Did you know that there are now 400,000* podcasts on Apple’s podcast directory? How do you stand out from the pack and how do you produce a successful, high-quality, tightly-edited product? Pressing record on a smart phone or computer just won’t cut it anymore – podcast audiences are expecting and receiving better quality content.
With our many years of producing the best audio content for businesses, we’ve come up with a list of 25 things to consider to make for successful podcasting.
- Podcast topic – i.e.: a documentary like GE’s Decoding Genius; or weekly ‘advice’ like Business Essentials.
- Podcast title – make it short, sharp, memorable, and reflect you and your brand.
- Podcast style – interview-style is most common, and reasonably cost-effective.
- Talent – consider using a professional voice over artist for the opener. Get your opener professionally produced. Consider agencies like Audio Concierge.
- Finding interviewees – Make a plan on talent and schedule well in advance.
- Length – 18-25 minutes is comfortable.
- Frequency – weekly is manageable.
- Recording studio – find a small, quiet room to set up your audio equipment.
- Acoustics – avoid unwanted sound reflections into your microphone – acoustically treat hard surfaces.
- Microphones – will you be recording on location, in the studio or both? Understand differences between dynamic and condenser microphones. With mics, you get what you pay for.
- Equipment – think about how you will get your audio into your computer. Investigate the many types of audio interfaces on the market. Some portable audio recorders (check out Zoom devices) double as audio interfaces.
- Audio software – popular applications for recording and editing include Audacity, Reaper, Ardour, Hindenberg, Audition, GarageBand and the higher-end Pro Tools.
- Remote interviews – consider Source-Connect, Zencastr, iPodder or Skype. You can also record with many of these applications.
- Podcast platform – you’ll need somewhere to host your podcasts. Just a few are Whooshkaa, Omny Studio, Libsyn, audioBoom, SoundCloud.
- Podcast delivery – where will people access your podcasts? Consider Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or even use a custom app.
- Interviews – there is an art to the audio interview. Preparation is important.
- Editing – editing interviews and assembling and mastering each episode to a professional standard isn’t easy. If it’s beyond your capabilities, outsource it.
- Music – think carefully about music and sound effects. Does it align with your brand? Is it suitable for your target audience? And don’t fall foul of copyright laws.
- Writing – writing scripts for the spoken word is very different to writing for reading.
- Cover art – artwork needs to look great at both 1400 x 1400 pixels and 55 x 55 pixels.
- Website – have a dedicated website for your podcast. Embed your podcast’s HTML code into your website.
- Launch – consider how many episodes to launch on Day 1. Will a particular time of day achieve better results from your target audience?
- Party – celebrate the hard work in getting your podcast to launch day.
- Promotion – marketing your podcast can be just as important as the podcast itself. Consider writing press releases, blogs, articles; be active on social media; utilise Canva; be invited on other podcasts, etc.
- Awards – dry-clean your gown or dust off your tux for nominations to The Castaway Awards castawayawards.com.au
Now, if you’re a busy business owner, do you have time for all this? Contact BE Media Production for a free consultation on successful podcasting for your audience.
* Increasing all the time.