[00:00:00] So you are listening to a podcast right now. My question to you is why? Maybe you like learning. Maybe you don't have a lot of time, so you like to listen to shows on the go. Maybe you are more of an auditory learner. Whatever the reason, podcasts have come a long way.

[00:00:19] As of this year, you are one of 546 million podcast listeners worldwide. There are around 4. 2 million podcasts on everything from pet health to true crime to business to comedy to everything you can imagine in between. In Australia, it's estimated almost 36 percent of people listen to podcasts and that number jumps to almost 45 percent in the USA.

[00:00:45] And podcasts are no longer just for external audiences. Many companies are now using them as an internal comms channel as well. So should you create a podcast? And if so, how do you even do that? And that's [00:01:00] what today's episode is all about.

[00:01:06] Hi everyone. And welcome to another episode of less chatter, more matter, the communications podcast. I am your host Mel Loy. And I'm recording this on the lands of the Yuggera and Turrbal people here in Meanjin also known as Brisbane. This week kicked off with International Podcast Day on 30 of September.

[00:01:25] Yes, International Podcast Day is a thing. So we thought it would be worthwhile paying homage to the humble podcast and doing a podcast episode about podcasts, which feels kind of meta. As I said in the intro, there are millions of podcasts right now, and that only continues to grow. But not all of them are successful and not all of them succeed past a handful of episodes.

[00:01:50] In fact, of those millions of podcasts, it's estimated only about 20 percent survive. Only about 6% of podcasts reach [00:02:00] 100 episodes and get this 99 percent release less than three episodes. Now why is that? Well, I reckon the number one reason is that people underestimate the work involved and overestimate how popular they will be.

[00:02:16] And yet by putting in the work, you can really enhance your channel mix depending on who you're trying to reach and why you want to reach them. So let's start with the who and the why, and then I will take you through the steps for how. So let's start who and why. Well, podcasts are great to reach audiences who are on the go.

[00:02:35] So stats show that about 50 percent of people listen while they're doing chores. About 42 percent listen while they commute to and from work. 30 percent while working out and 25 percent while going for a walk. From an internal comms perspective, they can be great tools to reach people who are geographically dispersed across the country or even the world.

[00:02:57] Or if you've got a workforce where there's a lot of [00:03:00] people who are on the road or not in front of computers all day, and they just won't have the time to look and check emails. It's also a great tool if you're trying to reach particular demographics. So for example, almost half of podcast listeners are aged 25 to 35 years.

[00:03:18] So if you want to reach Gen Z or younger millennials, it's a really great tool for that. And 35 percent of podcast listeners are aged 35 to 54 years old. Now, 47 percent of the Gen Z listeners are monthly podcast listeners. 28 percent listen to podcasts nearly every day and 21 percent listen to podcasts for more than 10 hours a week.

[00:03:43] 55 percent of all listeners tune into podcasts to learn, which again is great if you have knowledge to share or you've got expertise within your business that you want to promote. Now, a top tip here. People don't know what they don't know. So, if they've never used a podcast before, [00:04:00] they may not see value in it. Now, I mention this because often in internal comm surveys, teams are asking about channels that people prefer instead of asking how people prefer to receive information or to learn.

[00:04:13] So when the response comes back, that podcasts are low on their list of preferred channels, they just cross it off the list. I would advise you to at least test and learn to see if there is an appetite for podcasts. or if you know you have people who don't spend a lot of time in front of the computer who commute a lot as part of their work, it could be a great testing ground there too.

[00:04:34] Now that leads me to the next point in this Who and Why section, which is about getting clear on who your audience is. Now internally, private podcast feeds, pretty obvious. Your audience is your people, right? But externally, it could be anyone. So you need to be clear on who you're talking to. So you can tailor your content to that audience and then promote it accordingly.

[00:04:57] So for example, I know a lot of you [00:05:00] listening right now, are comms pros, you're change managers, project managers, even leaders. So I'm going to deliver content that I think will be useful for you. And that sits within my realm of expertise. Externally, think about the gap that you're trying to fill in the market.

[00:05:15] Have a look at other podcasts in your genre. If it's already a flooded market, you need to be doing something quite different to cut through. If not, then maybe it's not worth the time and the effort. There could be other ways to get your expertise out there. And when it comes to the why, there could be many reasons.

[00:05:33] It could simply be for business development. Maybe you want to make some money out of advertising through that podcast eventually, or it's simply just to bring senior leaders closer to their teams. Whatever the why - be really clear on that because like your audience, the why will help to shape your content.

