Creating, maintaining and growing a podcast can be a lot of work. Unless you have defined content and goals, you can quickly run out of gas. Blubrry Podcasting is always evolving — offering features and tools to help make the podcasting process easier. Take a look at Blubrry’s Services here to explore features to ensure your podcast is a success.
What is the Goal of your Podcast?
To reach your target audience: Whether you have a message you want to market, a few opinions you would like to share or an interest in communication with a specific community, podcasting is an accessible way to reach your desired audience.
To make money: Many producers are living comfortably on their podcast’s proceeds or simply adding a little bit of extra spending money, but it didn’t happen overnight. There are several ways producers can profit from podcasting, but, like any business venture, it is good to have a solid plan.
To start a hobby: Producing a podcast can be an extremely rewarding hobby. There is no pressure to worry about audience, advertisers, quality, etc.
Know your Audience
Any podcast will fail if you are feeding your audience the wrong content. Before you begin creating content, make sure you know exactly who you are planning to reach. In time, you might realize that your audience’s needs are evolving. Using tools such as Blubrry’s free survey to poll your audience is an easy way to make sure you are still on track or if you need to make some adjustments.
Generating Content
Once you know exactly why you are podcasting and who you are going to podcast to, you must think about your content. Sometimes podcasts evolve out of a need to distribute existing media and spread to new avenues. Other times, generating content for a podcast may require a bit more preparation. Let’s say you’ve decided to create a video game news podcast. You may have a large repository of resources but you’ll still need to decide which items to cover on your podcast. With your audience in mind, use the following as guidelines to help you determine the appropriate content for a successful podcast.
- Creativity – There’s a good chance your podcast will be competing with others in the space. When reviewing your content, approach it with the eye of your audience. “What would they want to hear? What would they find interesting? How is the content unique?”
- Expertise – Do your research and become an expert. Knowledge breeds confidence and confidence carries an audience.
- Passion – Choose content that you are passionate about. Your enthusiasm will carry over and engage your audience.
Program Format
After deciding on the goals and content that will make up your podcast, keep your audience in mind and consider the following elements when developing your program’s format.
Opening Elements
- Intro video / audio
- Credits
Content Elements
- Program length
- Frequency – daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly etc.
- Video / audio
- Tone – professional, humorous, serious, etc.
- Talent / hosts
- News
- Talk show
- Panel discussion
- Interview
- Instructional
- Variety / entertainment
- Skit / sketch
Closing Elements
- Intro video / audio
- Credits
Establishing your podcast’s goals before launch is crucial for ensuring its success. Clear goals provide a roadmap for your content, marketing, and audience engagement strategies. When you define your objectives, you can create content that aligns with your vision and resonates with your target audience. This focused approach helps in building a loyal listener base and sets the foundation for sustainable growth.