Note: This was a blog post that I originally wrote on my other site Mobile Mixed.
Do you know how your customer prefers to connect with you?
You see, the mobile device has allowed us customers to connect with brands and businesses on our own terms.
Whenever we want, wherever we want, however we want it, and on whatever device we want.
Deliver your content to your customer so they can engage on their own terms, and you’ll dramatically increase your reach.
My friends and mentors, Jason and Jeremy of Internet Business Mastery were the first podcast talking about Internet Marketing. They release a new episode each and every week, which is pretty common for podcasters.
For years they released their podcast each week and that was it.
Then they added an amazing blog, where they would dive deep into topics, include videos , provide checklists and more..
If you’re a regular reader and listener of theirs, you’d know that a couple of years ago, the content you could read on the blog was different than the content you could listen to on their podcast.
It’s not that they were trying to keep certain topics to specific platform, they just had their podcast, and had their blog.
Enter The Audio Blog
Within the last year or so, they decided to experiment and weave audio blogs into their podcast feed.
An audio blog is simply just a recording of the author reading the content to you. Sometimes it includes little tangents within the originally written content, but that’s entirely up to you.
Whether it’s Jason, or Jeremy, or even a guest blogger, it’s not uncommon to hear that individuals voice reading that audio blog to you.
As a regular Internet Business Mastery reader, I began to notice that the titles of their podcast shows were beginning with the words “AUDIOBLOG”. I quickly realized that these were not regularly scheduled podcast episodes, but a new segment of content delivered via audio.
They were super short, sometimes even 4 minutes long.
As I was planning to speak at New Media Expo this past January, I asked Jason and Jeremy if they wouldn’t mind sharing some stats with me on the success of their Audio Blog. Their results blew my mind!!!!
By creating their audio blog, they introduced their podcast listeners to a whole new level of content.
Content they never new existed.
Let’s look at the three of their posts from 2013.
May 2013: The First Key to Online Business Success
Original Blog Post visits: 2,755
Audioblog Downloads: 28,720
Difference: +942%
April 2013: 3 Easy Steps To Becoming Mobile Friendly (This was a guest post of mine that I recoded the audio blog for)
Original Blog Post vistis: 558
Audioblog Downloads: 24,947
Difference: +4,370 %
March 2013: The Secret To Endless Motivation
Original Blog Post Visits: 1099
Audioblog Downloads: 20,914
Difference: +1,803%
Across these three posts they increased their reach and exposure of this content by 2,371% on average.
An Audio Blog can make your written content more mobile friendly
In Jason and Jeremy’s case, that meant dramatically increasing the reach and exposure of their content.
If you didn’t already know, 61% of podcasts are downloaded from a mobile phone, making podcasting, and more specifically, audio, extremely mobile.
These numbers are great but the most interesting part was the feedback that they received from their listeners. They got emails from their audience saying:
- “I didn’t even realize you had text blog content”
- “Thank you for finally letting me consume all your content in the way I want”
- “What an awesome way to create more value. Keep it up”
Not only do the numbers prove that their audio blog increased their content’s exposure but it made their audience happier.
Whether you’re a podcaster or not, the world of audio is a different beast than your standard written blog posts.
Some people just don’t like reading.
Adding your content to iTunes, Sound Cloud and Stitcher radio can put your content in front of a completely new audience.
Now, I know this is just one example, but I had told my friend John Loomer about the “audio blog”, and he recently implemented it.
Just the other day he emailed me saying:
I’ve been experimenting with the audio blog and my on site time has increased by 20%.
If these guys can benefit from repurposing their content in to the audio format, and see this sort of reach and engagement, it’s something you should highly consider doing yourself.
Forcing your audience to consume content on your terms will only limit your impact.
I’ve released a few audio blogs, albeit not on a consistent schedule but I saw similar trends. I’ll definitely be doing this moving forward.
Have you tried the audio blog? Do you listen to audio blogs? If you want to increase your blogs reach, it may be something you want to try.
If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
