Veteran podcaster creator Josh Butt is the Executive Producer and Founder of audio agency Ampel. Josh, a Sonnant customer and partner, shares some tips and tricks for how podcast creators create evergreen podcast content. If you’re looking for ideas on how to create podcasts that create value for your audience long after the podcast has launched, read on:
1. Tell stories
If you’re creating a podcast to attract new customers, retain existing customers and to increase consideration, your podcast series must be ‘evergreen’ to take advantage of the long tail audience who will find your show when it’s relevant to them. The best way to do that is to use stories rather than news or opinion — our brains remember stories, not facts. We get emotionally involved in stories. Plus, stories don’t age as fast as opinions do. Stories are often fixed in the past and we can learn a lesson from them.
One thing to note… “Thought leadership interview-style podcasts” are old fashioned and no one wants to make something that is out of style before the audience finds it…
If you want your audience to recommend your show (saving you money on promoting it) then you have to produce a podcast series that stands out — and gives your audience a way to learn about what your company stands for.
2. Think about your audience first
Your podcast is part of your marketing mix. So… why are you making this podcast?
What do you want existing or potential customers, suppliers or employees to know about your business, your industry or the products you sell? Why are you making this for your audience? Is it to share your “thought leadership”? Is it designed to generate brand awareness? Is it for employees or suppliers, the industry or the public?
The “thought leadership” podcast means you’re making content for 2023 and beyond, but in the style from 2018. Do you want to be making stale work?
3. Take creative risks
Brands who create podcasts rarely take huge creative risks with their shows and this is an opportunity lost. Have style with your work — you’re producing a show for an audience. Think about what radio shows would do. Play with music and sound effects to tell your stories.
Be bold in your creative vision – there are many examples of podcasts that are not being listened to because they are boring.
4. Plan lots of episodes
The more detail you get into in your podcast, the longer the tail of the show because of the number of episodes you have. The more the better. The top 10% of shows have more than 100 episodes. The more episodes you have, the more backlinks, SEO links, web pages and transcripts you have which really helps with search engine traffic.
5. Website integration and transcripts
With all these episodes you’re making, it will really help your audience if you can send your audience somewhere. A microsite with the show’s name, episodes, guests and transcripts is crucial to make sure there’s a destination for your listeners.
For your main site (eg: yoursite.com/podcast) you should make the podcast available to listen to, but also each page that deals with a topic should have a playable episode embedded into the page.
Don’t forget to include your show’s Spotify / Apple / Google Podcasts links on the websites and icons.
6. Make it sound good
Do you have your own recording equipment? If not, where are you going to record it? Who is editing your show? Every show needs to be edited. What platform will you use for interviews? We prefer Squadcast but there are others out there that are also great.
Your music can’t be generic. Whatever your show’s topic is – the music must give emotion to the story. Expressive music like jazz or genre should from a good music library or even composed is best rather than anything ‘corporate’ or muzak.
7. Distribute it properly
Podcasts must be uploaded to a hosting platform so your RSS feed can easily be syndicated to other podcast platforms like Apple, Spotify, Google, Overcast, Pocket Casts and other podcast apps. Distribution Hosting Platforms such as Buzzsprout, Omny, Sounder, Megaphone and Anchor provides similar distribution services to each other, but there are slight differences so research your needs and what level of publication sophistication you are able/willing to go to.
8. Growing your podcast audience takes time
Podcasting is not a set-and-forget approach. You need to push and engage, and do that for your launch and then for every episode thereafter. Don’t expect that you will be the next Joe Rogan with the flick of a switch. Getting found and discovered takes effort:
Share audiograms and social posts. Use transcripts to make your podcast SEO-friendly! Reach your audience with regular social posts and PR, but you must use paid media across 2-to 7 channels.
9. Have fun
A podcast is a great tool to attract your audience – but it must be authentic. If you’re not having fun or are passionate about what you’re making, it’s not going to resonate with your audience. So have fun!
If you’re a podcast creator and looking to up your game, give Sonnant a whirl. We can help you create great audiograms for your podcast in a split second. Check out our how-to tutorial here.
