DM 2019 Nurture Leads With Podcasts
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Demand MetricDM 2019 Nurture Leads With Podcasts
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Demand MetricNURTURE
LEADS WITH
PODCASTS
HOW-TO GUIDE
Nurture Leads with Podcasts
HOW-TO GUIDE
This report provides practical advice for understanding the value of podcasting, learning best
practices, and getting prepared to develop and launch a successful podcast program.
Read this brief report to learn:
What is a Podcast?
Business Benefits of Podcasting
Attracting Listeners to Podcasts
How to Record a Podcast
Action Plan
Review this report to understand the business benefits of adding podcasting to your marketing
mix. Additionally, follow our Action Plan to get started with your podcasting initiative.
What is a Podcast?
A podcast is a collection of digital media files distributed over the internet using syndi-
cation feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers.
Although podcasters' web sites may offer direct download or streaming of their content,
a podcast is distinguished by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and down-
loaded automatically when new content is added. This is done using an aggregator or
feed reader capable of reading feed formats such as RSS (really simple syndication)”
2 NURTURE LEADS WITH PODCASTS HOW-TO GUIDE
Business Benefits of Podcasting
Podcasting has quickly become an important part of many permission based marketing campaigns
because it provides high value at a low cost.
Companies are using podcasts for the following reasons:
Branding: effective podcasting is an excellent medium to reach our generations’ tech-savvy
consumers. Additionally, podcasts can position your organization as an industry leader, provided
the content is relevant and timely for your target audience.
Lead Generation & Nurturing: keep prospects engaged with your brand by providing a trusted
source for value-added content and industry best practices. Set up a simple form on your website
to capture visitor information as they register/subscribe to podcasts.
External Communications: keep investors, media contacts, industry analysts, and current
customers informed with company news and product updates.
Search Engine Optimization: search engines rank websites with high download activity as more
‘important’, thus increasing organic search results.
Website Content Improvements: if you are looking to beef up the ‘resources’ section of your
corporate, consider adding a series of podcasts.
Marketing Opportunities: many organizations are sponsoring solid third-party podcasts, adver-
tising during the buffering time period as the podcast loads, and using podcasts to promote brands
with listener prizes. Consider adding a revenue stream to your podcasts to increase the return on
investment for your program.
Attracting Listeners to Podcasts
A podcast is useless if nobody is listening. In order to attract the right audience and keep them
listening, follow these simple guidelines:
Keep it Concise: most listeners have an attention span of 15-30 minutes maximum for a given topic.
Keep your podcast concise, and offer different podcasts on various topics rather than grouping
them into one huge podcast.
Flexible File Format: use MP3 format for on-demand podcasts (after the original broadcast) as it
can be played on most rich media players. Avoid .wav files as the industry has clearly adopted MP3
as the standard.
Use an RSS Feed: promote and deliver your podcasts through an RSS Feed to keep listeners
coming back.
Don’t Sell too Hard: while it is fine to communicate the benefits of your product, ensure that your
podcast is informational in nature, and not a canned sales pitch.
3 NURTURE LEADS WITH PODCASTS HOW-TO GUIDE
Optimize your Podcast: provide a detailed description of the content of your podcast, and add
meta-tags and keywords to pages containing your podcasts to enhance natural search engine
optimization.
Promote your Podcast: use an integrated approach to promoting your podcast, including the
following channels: contact center, email, blog, website, and podcast directories.
Brand your Podcast: have a clearly branded introduction and conclusion to your podcast to
engage listeners, thank them for their time, and invite them to attend any future planned podcasts.
How to Record a Podcast
Podcasting provides a great opportunity to reach your target audience but comes with its own
unique risks. When recording a podcast make sure to use the right equipment and delivery
methods to mitigate user and brand experience risks.
Follow these steps to create an effective podcast:
1. Identify Target Audience: determine the audience that is most likely to join your podcast and
consider what they would like to learn about your organization.
2. Determine Podcast Content: brainstorm potential podcast themes, such as: investor reports,
product upgrades, business cases, best practices, competitive insights, executive interviews,
company strategy, etc.
3. Write Podcast Script: create a script that will be used to guide speakers through their podcast
recording. Practice the script until it does not sound scripted.
4. Select a Podcast Solution: strongly consider using Audacity (free) for recording your podcast
and Podcast Generator for delivering your podcast to your audience.
5. Get a Solid Microphone: ambient noise can be a major problem. The quality of your podcast
can be greatly increased if you take the time of day into consideration and by using noise
canceling filters in the recording software. Consider using a USB audio capture device.
6. Record your Podcast: record your podcast with key speakers, ensuring it is no longer than 30
minutes or more than 10MB in size. Re-record your podcast until it sounds extremely polished.
Consider using a software solution for an end-to-end recording solution. Add text notes to
make your podcast easily searchable for specific content.
7. Test the Podcast: check your bandwidth package with your website hosting provider as podcasts
can be expensive to deliver if you are have to pay for incremental downloads and traffic.
8. Deliver Podcast to Audience: upload an MP3 version of your podcast to your website (to be made
available following the initial broadcast) and create an RSS Feed to distribute your podcast to your
audience. Podcast Generator’s solution automates to creation of an RSS Feed by enclosing one or
more MP3 files, and providing the FTP application to upload the files to a server.
4 NURTURE LEADS WITH PODCASTS HOW-TO GUIDE
Action Plan
STEP 1 - Learn
1 Learn Learn Best Practices
Before you launch into
2 Benefits
your podcasting initiative,
consider the following action
items to get prepared for a
successful project.
3 Use Cases
Check out iTunes Connect
Podcast Resources and
Digital Trends blog post:
“How to Make a Successful
4 Software
Podcast.”
5 Record
6 Broadcast
7 Measure
8 Tweak
5 NURTURE LEADS WITH PODCASTS HOW-TO GUIDE
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