Podcasting is the Andy Warhol of content marketing.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Warhol created a unique story proposition by exploring the link between art and popular culture.
His work was at the forefront of the visual and pop art scene because almost nobody else was doing what he did — and he made much of his best work freely available.
Today, podcasting is the emerging platform for forward-thinking content marketers who want to take advantage of the power of audio.
But just like other content marketing activities, to get the most from your audio content, it’s best to approach it as one important part of an overall content marketing strategy.
How to repurpose your podcasts (and save time)
Savvy content marketers repurpose successful pieces of content into other formats to extend their reach and attract new audiences.
Smart podcasters do the same.
Yesterday on Copyblogger, I shared interview best practices from top podcasters.
Now, here are six ways to use insightful audio content to enhance your other content marketing activities.
1. Turn transcripts into blog posts
One of the simplest ways you can repurpose your podcasts is to transcribe them and post the content on your website.
These transcriptions will help more people find specific episodes of your show in search results.
If you have the budget, you can outsource this task to a transcription service such as Kibin or Rev.
Pat Flynn, host of the Smart Passive Income Podcast notes how transcripts of his shows provide extra, important value for his audience.
“The transcriptions help for a number of reasons,” he said. “I have a lot of people who are deaf in my audience. They’ve … thanked me for doing that. I also have show notes that are bullet points [or] a list of things that are covered in the episode — and also ways to continue [the conversation] with calls to action to do certain things.”
2. Research your next book
Many nonfiction writers spend a significant amount of time interviewing people within their niche as part of research for a book.
Research is an important part of the writing process, but it’s also time-consuming.
If you are a podcaster, you can combine your podcast interviews with your book research.
For example, Joanna Penn, host of The Creative Penn Podcast, includes content from her podcast episodes in her nonfiction books, such as Business for Authors.
3. Grow your email list with helpful giveaways
You can use the contents of a podcast to grow your email list.
John Lee Dumas, host of EntrepreneurOnFire, has grown his business by repurposing podcast interviews for email opt-in giveaways.
“Creating [email list] opt-in giveaways and blog posts that are round-up style … have both gotten some really incredible feedback from our audience — including a share by Tim Ferriss,” he said.
Top 15 Business Books Recommended by Today’s Top Entrepreneurs is an example of his repurposed content.
4. Create an online course
Copyblogger founder and CEO Brian Clark used a series of podcast episodes as part of two weeks of free online marketing training.
John Lee Dumas also used this approach to create courses about podcasting and webinars, respectively.
“We also recently created Free Podcast Course and The Webinar Course, which are in a lot of ways repurposed content (although I did re-record the videos for each course),” Dumas said. “We’ve been seeing great conversions from providing free, valuable content to our audience — plus, it’s all automated.”
After you’ve finished a series of interviews, you might have plenty of raw content you can use as the foundation of an online course that you could complete with transcripts, images, webinars, and other supplementary materials.
5. Build social proof
When an astute podcaster interviews a high-profile authority within his niche for a podcast episode, he uses portions of his interview to promote his show and add value to other content on his site.
For example, you could mention the people you have interviewed on your About page or on a landing page.
Matt Johnson, host of the Runner Academy Podcast, looks for opportunities to utilize podcast content as social proof.
“Podcast interviews with respected guests are another form of social proof when your message and their message aligns,” he said. “The ability to leverage the story of someone you have interviewed and refer back to the original content for more detail provides … exposure to more of your content.”
6. Record video content
Joanna Penn has recorded more than 200 shows and has turned many of her podcast episodes into blog posts and YouTube clips.
“I record video on Skype; then I put the video on YouTube. I take the video and turn it into an MP3. I use that for iTunes and Stitcher,” she said. “So I have a blog post, a video, and a podcast — and all three have different audiences.”
Jay Baer often turns one interview from the Social Pros Podcast into many different types of content that appear on various places online.
“On my Social Pros Podcast, we do monthly recaps of smart things our guests say,” he said. “We’ve also done full ebooks based on our guests’ common educational and occupational histories.”
Embrace the business of podcasting
Podcasting is a portable form of content that your customers and prospects can consume without having to spend their valuable time in front of a monitor, tablet, or screen.
If getting in front of the microphone makes you uncomfortable, consider how podcasting could open up new doors for your business and develop connections that otherwise wouldn’t be possible.
“The podcast is one of the reasons I was able to leave my job and become an author entrepreneur,” Joanna Penn said. “I have gone on to work with a lot of the people I’ve had on the podcast.”
Building these connections in a public space will also help you deepen your bond with listeners and grow your business.
“Podcasting has made my brand what it is today,” Matt Johnson said. “Without podcasting, I wouldn’t have made the impact on as many runners as I have been able to and connect with them on such a personal level.”
Grow your audience with audio content
With thoughtful planning and focused work, you can easily repurpose your podcasts into other forms of content that will help you grow your audience.
If people ask why you’re venturing into podcasting, tell them Andy Warhol sent you.
Let us know over on LinkedIn how you plan to expand your content marketing strategy with audio …
Editor’s note: If you found this article useful, make sure to also check out Beyond Chitchat: Here’s How to Extract Expert Knowledge From Your Next Interviewee by Bryan Collins.
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