The Battle of Blog vs. Podcast

The question mulling around in most business leaders’ brains is: would my business profit more from a blog or a podcast? This question seems to be continuously fluctuating and is regularly debated. The answer is that it all comes down to personal preference, business model and the needs of your audience.

Blog Pros and Cons

Blogs began to grow in popularity in the mid-2000s until they were a universal marketing tool used by reporters, influencers and businesses around the globe. The platform has proved itself to be timeless and effective. With the versatile aspect of blogs, you can truly create whatever comes to your mind – health tips, food recipes or business marketing. Since every business owner and customer is different, blogs allow you to craft a vision that can be interrupted through different perspectives and reach a larger audience by dialing back the brand personality. Blogs take less time all around from conception to consumption. Your audience should be able to digest your blog within 10-30 minutes.

While blogs can be the perfect instrument to get your message across, they lose their punch under a few circumstances. They lose power if posted inconsistently, just like episodes to your favorite show, if they are irregularly released you lose interested and traction. Lack of writing and grammar knowledge will make your blog appear unprofessional and possibly hurt your credibility. Last, unlike podcasts, you can not multitask while reading a blog. They will require your undivided attention and commitment.

Podcast Pros and Cons

With the growing increase in podcasts over the past few years, you could argue the value is superior. Information provided by Edison Research shows 51 percent of Americans over the age of 12 are listening to podcasts, with 54 percent of those listeners saying they are more likely to consider a brand they hear advertised on their favorite podcast. Depending on your target audience, podcasts can be used as a tool to captivate your younger audience while they juggle work, families or education. The audio aspect from podcasts allows the audience to multitask while going about their everyday life, such as daily commutes, household chores or a monotonous workday. Creating your brand personality is seamless and easy when listeners can hear it in your voice, from your perspective and without personal interpretation.

Podcast fall short when the personality behind the show doesn’t deliver an effective and compelling message.  When your voice is the catalyst of your brand, you must be engaging, convincing and informed. If your business is searching for a quick way to promote your message, a podcast is not the platform for you. An average podcast is 25 to 55 minutes with advertisements. This allows for listens to zone in and out of the story while multitasking.

When put head to head, podcasts and blogs stack up evenly, both with positive and negative aspects, and both can be repurposed on social media and websites to gain more traction. It comes down to personal preference, audience needs and knowledge.

If you are interested in learning more about how Black Twig Marketing and Communications can help determine if podcasts or blogs are more effective for your business, email Tom Gatti.