[00:05:50] Okay, that's the why and the who let's get into the how. So step one is to map out your content. Now we use just a pretty basic spreadsheet. It [00:06:00] doesn't need to be anything fancy. We start with mapping out the different awareness days or months or other key dates, you know, like R U OK? Day, for example.

[00:06:09] Those dates that we'll want to design content around throughout the year. Then we map out a few weeks in advance what our content focus will be. Now this does change a lot sometimes. Sometimes something happens and we want to jump on that news and talk about it. So for example, the episode we did on the Optus outage earlier in the year, but it helps you to know what's coming up and you can plan in advance as much as possible.

[00:06:34] Also think about the structure for your show. I've played with a few different ones. So for example, I started off with a much longer intro with music behind it, then a shorter intro, now a different intro altogether. But I'll always have an introduction, some context setting, the content itself, and then a wrap up at the end and any extra announcements or messages.

[00:06:54] When I interview people, my structure is again, an introduction, the interview itself, ending with the [00:07:00] same three questions for everyone. It doesn't matter what your structure is. It just needs to make sense and work for you. And having one will really help you in developing your content week after week. I would recommend, though, that you think about podcasts that you like to listen to.

[00:07:15] And what is it that you like about their structure? What is it that you like about their content and the way they're produced? So take the best of all of that and give it a go. And remember, you are not wedded to this forever. You can test and learn. One thing I will say though, is try and keep it shorter rather than longer.

[00:07:34] So according to the stats, the most common podcast episode length is about 20 to 40 minutes. And that means about 80 percent of listeners are actually listening to the whole episode. So that's a sweet spot if you really want people to listen. But really let the quality of the content and the storytelling dictate the length.

[00:07:54] Another quick note, avoid too much guff up front. I don't know about you, but I find it [00:08:00] super frustrating when the hosts just waffle on about random stuff for ages before actually getting into the guts of the episode itself. There was one podcast I listened to once and never again; where the first 40 minutes of the episode where the two hosts just talking absolute crap, like commenting on reality TV, et cetera, before they actually got to the interview with the guest.

[00:08:23] And this was a fitness podcast. I mean, just get into it, right? So that's step one. Step number two is then to choose your tech platforms because you're going to need some tech to record these amazing episodes you're going to produce. The good news is you can do this really simply if you want to. Many people I know just record using Zoom.

[00:08:43] It's fine. It does the job well... most of the time I personally prefer to use Riverside because it uploads locally rather than to the nebulous broader interwebs. Which generally means the quality tends to be better, and I find you don't get that robot voice that you often [00:09:00] get with Zoom. But Riverside does cost a small fee.

[00:09:05] Those are just two platforms, though. There is plenty out there. So I'd recommend you do a bit of research online and ask other podcast hosts what they're using and see if they'd recommend anything too. The other platform you'll need is somewhere to host your show. So hosting platform actually delivers your podcast episodes to the podcast player apps like Spotify and Apple podcasts.

[00:09:27] Now they will cost you a subscription fee as well. Uh, we use Buzzsprout, but there's others like Hello FM out there. So again, do some research, but essentially you set your show up in these platforms and each time you hit publish, you upload your episode to these platforms and it'll be shared with all the different apps.

[00:09:45] Also, a top tip here, make sure you upload a transcript of your episode as well. Not only is that best practice for accessibility, but it's also great for driving search engine optimisation. Okay, tip number [00:10:00] three. is equipment. You have the platforms, but you need the equipment to record with. Now, again, you can go really big or really simple here, but one thing that is essential is a good quality microphone.

[00:10:13] There is nothing worse than poor sound quality on a podcast. People will absolutely tune out within the first few seconds. Now, I use a Blue Yeti mic that's just plugged in via USB, but there's plenty of other options out there. What I would say though, is that before you invest in a, in a microphone, if you're not sure if you're going to continue down this path, start just by using your regular headset that you might use at work, for example.

[00:10:39] And then upgrade later. Now, lighting wise, obviously it's not necessary if you're only recording audio, but that said we use video snippets to promote the podcast. So it is worthwhile having a ring light or just really good natural light if you're going to be using any video. And if you're interviewing someone, I always like to send a brief [00:11:00] beforehand with a bit of info about what the episode will be about and some of the questions.

[00:11:04] But I also include information in the brief about sound and lighting, including some guidance. You know, things like just be in a quiet space, for example. Okay, so you've recorded your episodes. Step four is editing. Now, if you want music, you can buy some generic royalty free music through places like Shutterstock, for example.

[00:11:25] You do want to make sure you're using royalty free music to protect yourself from any copyright issues. I bought my music from an online stock source and it supplied long versions and small snippets as well, so that's been really handy, really easy to use. For editing, I personally love using Descript.

