So, you’re thinking about starting a podcast and don’t know where to begin.
If you’re anything like me, you might be intimidated by how many wildly popular podcasts already exist and wonder if you would have anything new to add to the conversation. I’d go so far to say that sometimes it feels like everyone and their dog has a podcast right now.
In some ways, that might be true. There are currently over 30,000,000 podcast episodes across all platforms with 100 million Americans listening to at least one podcast each month. But before your imposter syndrome kicks in, don’t fret! It’s never too late.
While a lot of people are listening to podcasts, the reason why they are listening is changing and this is great news for businesses. Consumers are starting to use podcast search engines such as Listen Notes or searching directly through iTunes and other hosting platforms to find specific content to meet their needs.
Listen Notes (the most popular podcast search engine) lists these reasons for why listeners search for specific content:
It’s likely that your buyers are looking for the answers (that you provide) to their questions via podcasts. So, what does this mean for you and your business? In short, if you don’t answer their questions, someone else will beat you to it.
There are many reasons that companies from startups to nonprofits and enterprise-level corporations are starting podcasts left and right. Some of them include:
Now that you know you need to jump on the podcast train ASAP, you’re probably wondering where to begin. Don’t worry—we’ve all been there.
While there are many individuals who decide to pick up their phone, hit record, speak extempore, and publish it to iTunes with little editing, I wouldn’t call that best practice. Trust me: it’s better to do something right the first time than experience a lack of success in the beginning and have to start over — or worse, give up.
To get you started on the right foot, let’s dig into the four reasons why you should invest in hiring a creative growth agency to partner with you when creating your podcast.
A lot of people start a podcast because they care about a subject matter and want to share their knowledge with the world. This, however, means that decisions end up being made based on what the individual or company prefers instead of on data-driven decisions.
With the help of a growth agency, you’re able to use current marketing research to ideate and determine elements like:
When you take into account show descriptions, editing (the biggest time-sucker of all), publishing, and promoting, putting out weekly or even bi-weekly episodes can take a serious amount of your time.
If you’re a solopreneur, you may not have the extra bandwidth this requires. Likewise, if you are part of a larger organization, you may find that you are spread thin over many different duties.
When you’re working with professionals who dedicate their time in the podcast and promotion industry, you’re able to reach faster results that you may not have otherwise. At the very least, it may take longer with your learning curve to attain these goals.
Growth agencies are skilled at knowing how to use the show notes to attract your ideal listeners and employ tactics that increase your podcast’s awareness and boost your number of listeners. Breaking your piece of content into small chunks for every type of listener (not just auditory) is one of the many best practices used to take your podcast to the next level.
Often when you hire an agency, you’re not just getting their professional ability for sound edits; you also get a graphic designer, voice talent experts, and social media managers. At Sauce, we have clients that are great with speaking at length on a topic they are passionate about (their business), but that possibly need guidance aligning with what their buyer personas are looking for. This is where a creative agency comes in. Aligning your objectives and goals with your buyer’s journey will make your efforts successful.
Remember: anyone can grab a phone and begin a podcast. But if you’re looking to use this medium to grow your business and provide value to your customers, you may want to speak with a growth agency and begin with the strategy.
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