Having your own podcast is one of the best ways to reach out and send your message to the world. Podcasts are very dynamic and offer a different experience for you and your customers. It may be what’s missing from your bag of tricks, too. If you are considering making one, you’ll find that this blog will be very useful. Here’s how to start a podcast for your business.
Before anything else, you need to be entirely sure about why you’re starting a podcast. You have something to say and you want your customers to hear you out. At the same time, you want to sound more relatable, feel more human to them. Also, you want to have a little more fun while you’re at work. A podcast is an answer to these situations. You can creatively and intimately interact with your customers through one. And with their increasing popularity, starting a podcast lets you tap into the crowd of listeners who could be potential customers.
Your business needs to have its own podcast. Some customers find About Us pages and brief summaries boring to read. A podcast makes the same information more entertaining and appealing to customers. Also, you want to set your business apart by building on your credibility. By creating a podcast, you make yourself a resource of knowledge for your industry, which will help create your identity as an industry leader.
So, what’s your podcast about? It could be as straightforward as what you have to offer to your buyers. Still, you could go deeper. Maybe talk about how you craft each product, even as far as where you go for your raw materials. You could tell your customers what inspired you to venture into your field. The podcast could also be a means for your patrons to let their thoughts about your business be known. Really, it can be anything about you and your business. You just need to settle on an angle and choose a compelling message that will help keep customers and listeners wanting to know more.
Having your own podcast can also be considered content creation. You could use your podcasts as materials for your social media campaign or on your running ads. An overall theme for either your podcast or ad campaigns may be repurposed into creating content for each other’s end. It is important, then, to do a serious brainstorming session as to what you will be talking about in your podcast. You don’t make one for the sake of having one, rather, in your business’ case, you create a podcast to help your business grow.
Now, this is when it gets technical. You must decide on how you go about your podcast. You could have a co-host, have interviews with known personalities in your company or experts in your field of business, or even your own customers. Will you be recording in a studio, at home, or while you’re at work? Creating an improvised setup may be something you would like to put into consideration. Also, this includes the length of each episode and the frequency of your releases. Remember to make each episode packed with meaningful information, but don’t make it too long since you wouldn’t want to bore your listeners. Once you’ve got a topic in mind and specifics for the episode planned, all you have to do is start the recording, Use editing tools for cutting and cleanups on your audio that you are most comfortable with. Satisfied with your work? Then you’re ready to make your first release!
With your podcast all set, it’s time to choose the platform on which you are going to have it hosted. Try starting with the most well-known ones, such as Spotify and Apple Music, which most of your customers are likely to be using. Don’t stop there, however, since there are more platforms out there, some specifically made for the purpose of hosting podcasts, others with the most active daily users; or maybe both of those things.
Anchor, an app by Spotify, is one of the best apps for this purpose. With it, you can record, have conversations with up to 10 people, polish your work, and have it uploaded on other podcast platforms. Buzzsprout, on the other hand, provides you with easy-to-use tools to monitor your podcasts’ performance, easily publish your podcasts, list them on various platforms, and create and manage promotions. You could also try Captivate which guarantees access to all their features without needing upgrades to your chosen plan. Captivates boasts increasing downloads per month depending on your chosen plan, unlimited podcasts, unlimited uploads/storage, and an extensive distribution list.
You’ll want to reach a point when you have a popular, well-engaged, and well-listened podcast that your customers not only eagerly listen to but also has a profound effect on your business’ reputation and income. To achieve this, there are some extra steps for you to do. Here are a few more tricks to boost your podcast’s performance:
Doing this invites your listeners to explore your website. Choose an interesting layout for your podcast list page or make different pages for each episode altogether. Either method will work fine.
If you do choose to make a separate page for each episode, this is for you. Making the blog a transcript of the podcast gives your listeners the option to read the blog while listening, go directly to a point in the episode based on the outline, or just read the blog. Customers like to have many options available to them and knowing that you have this to offer will make it likely for them to come back.
Making snippets of an episode helps you use your podcast’s full potential. Short previews paired with graphics can make for excellent social media content. With that, you solve your content dilemma and let your customers know that you have a podcast ready for their ears.
Take note of the episodes that have the most listens. You could use this data for future references, like when you are trying to come up with a new topic. From there, you could plan an entire series of episodes based on that topic. Also, try to include popular themes into the mix. Build on what your audience finds interesting.
Podcasts are an excellent means for telling a story and it might be just the thing your business needs to help in its growth. Don’t let the intricacies of the process scare you into not taking advantage of what it has to offer. Instead, think of it as an opportunity to try something new, much like when you first took that leap of faith when you started your business.