Information in this blog post was obtained from the Hubspot, Semrush Blog, and Social Media Today.
Blogging and podcasting are both popular forms of social media communication today, and more and more people are watching blogs and listening to podcasts. Both are effective ways of social media marketing, but about you may be confused which is the best choice for your marketing. I believe you will have new insights on blogging and podcasting after reading this article.
What is the Difference Between a Blog and a Podcast?
Blogs and podcasts have many similarities. They are both evergreen resources that provide education, insights, and storytelling online. Both blogs and podcasts can provide marketing opportunities for businesses. Producing a blog or podcast that people care about takes time, dedication, and knowledge. The main difference between these two resources is their format. Blogs are used for reading or getting visual information, while podcasts are used for listening." These differences make blogs a useful format for step-by-step instructions, data visualization, and SEO. Users typically read blogs on desktop and mobile devices. Readers typically seek out business blogs when trying to solve a specific problem. Meanwhile, podcasts are great for interviews, networking, and brand engagement. Users often listen to podcasts while they are doing other things, such as driving to work or cleaning their rooms. Listeners look for business podcasts when they are trying to learn about or keep up with an industry or niche.
The main difference between podcasts and blogs as creators is the way they are produced. Blogging requires writing and a lot of it. Editing, visual design, and SEO knowledge are also important skills for aspiring bloggers. Podcasting requires a set of audio skills. Podcasters need to be able to speak in a compelling way, whether it's a solo, a duo, or an interview podcast. Sound editing skills are also a must.
Reasons to Start a Blog
Promoting your business is no easy task, especially in the competitive digital marketing environment. Your blog is your dedicated platform to share the topics that are most important to you and your audience.
Of course, you can still promote your products, services, videos, podcasts, interviews while creating content that is useful to your audience. But remember: your blog posts shouldn't read like sales copy - it's not useful to readers (or fun to crawl through.)
Blogs are incredible visibility tools in their own right. Blog content exists on your site, which encourages users to click through and spend more time engaging with it. If optimized properly, your blog posts can help you rank for important keywords or qualify for Featured Snippets.
Equally important, quality and useful blog content will make you seem more trustworthy to your users. They will know to visit your site to get answers to their questions.
Each individual blog post is another invitation for search engine crawlers to crawl the web and index your site even more. When optimizing blog posts, you can think of them as individual pages, so it's important to customize their titles, meta descriptions and images.
Basically, good blog posts can increase traffic, brand awareness, credibility, conversions, and revenue.
Reasons to Start a Podcast
Podcasts are Generally Longer than Blog Posts
In today's world of Internet ADD, online readers are browsing more and reading less. This forces bloggers (businesses and individuals) to write shorter posts, which results in potential customers spending less time with your brand. Because each session with your brand is short, it takes longer to create a sense of attachment between your prospects and your brand. However, since the average length of a podcast ranges from 5 minutes to an hour, prospects will make a greater commitment to your brand and content.
Podcasts Can Expose New Audiences to Your Brand
Because podcasts are indexed and available on platforms like iTunes, podcasts are in some cases more discoverable than text-based content. The only way potential buyers can find your text-based content is through search engines or recommendations on social media networks. However, with platforms like iTunes and Stitcher, it's easy to browse channels for new podcasts. As a result, podcasts offer your brand the opportunity to be found by buyers who wouldn't be looking for you or consuming your content.
Podcasts are Easy to Consume
Your buyers are having an increasingly difficult time managing their most valuable resource - their time. One of the greatest benefits of podcasting is the ability for your buyers to use it while doing other things. More and more people are listening to podcasts while driving to and from work, exercising or working out. So unlike text-based or even video-based content that requires the buyer's full attention, podcasts can be used in the background.
Which is More Popular -- Blogs or Podcasts?
How Popular are Podcasts?
The popularity of podcasts has grown exponentially in the last decade.
According to Statista, in 2006 only 32 million people listened to podcasts each month.
By 2021, that number has grown more than tenfold to 164 million per month.
Of course, this does not take into account the number of podcasters who also run YouTube channels to broadcast their episodes. Here are some key points to remember:
Podcasts are most popular among millennials.
