Joe Pulizzi of Content Marketing Institute says that the most fertile ground required for the launch of a successful podcast; is to first have a healthy list of audience or subscribers.
He claims that his This Old Marketing podcast was successful from day one, as it kicked off on the bed of a massive email subscribers list of over 75,000 in number; but he also believes that smart marketers can actually pull it off without an audience or a subscribers list – however, they are few and far between, such as John Lee Dumas with his Entrepreneur On Fire; or take Pat Flynn, with his The Smart Passive Income podcast.
Although we can trace the roots of ‘podcasting’ from the 80s, podcasts only came into the limelight since 2004, with the advent of Portable Digital Audio Playback Devices such as the iPod.
Today, with the proliferation of smart phones, increasing internet connectivity and not to mention the sheer nature of a podcast – as an audio content which can be consumed while you’re driving, brushing your teeth, while on a morning jog or cooking a meal – has given rise to its popularity amongst consumers, marketers and advertisers from every industry and market niches.
Here’s a quick and simple whiteboard animated video from Copyblogger defining a PODCAST:
As per the Edison Research Report, today 60% of Americans are familiar with the term ‘Podcasting’, whereas the number for Australians reaches even higher at 72%. Given the versatility of podcasts as an engaging, easy-to-consume on-demand audio content, brands are finding podcasting as a reliable new medium to reach and engage their audiences – this year podcast ad spend succeeded in garnering over $200 million; and with the growing trend, the speculations for 2020 is expected to cross a half-billion dollar mark ($534 million)!
To help you jump onto this podcasting trend before it spreads like wildfire, today we bring you 5 essential tips to develop and launch a perfect podcast of your own. The first four tips are from Jerod Morris and John Nastor of Authority Rainmaker; as told in their popular podcast ‘The Showrunner’:
1. Be Your Authentic Self – Find Your Focus!
Being your authentic self means, when it comes to creating a podcast you should be open and candid with your audience in a genuine manner; such that it breeds trust and valued ‘connection’ with them.
You can start off with choosing a topic which excites you and you have a real passion for. It has to be a topic that you can share your experience and knowledge about; and for which you have immense curiosity and hunger for.
Once you’ve found your focus, i.e. subject/topic to work on; understanding your audience and where it fits in with your subject matter, is crucial. It's important that you don’t just gravitate towards what suits you; but make sure your audience is equally interested in consuming the content you’re about to deliver.
The focus should always be in addressing the needs of the consumers and solving their pain points; rather than pushing your ideas, services or products. Successful marketers are always able to choose ‘authentic’ content that resembles a ‘sweet spot’ or the ‘intersection’ between their passion/interest for the subject and what the audience really cares about.
2. The ‘Usability’ Check
If being genuine and authentic with your podcast topic and delivery is your primary focus; then ‘usability’ of the content should be the next box you should be ticking off.
Any podcast that is not delivering or giving what the audience actually wants – will hardly sustain after a couple of episodes; because an audience is always looking for relevant content and will soon abandon you to find something that’s useful to them.
Given the competition, people are always on the lookout for podcasts that are highly useful to them. It could well be any or all of three - Educational, Entertaining or, Inspirational. A thorough understanding of your user personas and your audience will help you discern where your audiences are coming from and what they seek from you; so that you can craft your podcast, as per their needs.
3. How Long Can You ‘Sustain’?
One indicator for any successful podcast is clearly the ability to ‘show up’ - and not just once; but day in and day out!
In other words, you need to show up consistently, and for a long time, to build that credibility amongst your audience. It sounds like a simplistic idea, but to nail it as clockwork, precisely at the same schedule, requires a huge effort, ‘grit’ and commitment on your part.
If you can simply show up and deliver what people expect, when they expect it – then you’re already winning with your podcast. It’s always best to show up with your ‘not so good content’ than to have a ‘no show’. Audiences will forgive you for your ‘poor’ but ‘authentic’ content; but they’ll never forgive you for abandoning them with a ‘no show’ – consistency and sustainability is key to the success of any podcasting venture.
4. Podcasts & ‘Profitability’
Profitability, or any revenue generation from your podcast ‘directly’ is a rare phenomenon, and is clearly very hard to achieve.
However there are other ‘intrinsic’ and ‘indirect’ profits that comes with running a useful podcast in the long run. The ‘intrinsic’ profits are the simply the ‘non-monetary’ benefits you get from the experience of running your show. It revolves around the ‘joy’ of putting out your craft and building a pool of audience/community who love what you do and in turn have meaningful relationships with you, as you share and exchange thoughts and ideas on the topic you passionately care about.
The ‘indirect’ profit relates to how your show moves your listeners through your marketing funnel toward some other profit centre – for instance, your podcast will build your ‘authority’ and reputation, to help you land other speaking or consulting gigs.
When you podcast on showing people ‘how they can solve their problems’; then they would generally be interested in buying your products that help solve the said problems. Or they could be buying your online course, if you can show them your expertise and win their trust. These indirect revenue streams come in many forms, and are only limited by your imagination.
5. Don’t Forget To Build The ‘Buzz’!
If you’d like to make the most of your podcast, it pays to stir up the excitement well before the day of the event. Building a ‘buzz’ here means that you promote your podcast on number of strategically planned dates leading up to the launch date – in order to inspire and engage your audience for the event.
The best way to nail this, as recommended by Pat Flynn is to work your way backwards from your launch date; determining other suitable dates which could be effective to market or promote the podcast. Pat recommends that you should work by putting together a calendar, which would include details to when and where (blogs, social media, email, CTAs) you’d highlight and promote the podcast launch.
Finally…
Podcasts are incredible channels to build revenues for your business if you can reach out and build a following of engaged and loyal audiences. However, your success with podcasting depends on how effectively you can deliver authentic messages that are consistent, reliable and relevant to the needs and aspirations of your audiences!
Call Andy Fox (me) on (03) 5249 5570 or email andy@element7digital.com.au
Our Website is www.element7digital.com.au
