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One of the questions I field most often from other start-up founders and companies I help with content strategy is, āShould I start a podcast?ā Podcasting is undeniably hot at the moment, especially with younger consumers-according to the New York Times 40% of people between 12 and 24 years old listened to a podcast last month, up 10% from 2018. Droves of people and companies are launching podcasts, but just as with any new marketing channel many of them are simply following the trend rather than thinking critically about whether a podcast makes sense for their business.
My objective with this post is to provide some practical advice on whether a podcast is right for your business. Iāll share why weāve decided not to start one, and will assess the relative opportunity podcasts, blogs, and video content offer to SaaS start-ups.
Podcasting comes with many benefits, aside from the simple fact that more listeners are tuning into podcasts every day. Here are a few of the most significant.
Podcasts are easy(er) toĀ produce
Generally speaking, podcasts are easier to produce than video or written content. I know that this comment will draw ire from some folks, and Iām the first to agree that writing, podcasting, and producing video content all come with their own unique challenges and requisite skills that must be developed to do them well. Iām certainly not in the camp of, āpodcasts are just two people talking to each other for 20 minutes.ā Thatās a naive perspective thatās disrespectful to the people who have worked hard at perfecting the craft of podcasting and growing their audiences.
While thatās the case, I do believe that podcasts are generally easier to produce than written or video content. Video is without question the most difficult, as the actual substance of the content, the audio, and the visual elements all must work together in harmony. But I believe truly writing well is more difficult, too-for most of us āwritingā is a process reserved for bad memories of drafting essays in some long ago forgotten English class. I know many more people who can carry great conversation but canāt write to save their lives than viceĀ versa.
Also, consider the relative time involved in creating a podcast episode versus written or video content. Some points of reference:
- Noah Kaganās podcasts typically last 45 minutes to an hour-he says each episode takes 8ā10 hours toĀ produce.
- Nathan Latkaās Top Entrepreneurs podcast features short, 15ā20 minutes episodes. He books two six-hour long recording sessions each month where he records the content for 30 new episodes, and has outsourced the rest of his process (including editing, which he pays about $1 per minuteĀ for).
- Paul Stephensonās SaaS Marketing Insights podcast features 20 minute episodes that take about four hours each toĀ produce.
- Justin Jackson and John Budaās Build Your SaaS podcast features episodes of 45 minutes to an hour-Justin estimates each episode takes just over two hours toĀ produce.
For sake of comparison, many of the blog posts that Iāve written for Outseta focus on our own company and entrepreneurial journey. Because Iām writing on a topic I know well, where Iām the expert, itās routine that Iāll spend 4ā6 hours in total on these posts. But when Iām writing similar length content (2,500ā4,000 words that takes 15ā20 minutes to read) that requires interviews, research, and several rounds of revisions it often takes me 12ā18 hours to create a greatĀ post.
āIn my experience as a writer I can either write a story that leverages my existing skills or expertise in a couple hours or I can write a story that requires new research and interviews that can take anywhere from 10ā40 hours,ā agrees Michael Thomas, Founder of content marketing agency CampfireĀ Labs.
Video content-assuming youāre not making selfie-style Linkedin videos-typically takes even longer toĀ produce.
Podcasts can be consumed while multi-tasking
Podcasts can be consumed while performing other activities in a way that video or written content canāt-for example, you can listen to a podcast at the gym, while cooking dinner, or while driving. I think many people glaze over this benefit far tooĀ quickly.
Thatās too bad, because in my eyes this is the single greatest benefit of podcasting! As marketers we are all competing for the attention of our audiences and thereās a limited amount of our audienceās mental real estate that we can occupy. Everybody has time throughout their day whether itās in the car, at the gym, or while youāre simply walking down the street where you can listen to a podcast but you canāt watch a video or read written content. Thatās a very real marketing opportunity-thereās a bigger lot of time that you can potentially occupy, as well as less competition for a listenerās mental real estate. Go fillĀ it!
Podcasts are moreĀ personal
The auditory nature of podcasts ensures that personalities, point of emphasis, sarcasm, and other nuances of language arenāt lost in translation. Weāve all read a text message and misinterpreted it without the benefit of these important contextual triggers, so this is significant in communicating your message and points well. Hearing someoneās distinct voice and tone makes podcasts more personal than written content, which helps brands build a more authentic connection with their audience.
