It’s International Podcast Day and we’ll give you a bunch of tips about this marketing effort that only a few brands follow. Most brands won’t really go into creating podcasts for marketing. Aside from it is complicated to produce one, there’s no sure way to capture the audience.
It is understandable why brands don’t go for podcasts. Social media marketing is easier and better, right? But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t give it a try. Sometimes, trying something new and going outside of the box would help you in your marketing efforts.
So, how do you dive into the new world of podcasting?
Here, we give you some beginner’s tips on how you can create a podcast that is engaging to your target audience.
The Technical Aspects
One thing that you should check first before you broadcast are the technical aspects of producing a podcast.
For one, choose a host website where you would like to post your podcasts. Look for one that has a good reputation, easily searched by Google, user friendly, and that matches whatever requirement you have for a good host site.
Then, choose the hardware that you need. A good-quality microphone, an audio equalizer, and a good audio editing software would be next on the list.
If you have little-to-no knowledge on these things, ask an expert who can set this up for you. Make sure to do a test run before you give it the final go.
Know Your Audience
Like any marketing strategy, podcasting also requires you to know your audience. Before even diving into podcasting, ask yourself: are my target audience ‘listeners’?
If you think they aren’t, then stop right here and rethink about doing a podcast. But if they are, then get to know them more.
Know what topics interests them, what their pain points are, and what kind of consumers are they. You can ask your marketing team about demographics. And once you can pinpoint these, start creating a series of episodes that you know would ignite their interests.
Invite Experts or Guests
Inviting guests on your podcast can stir up curiosity and can change things up for you. Your audience would surely love to hear someone else’s voice!
You can invite someone who has the same experience or who has a different experience as you do on whatever topic you want to share for an episode. You can go on weighing in pros and cons on both your stands to make it a fair and friendly debate.
But the best guests you can have are experts on the field or of the topic. This can give more helpful insight to your listeners and would add value to your podcast. This would also increase your credibility and trust score from your listeners from all other podcasts on the same industry.
Interact with Your Audience
Know how to interact with your audience.
If you’re airing live, you can post a question ahead of your broadcast and ask opinion from your potential listeners. This might also interest them to listen to your podcast especially that they know their side would be heard on air. Also, if technology and technicalities allow, you can include a live phone call from the listeners. The down side of this, however, is you cannot censor out something that they might say that is somehow rude or demeaning to marginalized sectors in the society.
But if you’re only doing a recording, you can still ask a question through your social media accounts and use their answers during your podcast.
Another way of interacting with your audience is doing a live Twitter updates and replying to your listeners in real time. This might be quite difficult to do but if you’re used to multitasking, this can go well for you.
Consistency is Key
Be consistent in whatever you do in your podcast. Imagine this as branding yourself even if it’s something people cannot see.
Brand yourself through the types of topics you talk about in your podcast. You can also brand yourself with your voice. And when we say voice, it doesn’t just mean how you sound on your podcast. It also means how you talk, your views, and ‘persona’ on air. Your points and arguments should be consistent with your previous statements you have released and rectify them properly if you change your mind on something.
Also, check on the little things that you want to be consistent on. Have an official hashtag? Make sure you use it all the time, announce it, and that it is the same every single time. Do you have certain days that you release a new podcast? Make a regular schedule so your listeners would look forward to it.
Even with little things, consistency should be observed.
Freebies and Giveaways
Want listeners to really tune in? Don’t hesitate to give out some freebies and giveaways!
It’s okay if it’s nothing too grand. It doesn’t have to be any way. We know that people would love anything that’s given to them for free!
You can give out simple giveaways like a memorabili, commemorative item, or you can ask sponsors (if you have any) some items that you could give out on your podcast for free.
Ask you listeners to participate during your podcast or ask them to post something on social media that would include your hashtag of the day. They can also tag you so you have more engagement on your social media.
Ask Questions
One way to gather the opinion of your viewers and entice them to participate is to ask them questions. Whether it’s during a live podcast or leaving something for them to ponder at the end of the podcast.
If you want to make your podcast more interactive, you can throw out a question on air and post it on your social media account so that your listeners can ask you in real time. That way, you would not only be broadcasting content that is based on what you know and understand, but you can have some input from other as well.
You can also ask a question at the end of your podcast. Leave a question for them to ponder on and have them comment on your page and discuss it on your next podcast. This is also one way to gather ideas for your upcoming episode.
Optimize On-Site Content
Podcasts can’t be optimized for search engines since they are in audio format. But that doesn’t mean you cannot do SEO in other parters of the website.
You can still apply common website SEO tactics like the page title, podcast title, tags, and your podcast description. These may not be the usual combination for a better optimization but these are the few things you could optimize and hopefully get a good ranking on search engines.
Podcast Visuals? Yes, There Is!
Podcast may be an auditory medium, but creating a podcast doesn’t mean you don’t have to do visual or graphic assets. There are still a few elements that would require you to create some graphic assets and exhibit your visual design prowess.
For one, you need to have an appealing podcast page. You also have to create some designs for your social media pages including the headers. Lastly, you need to create a good podcast icon or ‘album art’ and logo to complete the entire package.
Creating visuals for your podcast is just like branding yourself and you podcast in general. It doesn’t mean that these are not what the audience are there for (since they’re there for your podcast) that you won’t pay attention to it. These might be just little, minute details… but these are also stuff that the audience can easily notice.
Transcribe and Post
Only a few would remember this last step not knowing that this is also important.
Posting a transcript of your podcast can help with your page’s optimization. This would add valuable content that helps you rank up in the search engines. Your transcription, for sure, also contains keywords that could also contribute to your SEO rankings.
But the main goal of posting a transcription of your entire podcast can give those who are still thinking twice of listening to get a gist or overview of your entire episode. That means, the content of your podcast should also be interesting enough for people who would read your transcription.
Transcriptions also help those who just want to revisit your podcast page and get the key takeaways from that episode. They might want to quote you of some sort. The transcription would make it easier for them. Rather than listening to the podcast again, they can just use the search function on their browser to look for specific quotes in your transcription.
This International Podcast Day, try to get through these tips and evaluate your marketing needs. Maybe a good podcast channel could be the best way to go for your brand. If not, try to keep tabs on these tips and you’ll never know when this will come in handy.
