Huyen: Do you know that up to 70% of your website traffic are mobile users? If your target audience are busy professionals or mums with kids or elderly people… what would be the type of content that these types of audience can consume easiest? Definitely not a lengthy article that is full of text, most won’t have the time or patience to get through it all.
In today’s media noise, it’s harder to set yourselves apart from your competitors if you do the same things that they are. So, you need to stand out by doing something different and create a more personal connection with your existing and new prospective patients, and using podcasts is a great way to do that.
In this episode, we’ll discuss the 6 reasons why healthcare professionals should start podcasting.
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Podcast Intro
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Steve:
Welcome back to another episode of Online Marketing For Doctors podcast, my name is Steven Tait and my co-host from the intro is Huyen Truong.
Like videoing, podcast popularity is on the rise and is one of the most mobile friendly types of content. I love listening to podcasts myself and I’m usually on podcasts when working out or driving, as it is a really mobile friendly type of content.
Podcasts are highly‐targeted. It seems that there’s a dedicated, top‐quality podcast for every imaginable niche out there, from true crime case reports to discussing Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This also means that we can reach just about any audience we want to with them.
Now, one of the core benefits of podcasting is that it helps Build A Better Relationship With Your Existing and Prospective Patients. Building a relationship with your audience is crucial. Whether this is through actively engaging with them through various marketing platforms or through social media accounts.
Without establishing a connection, you won’t have loyal patients coming back to see you for your services or recommending you to their family and friends. One-way communications like direct mail are great for pushing a message, but they aren’t too good for engaging with individuals and it’s hard to scale with traditional mailing.
Huyen:
Yeah, absolutely…As you know, personalisation is key when marketing as a business. You want to be seen as real person helping out other real people. Not a robot.
Do you agree with me that people are more likely to buy from a trusted source than a complete stranger? Working to build this rapport with your audience will see you making more conversions and gaining invaluable feedback about your content and also your services or products.
Steve:
Whilst podcasting is a one-sided medium, each episode is being delivered by one person. Podcasts are, by nature, conversational. When you listen to a podcast, you get the feeling that the person is talking directly to you, not to whoever happens to be listening in.
This will not only build your brand credibility on social media, but it will also give you a way to convert these users. If someone has taken the time to listen to your podcast and reach out to you, they are more likely going to buy into what you’re selling.
Huyen
Yep, that’s correct….the second benefit of podcasting is that it is fairly Easy to Create and Start, helping Save Time For Busy Healthcare Professionals.
Creating a podcast is not as hard as you may initially think. The bare essentials are a good quality microphone, headphone, a computer with wifi connection and that’s pretty much it. Once you have these in place, you can begin your podcast.
This works especially well for busy healthcare professionals as it’s a great way to save your time by speaking about a topic that you know very well already instead of spending a couple of hours writing an in-depth article. And a podcast doesn’t have to be long, anything from 5 to 30 mins are all good.
Steve
To get started, first of all… you will need to sit down collectively with any key decision makers in your clinic and decide on a niche and topic you want to talk about for your podcast.
Once you have made that key decision, you want to begin preparing for each episode. Work with the podcast host (who you have selected to run the podcast) to create an episode list in advance, identifying the topics you want to cover, so you don’t unnecessarily duplicate content in other podcasts.
At the same time, you will want to conduct an equipment check. You can’t create a podcast if you don’t have the proper equipment. We have a list of recommended equipment for you to get started in the show notes below, so don’t forget to download them after you’ve listened to this podcast.
Huyen
Actually …an important note here is before deciding on a launch date, you will want to record several episodes beforehand. This will allow the host to get into the flow of creating content and also allow your audience to check out other episodes that you have produced when they’ve discovered you for the first time.
This will also allow you to collectively evaluate the quality of your equipment and broadcasts. When podcasting for a business, the perceived quality of the podcast will reflect on the brand, so you need to make sure that it’s spot on.
And If you are trying to position your brand as a thought leader or expert in your field, but your podcast is of low quality it becomes more difficult to achieve. You should consider investing in better equipment if your current equipment does not live up to the standard you are trying to project.
Steve
Do you know that Doctor is an academic title that originated from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning.[1] The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre [dɔˈkeːrɛ] meaning ‘to teach’. We believe teaching is the foundation of healthcare professionals.
