Tips for Starting a Small Business Podcast

If you’ve been following current business and marketing trends, you’ll be no stranger to the recent buzz around podcasts. According to recent studies by Ofcom, podcasts have become a thriving online content platform, attracting a growing audience, with nearly six million adults tuning in each week.

Unlike other platforms, podcasting is growing in popularity due to being one of the most personal mediums for communication, allowing a brands personality to come through. Whereas people tend to skim read tweets and Facebook posts, a podcast listener has made a conscious choice to listen to the content, making an effort to engage with the brand. Visit https://melonapp.com/how-to-start-a-podcast/ to learn how to start your very own podcast.

If you are keen to branch into the world of podcasting but aren’t sure where to begin, then read on:

Understand business mediums

Before you begin immersing yourself into podcasts, you must be committed. A podcast can be a very engaging form of marketing for your business. Therefore a successful one needs a solid plan.

Before you jump in with two feet, assess your current business marketing platforms. Your business should have an attractive website, a solid SEO strategy, active social media channels and follow other marketing strategies which work into your business (like blogs, PPC, and video content) before you take this next step.

It’s fundamental to understand the importance of the above before trying out something new. If you’re a little rusty with how to analyze what will work best for your business, consider doing some extra learning on the side at this stage. Having fully competent business skills is key before getting too ahead of yourself with new tactics.

There are many online courses in business-related topics you can study while continuing running your business, which can give you more in-depth knowledge into business analytics and strategy.

Once you have these skills intact, you will fully understand how other forms of marketing can feed into your business growth plan. Start by looking into online courses such as this one: https://online.suffolk.edu/programs/ms-business-analytics – which teaches essential business analytic skills while being 100% online, giving you flexibility.

The first steps and basics

For those who have smaller marketing budgets, you’ll be pleased to hear it can be relatively inexpensive and easy to start podcasting.

It’s worth investing in high-quality equipment if your podcast starts to become successful, but for the beginning stages, all you really need is a recording device, a studio microphone, a platform to host your episodes and editing skills.

Research has shown that the optimal duration length for podcasts is around 22 minutes, so keep this in mind when recording for ultimate engagement.

The most important factor to note when launching a podcast is that your content is king. It has to be relevant and engaging. Remember that podcasts are growing, so it’s likely your competitors will also be looking in this if they haven’t done so already.

Decide on your topic and think of how you can make it slightly more unique in terms of how you deliver it. Perhaps you want to offer expert opinions or bring on interesting guests. Whatever you wish to do, make it stand out.

Next, you’ll need to list it in all the main podcast directories available. This allows potential listeners to find you, download or subscribe. Some to start off with include Google Podcasts, iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn radio, and Stitcher.

Maximizing ROI

If podcasting is done right, it has so much potential to be a time-saving marketing method, providing a secure way of returning on your marketing spend. Many of the podcast hosting platforms can now provide insight and analytics surrounding your podcast, letting you see download and listener figures. Keep a log of these, constantly making plans on how you can grow the numbers.

Your aim is to increase the number of subscribers, so always have that in mind when recording and pushing out your podcast content.

Enjoy yourself!

The beauty of podcasting is that it doesn’t come with the daunting aspects that video and YouTube content comes with. You can be that enthusiastic voice behind the microphone without having to feel too anxious.

But before you fully dive in, the key is to work on how to stand out. Podcasts can appeal to both wide audiences and niche areas, so decide what yours will attract and see what competition there is. You want it to be fun, and not a constant struggle to be heard over the millions of very similar podcasts out there.

The bottom line here is to do your research, and if you think there is a space for you, go for it. Let your brands personality shine through and enjoy trying something new. You never know, you may discover your podcast was what many people were missing from their lives.