TPU40 – How to Put Together an Effective Podcast Strategy for Your Show?

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[00:00:00] Dilip: Do you really need to be on all of the social media channels? Not necessarily! Pick the right social media channel for your niche and your audience and promote your podcast only on those channels. Now, for example, if your podcast is related to fashion or your podcast is related to food, then you should ideally be focusing on Pinterest or Instagram a lot, because that's where you'll find a lot of your audience.

[00:00:29] But if your podcast is about business, then you should ideally be focusing more on LinkedIn, because that is where you would find a lot of those people who would be interested in listening to your podcast. Depending upon who your audience is, you might want to put together the right promotional strategy, even if that is related to social media or some of the other aspects. Welcome to the podcasting university, looking for help on starting your own podcast.

[00:00:58] then this is a place to be. [00:01:00] We will help you with everything from selecting your topic to promoting and monetizing your podcast in the simplest language possible. Listen to other podcasters, who've been through the grind and learn from them. As we interview them every week, you can find more details on the podcasting university.com.

[00:01:27] Hello, this is Dilip and welcome to episode 40 of the podcasting university in the past episodes. We've spoken about how to get started with podcasting, including some of the absolute basics of podcasting, like niche research, identifying the best microphone for your show, putting together a listener profile and things like that.

[00:01:50] But in this episode, we're going to talk about something that is extremely important, for you to think about even before you [00:02:00] start your podcast and that is putting together an effective strategy for your podcast. We'll also be talking about why a strategy is important and how is it that you can put together an effective podcast strategy?

[00:02:16] 90% of the podcasts usually fail because they lack a proper strategy. They just start off without a real goal in mind. Without an objective and then end up unsure as to where is it that they want to go after about 10 to 15 episodes. If you've already faced this situation, then understand that it is because you didn't have a proper strategy for your podcast.

[00:02:41] If you are in it for the long-term, then keep in mind that you need to put together a structured strategy for your show. And in this episode, we are precisely going to discuss what a structured strategy is, how to put one together and what are the [00:03:00] things that need to go into putting together an effective podcast strategy.

[00:03:04] So, first things first let's first understand what a strategy is. Now, while strategy might sound a complicated term, a very difficult term, like a business term. It necessarily, isn't something that is associated with businesses alone. Content marketing in all its form, irrespective of what kind of content marketing you're doing.

[00:03:28] It can be vlogging on YouTube. It can be blogging, it can be social media, it can be podcasting. All of these forms of content marketing needs a proper strategy because at the end of the day, There is an objective associated with what you are doing. And in order to ensure that that objective is met and that you track to the initial objective that you put together, you need a strong [00:04:00] and proper strategy for the content marketing efforts that you're putting in. A strategy basically helps you put all of the objectives that you've planned into a framework.

[00:04:12] And then it gives you the guidance on how to go about achieving it. And if you've put together a good strategy, then it can give you the guidance on every step as to how to go about achieving your core objectives. Now, in other words, a strategy will help you lay down the steps required to ensure that you're succeeding with what you are doing.

[00:04:35] And then it'll also help you measure your success and see where you are in terms of the goals that you've set for yourself. So that is basically what a strategy is. Now you don't need to go into a lot of detail on what a strategy is, but understand that it is the framework around which your [00:05:00] entire efforts are going to be focused.

[00:05:03] So now that we've understood what a strategy is, let us quickly take a look at what can a good strategy do for you. And there are a lot of things that a good strategy can do for you. A good strategy can help you achieve your goals. And it can also ensure that your goals are aligned with your overall business objectives.

[00:05:22] If you have some kind of a business objective on what you're planning to do, like, for example, with your podcast. Now these goals can be anything. It can be like increasing your listener base, increasing your subscriber base, increasing your customer base, or it can be about creating awareness for your brand in the market.

[00:05:46] Or even if it is your personal brand, it could be about creating awareness for your personal brand in the market. So all of these goals are something that a good strategy can help you achieve. [00:06:00] Number two. A good strategy can help you stay on track. It can help you get maximum value for your time and effort.

[00:06:09] And it also helps you ensure that the decisions that you're making are the right decisions. Now keep in mind that podcasting isn't easy. While we feel that it is easy. There is a lot of. That goes into creating a good show and releasing episodes every week on time. And hence a good strategy's important because it will help you ensure that you're staying on track.

