Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:27 — 39.6MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Spotify | Amazon Music | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More
So, you are at that stage where you are looking at a blog vs podcast strategy to implement for your small business marketing needs.
You know that blogging has been around for many years and it is possible that this method is saturated.
Podcasting on the other hand continues to be the new kid on the block.
It appears to be getting more popular and seems to offer more versatility.
However, you’re not sure which one is easier to produce.
At this point, you would like answers to the following questions.
Between the two mediums which one is easier to get started?
What is the cost to start a podcast compared to a blog?
Is there an established methodology to go from 0 to 1,000 visitors a month on a blog compared to getting 1,000 listeners on a podcast?
How to get the 10-20 blog posts written compared to podcast episodes recorded and which one will take longer?
Which option would be more suitable for your target market?
In this post, you’ll learn how to choose between a blog vs podcast for your business. The process involved in getting started and how to get your listeners to your podcast and readers to your blog.
Disclosure: Please note that this post may contain affiliate links which means that if you buy one of my recommended products I get paid a commission for sharing the link at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I have tried myself and have experienced success.
In order to help you choose between these two mediums let’s first look at what they are in their presentation.
Both blogs and podcasts can be used as inbound marketing channels as they are in a digital format which is great news for small businesses.
A blog is a written form of content that ranges from 300 to 10,000 words in length.
The reason why there’s such a wide range in the length of a blog post is that it depends on the type of post as well as the reason it was written.
Blogs are normally used to build authority and grow a following. When it comes to blog content it is normally educational and/or entertaining in nature.
Looking at the definition of a podcast, it is a form of audio content ranging in length from 7 minutes up to 2 hours.
Again, the reason why there’s such a wide range is that some podcast episodes are full-on performances.
If you want to know the average length then it is between 30-60 minutes.
Podcasts can also be used to build authority and grow an audience. The way each one is consumed can be very different.
One major reason why people listen to podcasts is to learn something new.
A key way to figure out which content marketing medium is right for your business is to first look at the statistics behind each one.
It would make sense for me to spend time looking at the statistics of each one individually to help you gain a frame of reference.
At the time of writing this blog post, there are over 48 million podcast episodes in existence. These came from over 2,000,000 podcast shows.
In case you don’t understand the difference, a podcast show can have several episodes.
Two years ago, there were only 525,000 shows with 18.5 million episodes. So, the number of podcast shows have quadrupled in number.
According to Podcast Insights, 50% of all homes in the USA are podcast fans, which represents 60 million homes in total.
At least 155 million people in the US said that they listened to a podcast.
Of the total number of podcast listeners 51% are male, 63% of listeners are white and 45% have a household income above $75,000.
In terms of devices used to listen to a podcast, Ying Lin at Oberlo states that 65% of listeners use a smartphone or tablet to engage with podcasts.
When it comes to advertising revenue, podcasts ad revenue is expected to surpass $1 billion this year.
There are currently over 600 million blogs on the Internet today worldwide and 32 million bloggers in the US alone.
Already you are starting to see the vast differences between blogs vs podcasts.
The current rate of newly created blog posts stands at 70 million new posts a month.
60% of consumers find blogs very valuable in the early stages of their buying process.
Bloggers that publish 16 posts a month receive 3.5 times more visitors compared to those who publish less.
97% of bloggers use social media to promote their posts.
36% of readers prefer blog posts that are list-based. This is according to Optinmonster.
Every month over 409 million people view 20+ billion blog posts.
Before choosing a content marketing strategy it is important to get really clear on who is your target audience.
The reason for this is that if you know that person really well, you’ll be able to produce content to suit their needs.
Another aspect of knowing your audience is understanding why they need your content.
A great way to understand your audience is to create an ideal avatar.
Here is a list of questions to get a really intimate glimpse of them.
As you can see the process of mapping out your ideal client can be very comprehensive but definitely worth it.
After getting really clear on who your ideal client is and giving them a name, it is time to look at their journey.
By their journey, I mean understanding the steps they take to make a purchase.
As you can imagine people don’t normally wake up one morning and decide to purchase a car.
