Last updated - July 8, 2021
Podcasts have great marketing potential, even though it is one of the less explored areas by marketeers. However, trends show they are a highly effective medium to market your eCommerce products. According to a study conducted by audioBoom and Edison Research, 64% of podcast audience in the US have asserted that they have bought a product or service they happen to hear in a podcast. This is a very promising figure when you think about podcasting as a marketing option for your WooCommerce store. In this article, we will explore how you can use Podcasting to Promote Your WooCommerce Business.
The basics of Podcasting
Before getting into the nitty gritty, let’s take a look at the basics of podcasting. A podcast is a series of audio files segmented into different episodes, which users can subscribe to listen. When users subscribe to a podcast, in most cases, the files will be automatically downloaded to the user’s local computer or media player through web syndication.
You can use podcasting to promote your WooCommerce business, since audio files helps you create an effective communication channel between your store and its customers. Since the hosts in a podcast speaks directly to the audience, there is a certain intimate nature in the communication. This can be well explored for marketing purposes and you will be able to create a loyal audience base for your brand.
Podcasting can help a lot in brand building, as you will be able to explore different narrative styles and diverse topics. When it comes to using podcasting to promote your WooCommerce business, there are several different avenues. You can create a podcast owned by your brand, or you can use affiliate’s podcasting to promote your WooCommerce business. BobWP is a popular podcaster in the WooCommerce domain.
Approaches in podcasting to promote your WooCommerce business
Now, let’s look at different ways to use podcasting, which will be useful in promoting your WooCommerce products to the right audience.
Podcasts by your brand
You can create your own podcast, which will help you establish your authority in the domain that you are working. It is somewhat similar to creating and establishing readers for your blog. You consistently develop podcasts related to your domain, and develop a solid listener base. Once listeners start recognizing your brand and voice, they will start engaging with your blog. This may not create fast results, but once you are established yourself in the domain, the returns will be substantial.
According to experts, podcasts have the potential to create an impression in the potential customer more effective than even a television commercial. The deeper connection that a podcast builds with its audience is a solid reason for the strong marketing capability of a podcast. Another advantage of establishing a podcast for your brand is that you can reduce the cost of advertising. Once podcasting starts to bring in sales on your store, you can reduce the amount spent on traditional advertising channel. Moreover, you can delve into creative pastures in your domain without restrictions from a third party.
Marketing collaborations
Instead of creating a podcast solely dedicated to your brand, you can also try out a more generic approach as well. You can do a detailed analysis of your market and customer requirements and understand specific areas which people of your industry are interested in. Basically, you can develop your podcast around a theme, which you know for sure, that your customers like.
For example, if you have a service that helps with social media marketing, you can start a podcast related to social media marketing. So, when you address a broad range of topics, you will get ample opportunities to mention your products as well as other related products. You can also explore the scope of affiliate marketing by mentioning products of other companies that are not in direct competition with yours. This way, in addition to creating sales opportunities for your products, you will be also able to generate an affiliate income through your podcast.
Be a guest on popular podcasts
Sometimes developing a podcast on your own might prove to be a lot of work for you. In such scenarios, an efficient option with lesser efforts would be to feature yourself as a guest on some popular podcasts. You can do a research on popular podcasts that your target audience is listening to. Now, you can contact the hosts of some of the popular ones and use their podcasting to promote your WooCommerce business.
iTunes podcast directory, Google podcast subject, or an other online directory for podcasts will help you narrow down on some of the popular podcasts. Once you have a list of popular podcasts, you can approach their producers communicating your willingness to participate as a guest. Just make sure that you are well researched on the topic you are talking about, and try not to be aggressive in your sales pitch.
Try podcast advertising
You can try sponsoring popular podcasts in your domain. Generally, podcasts tend to include a message on their sponsors in the podcast. You can buy a slot to place your advertising features on suitable podcasts. There are two types of podcast ads that you will see commonly. These are the pre-roll ones (15 seconds at the start) and the mid-roll ones (60 seconds in the middle). Sponsorship ads may cost you between $15 to $25 depending on the popularity of a podcast.
Tools required for successful podcasting
In order to make your podcast successful, you need to be aware of all the tools that you can use. Here are some of the basic requirements
- A website to build an audience base for your podcast – You need to create a website that will be dedicated to your podcast. WordPress is naturally a solid platform for this.
