Podcast Marketing Made Easy SeVohn Hunter

Ready to add some pizzazz to your marketing plan but not sure where to begin? In this episode I’ll explain what podcast marketing is and why, as a business or brand, you should consider including it in your marketing plan. 

Digital marketing comes in many forms. Podcasting is just one of these ways to market your business or brand. While podcasting can help introduce your business or brand to more people, it’s also a personal way to connect with your audience. And the type of podcast marketing that this show is focused on is when a brand or business creates a podcast related to their products or services that’s aimed at their target audience. As podcasts become more popular and listenership grows, the prospect of starting a podcast isn’t as daunting as it once was, and more brands have started creating their own podcasts instead of paying for ads in others’ shows. The purpose of podcast marketing is to provide the consumer with information or entertainment related to the products or services the business provides.

Megan Bullock is the featured small business owner in this episode. Megan is the founder and creative director of MESH, a full-service communication design studio with studios in Charleston, WV and Brooklyn, NY. Learn more about Megan and MESH --> https://meshfresh.com

This podcast is the product of research conducted for a master’s project at West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media. The music for this podcast is by Cj Rhen. You can listen to all four episodes of this series and access the full report of the research conducted for this podcast at https://www.sevohnalexiscollective.com/easy.

Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2Rl3VMK

Interested in starting a branded podcast but not sure if the ROI is worth it? In this episode I’ll explain why podcast marketing works and we’ll go over some concepts like owned media, content marketing, and uncertainty reduction theory.

With social networking sites and similar platforms, the uncertainty reduction process now includes gaining social information through the internet. This shows the importance of businesses maintaining digital spaces and engaging in digital marketing. This is where owned media, branded content, content marketing and podcast marketing come into play. Using a podcast as a marketing tool would be a way for small businesses to share information about their business, establish or maintain their business’ digital presence, and reduce the uncertainty potential customers could have when deciding to support the business.

Zoe Evans is the featured small business owner in this episode. Zoe is the founder of In His Image, a wedding and portrait photography business in her hometown of Thomas, WV. Learn more about Zoe and In His Image: https://inhisimagephotographybyzoe.com

This podcast is the product of research conducted for a master’s project at West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media. The music for this podcast is by Cj Rhen. You can listen to all four episodes of this series and access the full report of the research conducted for this podcast at https://www.sevohnalexiscollective.com/easy.

Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2Rl3VMK

A podcast isn’t possible without the perfect setup. In this episode I’ll discuss equipment, editing software, and hosting platforms.

A common sentiment expressed by small business owners is the lack of money available to allocate toward marketing and advertising. I kept this in mind while compiling my list of recommendations for this episode. As far as equipment goes, a good pair of headphones and a decent microphone are needed. I'm not picky about headphones and I use Blue's Yeti microphone. For recording and editing, I'm a big fan of Adobe Audition and Audacity (which is free!). When it comes to distributing a podcast, Anchor is my favorite because it's free (yay!) and it distributes your podcast to all the most popular podcast directories with just a few clicks.

Andrea Harrison Mongold is the featured small business owner in this episode. Andrea is the owner of Flowers by Snellings, a brick-and-mortar flower shop in the heart of downtown Winchester, VA. Learn more about Andrea and Flowers by Snellings: https://www.flowersbysnellings.com

This podcast is the product of research conducted for a master’s project at West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media. The music for this podcast is by Cj Rhen. You can listen to all four episodes of this series and access the full report of the research conducted for this podcast at https://www.sevohnalexiscollective.com/easy.

Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2Rl3VMK

Now that you know the basics of podcasting it’s time to start your own. In this episode I’ll discuss how to plan a podcast that’s used as a marketing tool for your business.

The key to podcast marketing is to provide the consumer with something, whether that be information about an interesting topic or entertainment, in addition to introducing them to your business or brand. It is important that podcast marketing aligns the brand with a topic, niche community, industry, or something similar and poses the brand as a thought-leader or entertainer within their community/industry. It’s important to choose a topic that is evergreen, meaning you can forever create content about it. Consistency is key for a podcast, so if you can only think of a handful of episodes about your topic, you’ll need to choose something else. 

Nancy Bruns is the featured small business owner in this episode. Nancy is the co-founder of J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works, a family salt-making business in Charleston, WV. Learn more about Nancy and J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works: https://www.jqdsalt.com

This podcast is the product of research conducted for a master’s project at West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media. The music for this podcast is by Cj Rhen. You can listen to all four episodes of this series and access the full report of the research conducted for this podcast at https://www.sevohnalexiscollective.com/easy.

Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2Rl3VMK