And the 3rd benefit of podcasting is that it is a Great Method of Teaching. Not only can your audience listen to you wherever they are, but they will also be learning from you. If your audience is able to learn something from you, they are receiving free value.
Value can come in multiple forms: Learning, entertainment, insight, inspiration and so on. You feel good about yourself when you receive value. It also goes a long way in influencing the decision-making process.
This goes hand in hand with building authority (which we will get to shortly). The act of teaching builds authority. We are conditioned when we are young to listen to the teacher and follow what they say.
The same concept applies here. If your podcast is educational or industry focused, you are going to attract listeners who are interested in these areas. By targeting your audience correctly, you can create a community of like-minded, loyal brand advocates. Nothing shouts success more than a listener recommending your podcast to one of their friends.
The easiest way to achieve success with this? Be entertaining or teach them something useful. But why not strive for both?
Huyen
Yes I agree, educational and entertaining are the key success elements..
Now the 4th benefit ties closely with our previous 3rd benefit; that a podcast Helps to Build Authority. Authority building should be something your clinic should be actively working on. Setting your business apart from its competitors will put you as one of the top choices in your industry.
If you know a lot about a topic then podcast about it. Not only will you attract listeners interested in the topic, but you will also show that you know your stuff.
Businesses like to throw around buzzwords like ‘specialists’, ‘experts’, ‘the best option’ etc. The problem with this is that a new visitor to your website isn’t going to take you on your word – they will know the person is trying to sell to them. Instead, podcasts help demonstrate or show your authority, and allow the listener to attach that title to you organically.
Steve
Purchasing decisions are made through various different variables. However, confidence and authority are two of the most impactful. How can you build authority but also give the consumer the confidence that you are the right person to buy from?
Easy… show them. Actions speak louder than words. Give your prospects a positive experience, they will choose you over your competitor every time. Show your prospects that you have a podcast dedicated to providing them free value in your industry, and they will think more highly of you. If your competitor has an identical website to you without a podcast, without the Youtube channel, or without a social media following; are they going to have as much authority as you if you did?
As a business and a brand, you want to position yourselves above the competition. A podcast is a way to do that.
Before moving on to the final benefits, we’d like to show you how you can build authority and attract new patients at the same time on auto pilot through our new webinar sales funnel course.
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Webinar Sales Funnel commercial
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Huyen
Welcome back to the show and our final 2 benefits of podcasting… Another key benefit of podcasting is that you can invite Additional Guests.
You can invite other healthcare professionals to join you on your show, people who you think that your audience would benefit from his or her knowledge. It’s a great way to build up authority and engagement with your audience when you are constantly trying to educate and deliver value to them.
Once you start podcasting, you’ll be building up your profile as a host and you might be able to get yourself featured on other relevant shows that target the same audience as yours.
Steve
Indeed, speaking as a guest on other podcasts or shows, has many additional benefits, including;
- The ability to reach a new market with your unique message.
- Influencer status. When you go on another podcast or show, not just anyone is going to be interviewing you. The person handling the interview is someone that their market respects and looks up to. Once you are interviewed by them, will be receive some extra influence and status.
- Call-to-action. During your time on the podcast, you can tell listeners about what you can do to help and how they can contact you… free publicity!
Huyen
That sounds great right? Now moving on to our final number 6th benefits of podcasting is The Potential Sponsorship Offers. This is the opportunity for you to advertise or promote yourself on other relevant podcast channels or promote products or services through your channel under the format of sponsorship.
You may be surprised to find that one day a major pharmaceutical company or a relevant healthcare service provider wants to have a spot on your show. It’s certainly a viable route for you to go down if you build a sizable audience.
Steve
Once you have a large number of episodes under your belt, you can begin searching for sponsors. This will provide you will an alternate revenue stream for your practice.
It is also important to remember that you can peddle your own products and services on your podcast too. Whilst this won’t open up another revenue stream, it can work towards increasing the amount you are currently selling.
Huyen
With a basic microphone and free audio editing software like Audacity, you can get started now. Remember, it’s not always about how you say it, but about what you say.
When podcasting, the hardest part is choosing great content. Answering your patients’ frequent questions is a good place to start with. So, start your podcasting efforts off with an in-depth FAQ series and set yourself up as a leader in your industry right from your first podcast!
If you need help setting up your Podcast channel, contact us and our professional team will help guide you through the process and create a leading show for your niche.
Thanks for tuning in today and we look forward to speaking to you in the next episode.
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