Podcasting For Profits

Where radio once ruled the airwaves, podcasts currently reign as one of the primary new medias of the 21st century. Along with social media and vlogging, podcasts have become a ubiquitous part of our modern lives, a key feature in many people's mediascape, and play a fundamental role in the democratization of content. Anyone can create one for practically little to no charge, covering any topic, and reach massive audiences, while having as much room to grow creatively as its developers are capable of imaging. 

For Shopify and e-commerce businesses, they can and should be a central part of any marketing and brand deployment plan, offering entertaining and engaging ways for customers to discover and enjoy your business.

Here are Lucas's top four ways you can utilize podcasts to increase brand exposure, awareness, and above all, traffic and sales.

1. Run a media blitz. Have a new product or service coming out soon that you hope will be your next big seller? Podcasts are a terrific opportunity to get your consumers excited before they've even seen the product, without sending them another pushy email or SMS. Use your own podcast to provide promotional hype, suggestions and Q&As about using the product, and curated user feedback, in a conversational and entertaining manner. Then, see if there are any podcasts like yours, either covering e-commerce sites, or similar products, who will have you on to gush about the item to their audience, potentially reaching customers who may simply be unaware your product that they're already tangentially interested in exists and is available.
2. Promote, produce, promote again. If you appear on someone else's podcast, then promote it, both in your typical messaging outreach, and as content for your own marketing and media campaigns. Hype any appearance you make on someone else's show on yours, talk about it for an episode, invite them onto your show, and use their audience to help drive your brand visibility even higher, without spending any major amount of money, if any at all.
3. Invest long term. Podcasts typically have a shelf life of about 2 years, in which the majority of its audience will download or stream an episode (any activity outside 2 years dropping off greatly, and being mostly anomalies). Make sure any product you promote, information you mention, or demonstration you provide is available for that entire lifecycle. If customer go looking for something mentioned on an older podcast and can't find it, they'll often end up contacting the seller and having to ask for it, often resulting in the sale being made regardless, but with more necessary steps, and only at the insistence of a determined customer. Keep products mentioned available constantly, and those sales will be easier for everyone, creating a sense of reliability for the consumer, and putting more money in your pocket.
4. Build instant credibility. Customers that can hear a store owner or brand ambassador, who can listen to the tones of their voices, will be more trustful of their entire brands overall, having come to personalize your products and company through that voice. The emotional subtexts, the idiosyncrasies, the unique qualities of your voice will lead them to further believe and engage both you and your product, even if they don't really know your product or brand outside of your appearance or show, or have previously been wary of doing business with you.

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