Technology Tip
Dave Pelland has extensive experience covering the business use of technology, networking and communications tools by companies of all sizes. Dave's editorial and corporate experience includes more than 10 years editing an electronic technology and communications industry newsletter for a global professional services firm.

How to Promote Your Small Business With a Podcast

How to Promote Your Small Business With a Podcast

As the popularity of digital content continues to expand, a growing number of small businesses are adding podcasting to their marketing and promotional efforts.

Podcasts offer compelling benefits in helping your small business broaden your target market while highlighting your company, its products and services, and your expertise in delivering them.

Podcasts require an investment of time to develop, produce and promote your content, but the benefits in building an audience can make podcasting worthwhile in promoting your small business.

An important first step is defining the focus of your podcast: the topics your podcast will cover, your target audience, how often you wish to produce an episode, and how long each show will be. Studying current podcasts in your niche will provide insights.

It’s also important to remember that your podcast should be educational, not directly promotional about how good your company is. Listeners will be interested in your expertise, but won’t listen to a 20-minute commercial about your small business.

Audio Benefits

For a small business owner, the primary benefit of podcasting is increasing awareness of your business as well as authority within your marketplace. Podcasts allow you to produce your content in another format, and potentially reach a different audience then you would through a blog or by producing videos.

This content allows you to demonstrate expertise within your industry or niche, which in turn allows you to be found more readily when people conduct relevant searches for your products or services.

Other valuable benefits for your small business include:

  • Generating traffic to your company website and social pages. By allowing you to demonstrate your expertise, your podcast can provide a powerful lead-generation platform that can lead to sales discussions. You’ll promote your podcast in your other marketing efforts (your blog, email and social media), which in turn will promote your business.
  • Expanding your industry connections. Interviewing guests on your podcast, such as other industry experts, can help expand your listener base by attracting your guests’ audiences. If you have a conversation with someone who is more prominent than you, you’re more likely to be considered a peer.
  • Adding a personal touch to your marketing. As people hear your voice, you form a connection that may not be conveyed when they read a blog post. Over time, they feel as though they know you. This can be helpful in breaking the ice if you later begin a sales conversation.
  • Repurposing your content in multiple channels. Your past blog posts can provide the basis for a podcast episode, and it is easy to have a transcript made of a podcast episode that then can become a blog post. Similarly, if you do a video, a transcript can become a blog post. Because different audiences prefer to consume content in different formats, offering the same ideas in multiple ways allows you to expand your audience while reinforcing your search engine optimization goals.

Despite these benefits, it’s important to understand that a podcast will take time to prepare and promote. You have to make a commitment to produce podcast on a regular basis, because your momentum is likely to build slowly. You’re also likely to attract a relatively small audience, but you’ll get compelling benefits if that audience is interested in your content, products and services.


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