It’s been really important during Covid-19 for companies to carefully look at their internal communications in order to keep employees informed and engaged. With face-to-face communication disappearing, this has seen employees facing video conferencing and screen burnout. We're seeing a desire from companies to find new ways of communicating important messages to staff to keep them engaged and make them feel less isolated even if they are furloughed. The big winner in this has been something that has actually been available for many years, but like so many other things since the lockdown has really captured the imagination of a new audience. If you've not considered your own internal podcast, here's eight reasons why you should:
1. Privacy
Podcasts can be made private, so this gives communicators reassurance. Depending on your distributor (Soundcloud, Podbean, Storyboard etc), you can make your podcast password protected, accessible via a company e-mail or single sign-on.
2. Metrics
Unlike a newsletter or a conference call, you can more easily understand the engagement levels with your audience. That might include everything from how many people have listened, when they listened and at what point they switch off!
3. Employees can consume on the go
You can download a podcast and listen to it anywhere (you could even encourage your colleagues to combine it with a wellbeing activity like a walk and even help your employees reduce their screen time!).
4. Powerful
Unlike the written word, there is a much stronger emotional connection when the message is being delivered straight from the horse's mouth and particularly in these interesting times it helps to give a sense of 'we're all in this together'. It’s like being able to sit down with every employee individually and have a cup of tea with them!
5. Video vs Audio
With social distancing, it’s more challenging to bring people together to make a video. However, for many types of communication audio can be more effective as there are fewer distractions. It's not so good for showcasing your new product range!
6. It’s not as scary as being filmed!
A lot more people in your business will feel more comfortable talking to a microphone than staring at a camera, which means that the podcast is a scalable means of communication, potentially enabling you to interview people from across the business, increasing engagement.
7. Creativity
There’s a misconception that audio is boring. Be creative with your podcast and you can do so much more than a standard interview, from audioblogs to town hall style Q&As with your employees. You can take ideas from the thousands of podcasts that are freely available on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, BBC Sounds etc.
8. Cost effective
The great news is that podcasts don't have to be expensive: it all depends on the complexity of the recording, your editing experience and the distribution requirements.
If you're thinking of dipping your toe in the 'podcast puddle' , why not get in touch? We've been helping businesses produce podcasts for over five years and would love to discuss how we can help you. Contact: emma@bigfootcommunications.co.uk.