The trend for podcasting has not simply grown during the pandemic, it’s exploded. Brands and celebrities alike realised that it was possible to reach their audiences through audio-only, required far less technology and cost next-to-nothing to get going. Whether you’ve joined the trend already, or you’re considering that there might be an audience for your brand, here are some considerations around how podcasting can feed into your social media strategy.
Reasons to pod
- It gives your brand a voice – humanisation can be a really effective tool to win business. Video, of course, can do the same thing, but sometimes video is over-produced and insincere. Audio only has a far more 1:1 feel and can help your audience to build up a trust in your organisation.
- Video isn’t an option – whether you’re quarantined, you’re in a new freelance/start-up mode or have decided that all staff should WFH for the foreseeable future, it could be challenging to record video. There’s much more to think about – lighting, on-screen graphics, cuts – whereas audio-only allows more freedom and it’s an easier setup.
- It’s fast – if you want to stay on top of the latest news and trends to stay topical, audio is a great way in. There’s less pressure on the presenter, they can read their script, make their own edits and release a podcast in a matter of hours.
Pod with best practice
- Structure your podcast – it should have an intro -> content -> outro. Many feeds also allow for teasers and trailers to be recorded, so, as with any marketing, consider what the “hook” will be for your audience.
- How long should it be – in some ways, this is totally flexible. We always say that a video should last as long as it takes you to tell the story effectively – do some research in your industry. The majority of weekly podcasts are between 15-30 minutes, but those released less frequently, with multiple topics or interviewees or fiction-based can easily be 60-90 minutes.
- If you’re using music or jingles, for goodness sake make sure you’ve licensed it! Or, use royalty-free stock music.
Once your podcast is produced, you’ll need to promote it. You can use standard static social media visuals, or you can use audiograms – for example:
Want to know how #SocialMedia can help grow your business? Listen to #DowntownDen with @katyhowell – led by @SimonDanczuk! https://t.co/I1sRpaWSNF pic.twitter.com/iinmlpSBpL
— immediate future (@iftweeter) June 22, 2020
It’s a really nice way to get movement into the visual, despite it not being a video. The new Audio Tweets do these automatically – more info on this blog post.
You’ll need a posting plan which matches your release plan for the podcast episodes. And don’t imagine that a single post will be suitable, you should write several for each episode, focusing on the topic and content, what makes it a great listen, what the listener will gain from it. Then post these over time, and ideally invest some budget to ensure your reach is far and wide. You should ideally be posting your podcasts to your website, just like we do, but you could also experiment with driving traffic to your hosting service, or directly to the Apple Podcasts or Spotify subscription pages.
Lastly, look for reviews and engagement on your podcast – perhaps record a variety of intros/outros which ask listeners to leave you a comment or to send in their questions – use the podcast app they prefer, direct them to an Instagram story with the “Question” function, or you could even record a quick Tik Tok. If they ask questions using a voice message over WhatsApp, you can even play and answer these in the podcast itself.
There are so many ways to produce and improve your audio content – as a way to reach your audience on a 1:1 basis, it can’t be ignored!