Starting a podcast is a great way to spread influence, promote a brand or product, provide entertainment, or simply put, talk about what you are passionate about. More and more people now start podcasts for different reasons and a big percentage of them are gaining success out of it. Even major celebrities and personalities have succumbed to the podcast idea that a lot of them have made it as an avenue for them to reach out to fans and followers.
Even if you are not a celebrity and you’re just a regular dude, you can still start a podcast if you believe you have awesome content the people need. Everything boils down to content, and as long as you have quality ones, then starting a podcast is a great way for you to reach out to an audience. Let us expound on how and why you should start a podcast in 2020.
The Power of Content
If you are knowledgeable or (much better) an expert on a particular subject matter, this can be key for you to have a solid content base. You can use the subject as your main niche and record podcast episodes discussing this niche. For later episodes, you can even venture out on sub-topics revolving around the niche and discuss them further with the help of friends or guests in your podcast.
As long as you are compelling enough and you know you have top quality content to share to an audience, then you are good to go. Aside from knowledge, you can also take advantage of a product or service which you can promote through your podcast production. A product/service can be enough source for lots of content given you can discuss its category or the industry it falls under. Last but not the least, is entertainment. Even without some serious thoughts but as long as people can find you entertaining then it is something worthwhile for some podcast content. Also, consider to have a cool podcast music background.
Establish Your Target Audience
Once you have mapped out the type of content you are going to promote through your podcast production, it is now time to define your target audience. Keep in mind you cannot please everyone around the globe which is why it is important to trim your audience and define them accordingly. By having a target audience, you keep track of your content and continuously stay in your lane. You can avoid straying out of your niche since you are only concerned about your audience and you are doing the podcast for them and not for personal benefit.
To define your target audience, imagine your entire audience as a single individual. Define this person based on some demographics such as age, interests, occupation, gender, etc. You can also add traits and characteristics which further define your ideal viewer or listener. Once you have finalized the character of your ideal audience, then it is much easier to move forward and pattern your content according to what this ideal audience loves.
However, the greater challenge is how to reach your target audience. If the podcast was created in support of a brand or product, then it is much easier to promote it given there is already a following beforehand due to the people who recognize the brand/product. It is a much different challenge when you are starting purely on knowledge-based content or musical podcast since you are opening up as a startup with zero audiences (except for friends and family).
Promotion and marketing play a huge role for you to reach out to your target audience. The best way to market your podcast is not by shamelessly plugging your podcast link or channel on different platforms but simply address what your target audience needs or wants. Since you already know your target audience, you also know what they want or need out of your podcast and why they should watch your recordings.
You can take advantage of surveys to determine what people want or need out of podcasts, then present yourself as the ultimate solution for their need if their answers point out to your intended direction. This way, you are catering to them and not forcing them to watch or listen to your show. This is smart marketing and lets word of mouth play its part to do the rest. Of course, you also need to do traditional promotions through social media and other internet outlets.
For more references, check out these following podcasts as your basis for your own podcast production here and here.
The Bottomline
I have been beating around the bush to convince you why you need to start a podcast after this pandemic year. The only reason there is because it is where the money is at. There is a lot of promise and opportunity in doing podcasts as it has become the go-to approach when it comes to promoting products or even for entertainment online. Starting a podcast is a bright idea as long as you have powerful content to back it up.