Of course, there are impulse purchases for smaller items like food, clothes and gadgets.
However, for larger items like buying a car, house or investing in education this takes time.
What does your ideal client buyer journey look like?
Do you know the steps they take before making a decision?
To help you answer this question let’s first look at the stages of a buyer’s journey.
As you can see a typical buyer needs to become aware of your brand, become interested in it and then add your brand to a shortlist of options at the consideration stage.
Notice here how blogs and podcasts are both involved at the interest stage.
Here’s a question for you, do you have the other elements of the buying cycle ready?
In many cases, it is so easy to focus on looking at a blog vs podcast comparison when the bigger picture hasn’t been considered.
Now that you know what a blog is as well as who your potential ideal client will be, let’s look at the creation process.
When it comes to starting a blog and maintaining it there are a lot of things to consider.
In order to start a blog you’ll need the following:
Of course, starting a blog is not going to be free as you will need to invest time and resources to get things going.
If you are wondering what the blogging expenses would look like for the first year, here’s a summary.
| Expense | Cost | Provider |
|---|---|---|
| Domain name | $10/year | Namecheap |
| Web Hosting | $5.95/month | Siteground |
| WordPress Theme | $69/year | GeneratePress |
| Email marketing | $29/month | ConvertKit |
| Landing pages | $49/year | Elementor |
| Total | $547.40/year |
There are cheaper options available for email marketing but they will not give you the sophisticated features that come with ConvertKit as standard.
You can take a look at these 5 low-cost email service providers here.
Would you like to get a step by step guide to starting your blog in 10 days or less? Enrol in my 10-day blog challenge here.
If the blog creation process doesn’t look right for you and you’re wondering how to get started with podcasting then let’s look at it briefly.
The process involved with starting an audio podcast can be more challenging for some people.
In order to start a podcast you’ll need the following items:
As you can imagine, starting a podcast is not going to be free so let’s look at the expenses you can incur when you become a podcaster.
| Expense | Cost | Provider |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting provider | $20/month | Blubrry |
| Domain name | $10/year | Namecheap |
| Podcast mic | $100 – $199 | Rode |
| DAW | Free to $28/month | Resonate or Alitu |
| Audio Editing | $60 one time | Filmora |
| Audio Editing | $28/month | Alitu |
| Audio Leveller | Free | Auphonic |
| Audiograms | Free | Headliner |
| Total (year one) | $746.00 and $646/year (2nd year) |
Three years ago when I started my podcast there were not a lot of options in the market when it comes to podcasting equipment.
However, as you can see, there are a ton of options available for new podcasters.
Many people will advise you to use Audacity or Adobe Auditions for your DAW and podcast editing but I can tell you this from experience.
Adobe Auditions is costly and it has a steep learning curve if you are not a sound technician.
I’ve tried Audacity on several occasions on my MacBook and it has not been great at all.
If you would like a step by step guide on how to start a podcast then check out my resource over here.
Everybody and their relatives recommend Libsyn as the best podcast host but you need to check out my Blubrry vs Libsyn comparison here.
It is important to mention that there are free platforms available to host podcast content and long-form content like a blog article but remember your exit strategy.
One of the most difficult things to do after starting a blog is getting readers to know it exists.
In fact, building a following can be quite a challenge if you don’t know where to begin.
Part of the process when building out a client avatar is understanding how they consume content.
Knowing the 2-3 platforms where they hang out will help you to formulate a promotion plan.
You’ll need to divide your strategy into three different areas as follows:
In order to get readers to your blog instantly or within a period of a few weeks there are two methods. You can use paid traffic from Facebook or Google Ads.
Using Pinterest to promote your content is the next best way together with social media marketing (Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram).
Looking at medium term methods you’ll have to consider a combination of 3-4 methods. While social media marketing still falls into the category of medium-term adding search engine optimisation to the mix will help.
Guest blogging has also proven to be an effective strategy when it comes to getting your content in front of other people’s audience.
When considering a long-term strategy for your blog marketing, continuing to use social media marketing and Pinterest marketing should be included.