[00:06:34] It is helping you ensure get maximum value for the time and effort that you're putting in. And it'll also help you ensure that you're taking the right decisions at the right time. Number three, it can help you grow your business in a sustainable way by developing a process that can be repeated. Now, for example, if you look at the editing process for your podcast, and if you have the right [00:07:00] strategy in place, that editing process is something that you don't have to fiddle with every week.

[00:07:05] You don't have to go and look back on some of these typical jargons or what is it that you want to do with your audio? How to go about boosting the sound levels, the noise levels, reducing noise. So you don't have to go back and look at all of these things. If you have all of that into your strategy, you just do it once and then you can repeat it every time you're editing your show.

[00:07:28] So that's what a good strategy can help you achieve. Number 4. It can help you find the right resources and the right partners to help you meet your goals. Now, for example, if you are starting off with your podcast, if you decide on what is the microphone that you want to go with, even before you've started off with your podcast, you will not waste your money on buying some microphone that isn't effective or that isn't good.

[00:07:56] You will be able to go and invest your money at the right [00:08:00] places, ensuring that you're buying the best microphone based on your budget. That gives you the best and the optimum audio quality. If you decide on what is the podcast hosts that you want to go with that partnership, if you find the right podcast host, and that is something that is part of your strategy, there could be some requirements that you have which some of the podcast hosts might not have.

[00:08:23] So, if that goes into your strategy, it'll help you pick the right podcast host for your podcast, ensuring that you meet your goals. You don't have to switch podcast hosts in between. Number five, a good strategy can help you stay focused and it can help you put your podcasting into perspective within the overall context of your business.

[00:08:50] Now, for example, you're planning to start up business podcast. And there is a larger business strategy within which if you have your podcasting strategy in [00:09:00] place, the podcasting strategy can plug in very nicely into your overall business strategy and ensure that it achieves the goal with which it was started.

[00:09:09] And it also helps you achieve your overall business goals. So what goes into a strategy and how can you create one that works for your podcast? How can you put together an effective podcast strategy? Before you even start your podcast there are some of these things that you need to know. You need to keep in mind.

[00:09:31] You need to understand, because this is what will help you put together a good strategy. Number one, you need to know the why and how of your podcast. Now this is something that we've discussed a lot. And I keep talking about this in my social media posts. There is an episode that I put together long back on, which I, once again, talk about the objective or the goals with which you are planning to start your podcast.

[00:09:58] It is important that you [00:10:00] answer this question. Why are you starting a podcast? What is the reason with which you're starting a podcast? It could be just to build your personal brand. It could be to provide a certain value to the community. It could be about making money from your podcast, whatever it is.

[00:10:18] Why are you starting a podcast? Number two. What do you want to achieve through podcasting? Now like what I said, if you answered this question, you've answered one part of that overall objective with which you are starting your a podcast. Number three, how will you achieve it? What is the process that you're going to follow?

[00:10:39] What is the mechanism or what is the framework that you're going to follow in order to ensure that you're achieving that why with which you started your podcast. How are you going to do it? How are you going to ensure that you release regular episodes? How are you going to ensure that you don't lose consistency with your [00:11:00] podcasting?

[00:11:01] And what is the message that you want to convey? Now, these are some of these questions. If you answer these questions, you will be able to put together a why or an objective for your podcast. These answers, the answers to all of these questions will more or less help you shape your podcast strategy. Now, here are some other things that you need to include in your strategy.

[00:11:27] Number one. The objective for your podcast, what is it that you want to achieve with your podcast? And this is something that we spoke about a little while back, and this is something that I've spoken a lot about in my previous episodes and in my social media posts as well. So first and foremost, identify the objective of your podcast.

[00:11:47] Number two, what is the frequency of production? What is going to be the format of the show? Now this is a point where a lot of people falter because you start off with maybe releasing a daily episode or a weekly episode, and [00:12:00] then find that there are a ton of things that you're doing simultaneously. And you're not able to find time

[00:12:05] to release episodes on time. And then there is a break in consistency that happens because you haven't thought through the frequency of your podcast and you just started off without real plans. Decide on what is the frequency of your podcast, keeping in mind, all of the resources that are there at your disposal, and then follow that frequency to the T every week or every two weeks.

[00:12:31] Now, for example, with the podcasting university, the frequency of the show is biweekly. And the reason why I kept it as biweekly is primarily because I have a lot of other things that I manage and I felt that this is the optimum frequency with which I can release my episodes. Without really impacting the overall consistency of the show.

[00:12:51] So it is a very important aspect of your strategy. The second one is the format of the show. Now that is an episode that I've [00:13:00] done in the past, where I spoke about the different formats of podcasts. You can pick the right format that fits your need. Like, for example, if you're looking at an interview podcast, then you can go for an interview podcast.

