Creating a business podcast is free, especially if you’re doing it yourself, but ensuring it’s successful isn’t easy. As with any online content, you will need to do significant research and preparation before launching your first episode.
Key Takeaways
- About 57% of Americans have listened to at least one podcast
- Podcasts are popular because they’re free to create and easy to consume
- The benefits of podcasts include better customer engagement and increasing website traffic
- Starting a podcast is simple, but it requires significant research and preparation
- A successful podcast is a viable content marketing tool with the potential to create a revenue stream for a business
Why Start a Podcast?
Benefits of starting a podcast include:
- Engaging customers better
- Generating revenue
- Building an audience
- Increasing website traffic
- Establishing authority
Content is the best way to engage customers and draw attention to your brand. While most business owners use blogs to drive traffic to their websites, podcasts offer an alternative way for your audience to consume content.
The fact that 57% of Americans listened to at least one podcast in 2021 is proof of its popularity.
Podcasts are in audio format and, therefore, have two significant advantages over blog content: you can listen on any device at any time while doing something else, and you can monetize them.
Customer Engagement
Podcasts are excellent for connecting with an audience on a personal level. When they’re listening to one of your episodes, they get a glimpse of your personality and quirks. They feel they know you, which can be a powerful marketing strategy.
Generate Revenue
A study shows that 54% of podcast listeners are likely or somewhat likely to consider buying a product advertised in an episode.
If you become popular enough, your podcasts can generate active revenue through sponsorships or ads for podcast episodes. On average, a podcast channel can earn between $2 and $50 per 1,000 subscribers.
Establish Authority
Aside from the revenue potential, podcasts are a great way to build an audience for your company and establish yourself as an authority in the industry.
Even if you aren’t an expert at creating content, you can become a successful podcaster if you know your stuff. You can use that to drive traffic for your website at the end of each episode.
How Does Podcasting Work?
A podcast is essentially an on-demand talk show uploaded as audio files by the creator to a podcast hosting service, YouTube, or any other online platform.
Listeners can choose to stream podcast episodes at any time and on any device, including computers, smartphones, and digital audio players using an online player like Apple Podcast.
They can also download episodes to their devices and listen to them offline using a standard MP3 player.
Regular listeners can subscribe to a channel using an RSS feed reader, which downloads new episodes automatically. Some prefer to choose the episodes manually, in which case they go to podcast directories like Apple Podcast.
How To Start a Podcast?
- Come up with a theme or concept
- Decide on a format
- Create a title, brand message, and design
Starting a podcast is pretty straightforward, but it takes a bit of technical and creative preparation. Below are what you should do to create a business podcast.
Come Up With a Theme or Concept
All podcasts have a central concept or theme and, naturally enough, your business podcast should be relevant to your industry. For example, healthy living is an excellent theme if you sell organic food supplements.
The most critical considerations when selecting a theme include:
- Personal interest, knowledge, or expertise
- A good supply of relevant topics
- Reasonable popularity with listeners
It isn’t enough to choose a theme you like or go for the most popular ones. The top-ranking one on Apple in 2021 was Crime Junkie, a weekly true-crime podcast with millions of downloads a year, but it’s unlikely to be a good theme for a business podcast.
When choosing a theme, it should be reasonably popular, and you should be able to come up with at least 10 topics on it independently. Search online for the most popular podcasts for your niche or industry and get inspiration from them.
Decide on a Format
Once you decide on a theme, your next step is to choose a format. Most podcasts are in any one of the following formats:
- Solo
- Interview
- Two or more hosts
- Narrative
- Hybrid
Unlike your theme, you can change the format of your podcasts whenever necessary. For example, if you have a chance to interview a leading light in your industry, then you can switch to an interview format for just that episode.
It helps if you strive to keep the length of your episodes relatively consistent. Sometimes, you might need to take less or more time, but you should generally stick to a specific length per episode. That way, your listeners know what to expect.
Create a Title, Brand Message, and Design
This is the fun part. Make an effort to think of a catchy title for your podcast because it makes a huge difference in audience recall. Since it’s a business podcast, you should avoid anything too crazy, but don’t choose anything too boring, either. Check domain name generators for inspiration and register your unique podcast name immediately.
Once you have registered your podcast’s domain name, you should create a brand message and podcast description in line with your business mission and vision.
For example, your brand message for a healthy living podcast could be “making people healthier, one episode at a time.” It’s a good idea to select a name and create a description that ranks well in search engines.
You also need to invest in attractive and professionally created cover art. This is important, especially if you plan to upload to Apple Podcast. It might also entice more people to check your podcast out.
How To Record a Podcast Episode
Now that you have all the creative prep work out of the way, think about the technical aspects of producing a podcast episode. Don’t worry. It doesn’t have to be expensive.
Get the Tools Necessary To Record an Episode
The first thing you need is a recording device. A smartphone that records clear sounds can work. Look for smartphones with the best sound quality. You can use the built-in audio recorder of the phone or look for apps that turns your smartphone into a podcast audio recorder.
However, you should know that an external microphone improves the quality and sound levels significantly. If you use your computer to record, use a USB microphone.
Once you have your recording, download it to your computer and use sound editing software to polish it before uploading it to a podcast hosting platform or channel. Audacity is a good choice, not only because it’s free but also because it’s relatively easy to use.
Choose a Podcast Hosting Site
With your pilot episode polished to perfection, it’s time to upload it to a podcast hosting site. This is critical because you want your episodes on a server with the speed and bandwidth to handle streaming and download activities without lagging. When your podcast channel takes off, you’ll be glad you invested in a reliable hosting server like Podbean.
Keep in mind that a typical podcast episode is about 50 MB, so make sure you choose a plan to store all your episodes at an affordable price. If you select Podbean for your hosting server, follow these instructions for publishing an episode.
Upload Your Podcast to Directories
The next-to-last step is to submit your podcast episodes to a directory. There are many directories from which to choose, but the most popular include:
- Apple Podcasts
- Google Podcasts
- SoundCloud
- Spotify
- Stitcher
- YouTube
Each directory has its own requirements for listing a podcast, so visit each one, in turn, to find out. You can check this guide for submitting your podcast to Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can list your podcast in as many channels as you want, and the most popular directories are free.
How To Launch Your Podcast
The last step in the process is to tell people about it. You probably already use marketing software for your website so that you can double down by using it also to promote your newly minted podcast. Social media, email, and newsletters are good ways to spread the word and attract attention.
It’s crucial to hype your podcast before even publishing your first episode. Your goal is to ensure that you have an audience ready to listen and post reviews when it comes out.
This is particularly important when you list on Apple Podcasts because you have a chance to be in its New & Noteworthy section. It could be a huge boost to your visibility to Apple Podcasts users and a path to increasing your subscriber base if you get it.
What To Do Next
Start laying the foundations for your business podcast today. Many have gone before you, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Check the most popular websites in your niche to get some ideas and get moving.