[00:11:43] That's D E S C R I P T. It's a web based platform, but you can also download the app. Now there is a free version, but I pay a subscription for extra features. The reason I love using Descript is that it automatically creates a transcript when you upload the [00:12:00] audio or video file, and then when you edit the transcript, it also edits the audio and the video, which makes it so much easier.

[00:12:08] It also has a bunch of other features. One of the ones I love to use is called Studio Sound, so it cleans up the audio for you. Now, editing is not just about getting rid of the mistakes, but also cutting down on the content to make sure it is more concise. We tend to do this a lot more with the episodes where we interview people because often my chats can go on for quite a lot longer than I intended.

[00:12:33] Now, there are, of course, a bunch of other editing platforms out there. If you're on a Mac, for example, you could just use iMovie or GarageBand. Even Zoom has some capability that you could explore. Okay, step five is promoting. Now, like a website, it is not a case of build it and they will come. You need to let people know your podcast actually exists.

[00:12:56] So, to be honest, this is where you need to spend [00:13:00] a lot of time when you create a podcast. Like all comms, You need to promote it through the channels that will best find your target audience. So for us, for example, we use LinkedIn, Instagram, and our fortnightly email, and we've deliberately kept our channel mix small because we are small.

[00:13:16] You have to be able to sustainably manage your channel mix with quality content, right? But what works really well are video snippets from your podcast. Video really attracts attention. So even if you record something separately as a promo, it's better than not doing anything at all in the video world.

[00:13:34] So make sure your video has captions and keep it to short snippets. Now you can create these in a tool like Descript or there's AI options that automatically generate clips for you, like Munch, for example, uh, Riverside also has this AI technology built into it now too. So what I recommend is that you promote each new episode through all of your channels with slightly different angles because it's likely each channel [00:14:00] has different audiences.

[00:14:01] You need to make it relevant to those different audiences. You could even consider some paid advertising like Google ads, Reddit ads, et cetera. But it does depend on what your goals are and of course what your budget is. Now when it comes to promotion, internally or externally - Social proof is the best promo you can get.

[00:14:20] So really encourage people to leave reviews on your show, which you can then share through other channels. Ask loyal listeners to share the podcast with their own networks, their own teams. And if you are interviewing people, make it easy for them to share their episodes. So you might want to provide them with some imagery or other assets that make it easy to share.

[00:14:40] Also on promotion, as I said earlier, having transcripts, will really help SEO. So, not only do you upload them to your hosting platform, but I would also upload them to your website if you have one, because that really helps to boost those search results. Okay, I'm going to give you two final bonus [00:15:00] tips.

[00:15:00] Are you ready? Of course I am. Great. Tip one, be consistent. Your growth and success will not happen overnight. We are now at 87 episodes and it's been a weekly effort over a couple of years to get to this point. And to build the download rate per episode takes time. It is a long slog, but we are getting there and we've seen tremendous growth as we've built our content to test the different things, but most importantly, just being consistent, really delivering every week.

[00:15:30] Secondly, if you can batch record. So what this means is record a bunch of episodes in one hit in advance. So I do this, especially if I know I'm going to be away or I'm going to be super busy that way you have a few in the bank and you can just schedule them to go live at the time that works for your schedule.

[00:15:49] And on that note, a huge thank you to you, my friend for tuning in. Okay, it is time for your episode recap. Number one, be clear on the who and the [00:16:00] why. Who are you trying to reach and why is a podcast the best way to reach them? Number two, structure and content. Create a structure for your podcast episodes because that will really help you deliver the content and help people follow along as they're listening.

[00:16:15] We humans love consistency. So plan out that content in advance as well. Number three, choose your tech platforms. You'll need platforms to record and host your podcast. And number four is your equipment. If anything, invest in a decent microphone because sound quality is so important. Number five is editing.

[00:16:35] As I said, you can do this various ways, but think about sound quality, music, and the length of your episode. Number six is promotion. You need to get your podcast out there, so make sure you share it regularly and use word of mouth where possible. And number seven, be consistent and batch record where you can.

[00:16:54] On that note, if you are finding value in the show, I'd love it if you could become a reviewer, it'll only take [00:17:00] a few seconds of your time on your podcast app of choice. And perhaps share this episode or another episode or the whole show with a friend or a colleague who might appreciate it too. In the meantime, if you've got any questions about podcasting, please get in touch.

[00:17:14] I'd love to chat. And if you have any suggestions for topics I could cover on future episodes, please also let me know. Keep doing amazing things and bye for now.