Podcasts are very guestĀ friendly
Having been a guest on several podcasts now, I can say that being a podcast guest is pretty great-itās quick, efficient, conversational, and typically less involved than co-authoring a blog post or producing a video with somebody. When someone asks you to be a guest on their podcast, itās very easy to sayĀ yes.
When youāre on the other side of the table and youāre the one recruiting podcasts guests the ask is simple and straightforward-show up and have a conversation with me for 30 minutes or an hour. The conversation is the product-it will need some editing and production polish, but it tends to be closer to the finished product than youād be if your were writing a blog post or producing aĀ video.
Podcasts are an easy way to produce long formĀ content
Podcasts are a fast, direct path to creating the long form content that search engines love. While I donāt profess to be an expert on the extent to which podcast content helps with SEO, I do know that Google wants podcast content to be searchable.
If thereās a north star thatās served me well when it comes to SEO, itās that Googleās intention is to surface the best and most relevant content in response to any given search query-of course that content could be delivered in the form of a podcast (or a podcast transcription).
A 15-minute podcast transcription tends to be about 2,000 wordsāāātry writing a 2,000 word blog post 15 minutes. Podcasting is a much more efficient path to generating long form content for search engines toĀ crawl.
How do I decide which form of content to investĀ in?
Now that weāve covered the benefits of podcasting, the question for start-up founders remains; which form of content should you be investing in? For bigger, less resource constrained companies the answer is often āall of themā and thatās totally appropriate; serving up content in a variety of formats likely makes sense. But for more resource constrained SaaS start-ups, this can be an important strategic decision.
My leading piece of advice is to follow the skills that you have on your teamāāāif you have a savvy writer on your team, write blog posts. If someone on your team is a great conversationalist or interviewer, launch aĀ podcast.
When it comes to the content weāve produced so far at Outseta, Iāve primarily chosen to invest time and effort into generating long form blog content. While I can film a Soapbox or Loom video, Iām definitely not a videographer. And while I have a lot of experience conducting interviews, Iām much more effective taking the rough output of those conversations and weaving it into a compelling narrative than I am leading an interviewee intentionally and smoothly through a conversation. Iām no Bob Costas, so written content has won out forĀ us.
Aside from the skills on your team and the content consumption tendencies of your audience, you also need to consider your product and the market that youāre trying to reach. For example, if your company serves the travel industry listening to a podcast that speaks about āthe cool blue crystalline waters of Bora Boraā probably isnāt going to be as compelling as watching video content showing those waters gently lapping up on the islandās shores. This sort of market probably lends itself to more visually oriented video content, just as a company building word processing software might lean more towards writtenĀ content.
Why blogging will make aĀ comeback
Iām personally betting that blogging will have a resurgence of sorts, as the market for both podcasts and video content continues to expand. Why? Because whether weāre talking lead capture forms, or blogs, or bell-bottom jeans these things are largely cyclicalāāāespecially in the world of B2BĀ SaaS.
As more content producers focus on channels aside from blogging, I also see the number of capable writers dwindling. Weāre living in a time where written communication is increasingly taking the form of emojis and shorthand, where technology bootcamps are generally more interesting to students than English classes. Googleās smart reply feature is even trying to write our email responses forĀ us.
While consumption patterns are undeniably growing faster for video and podcast content, movement in that direction will result in an even shorter supply of writing talentāāāproviding an opportunity for companies that choose to invest in superlative writtenĀ content.
Why video content isĀ King
Writing and podcasting aside, itās very clear to me that video content will eventually reign supreme. I thinks this is the case for twoĀ reasons:
- The barrier to entry with video content is the highest. Itās simply more difficult to put together well produced video content than written or audioĀ content.
- Video is as engaging, vivid, and rich of a format as content can take. For these reasons it can more effectively build brand authenticity, appeal to the emotions of buyers, and move an audience toĀ action.
Because the barrier to creating video content is highest, thereās less of it out there. Type almost any search query into Google, then specifically search Google Videos for the same search terms. The difference in the quality, number, and relevance of the responses is significant. This is why SEO experts like Neil Patel have chosen to go all-in on video content recentlyāāāthereās simply more real estate and top search positions easily up for grabs withĀ video.
Thereās no simple answer to whether your company should be investing in video, written, or podcast contentāāābut if you understand the unique benefits of each format, your target market, and your teamās internal skill set you can deliberately build your audience by investing in the content format that makes the most sense for yourĀ company.
Originally published at https://www.outseta.com on May 24,Ā 2019.
Should Every SaaS Startup Have Their Own Podcast? was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.