In Germany podcasts are still largely unknown. Only very few people know about the radio plays, which are available completely free of charge on iTunes. Some Internet marketers, however, have already discovered this still quite new medium for themselves and distribute their content via it.
What is podcasting?
As long as you have a microphone and can record sound on your computer and edit it later, it is possible to create your own podcast. A podcast is like a radio show or even a radio play. You can make it available to your users for free via iTunes or other platforms.
Like the creation of blogposts or videos, podcasting is another way of offering free content to its users and thus attracting visitors and eventually customers to one's own website generate revenue. Of course, you can also promote your products on your own show, or, once the show has built up a certain reach, place ads and generate revenue through them.
Podcasts are streamed via an RSS feed. If you have a WordPress page, there are free tools to embed the feed and stream it to iTunes & Co.
Why you should think about podcasting
Podcasts can be created on any topic that others might be interested in and that they would like to hear "on the go". So it may not make much sense to produce a cooking show as a podcast. After all, you want to see the dish if you can't taste it and/or you want to see it yourself. cook. But if you have a website about raising children, you can also spread your tips and tricks via a podcast. You can also tell little stories from everyday life combined with advice - there are no limits to your imagination!
Podcasts remain in the ear of your (new) user. He knows your voice, he knows your reaction to a specific topic and he might even follow your advice. This is why a podcast is extremely interesting. You can't get much closer to your users. In addition, the podcast inevitably gives them the feeling of knowing you better.
Let's just think about ourselves: If you listen to a certain radio station every day, you know the presenters and the weather man, don't you? You know about the peculiarities of the respective presenter and maybe even switch on his show deliberately.
Linking your own website to the podcast
Especially in the American region many individual entrepreneurs have discovered podcasting for themselves. They can make themselves heard much more easily and link the podcast to their website to create content. You can also adopt this idea for your website.
When you produce a show, you need to plan in advance what you will be telling in the show. You might even write a text and read it out - there's nothing wrong with that. You can then post this text as a blog post on your website. Nothing speaks against that either! So you have created two types of content.
People who can't read your article - maybe for simple reasons like lack of time or because they are blind - can still consume your content. But with the text you post through your show on the website, you have the big advantage that you also have something for Your SEO do.
Because this is how you feed the search engines and get visitors to your website again.
Podcasting - not yet so well-known in Germany
You can benefit from the fact that podcasting is not yet so well known in Germany. Because you can still easily gain a foothold in this area if you persevere.
It may still take some time until the podcasting has fully arrived in Germany. Therefore the own show might have only few listeners at first. But if you stick with it and continue to publish podcasts, for example weekly, you will be found on iTunes and Co. Every episode you produce will be there forever and on your website forever. That's why sooner or later you'll attract users and gain fans.
One example of a popular radio show that went far beyond the normal news is probably Domian. For more than 20 years Domian has been solving problems and providing assistance in his radio show. The show was very popular and was even broadcast on television at the same time.
Subscribe to podcasts
Those who publish a podcast regularly will also find subscribers. They will be notified as soon as a new podcast is published. And the barrier to hearing it is much lower than going to a website and reading the latest article. After all, you can listen to a podcast from Mobile everywhere you are. If you download it to your mobile phone at home, it's completely free.
Podcasts are on the rise
Already in 2005 there was a little podcast hype. But this quickly ebbed away again. But since the big players like Apple, Deezer and Spotify have come on board, and Google also announced that it will soon have a podcast app, the podcast is on the rise again. Apple, for example, now has its podcast app installed by default on its iPhones and the other services also offer podcasts.
Audio books also took some time to gain a foothold in Germany, but they still managed to do so. Many books are now also published directly as audio books - and sold via platforms such as Audible, which is part of Amazon.
Therefore one can confidently say that podcasting will also establish itself in Germany.
Even if it still takes some time and you only have a few listeners at first, you can still be sure that podcasting will bring you new visitors to your website. With the new visitors that you can then listen to in the podcast, new customers will of course also come.
After all, a podcast makes you much more personal by being close to your users.
Podcasting is therefore always worthwhile. The only question is when it reaches the masses.
Conclusion
For internet marketers or even entrepreneurs who want to address more users, a podcast is a good idea. Since this is not yet so well known in Germany, one needs one thing above all: staying power.
Nevertheless, this is sweetened exactly, because you can offer the content of the podcast on your website. This way you can address new users - not only via portals like iTunes, Deezer and Spotify, which offer the possibility to subscribe to podcasts, but also via the own website. Because you can also publish your content, which is discussed in the podcast. With time, there is definitely also the possibility of integrating short advertising blocks into the podcast and thus generate sales.
Quite apart from potential sales, the podcast also promises a wider reach and the possibility of addressing new users in new ways - innovative but close at hand.
If you look at podcasting from this perspective, it's definitely worth it, even if the revenue is initially lost.
Before you start the project "Podcasting" you should be aware that it means a lot of work to produce a regular show. Therefore it is a good idea to plan the content for a few months in advance. Because nothing is more unpleasant than suddenly realizing that you actually have to produce a show but don't know what about. Therefore: Planning gives you the freedom to approach your new adventure podcasting with the necessary leisure.
