Contrary to what you may think, you don’t need to be a podcaster to use audio in your digital marketing.

While podcasting is an awesome way to build and connect with an audience, it takes a lot of commitment creating a show. From concept to equipment, to promotion and managing guests, you’ve got to be all in if you want to make a dent on the iTunes charts and attract a loyal audience.

There are real benefits to publishing a podcast:

• Intimate, person to person connection (nothing like someone talking directly to you, in your ear)
• Increased website traffic
• Develop long-lasting relationships with influencers in your niche
• Speaking invitations
• Improve your communications skills
• Easy to use, on demand technology
• Portable

Many podcasting “rock stars” have hit it big with their weekly or daily shows. But, if that’s not your thing, you can still leverage audio to connect with your audience and reap the same benefits.

Create Audio Micro-Content

For many years, I’ve been touting the benefits of creating micro-content as a way to repurpose blog content and get more visibility and traffic to your site. 

In the free 7-Day Visibility Challenge, you learn how to repurpose your evergreen blog posts with Soundcloud. Then in the recent 30-Day Online Visibility Challenge, I challenged participants to tell micro-stories with audio to drive traffic to their lead gen offers.

There are hundreds of audio apps you can use with your smartphone so I’m going to make it easy for you and share four apps that I use and am currently experimenting with for creating an audio journal for my adventure in Peru.

Recommended Reading: Living the Laptop Lifestyle – Managing Work and Adventure

Each of the apps below is available for iOS and Android (Anchor is in beta). Each one is free or has a free option. 

Audio Apps

Soundcloud – I’ve been using Soundcloud for several years. Not only is it an audio hosting platform, they make it easy to follow broadcasters you love, upload and record from the web and the app, share, and comment on the shows and playlists you follow. 

You can apply to create a podcast from a playlist of your sounds. This is what I do with the Adventures in Visibility show. The video replays are repurposed by stripping the mp3 file out, then uploaded to the Soundcloud playlist which in turn auto-posts to my iTunes channel. I also embed the audio tracks on my blog and share to my social networks. For those who prefer to listen to content vs. watch a video or read a post, this is the perfect option.

For the Summer Stories Challenge, participants were encouraged to create short audio stories with a call to action leading to a blog post, a free gift, or webinar. Lisa Douthit of Wellness Warrior posts short meditations.

AudioBoom – AudioBoom touts itself as “the leading mobile, web and connected device platform for the very best spoken-word content in news, current affairs, business, entertainment and sports.” 

Once you download the app and set up your account, you’ll be able to follow, download and create playlists. On the top navigation bar, you’ll find the record button. Tap it and you can immediately begin your recording, up to 10 minutes. You also have an option to apply as a podcaster and to create an iTunes feed for your broadcasts.

Patricia Gozlan of The Prosperity Zone broadcasts tips in both English and Italian.

Anchor – A relative newcomer to the audio scene, Anchor serves a slightly different purpose. In a way, it’s even more intimate in that it’s designed to spark conversation. As a broadcaster you record short audio clips, include a short description and relevant hashtags. Your listeners can respond easily via audio which gets a conversation going between you and among your followers.

Recording is as easy as talking on the phone. Literally. To record, tap the record button, then hold your phone up to your ear, like talking on the phone, and, well, talk. Recordings are limited to two minutes. You can review your “wave” before you publish.

A popular format is to record a question of the day. As I mentioned above, I’m toying with the idea of creating an audio journal during my adventure in Peru. 

You can see below, that you can easily embed your waves and share on social media.

Note: at the time of publication, the Android app is in beta and available by invitation only. I have a few invites available, first come, first serve. If you want one, let me know in the comments below.

Rev Voice Recorder – Rev is not a social media app. It’s a straight-forward recording app. The cool thing is that the folks behind Rev also offer a transcription service for $1 per minute.

This is why I like it: Record. Review. Share via email, Dropbox or Evernote. Transcribe.

OK, it’s not exactly an audience engagement app, but if you’re a blogger I know you get great ideas when you’re not in front of your computer. Grab your phone and record on Rev, then send it immediately to get it transcribed. A two or three-minute recording is often turned around in less than 24 hours. Copy into a new blog post and save as a draft. Now you have the outline or primary ideas for your blog post, in writing. 

Choose the Right App for the Job

As with any content you create for your business, keep your goals in mind:

• What message do you want to send?
• Who is the message for?
• What do you want the listener to do?
• Do you want to tell a specific story?
• What’s your call to action?

These questions don’t necessarily apply to using Rev Voice Recorder unless you’re using it to conduct interviews. The questions do apply if you’re using any of the other three apps. 

Anchor is ideal for engagement, getting feedback, quick promotions for your long-form podcast, webinars or blog posts.

AudioBoom, with it’s longer recording time, can work for a micro-podcast, daily tips and tutorials, how-to’s, audio blogs and short stories.

Soundcloud is similar to AudioBoom. For me, it’s great for repurposing videos and recording blog posts.

I always recommend experimenting with new tools and apps to find the ones that work best for you and the type of content you create. You’ll quickly figure out which ones you like the best.

Now it’s your turn. What’s your favorite audio recording app? In what ways do you use audio in your digital marketing?

The post 4 Easy Audio Apps Help You Engage with Your Audience appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.