not a skilled writer, people will experience difficulty connecting with you through written words. They won’t be able to easily detect your emotion and/or some elements like your tone, sarcasm, etc. All these fine points are unfortunately lost in sloppy writing. When people hear your voice, however; much more becomes apparent such as your tone, sarcasm, humor, wit, etc. It is storytelling in its most natural form.
Over to You
Thank you for taking the time to read our latest article. We sincerely hope the above has helped you understand why you should consider starting your own podcast in the affiliate world. As you can see from everything written above, this is a great, cost-effective solution that can assist you in reaching new audiences and developing a stronger image in your industry or market. As with anything else content-related, the trick is to find your unique angle and to invest yourself in making it work.
So, have no despair; podcasting is a lucrative format that rewards those who are ready to roll up their sleeves, put themselves in the spotlight, and commit to trial and error until they find something that resonates with their audience.
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