7 Keys to Your Original Podcast
Podcasting is an excellent vehicle to expand and deepen your brand. More than 67 million people are listening to podcasts monthly. Commercial radio accounts for only about 1 percent of this total.
The good news is that radio shows have the advantage of driving their large cume to their podcasts. It’s post time to get your show on board. Jeff McHugh unlocks the 7 keys to creating your podcast.
–Randy
Podcasting will be bigger than you think, sooner than you think. Just follow the money.
Advertisers like measurement. A broadcast ad reaches a large audience, but advertisers today track who their ad reached, their demographic information, where they live, if they reacted to it and more.
Digital advertising can do that. That is why Emarketer.com predicts that digital will surpass television advertising this year, and why it will consume 45% of all ad revenue by 2020. Terrestrial radio, which does not have that capability, will shrink to 6%.
But new services on the way from Nielsen and Apple will provide better data on podcasts, like whether ads were skipped and who heard the ad.
Certain advertisers also like reaching niche audiences instead of mass ones. Plus, voice-controlled devices are bringing on-demand listening into the home and millennials (tomorrow’s big money demo) love podcasts.
Money will tsunami into podcasting, and it will become your sales manager’s favorite subject. Creating a podcast is easy. Starting a successful podcast is hard.
Radio show podcasts can go in one of two directions. Best-of content and original content. Some do a mixture of both.
If your show is well known in your market and if it regularly outperforms your station’s ratings, a best-of podcast is a great way to start.
The data we have seen suggests that a daily 15-20 minute podcast of your show’s highlights is the best way to gain subscribers quickly. Be sure to promote it on-air.
You could also consider a podcast of original, niche content. One example is KISW Seattle’s BJ and Migs where BJ does a “Geek Nation” podcast and Migs hosts “Migs Versus The World Of Wrestling.”
To create a successful original podcast, consider this checklist to determine if you are choosing a worthy show premise or following a dead-end.
- You know it. Choose a topic that you are an expert in.
- You love it. Something that you rarely tire of discussing.
- You have connections. People who can give you content, information on that subject or who can be guests.
- Good stories. A podcast about dating or sex (human behavior) will be more compelling than one about earthquakes or seltzer water (physical things.)
- Ready-made audio. A good topic lends itself to a studio audience, on-the-street comments, movie or song clips or actualities.
- Sustainability. Historical topics about the past do not offer as many new topics as current topics that bring new stories.
- Exclusivity. Search who is already plowing that topic ground and change your idea to offer a new angle.
Remember, the topic you choose is simply the stage that you dance on. Listeners will choose the podcast based partially on your personality, chemistry and passion, but the more checks you have on this list, the better chance your podcast has of surviving and thriving.
Photo Credit: flickr.com/photos/planeta/
