How To Increase Your Podcast’s Reach and Attract A Larger Audience
Are you a podcaster seeking to take your podcast to the next level? Meet Jon Estes, the driving force of Business Development and Partnerships at Resonate Recordings.
Podcasting is more than just hitting record and speaking into a microphone. It’s about crafting compelling content, fine-tuning the audio experience, and attracting the right audience. Whether you’re a hobbyist or a professional, improving your podcast’s quality can lead to increased audience engagement, deeper connections with listeners, and the opportunity to carve out a unique space in the podcasting world.
Here are the key steps, Jon recommends:
- Define Your Podcast Goals, Target Audience & Unique Selling Proposition
- Plan Your Podcast Episodes In Advance
1. Understand Your Podcast’s Purpose: Define your podcast’s goals, target audience, and unique selling proposition.
A well-defined agenda illuminates the path and sets the trajectory for a successful podcast by facilitating the creation of content that resonates with your audience. Knowing your goals, identifying a specific target audience, and finding a unique selling proposition not only create relevancy and excitement in your content but also are critical in aligning with your overall plan.
As part of the Resonate Recordings, Jon’s role involves steering podcasters through the intricacies of pre-production, offering insights and guidance that optimise their message for listener engagement.
3. Plan What You Want To Say: Plan your podcast episodes in advance. This includes creating a content calendar, writing episode outlines, and preparing interview questions if applicable.
One of the often overlooked yet key steps in podcasting is pre-production. Pre-production, in essence, is the planning stage before actual recording and it forms the skeleton of the podcast episode. It involves setting up a content calendar, drafting episode outlines, and preparing interview questions if necessary. Not only does pre-production streamline the recording process, but it also enhances the richness and depth of the content, and ensures coherence and logical flow in the discussion.
It forces you to think about listeners’ expectations and preferences, thus enabling you to create content that appeals to them. Basically, pre-production provides the road map for a successful and engaging podcast episode. From Jon Estes’ perspective, he strongly advocates for importance of enjoying the pre-production phase in podcasting. He equates pre-production with the joy of anticipation – the fun in looking forward to recording an episode, constructing a compelling narrative, and envisioning how the audience might react.
He also suggests clever ways to bring in fun into pre-production such as incorporating personality-driven questions or anecdotal prompts that could generate spontaneous and engaging discussions. He further speaks about simplification and delegation of tasks, implying that podcasters can engage experts or use tools for tasks that might be time-consuming or outside their skill set. This leaves them with more breathing space to focus on creative and strategic aspects of the podcasting.
Podcasting holds substantial potential to connect with a broad audience and share your unique perspective or valuable insights. As a podcaster, understanding your podcast’s purpose and planning your content through pre-production are vital first steps. This ensures that you’re clear on what you want to communicate and to whom. High-quality production is equally important, offering a smooth listening experience for your audience. Remember, your listeners’ experience will significantly impact their willingness to return for future episodes. Integrating SEO will help you reach a wider audience, boosting your podcast’s visibility. Don’t overlook these steps; they are your roadmap to a successful podcast.