Learning how to set up a podcast is crucial for successful marketing efforts. Nowadays, as podcasts are getting more popular, you want to utilize the power of spoken words to spread your message to your target audience. If you start a podcast, you’ll not only get more online visibility but also receive a ton of leads and ultimately sales through interviews. Let’s show you how!
What to Think About Before You Start a Podcast
You’ve probably been thinking about starting a podcast for quite some time. You’re listing all the pros and cons to see whether it’s worth your time. Although it’s very important to think things through before committing to such an important decision, try not to think too much. Don’t spend all your life planning and not doing!
Your list of considerations doesn’t have to be too long. Here are three essential things you need to consider in depth before you get to figuring out how to set up a podcast.
Reasons WHY
Knowing the reasons that have led you to podcasting will help you define your goals. You must know exactly what you want to achieve and why. Otherwise, you can’t measure your success, and you won’t know whether you’re on the right track.
Precisely focus on your marketing goals. What is your aim? Do you want to increase your online visibility, position yourself as an authority, increase sales, or make more business connections? After deciding these things, put a number on each goal. Be specific and precise. We suggest creating two lists: five reasons to get into the podcasting world and five goals you aim to achieve. For example:
- Reason #1: Increase overall sales.
- Goal #1: Get 5% more leads each week.
By using lists with specific indicators, you’ll be able to monitor your progress and check if everything is going according to plan. Note that you shouldn’t set unrealistic goals. New podcasts can’t get to a thousand downloads in a week, so aim for something more achievable. If you don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself, you’re more likely to succeed.
Is There a Market Need for This Topic?
You certainly have valuable information to offer, but you should consider if there’s a demand in the market for that precise knowledge. Carefully conduct market research to find out what your target audience wants. Then adapt your existing knowledge to the market needs.
Niche down your podcast to attract your potential customers. You don’t have to appeal to everyone, just those that are interested in your specific products and services. Although the general audience wants variety, your target audience is more drawn to niche blogs and podcasts.
Creating a customer avatar will help you niche down and choose the perfect topics for your podcast episodes. Take a moment to consider what your potential audience is interested in and explore those topics. The audience’s interests and your expertise will overlap in more ways than one, so you just need to cherry-pick the topics you want to cover.
How Can I Monetize My Efforts?
Will this podcast push people to services you offer? Driving the listeners to your business is crucial for monetizing your podcasting efforts. If the reason behind your podcast is to increase the leads you’re getting each week, you have to include transitional calls-to-action in the episodes. Get listeners to check out your website, lead magnet, and social media profiles.
You don’t have to be “salesy.” Forget about those “buy now,” “click here,” and other types of direct CTA. These don’t work for podcast audiences because people often listen to podcasts while doing something else. Instead, you need to create a memorable CTA that will transition the listeners to your website. Give the audience a strong reason to reach you. Then, once the people are on your website, let the landing page convert those leads.
How to Set Up a Podcast
As you get into podcast production, you’ll learn how to set up a podcast with ease. When you already have topics, goals, and monetization strategy, you just need to get a couple of things to start:
- Decent equipment. You don’t need expensive equipment to begin. Just start with a good microphone and build from there. As your podcast becomes more popular and you get more resources, you’ll be able to acquire better equipment to increase the sound quality.
- Show format. Decide on the length of the show, style (solo or co-hosted), episode frequency, episode formats (from introductions to outro music), etc.
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- Name and cover art. This may not seem important, but the name and cover art have a huge influence on the listeners. A lot of people scroll through podcast directories and decide to tune in based on the name and cover art alone! You want to have something appealing to your specific audience so they’ll click on your (and not your competitors’) show.
- Amazing guests. Although you can choose to create solocasts (only you speaking), guest speakers may help you create amazing episodes and reach more people. You’ll be able to tap into your guests’ audience when they promote the show on their channels.
- Editing software. After you record your episode, you’d need to edit it. Hence, investing in good software is going to be very helpful. There are a lot of affordable options, so make sure to research each one carefully.
- Launch and promotion strategies. These are essentials that will decide the fate of your podcast. You need to carefully plan your launch and promotion strategies in order to succeed. We’ve already talked about podcast marketing and gave tips on increasing the number of listeners, so feel free to check out our insights on these topics.
- Podcast hosting service. Every podcast needs a media host that will store the show and allow listeners to tune in, download, and subscribe. You won’t be uploading your show directly to iTunes, Spotify, or other directories. Instead, a podcast host will host your audio files so you can submit them to various directories.
Finding the Perfect Ideas
To start a podcast, you should find topics that the audience wants. As we said, conducting market research will help you see the demand so you can compare it to your existing knowledge.
Remember that you are not creating the podcast for yourself but for your audience. Always keep them in mind when you’re looking for podcast ideas. You can browse social media or join groups within your niche to feel the pulse of your customer avatar.
As you choose topics, aim to become more specific. Find your differentiator to narrow down a broad topic. Start with a general category. For example, if you’re a fitness coach, start with “health and fitness.” Then, slowly focus on certain aspects only until you find the right content for your audience. That can be “the impact of certain foods on a workout.” This is specific enough but still offers a variety of topics.
Whatever topic you choose, make sure to take a unique approach. A lot of topics are already covered, but if you discuss something with a unique point of view, listeners are more likely to follow you. They’ll hear something new and get a different perspective on usual topics. That’s the main value you can provide for your audience.
Conclusion
When you take one step at a time, you’ll see that starting a podcast isn’t scary. With the right strategy and great ideas, the world is your oyster! Don’t be afraid to experiment a bit until you find what works, and never hesitate to ask for help when you need it.
Content marketing, especially for podcasts, might be exhausting because there are a lot of things you need to keep in mind. Luckily, you can always hire an agency like ours that specializes in podcast promotion to make your troubles go away. We’ll help you launch, promote and leverage your podcast so you can grow your business and reap the fruits of your efforts. Contact us today so we can discuss your needs in detail.
