While podcasts are becoming increasingly popular in the mainstream media, many companies have yet to capitalize on their incredible power as an authentic marketing and promotional tool.

At Open Conversation, we often write about how we make our podcasts and the elements that make them richer, more immersive, cinematic audio experiences. Today, we want to talk about a different “how:” How does podcasting benefit your company’s goals? 

From enterprising businesses to savvy non-profits, many organizations are using podcasts to drive real growth. Here are our top five benefits your organization can see from podcasting:

1. Establishing Thought Leadership and Expertise

Podcasts highlight your organization’s expertise, and we find this is especially true when it comes to niche topics. Thought leadership builds your organization’s credibility with customers, exposes your brand to wider audiences, creates and grows a loyal fan base, and increases referral business, among many benefits. Marketers refer to this concept as “authoritative presence.” This thought leadership can even come from carefully curating experts and thinkers to interview on your show.

This is why they’re called PODcasts, not BROADcasts: these spaces have highly targeted audiences that speak your language, share your values, are interested in your products, and want to support your causes. Ultimately, these efforts increase trust and faith in your product, service, or cause, so your audience will continue to support your work.

2. Increase Web Traffic, SEO, and Accessibility

In an increasingly competitive marketplace, standing out is essential for any organization to thrive. While podcasting is an audio-based medium, it also enables your organization to amplify its digital presence. Here are a few ways you can harness this medium in your content marketing efforts:

• Get ahead of the curve by optimizing for voice: You definitely have heard of search engine optimization (SEO), but have you heard of voice search optimization (VSO), too? As more and more people use their voices to conduct searches (“Alexa, what’s the news today?”), podcasts are frequently becoming the answer to these results. 
• Rank higher in search results: Make sure you take advantage of podcasting’s inherent SEO benefits: transcriptions. These transcriptions are excellent for content marketing efforts by providing a new update for your blog, content to share via email, and more. Simply publish the episode’s full transcription, and don’t forget to add any relevant links to your existing content.
• Make your brand more accessible: Publishing transcriptions online also enables more people to enjoy your podcast, ensuring the accessibility of your content for deaf or hard-of-hearing people. 

3. Build Better Company Culture + Bolster Recruiting

As the world remains closed and remote work becomes more of a norm for the future, maintaining (and showcasing) your company culture and talent will be paramount. 

Having a podcast allows you to communicate asynchronously with your current (and prospective) employees, reminding them why they are excited to work for your brand and keeping them engaged. Improving employee engagement bolsters productivity, performance, and loyalty, among many other critical business dimensions.

A great example: At Open Conversation, we are currently working on a six-part internal podcast series for HonorHealth. The podcast is designed for doctors in residency and a broader medical community to enhance quality, patient safety, and medical research. 

Some companies even use their podcasts to update employees on new initiatives, policy changes, training, education, and more. Your organization’s recruiters might also use podcasts to showcase company culture to prospective hires.

4. Create Customer Loyalty and Community

Podcasts are the most intimate format of communication, literally getting inside people’s heads. When podcasts pause their regular production for some time, listeners miss them in ways they would never miss a traditional ad. Why? Because with each episode, podcasts build a relationship, create connection, and increase trust. 

Podcasts create a community – not just customers. 

Another tremendous advantage as a marketing tactic (over traditional advertising mediums) is that podcasts are well-rounded, well-produced conversations that deliver educational, emotional, and entertaining value. These elements combine to help customers feel connected and attached to your brand, increasing their affinity for your products, services, or causes.

5. Secure additional grant money or investments

Place yourself in the mindset of an investor or grant underwriter: You have a stack of applications and pitch decks to review, and after a while, they all start to look the same. But what if one of the organizations had a thriving podcast regularly enjoyed by a passionate audience? 

This indicates a brand’s ability to activate its audience, fundraise, etc., and that it already has an established group of people who support it. This brand’s candidacy for a new investment now ranks higher than others, because it has demonstrated its capacity for out-of-the-box thinking and driving action within its audience.

The Key to a Captive Audience

All of these benefits come down to one, key element: Attention. And if your goal is to hold your audience’s attention, nothing compares to a podcast.

Podcasts speak to a person’s imagination directly, only using one sense. That’s why they are our favorite medium – we truly believe the imagination is a powerful driver of human connection versus other mediums (like video) that only require passive viewing. 

And for the most part, podcasts don’t invite passivity in listeners – it’s content that can be consumed on-the-go. It is valued. It is appreciated. It is heard.

As you move forward in your organizational goals for the year, consider how adding a podcast to your content mix can create a richer experience for your customers, clients, employees, and culture. We’d love to talk about how we can help you grow.