Read our article on Why WordPress is much more than a simple content management system to understand more.
- Media hosting service – If you don’t want to exhaust your server resources, you can use a podcast specific media specific platform like Blubrry.
- Equipment to record – There are several equipment to help you make high quality audio files for podcasting. One of the basic equipment that you need to invest in while starting out is a good microphone. Some of the popular options for this include Samson, RODE, Heil-PR40, etc.
- Recording software – You also need to use a good recording software to record your podcasts. Audacity is a popular free option that you can try for podcasting to promote your WooCommerce business.
Podcast promotions
Creating a popular podcast itself is a tough job. However, you also have to think of a way to promote it to get the desired results. Some of the basic aspects that you need to focus on for a successful podcast promotion campaign are as follows:
- Create or feature on a podcast that is popular among your target audience.
- Find out what the audience is expecting from the podcast.
- Include mentions of your products in the podcast to drive maximum conversions.
Understanding your audience
Understanding the expectations of your audience is key to any marketing campaign. You should analyze your audience demographics and their interests well before actually creating a podcast. That would give you adequate information to create a podcast that connects well with your listeners.
Submit to podcast directories
Once you create a podcast, you can submit that to one of the popular podcast directories. This would provide much more exposure to your efforts. Some of the popular podcast directories include iTunes, Podnova, PodBean, etc.
Get help from guests
When you are regularly updating your podcast, you will be featuring several popular guests from your industry. Sometimes, it might be more effective if these guests are promoting your podcast. Some of your guests may have their own social media following, which will be totally different from your audience base. In addition, they may have an email list, which they can use to promote a podcast they are featured in. The advantage of guests promoting your podcast will be that your products will find reach to users who you won’t be targeting otherwise.
Get referrals from other podcasters
If you are able to get referrals from other podcaster in your domain, it might be of great advantage. The other podcasters don’t need to be from your exact domain. You can find podcasts that are related and appeal to the same target audience or audience demographics. Most other podcasters will be open to marketing collaborations as it will be mutually beneficial. However, there will be occasions when you have to pay for referrals, which might prove a worthy investment at times.
Social media promotions
Like any other promotional campaign, you need to explore options with social media to promote your podcast too. Reddit is one of the most effective mediums to promote podcasts due to the availability of a lot of subreddits related to specific domains. You can also explore Facebook advertising to promote your podcasts to the right audience.
Promote podcast through your blog
If you already have an established blog, you can use it to promote your podcast. You can easily pitch your podcast to your existing audience so that they will be more willing to try out your podcast. Also, if they find your podcasts truly adding value, you will be able to develop a solid audience base instantly.
WordPress Plugins for podcasting
If you are planning to do podcasts on your WordPress site, there might be a few plugins that might be really useful for you. Here is a quick look at some of these plugins.
PowerPress
With the help of this plugin, you can quickly create your first podcast episode and submit it to iTunes. It also offers support for Google Podcasts. The plugin offers integrated HTML5 media players. Moreover, it offers an option to create a Subscribe page using shortcodes. With PowerPress, you will find advanced features to help with your SEO, Podcast migrations, and reporting.
LibSyn
If you prefer using LibSyn hosting service for your podcasts, you can use this plugin to integrate it to your WordPress site. You can take advantage of some of the advanced features of LibSyn publishing with the help of this plugin. As the media files generated from the podcast stays with LibSyn, your web hosting option doesn’t get affected. That means you can manage it even if you don’t have a highly powerful hosting option. Features of LibSyn publishing involves iTunes optimization tags, ID3 tags, automated feed/show migrations, etc.
Seriously Simple Podcasting
This is an easy-to-use tool to publish podcasts on your WordPress site. You will be hosting your podcast on integrated podcast hosting platform Castos. This plugin helps you run multiple podcast from the same site with individual RSS feed. You will also find widgets and shortcodes to display your podcast playlists, episodes list, etc.
Promoting products through Podcast
Once your podcast manages to achieve a certain reputation among your target audience, you will be able to drive prospective customers to your product landing pages. You can even include promotional options and discounts, which can be highlighted through podcasts. Hope you got a basic idea on how to use podcasting to promote your WooCommerce business. Leave a comment if you have any queries or insights to share.
Further reading