Continuing to build out your SEO efforts and adding in some public relations outreach will really take your blog to new places.
As I mentioned at the start of this resource, podcasting is still fairly new when compared to blogging. There are a number of marketing strategies that you can implement to get more listeners.
These include becoming a guest on other people’s podcast and before you give me a list of excuses why no one will interview you. Here’s a list of places looking for podcast guests.
Other great ways to promote your show include marketing it across social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter.
Promoting it on Pinterest using Tailwind to automate the pinning process. Creating audiograms to help you with social media promotion, you can use Headliner to create audiograms.
Remember that you can also use paid promotion channels to advertise your show as well. Here’s a list of places to advertise your show.
It is important to have a marketing budget set aside to run paid promotions, doing this will help you drive interest to your brand and paid products and services faster.
At this stage, so much information was covered on blogging that a short summary covering the pros and cons would help you decide.
There may also be some things that you may not have considered when it comes to blogging.
Now that you have a fair idea of the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to blogging let’s move on to podcasting.
While podcasting may not require many things that you’ll need for blogging there are still some essential must do’s to keep in mind.
Depending on your chosen route for either a blog or a podcast there is a bit of a learning curve and some technical aptitude required.
While podcasting may require more technical knowledge to get started remember that this is something that you can outsource depending on your available resources.
Now that you have a fair overview of the similarities and differences between a blog vs a podcast you’ll need to take everything on board and look at your options.
Before deciding on going for a blog or a podcast spend some time looking at the following considerations:
While there are some people who decide to start a blog as a hobby, at some point they may want to turn it into a business.
I know the feeling when you’re first getting started as you don’t have the answers to many questions.
Depending on your situation it may be easier to just get started.
In other cases, you’ll need to calculate everything before buying a domain name.
As someone who started over 100 blogs, I can tell you it is better to answer those questions listed.
Your other option is to start a blog in a niche where you’re passionate about the topic.
For the record, this blog started as a podcast which then became both a blog and a podcast over time.
Starting a blog or a podcast is not an easy decision.
For this reason, it is essential to have a sizable budget available if you want to run either one as a business.
Don’t spend your entire budget in the first year if you’re unsure about your niche or end goal.
It is better to run it on a shoestring budget for 1-2 years until you know what direction to take your business.
When it comes to blogging, you’ll spend more money on hiring researchers, writers and influencers. Maybe you’ll need an editor in time as well.
With podcasting, you’ll spend more money on podcast editing, advertising and outreach services.
At the end of the day, you can run both a blog and a podcast if that is something you want to do.
You can start with a blog and then start the podcast later on.
Both a blog and a podcast requires time, energy, resources and a good understanding of your audience.
Over to you, which one did you choose between a blog vs a podcast and why?
Remember to subscribe to the Success Unscrambled podcast where you will be the first to hear what’s happening in the entrepreneurial and digital marketing world.
Your positive review of this podcast is vital to keeping it alive and running for the next 12 – 24 months so please leave a positive 5-star review for us on iTunes, Spotify or any of your favourite podcast players.
As an entrepreneur, you generate income from solving big problems and challenges.
I started this blog in 2017 because I had a burden on my heart to reduce women illiteracy globally.
Because this is a huge undertaking I have decided to help 1,000 women over the next 10 years to become wildly successful in their online business through simplified marketing strategies.
That way we can build a strong business network of women who can donate 1% of their profit and together we can help reduce women illiteracy worldwide.
Would you like to be part of this movement? Shoot me an email using alvern (at) successunscrambled (dot) com.
Most Facebook Ads don’t fail because of targeting. They fail because your system can’t convert…
Let’s clear something up. Most people think targeting business owners on Facebook is the hard…
Lucy didn’t have a traffic problem.She had a conversion problem. Her ads were getting clicks.People…
Stacy wanted this year to be different but she needed help with her goal-setting exercises.…
Siobhan needed help promoting her small business but she didn't know what are the current…
Shelley started her business recently and she had a burning question, how to get potential…
This website uses cookies.