Benefits of podcasting and how to create compelling content

Well planned and produced podcasts are a great way for businesses to share compelling content, as part of their wider marketing communications and digital strategy. Opinion is shared directly with the listener, creating a more intimate communication style.

They are also time-efficient, as people can listen to them at their convenience whilst on the go.. The information is easily digestible too, as audio content is presented in short bite-sized topics, tailored to specific audience interests.

Podcasting is on the rise, with a wide variety of shows now covering everything from business, news and politics to comedy, health and fashion. In fact, Forbes reports that there are now over 800,000 active podcasts available worldwide.

If you are considering podcasts for your own organisation, we’re here to help you create and market them to best effect. Here are five key areas where we can provide support:

• Positioning

What do you want to achieve with your podcast? Do you want to be known as a thought leader or will they help you make further industry connections? Think carefully about who you want the podcast to influence and what will be of interest to them. What type of format will you use and what style will suit your brand voice? How will your content inspire trust and motivate people and what is your call to action?

• Content planning

Creating a quality podcast takes time. You’ll need to come up with topics that you can talk about for around30 minutes. If you plan to interview guests, you’ll have to find them and get their agreement to participate.

Some people are natural talkers, whilst others may be nervous or struggle to stick to key points. Get guests to break down examples, step by step. Ask questions in the way that you would when in a conversation. Keep the audience’s attention and give them interesting information and solutions, but tell don’t sell overtly. Listen to other podcasts to see how they do it and what works well.

• Sound quality

Clearly, your audio content needs to sound high-quality. The interviewer should use a good microphone for clarity. Areas with high ceilings, multiple windows and marble surfaces make blocking out background noise more difficult. During Covid, a lot of recordings have had to be remote. It’s therefore important that you use appropriate software. Making recordings via Zoom or Teams is feasible, but is not ideal for sound quality.

• Careful editing

This can make or break your podcast. 20-30 minutes of content may only take an hour to record, but can take two days to edit properly. Repetition, mistakes and stumbles or ‘ums’ and ‘errs’ need to be carefully cut out to get the best quality recording. A brief intro and closing outro, with a call to action, should be included. Short music clips and sound effects can be added, where appropriate, but these shouldn’t be over-used.

• Promoting your podcast

SEO techniques should be used to market your podcast. Create an attention-grabbing title for your show or episode, that makes it clear what the content is about, to entice listeners. Use keywords to help people find it. Include chapter headings for different sections and timestamps, to indicate where different subject areas are introduced. These techniques will make it easier for your listener and search engines to find relevant content.

Create social media, short videos and infographics to help promote the content. Include links to your podcast on your website, and on your email signature. Encourage your listeners to review and share your podcast and ask guests to share their involvement.

If you would like our support with creating show-stopping podcasts please get in touch