It seems that all anyone talks about nowadays is their favourite podcasts. From true crime to beauty, it may not seem like there’s a space for your business to create a podcast – but that’s where you’re wrong!
Creating a podcast can be a rewarding experience. Here, at Elite Words, our Founder and Director Natalie Dawson is the co-host of Leader Talk, a weekly podcast where high-level business leaders share advice for SMEs. You wouldn’t necessarily link a communications service with a business leadership podcast, but it works because it aligns with Natalie’s desire to give back to other small or medium-sized business owners.
Your podcast doesn’t have to be centred on what your business does, instead, it should reflect a topic or area that you are passionate about. Building and creating a podcast can be a long and time-consuming process so you should be interested in what you’re talking about every week. Nobody will listen to a podcast if the host is bored of its subject matter!
Podcasts have a number of benefits for businesses, and they can be simple to produce. Here, we will explain why your business should start a podcast and how you can begin one. Let’s get into it!
Podcasts – more than just a good listen
Podcasts offer diversity to an audience that doesn’t have the time to scroll social media all day or read a 3000-word blog post. They are a perfect platform to make topics that are long and dense, fun and exciting. This can help you build your brand image, allow you to become an authority for your business area, and gain consumer trust.
With over 800,000 active podcasts and over 54 million episodes currently available worldwide, there is a high demand for new content. This offers a prime opportunity for your business to tap into captivated audiences and grow organic traffic. Podcasting presents a new way of reaching an engaged audience, one that can create a personal connection while offering listeners high-quality content. Imagine if this blog post was actually a podcast. I could make jokes, express things through analogies and you would get to know me better. A podcast is a way to open up and build relationships with current and new customers. In fact, 64% of consumers want brands to connect with them, highlighting the importance of utilising different platforms to form strong customer relationships.
Reaching a new audience
Podcasts can help your brand reach new audiences. By creating an engaging and entertaining podcast, your business can improve its brand awareness and generate a positive brand image.
Podcasts are a growing market with more and more people joining each day. In fact, 37% of Australians actively listen to podcasts each month, that’s around 10 million Australians! There aren’t many platforms where you have access to such an engaged and captivated audience, and this is what makes podcasting such a prime opportunity.
Inexpensive advertising
Podcasting is a great way to advertise your business and products without having to pay traditional media outlets. It’s also highly effective with 81% of podcast listeners saying they sometimes or always pay attention to podcast ads!
Because the podcast is your own platform you can advertise what you want on it, without any costs. If it doesn’t take off or doesn’t work out, then there’s no loss. You can advertise without fear of failure.
While advertising on your podcast is a must-do, it’s also important to strike a balance. You don’t want to advertise so much that nobody wants to listen, at the same time you don’t want to advertise too little. Ensure that you make a podcast that provides beneficial and high-quality information first before then focusing on how you want to advertise your business within it.
Podcasts are an effective advertising tool for all kinds of businesses. In fact, 71% of podcast listeners indicate that they would purchase a product after listening to a podcast! From industrial products to credit cards, a variety of businesses are advertising on podcasts every day. To ensure your advertising works you must make the topic of your podcast suitable. If you’re creating a beauty podcast but your business is about selling furniture it may not be a great fit.
Okay so we understand the benefits of starting a podcast, but how do you set it up?
A step-by-step guide to starting a podcast
It may feel like you need the fanciest equipment or the most expensive setup but all you really need is the confidence to start. A podcast is as simple or as difficult as you make it. We realised this when we began creating Leader Talk. While we didn’t have the best equipment or perfect backgrounds, we were passionate about giving podcasting a shot.
Listen to podcasts regularly for a little while prior to beginning. This will help you understand what you like and dislike so that you can create a podcast that reflects your passions. It’s also beneficial as it will provide you with inspiration and a better understanding of how the platform works.
So, what’s the first step to creating a podcast?
1. Think of a name
The hardest part is always choosing the right name. While we can get caught up in selecting a clever name or one that involves a pun, it’s not always the best choice. On the opposite end, while a more descriptive name may tell your audience exactly what your podcast is about, it’s might also not be the most memorable title. Finding a balance between fun and descriptive is the best way of selecting a name that will capture the attention of an interested listener.
2. Plan an episode
Failing to plan is planning to fail. While this saying is pretty cheesy it has merit. You must plan out your episode and every episode after that, so you are recording with an aim. Nobody wants to listen to a mindless conversation, they want to digest entertaining information.
Consider creating a detailed document with the structure, ideas and questions you want to answer. This can be as long or as short as required but it should cover the important details. By planning your episode, you can better ensure that your podcast is engaging, constructive and informative, all the reasons people listen to podcasts. It will also help you to speak in an engaging manner, as you know what to talk about and the areas you want to cover.
In the beginning, don’t worry about the length of your podcast. Instead, focus on making each minute count by filling it with valuable information. Whether your podcast is 10 minutes or three hours if it’s quality information people will listen to it.
3. Create an episode schedule
People enjoy consistency. Whether you post once a month or once a week, having a consistent schedule that people can rely on will make them more invested in your podcast. Think realistically about how often you can post a podcast episode without your content being negatively affected. When it comes to podcasts it’s all about providing high-quality content that people are interested in.
Also, a handy tip, always aim to post your podcast on either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday as this is when you’ll get the most engagement. Whatever you do avoid posting on the weekend!
4. Recording
Okay, so the recording aspect of podcasts can be where people lose confidence. It’s a completely new technology that can be difficult to learn and understand if you’re a newbie – and that’s okay! While this is the most daunting part of podcasts it’s also simple to learn. While we’ll provide you with a brief rundown this should be an area you invest some of your time and potentially some of your money into.
Here is a list of some equipment that you must have before you start podcasting:
- a computer
- a microphone
- recording software (these can be free such as GarageBand and Audacity).
This equipment is the minimum that you should have. Research each item and select the one that fits your budget – we’re not saying to go out and buy the most high-tech option if you don’t have the resources! This equipment will ensure that you can not only produce a podcast but can create one that is high-quality and will engage listeners, not turn them away because of bad audio.
5. Posting
The final step to producing a podcast is simply to post it! To do this you can use either a network or a website to upload your podcast to. After this, you can then submit your entire show to be shared across all podcast platforms, pretty easy right?
Here are three hosting platforms that we recommend:
- BuzzSprout
- Spreaker
- Transistor.
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Creating and launching a podcast might seem like a daunting ambition, but it shouldn’t have to be. There are many benefits to launching a podcast that you may not even realise. Through being involved with Leader Talk, the Elite Words team have been challenged positively and it’s expanded our experiences. It’s also been a great way that we can learn from leaders and create strong connections with a range of people and businesses.
We recommend every business considers starting a podcast as it can be transformational for yourself and your business.
If you need help with podcasting or any other communication and copywriting services, don’t hesitate to contact the Elite Words teams today!
