Joining the audio campfire
Whether it’s a mainstream media that is, in many eyes, increasingly discredited, social media channels that further blur the boundaries between fact and fiction, or a desire to ditch the ‘sound bite’ and head back to the joyous days of the long-form interview, the success of the podcast just keeps growing. Richard Miron explains – and tells you how to get started.
Podcasts are booming. Even as people have found themselves confined to home online audio has further entrenched itself with an ever-growing audience.
According to Ofcom the UK podcast audience is bigger now than it was prior to lockdown. This is particularly striking considering that just a few months ago most people listened during their – now obsolete - commutes.
Despite the huge changes the pandemic has wrought in so many ways, it has altered very little for the fundamentals of podcasting. It has only speeded up the direction of travel towards bigger audiences, increasing popularity, and technical innovation.
Many organizations have recently begun putting out podcasts in place of live events such as seminars and conferences. Some companies are also utilising online audio as a means of fostering communication among scattered employees. Technology has enabled audiences to hear programmes on-demand in differing locations irrespective of wherever people are situated.
So how can companies get started in podcasting? What is needed to help them succeed with this novel and powerful communications tool?
Content is King
All podcasts rise or fall according to the quality, relevance, and overall substance of their content. In addition, the increasing number of podcasts across all fields and subjects mean that it is all the more important to ensure that the quality - both technically and editorially - satisfies the audience’s expectations. The core of any good programme is the story and how it’s told. It must engage, invite questions, and have a human experience as its central element.
Getting the editorial element right is only one part of the mix. Most people listen to podcasts on headphones or earbuds. This means they notice the technical quality of what they are hearing and, if it is in any way unclear, they will turn off. Ensuring good, crisp sound is critical in keeping listeners engaged. Recording, editing and mixing to this level requires some knowledge and a good measure of attention.
Accessibility is all
Once you have made your podcast, you need to ensure people can easily access it. This means the programme must be present wherever people listen. Podcasts should sit within a company website, as this will both draw traffic to it - and lead existing visitors to your new content.
Every podcast must also use a hosting site, which acts as an audio player for the content. In addition, the podcast needs to be accessible via podcast directories such as Apple, Spotify and others. These are where most people listen to programmes. Without a hosting platform and directories your podcast will remain largely shut off from its intended audience.
Promotion is Princely
Promotion and marketing are critical to ensure your intended audience knows that the podcast exists, and that it can be found amid amidst the mass of programmes. (Apple podcasts logged over 250,000 new series in the first quarter of 2020 alone!).
This means that there must be a plan to generate awareness during the launch and afterwards. Promotion and marketing include a range of actions such as: branding, social media messaging, paid advertising, live events, enlisting influencers, mass emails, and more. Not every one of these actions is required, but it is vital to use the right combination to reach and retain your audience.
“Podcasts are having their media moment with increasing numbers of programmes and listeners. Amid this audio free-for-all, it is vital that would-be makers ensure clarity for themselves about why they want to use podcasts, who they want to reach, and how they are going to do it.”
Measuring success
The first question that is often asked from those planning a podcast is, “how many listeners will we get?” But that is often the wrong approach. The correct answer consists of another couple of questions: who is your intended audience, and what is the intention of your podcast? It is a mistake to think success should solely be judged on the size of the audience. This oversimplifies how podcasts work and how they can make their presence felt.
There’s no doubt online audio has the capacity to draw massive audiences, but there are hundreds of thousands of other podcasts that are lucky to get any listeners beyond the host and a couple of die-hard followers. In-between these two poles lie the ‘niche podcasts’ where listener numbers are not the primary objective or mark of success. Instead, impact is judged on whether they have reached the target group and generated interest.
For example, in 2018, my company produced a series for The Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM). We made a three-part series ‘Think Nordic!’, aimed at an audience of European policy makers, NGOs and others, interested in issues around sustainability.
The objective was to use the podcasts to highlight the NCM’s work to this specialist audience. We undertook a targeted ad campaign carried out via Facebook and social media postings. As a direct result, over 15,000 people visited the Think Nordic Page and the paid campaign generated over 40,000 impressions. The final total of those who downloaded the podcasts was a couple of thousand. Through the promotional efforts and the increased traffic to the NCM’s website, the series generated considerable awareness among a key target constituency, and that helped the organization to explain and undertake its mission.
The lessons are clear: impact must be judged in terms of overall effect, not just raw listener numbers. The audience size itself is only important when viewed in relation to the targeted group, and if that group was reached through the podcast itself and associated publicity. Podcasts can be the sweetener that draw attention to a business and promote its position as a leader in its sector.
In conclusion, podcasts are having their media moment with increasing numbers of programmes and listeners. There is a great opportunity for companies to use podcasts for their benefit. But amid this audio free-for-all it is vital that organizations ensure clarity for themselves about why they want to use podcasts, who they want to reach, and how they are going to do it.
In addition, at this time of social isolation podcasts are proving they truly are the ‘audio campfire’ around which we can gather both as programme-makers, organisations and consumers to exchange experiences and knowledge. The power of the human voice is proving itself as an important and reassuring presence in business, at home and elsewhere in these uncertain times.
Editor’s Choice
As the theme of this issue is empathy, emotional intelligence, kindness and empathy, here are some of our favourite podcasts in that arena.
Feel Better, Live More
with Dr Rangan Chatterjee
How to Fail
with Elizabeth David
Happy Place
with Fearne Cotton
Thrive 5 with Arianna Huffington
The Naked Professors
with Ben Bidwell
The Art of Charm
with AJ Harbinger and Johnny Dzubak