Podcasting Strategy
Financial Podcasting Part 1
Podcasting can be an efficient way to share your unique story. Podcasts are also a great alternative for individuals who have great ideas, but think they have ‘a face for radio’ or are not avid writers. Podcasting offers great benefits when planned correctly. Before you press record for the first time, review these guidelines to ensure your podcast starts on the right note.
Find your target audience. Your target audience should mirror one or more of your buyer personas or a subset of your target audience. You will want to ensure you keep your target audience in mind as you determine your overall podcasting strategy, theme, format and essentially all aspects of the planning process. Remember that you are not podcasting for yourself, so even if you think something is entertaining and educational, your target audience might not.
Determine your theme. If you are creating a corporate podcast, ensure your theme correlates with the products or services you offer. Please note, this does not mean that your podcast should be a half an hour advertisement for your organization. Use your podcast like you would a blog, video or other digital content. Inform, enlighten and entertain your target audience. Examples of effective themes include: entrepreneurship, marketing, retirement, or healthy living.
Define your goals. This includes determining goals for your podcast and goals for your listeners. A minimum of your podcast goals should be based on: the number of listeners, listener growth, post reach and new business acquired. Along with corporate goals for your podcast, it is important to understand audience goals. Establish what your audience should get out of your podcast as a series. Examples of listener goals are: laugh out loud, understand 2 new tasks, gain confidence with 1 business decision, connect with a story or learn a new skill.
Establish your format. Some hosts prefer to be the only voice on the microphone. Others work better with a co-host to talk to. A third group prefers to have an external person to interview and help move along the conversation. Although your co-hosts and interviews can change, it is important to plan your format early on in the podcasting process. If you know you will need another person in the room to talk to, they are much easier to connect with a month in advance as compared to the same day.
Choose your frequency and length. A podcast should be an hour or less, or to optimize for a work commute, twenty-five minutes. This means that the time it takes from when you first open the microphone to when you stop recording is not a large time commitment. The planning aspect of a podcast will require more time and attention. Editing, posting, guest coordination, topic planning, scripting and outlining are where you will be investing most of your time. Depending on your availability, keep this timing in mind when determining how frequently to podcast. At least once a week is best for keeping your audience engaged, but no matter the frequency, consistency is essential to a successful podcast.
Decide on equipment. There are a variety of different equipment and software options available. Make sure you invest where you are most comfortable, and although it is important to sound professional, quality of content will always trump quality of audio. It is possible to podcast for free by downloading free audio editing software, getting a free recording app to your phone, using your headphones with a built-in microphone and creating your own music and artwork. Deciding to invest more will improve the quality and make scaling your podcast easier. If you decide to invest additional resources, consider upgrading the audio editing equipment, purchasing a USB microphone, attaching a pop filter to your upgraded microphone, purchasing licensed music and expanding the storage and capabilities of your computer to easily process the audio files.
These guidelines are designed to encourage you to start thinking about podcasting strategy and planning. With a well-thought-out strategy, good content and engaging host your podcast could turn into a profitable aspect of your business and great lead generation tool. Check back to the AdvisorPR blog or subscribe to our e-newsletter for the next two blogs in this series that will help you start and leverage your podcasts. If you want to podcast now but need additional guidance, contact AdvisorPR today at (866) 888-5333 or email us at Info@advisorpr.com.
