Podcasting has long been one of the best ways to broadcast longform audio content for your brand, business, or news channel on a consistent basis. We all know and love Podcasts for their genuine conversational nature. It’s one of the few forms of media that provides a real conversation without cutting it down to a 30 second bite–sized clip. With Podcasting, we have time to explain ourselves and explore key points about various subjects.
People want to feel connected to your brand. The reason why advertisers spend millions of dollars each year to craft the perfect super bowl commercial is for one reason: to evoke strong emotions. If you cater to your audience’s emotions then you’ve got them invested in your brand.
Great podcasts excel in growing a loyal audience by allowing an intimate vantage point of the creators character and life experience. The conversations that are being had, the ideals, and all the emotions felt between the words are working to further deepen your audience’s relationship with your brand.
Since the pandemic, overall consumption of media has skyrocketed, and at the forefront of all of that is podcasting. So we’ve been helping our clients produce podcasts the right way. Above all, what we stress is that it’s about promoting value.
In this article, we’ll break down our top 5 tips to launch and sustain a professional and profitable podcast.
Step 1: Audio Quality
You don’t have to shell out thousands of dollars on audio equipment, but this first step is the base to building a professional podcast.
Our most consistent piece of advice that we give to our clients is to invest in a quality microphone. A lot of people overlook this first step, and assume that in 2021, the quality of a laptop mic should get the job done. Although it’s extremely important to get a quality microphone, you can get a pro sound for a fraction of the price that it used to cost. Audio quality will instantly make the difference between an amateur trying to get something off the ground, and a professional who provides value.
To start, your best option for an easy plug–and–play setup will be a USB microphone. These mics are high enough quality to sound professional and will not include the extra hassle of needing an audio interface.
When producing podcasts for our own clients, we’ve suggested these USB microphone options as high quality and affordable for an at–home setup:
- Blue Yeti USB Microphone
- Mackie EleMent Series, USB Condenser
- IK Multimedia iRig Mic HD 2
- Audio-Technica AT2005USB
- Open-Box Rode NT-USB USB
Step 2: Relevance
Keeping a finger on the pulse of current events is one of the most important things to consider when planning out your episodes. When you communicate to your listeners that your podcast provides insights on breaking news about the world and the industry that you operate in, they will consider your podcast to have a greater value. Vocalizing your ideas and giving your audience a new perspective will increase the relevance of your ideas and build influence as a thought leader.
What makes a podcast so powerful is that you aren’t restricted to any particular time limit. You have as much time as you want to fully explain yourself and dive into any issue. Stay up to date on news sites and have notifications turned on for news apps and Instagram pages on your phone that will keep you informed. Listen to other podcasts that are ranked at the top of the App Store. If you want to serve as an aggregator of relevant knowledge for your industry, you will need to stay up to date yourself!
Step 3: Video Content
A lot of people don’t think twice about video when starting a podcast. The reality is that we all live in a world driven by social media. These platforms demand video content primarily over audio. Therefore, we always urge our clients to utilize the power of video to attract an audience.
When you film your podcasts, you can cut your clips into bite–sized pieces of content for social media. You now have video content for YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. As well as audio content for Apple, Spotify, Soundcloud, etc. The point is to distribute yourself universally on all platforms to get the broadest reach possible.
Just like audio, you’ll want to make sure that your quality is top notch. Most of the time, an iPhone or newer laptop camera will work just fine in the beginning stages. However, if you’d like to take it a step further, we suggest some of these affordable webcams to our clients:
- Lenovo 500 Full HD USB Webcam
- Microsoft LifeCam Studio 1080p
- HuddleCamHD GO
- 1080 2021 NexiGo Camera
- Logitech ConferenceCam Connect
Step 4: Contests & Giveaways
Demonstrating value to your audience is one of the key points we continue to stress. Another way that you can show your listeners that you have the “goods” is by running contests and giveaways.
Promoting a contest is one of the best ways to directly engage your audience and drive social capital on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Contests show your listeners that you care about them and adds a tangible, prize winning dimension to your podcast. Who doesn’t love a good freebie?!
The contest should play on your brand’s strengths. For example, with a sports podcast that we’re currently producing, we talked to our client about how they can get listeners involved with betting challenges. One of the hosts goes by the name “Locksmith” and we came up with a new weekly challenge to engage listeners called the “Beat the Locksmith” challenge. Each week listeners can submit sports betting picks for a chance to challenge the Locksmith to a series of fake money sports bets for 7 days. If they get more wins than the Locksmith, then they get a free 2–topping pizza delivered to their door. Now that’s pretty cool!
Another great aspect of contests and giveaways is the ability to build more awareness to your podcast via social media. An example of giving away a free piece of merch or gift card. The way listeners can win is by tagging the most amount of people or being the most tagged on Instagram. If executed successfully, you’ll end up receiving hundreds of comments and will be boosted to the top of everyone’s feed.
Step 5: Providing Ad space
It won’t be long before you have businesses contacting you about ad space on your podcast, given that you’ve provided enough value to a growing audience. All of the points above should serve as motivation to reach the point of businesses requesting ad space. Why? Because this is the way that podcasting becomes profitable!
Ad space is relatively simple. Businesses contact you with a product or service that they want to promote. You negotiate a price, and then block out a period of time during the show to make an announcement. The businesses should provide you with the excerpt to read. Make sure you practice ahead of time! Another method is to pre-record the ads, so you don’t have to read the same messages multiple times a week.
The one thing to keep in mind with ad space is to know your audience. In the beginning it’s perfectly understandable to accept any and all ads since you’re just happy to have any. As you get more popular, it’s best to consider the interests of your fans and the likelihood that your ads will convert for your sponsors.
Conclusion
We hope that you now have an effective strategy for producing a professional and profitable podcast that provides value.
Proving that you can consistently deliver quality content week in and week out will eventually result in a loyal audience of like-minded individuals and sponsors.
If you would like to accelerate your podcast’s set up, content design, and growth, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@fogcoastproductions.com.
Written By Zach Klein, Editor/Production Assistant at Fog Coast Productions