Learning About Podcasts: The Newest E-Commerce Tool

Competition is high in the world of e-commerce and online business. Traditional businesses have the luxury of only thinking of competitors that are in the same industry and location. However, in e-commerce, you are fighting against every other business in the world within your industry. Making it even harder to reach an audience and create potential buyers. That’s where the content in marketing strategies comes to play.

Content creation is king when it comes to e-commerce because it is proven as an effective marketing tool in this digital age. It is through content that you reach out to your audience, establish a connection with a community, and create potential sales. However, not every type of content is effective and efficient in doing its job.

Some of the most popular content types in digital marketing are blogs, listicles, social media posts, infographics, and even e-books. It is only recently that video content and video content marketing rose to fame. Regardless, the problem revolves around one specific nature of these types of content. Blog posts, listicles, e-books, and videos are all visual content.

For your audience to consume these types of content, it requires their full and undivided attention. They would need to look into every word and watch every second to digest it. This becomes a problem. What about the people who don’t enjoy reading or watching content on social media?

That’s where podcasts are introduced in the world of content and digital marketing.

What is a Podcast?

Podcasts are content that uses audio. It involves an individual or a group of people that hosts the show. It’s the host’s responsibility to deliver the content by sharing stories, providing information, or simply leading an open discussion. Podcast programs typically consist of several episodes. 

Unlike blogs and video content, podcasts are consumable primarily through audio. Although, there are some shows that also includes video content creation during production. Podcast episodes are conveniently accessible to people. They are available on a wide range of music and audio streaming platforms such as Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts. 

With this, it solves the problem of having to focus solely in order to consume content. Instead of a consumer putting all of their attention into reading a blog or watching video content, audio content allows them to continue working and moving. Podcasts work much like a radio. However, listeners have control over what type of content they want to consume. 

In the world of digital marketing, podcasts are also produced with a marketing agenda on hand. 

Advantages of Podcasts In Digital Marketing

Podcasts are handy, convenient, and easy for consumers to digest. Its realm only covers the sense of hearing, unlike written and video content that requires more. However, the question stays the same. How can an online business utilize podcasting in its marketing strategies? And how is it any better than what’s already used in today’s digital marketing industry?

Set yourself as an industry expert nonchalantly

Imagine you’re creating a podcast and you’re the host. The goal of your podcast is to share your knowledge about the industry you belong to. As you continue to produce podcast episodes, it will showcase how deep your understanding is, how extensive the experiences you have, and so much more. 

And the good thing? It doesn’t have to be formal. Podcasting opens the opportunity even for the industry’s experts to be casual and somehow informal in their language and delivery. This provides a more relatable approach while still establishing your position as a pro in the field that you are in.

Building a more personal connection with your audience

Considering that podcasts provide an avenue to be casual with your audience, this also opens opportunities to build a more personal connection with your community. You don’t always have to talk about business or technical topics. In most cases, it’s best to sometimes break your series with any topic under the sun. Why? It allows you to connect with your audience better. 

And do you know what comes next with such a connection? Loyalty. In the world of e-commerce and digital marketing, loyalty is crucial as it typically entails possible sales as well as lead generation through referrals and testimonials.

Multiple marketing content in one production

From a more practical point of view, podcasts provide numerous opportunities for content creation. Most podcasts today come with a video live stream or recording. This allows the marketing team to reuse this footage as a different form of content. 

For example, an hour-long podcast with a video recording of you talking about why small businesses should hire virtual assistants can be edited to become a 15 to 20-minute long YouTube video. It can also cut into snippets to serve as teasers to the YouTube video or back to the full podcast content. Even better? The flow of conversation and discussion during the podcast can also be turned into a blog. All of these can provide your brand with presence, traffic, and traction with your target audience.