Modern media looks very different from media fifty, twenty-five, or even ten years ago. Podcasting has risen to become a major portion of people’s media appetites. Whether they’re going to work, doing chores, or meditating, listeners can easily access a large variety of unique podcasts. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, 28% of the population listens to podcasts weekly, while 41% of the population listens to them monthly.
The recent growth in popularity of podcasts means now is a great time to start your own, but where do you start and how can you make it be as helpful and professional as possible? Let’s take a few minutes to learn what you need to get your podcast off the ground and see what the future of podcasting may look like.
Before getting too involved in creating a podcast, you should understand what it is. A podcast is an audio-based program, but unlike a radio channel, it’s created, recorded, edited, and produced by one or two people. Also, the topics on each podcast are generally more niche, targeting a specific idea or audience.
There are podcasts about a wide range of topics: history, personal development, business, interviews, pop culture, and much more. If there is a subject you’re interested in, chances are there’s a podcast covering it. In addition, podcasts aren’t tied to any length. They can be as short as a few minutes or last several hours—it depends on the goal of each podcast episode. Doing a deep dive into a particular topic? It will be a longer episode—45 minutes isn’t shocking at all. Covering a few quick pieces of industry news? 15 minutes is probably more appropriate.
An advantage of podcasts is that they’re easily accessible. Most modern smartphones come with a podcast app built in and if not, they can easily be downloaded. The most popular apps to listen to podcasts are Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, and Pandora, but there are many others available.
Podcasting can be a great addition to marketing and branding, allowing you to reach more people than you are currently and allow you to position yourself as an authority on your products or industry. Additionally, podcasts are free for your customers to listen to and access.
With more people listening to podcasts and their availability growing as time goes on, it makes sense to think about how to start your own podcast, whether to interview important people in your industry or showcase top products. But how do you get started?
When you’re trying to start a podcast, there are several things to consider. Namely, your topic, the equipment you’ll need, and what program you’ll use to host your podcast. On top of that, you’ll need to consider how to run the podcast itself. Many people think podcasting is mostly writing scripts, effortlessly recording them, and then publishing the episode, but there’s a lot more work involved than that.
First things first: the topic. What do you want the podcast to be about? It needs to be something your customers will be interested in, but also something you’re interested in. If your customers aren’t interested in the topic, your podcast won’t guide them towards you, but if you don’t enjoy it, you won’t want to continue working on the topic at all. In addition, if you’re not enthusiastic, your customers will pick up on that and that will give them another reason to avoid your podcast.
You’ll also want to think about your format. Will you mostly do interviews? Or do you want to do a podcast about news relating to your products or industry? Maybe you want to create a scripted educational podcast to teach customers about your industry. The sky’s the limit when it comes to creating a worthwhile podcast.
Now to address the equipment. A new podcast doesn’t need a lot of fancy equipment to start with, but the better the microphone, the better the sound, and the more people will be willing to listen. There are a few different microphone types: USB, which are most accessible, dynamic, and reject background noise. Then there are condenser mics, which are more sensitive and suited for a quiet environment. If you’re just starting out, getting a USB microphone, and changing to a better quality one later is a good idea.
In addition to a microphone, you can also get pop filters to eliminate your mic picking up the awkward sounds your mouth makes when talking, or microphone stands and headphones.
If you’re using a dynamic or condenser microphone, you’ll also want to get an XLR connection like an audio interface, an external recording device, or a podcast machine. These will enable you to record your voice when talking into the microphone of your choosing.
You’ll also need to investigate what recording software you want to use. There are several options, namely Adobe Audition, Audacity, or GarageBand.
Unless you’re tech-savvy and comfortable with coding, you probably don’t want to host your podcast on your own website. Instead, there are hosting platforms that you can use to store your audio files then submit your episodes to podcast publishing directories like iTunes, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. Some popular hosting sites are BuzzSprout, PodBean, and Transistor.fm.
You have your topic, gathered the equipment, and know where you’re going to host the podcast. Now you must decide how you’re going to run the podcast. You’ll need at least a general idea for your episodes, if not actual scripts. In addition to figuring out what you’ll say in your podcast, you need to come up with a schedule.
Audiences want to know when to expect your content. You don’t have to publish every day, or even every week, but you do need to be consistent. Pick a day of the week or month and dedicate it to publishing a new episode. If you’re too sporadic or too much time passes between episodes, your listeners won’t remember you or they’ll be annoyed and stop listening to the podcast all together.
Podcasting has roots in “audioblogs” dating back to the 1980s, but they started catching on in 2004. In the last decade or so, they’ve grown to be mainstream entertainment. In that time, they’ve gotten longer, more focused, and are key for a good brand strategy. What about in the next ten years?
Social media might adapt tools to create and host podcasts on their own platforms without needing to use a separate host. Disney and Amazon may also join the podcasting scene, either creating their own podcasts or platforms in the style of Apple Podcast and Spotify. There may be more of a paywall or ad-supported podcasts in ten years as well. The competition for listeners may get fiercer as more podcasts emerge and try to grow. On the flip side, as podcasts grow in popularity, there will likely be more people listening to them, meaning getting involved in creating a quality podcast now is important. You could be ahead of the curve!
Podcasts are a great way to inform your customers about developments in your industry or interview major names for your products. Audiences listen to podcasts as they go about their day, so a short, thirty-minute episode is ideal to get your products in their minds.
Petra carries products that will help you as you create a quality podcast, such as microphones, microphone stands, and audio sound mixers. Check out order.petra.com for our full range of products as well.