Most podcasts are listened to on Spotify, and the most popular genres are news and comedy.
By 2022, there will be more than 2.4 million podcasts available, including nearly 70 million episodes.
How Popular are Blogs?
While there are millions of podcasts, there are many more blogs. According to Ahrefs, by 2022, nearly 2 billion websites will have more than 600 million blogs. In addition, about 75% of Internet users already read or read blogs regularly, with food and travel blogs being the most popular. Many blogs are used as a form of content marketing in conjunction with social media or online advertising. However, since many, if not most, blogs will not be successful, new bloggers will have a tough task ahead of them to compete.
When considering the popularity of blogs and podcasts, here are some key points:
Choose the best format for your niche.
Check out the trends and see how you can improve them.
Be sure to find niches that are in high demand but sparsely populated.
How To Start Your Podcast or Blog
Whether you want to choose podcasting or blogging, or both, you need to know a few practical tips before you start.
1. Come up with a unique angle. Content without a strategy will sink quickly. To create a blog or podcast that has staying power, you need a brilliant idea - one that is unique to your business. It can't just be a good idea; it has to be an idea that you can keep exploring over time. To find your unique angle, start with a broad topic. The topic is usually related to your business product and industry. Then, revisit your mission statement. As you look at your topic through the lens of your business vision, you should have a unique perspective on your content." Once you have your perspective, make sure your other decisions support that idea. For example, if you are creating a podcast, use music and sound effects that will enhance your unique vision.
2. Focus on your skills. When starting a podcast or blog in a saturated market, size matters. While some small businesses can create a new team to make their blog or podcast successful, many businesses need to start with a team they already have, even if it's a one-person team. This means being honest about what you like and dislike, and what you can commit to over time. For example, let's say you enjoy chatting with customers and colleagues and have a hard time sitting in front of a computer for too long. It may make more business sense to start a blog, but you're more likely to create a great podcast and stick with it.
3. Evaluate your marketing team. Has someone been pushing your company to create a blog and provide topic ideas your way for the past year? Maybe they've even been writing shorter posts for LinkedIn. Is there someone on your team who enjoys podcasts? Or know the podcasts in your industry and understand what works and what doesn't? Before you start building a podcast or blog, find knowledgeable and passionate marketers on your team who may want to get involved. This step can make blogs and podcasts more manageable and increase the chances of success.
4. Know your competition. You need to know what's out there so you don't create content that your audience has already seen. Start with some competitive analysis to determine if your idea is good enough to stand out. Featured Resource: Competitive Analysis Template Then, dive into the details of your unique blog or podcast. Research long-tail keywords to help you brainstorm ways to stand out on both platforms. Podcast Lovers: Do some research on podcast SEO to help your podcast appear on popular podcast platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc. 5.
5. Find the right tools. Creating content is fun, but it takes attention to detail to make a difference for your business. One way to make the content creation process more effective is to choose the right tools.
6. Prepare. There are many resources on how to start a blog or podcast. However, once the exciting set of activities is complete, the work has just begun. To make a blog or podcast impact on your business, you need to be prepared to make every post and broadcast exciting. When you're writing a blog, this may mean drafting a clear outline, conducting time-consuming research or fact-checking. If you're preparing a podcast, it may be a routine warm-up, sound check, or understanding volume levels. The more you prepare for each blog and podcast, the more likely you are to create trustworthy resources your audience will love.
For more information on how to better create a blog or podcast to help you do better digital media marketing, check out Kevin and Amber's posts at The SMMU.
Resources
Martin, T. (2013, July 3). 3 reasons why your brand should start podcasting. Social Media Today. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/3-reasons-why-your-brand-should-start-podcasting/463121/
Ofiwe, M. (2021, March 29). How to write a blog post (even if it's the first time). Semrush Blog. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://www.semrush.com/blog/how-to-write-a-blog-post/#header3
Rumberger, J. (2023, April 14). Blog vs. podcast: Which is the best choice for your business? HubSpot Blog. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/blog-vs-podcast?hubs_content=blog.hubspot.com%252Fmarketing&hubs_content-cta=null&hubs_post-cta=blognavcard-marketing#how-start-podcast-or-blog
Comments