Podcasts aren’t just for your weekly servings of pop culture and unsolved true crimes. In fact, a podcast can be a useful tool to help you build both your brand and your business. Over 112 million Americans have listened to a podcast in 2017, which is up 11% from the previous year (Edison Research). With the platform on the rise and a large percentage of listeners ranging between the ages of 25 and 54, a podcast can be a great way to connect your products or services to the right audience.

Still not convinced? Here are four reasons why you start a podcast today.

It’s convenient to consume.

When it comes to sharing your content through a podcast, your listeners are in complete control of how they choose to consume your content. Since two-thirds of all podcasts are heard over mobile devices, you open up the possibilities for your consumers to listen to your podcast while commuting to work, sweating at the gym, stepping outside for a smoke break, and anywhere a phone can go. By letting the consumer choose when and where to listen to the podcast, you drastically increase the chance of people hearing your message.

It’s inexpensive to produce.

Unlike videos or branded swag, podcasting has an extremely low barrier of entry.  Since podcasting relies heavily on mobile devices, it would only make sense that there are tons of apps that can make your new podcast a reality!  Most importantly, a lot of them are free.  You can use Canvas to design your cover artwork (since this isn’t about design, I’d recommend keeping it simple with a selfie and a title), and you can record your audio through Bumpers or Anchor—which are both available on Android and iOS devices. These apps will automatically list your podcast on iTunes and Google Play.

It helps you build trust with your audience.

People buy off of emotion and justify their purchases with logic, but only trust will convert a one-time purchaser into a repeat and loyal customer. Podcasting allows you to build trust with your audience by talking to them directly.  If you can earn your audience’s trust on a weekly/bi-weekly basis, and speak with authority on the subject matter of your podcast, you will become synonymous with that subject matter to your listeners. This in turn will help you be considered as not only an authority on the subject matter, but a first choice for services in your industry.

It can increase the traffic to your product.

By releasing your podcast on a regular basis, you are constantly touching your audience and reminding them of your services, but why stop there?  You could either name your podcast after your business or have your business sponsor your show so that you can always direct your listeners back to your website.  You can even take it a step further and offer your audience a special discount or deal to convert them from listeners to customers. If you have a blog, create a blog post for every podcast episode and link to the blog’s URL in your show notes. If you don’t have a blog, make sure you are posting your podcast somewhere on your website or your social media accounts with detailed show notes. This will significantly increase the traffic to your website and SEO rankings in Google.

A lot of businesses have already started using podcast to grow their business and solidify themselves as industry leaders, and the timing has never been better for you to start a podcast of your own.  Simply press record, overcome that phonophobia—we all sound weird to ourselves—, and start connecting with your audience today.