Building an audience is an old strategy in marketing. Did you know that Proctor & Gamble created soap operas so they could build an audience to buy their soap?
That’s right. In the 1930s, P&G sponsored daytime serial dramas on the radio to advertise their products to housewives. Why? Because research suggested that women wanted to be entertained while doing housework. And so, literal “soap operas” were born.
In the early to mid 20th century, Edward Bernays — long considered the “father of public relations” — also built audiences on behalf of his clientele, which coincidentally included P&G. The Conversation reports that “to counteract President Coolidge’s stiff image, Bernays organized ‘pancake breakfasts’ and White House concerts with Al Jolson and other Broadway performers.” Knowing that such events would garner significant media attention and ingratiate Coolidge with new social circles, Bernays provided an opportunity to “control and regiment the masses” in Coolidge’s favor. Who can say no to a pancake breakfast?
Building an audience is as important now as it was then. We just have more tools at our disposal: From YouTube videos to blog posts and social media campaigns, there are more ways than ever to reach millions of people with your own content.
Podcasting is one of the most powerful ways to reach people. According to one study, more than half of Americans over age 12 (144 million Americans) have listened to a podcast — up from 44% in 2018. It’s estimated that 60 million Americans listen to podcasts weekly. That’s a lot of potential listeners.
Because of that avid listenership and the popularity of home voice assistant devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Home, podcasting is now an important part of the marketing mix for a modern brand strategy. Home voice assistant devices are making it easier than ever to listen to music, podcasts, news, flash briefings and other types of audio content while you’re doing other things in your home, whether it’s getting dressed in the morning, cooking meals, cleaning or even relaxing on the couch.
Marketers can create podcasts to build an audience based on a brand or a specific area of expertise. If they trust you, then people are likely to start trusting what your business can bring to the table — and they’ll show their trust with their pocketbooks.
Whether it’s for your personal or organizational brand, building an audience of listeners who know, like and trust you — and are comfortable giving you their money — is a smart business strategy. In fact, 41% of monthly podcast listeners have household incomes of $75,000 or more. Reaching them makes sense financially.
So how do you reach them? As always, content is king. Make your content interesting. Make it informative. A podcast helps you tell your story, so more people will know, like and trust you. It also allows you to position yourself as a credible expert from a listener’s perspective. With my podcast, I’m able to do just that as an expert on public relations.
When you invite a guest to be interviewed on your podcast, it becomes an in-depth, even intimate conversation. You can dig deep into your guest’s background — what makes them tick, what they’ve accomplished and what their plans are. Once you dig deep, you get to know your guest better, so you can help them solve their greatest problems. I call it the “white knight” strategy because you’re perfectly positioned to swoop in and save the day by helping them solve those problems.
With that in mind, your guests are often your best brand ambassadors. They’re likely to have a sense of ownership in your podcast and to help promote it through word of mouth and their social media channels. That helps you expand your sphere of influence and strengthen your personal brand — and you’re not even doing the work.
As word spreads, you may even receive media coverage — the cherry on the podcasting sundae. When media members hear you describe your area of expertise, they’re more likely to call on you the next time they have to report on a relevant topic. Your quote can become the closing quote of the story.
Even if it doesn’t lead to media coverage, a podcast is valuable in itself. All of the content that you create can be repurposed as blog posts, infographics, social media posts, e-books and even print books. In my experience, there’s no better cornerstone content for your area of expertise. Plus, all of that content can boost your search engine optimization profile — on Google Search and beyond.
So what are you waiting for? Start podcasting, and build your audience.