Podcasts can be great marketing tools for both B2C and B2B marketing depending on your product or service. Success with podcasts requires more than just being an ace with technical details. It requires a good concept, experience with producing and thinking deeply about what would be interesting for your users or prospects to watch.
Many companies still market themselves with blatant self-promotion or commercials. This approach is far less captivating than content which is inherently helpful, non-sales-y or entertaining. Below are three categories of podcasts that tend to perform far better than your run-of-the-mill commercial. The best part is that many great podcasts are shared by users and prospects simply because they are appealing or useful. This "Inbound" approach to marketing may be more challenging from a creative perspective, but the return can be far better for your brand, brand-trust and cuts down on advertising costs. This is also very true for blogging for social media and SEO for business. Don't just self-promote... it's not that interest... consider your readers or viewers, and make something that is a bit more broadly appealing.
Most effective types of podcasts
- Entertaining video content is a great way to get your video to go viral... Meaning users will share the content without you coercing them to. If you video content has an overlaying commercial tone, then you will need to soft-brand or ease up on the blatant self-promotion and give way to the story a little more than your marketing team may want.
- Educational videos can be a great way to build SEO or social media sharing around your brand. Think: "how to" type content or instructional videos.
- Informative video content like newscasts or industry-insider content can have great appeal as long as it doesn't feel like an extended infomercial. Don't over sell your wares!