Podcasting with Ryan Fowler

Podcasting is a great marketing tool that opens a ton of doors for every business. I was fortunate enough to sit down with podcasting guru, Ryan Fowler of Orion Media, to learn about all the ways podcasts can benefit your business and for some industry tips on getting your own podcast up and running!

There are countless digital marketing tools available these days, but what’s so beneficial about podcasts is that they merge the two things that tend to have the highest impact: audio and video content. Podcasts also have a really broad reach, and they’re effective across all industries and nearly every demographic.

Podcasts are perfect for business owners who want to connect with their audiences in a more intimate way than say, sharing a newsletter or weekly email series. If you want to communicate your message with a targeted audience, you’re already on the right track, and your podcast is the vehicle that’s going to make it happen.

If you’re thinking about setting up a podcast, one of the best places to start is by listening to other podcasts that might take a similar approach. Take note of certain tactics or structures they use that resonates with you so you can mimic them in your own way.

Most importantly, before starting your podcast, know who your audience is. Do a little digging to find out what sort of people and demographics are paying attention to the established podcasters you might compare yourself to.

Once you understand who your audience will be, you’ll suddenly be able to connect with a whole new market of potential clients you didn’t have access to in the past. And when you make these connections, they’re going to be extremely valuable and long-lasting.

Now bear in mind, that podcasts are not about direct sales. They’re not advertisements, and that’s one mistake you definitely want to avoid making. Podcasts are about building relationships, getting your message out there, and investing in a long-term strategy to keep your business front of mind.

Ryan was kind enough to answer a few of my burning questions, and now I’m passing his wisdom on to you.

Podcasting FAQ with Ryan Fowler

Q: Do you need to have both audio and visual content to run a podcast?

A: The answer is technical no, you can just create the audio and have it available on various podcast streaming services. However, adding video content to accompany that audio opens a whole world f different ways and places you can use that content. Think of all the different places you watch videos yourself… YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to name a few. These are all places you can recycle snippets of your podcast that probably won’t work without the video component. (There are actually 33 different ways you can repurpose podcast content.)

1. Listen to the people you have sales calls with. This is when they ask a lot of questions, and that’s how you know what your audience wants to know from you. Each and every one of these questions becomes a topic for a podcast episode.
2. When you can verbalize your clients’ problems better than they can, you instantly become an expert in your field. Pay attention to what people are asking you and answer these questions for your new audience members before they ask them.