[00:13:12] But if you're somebody who would like to do a dual host conversation, kind of a podcast, then that is something that you can pick, but whatever it is, pick the right format for your show and include that as part of your podcast strategy. Number three audience profiling. Once again, this is a topic that I've spoken about in detail in one of the past episodes.

[00:13:34] So I would recommend that you go and listen to that episode, but just to give you a snapshot of what audience profiling is. It is about identifying the right audience for your show. Deciding even before you've released your podcast on who your audience is going to be, why would they want to listen to your podcast?

[00:13:52] What are the demographics? Some of these things are something that will help you put together a good audience profile [00:14:00] audience persona, or we even call it as listener profile. That again, should be part of your podcast strategy. Number four. The positioning related aspects. Now your podcast can be in a niche where there are a ton of other podcasts in the market.

[00:14:15] How do you plan to keep your show relevant for your audience? How do you plan to make your show stand out from the crowd? There is a lot of noise out there. There has to be something different that you're doing, that your podcast is doing in order for it to stay relevant in order for it to stay different from all of the other podcasts that are there in the market.

[00:14:39] This is going to be your unique selling proposition. So the positioning related aspects for your show is something that you want to include in your strategy. Number five, the marketing and promotion related strategy. Now this again, I see that a lot of podcasters that I talk to, or a lot of people who are planning to start a podcast, what happens is [00:15:00] we don't really think about how is it that we're planning to promote the show.

[00:15:04] We just start off with the podcast and then try to find out what is the best way of promoting the podcast. Look at all of those platforms, confuse, and then find that we are not reaching anywhere. And one another misconception one, another aspect that I've seen, a lot of people getting confused with is, do you really need to be on all of the social media channels?

[00:15:30] Not necessarily pick the right social media channel for your niche and your audience and promote your podcast only on those channels. Now, for example, if your podcast is related to fashion or your podcast is related to food, then you should ideally be focusing on Pinterest or Instagram a lot, because that's where you will find a lot of your audience.

[00:15:54] But if your podcast is about business, then you should ideally be focusing more [00:16:00] on LinkedIn, because that is where you would find a lot of those people who would be interested in listening to your podcast. Depending upon who your audience is, you might want to put together the right promotional strategy, even if that is related to social media or some of the other aspects.

[00:16:17] Now promotion can be both inorganic and organic. Organic is when you get traffic without really spending any money on it. Like for example, the social media traffic that you get, those are all organic traffic, but if you plan to run promotional ads on Facebook or Instagram. Then you need to put together aspects related to that strategy as well.

[00:16:38] So that too need to go into your overall podcasting strategy. And finally, the sixth one monetization related strategy. Now monetization is something that a lot of us don't think when we start off with, but eventually at some point you will have to think about it because there is a lot of time and effort that you're putting into your podcast.[00:17:00]

[00:17:00] You would expect something in return. It might not necessarily be money, but there could be something that we're expecting in return from the podcast. If it is money that you are expecting, then you need to have a good monetization related strategy built into your overall podcasting strategy. I'll be doing another episode on monetization related aspects.

[00:17:20] So stay tuned, uh, in order to be updated when I released that episode. But that's again, one very key aspect that needs to go into your overall podcast strategy in order for your strategy to be an effective podcast strategy. You don't need to break your head on putting together a strategy. It is simple. And if you can spend a few hours, you should be able to do it. But keep in mind that even if it takes a couple of days, the time that you're putting into building that strategy will be well worth it because in the long run, this strategy is what will help [00:18:00] you ensure that you are consistent with your content.

[00:18:04] Your audience is liking your show and that your podcast doesn't fade off after a few episodes and end up in that podcast, grave where 95% of the podcast end up in. So that is all that I had about putting together an effective podcast strategy. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did then visit thepodcastinguniversity.com and let me know your thoughts by commenting in there.

[00:18:34] And when you go to the podcasting university.com, you will find links to our previous episode where you can listen to some of the other aspects that I discussed in this episode. And you will also be able to join the four day ecourse on the basics of podcasting, which will help you ensure that you are starting off on the right note.

[00:18:56] So that's all that I have for this episode. Pick your [00:19:00] favorite podcasting platform and listen to the podcasting university in there. We are available on apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Stitcher radio, iTunes, prime music, Spotify and hub hopper as well. Whatever is a platform that you pick to listen to the show, ensure that you're subscribing to the show in there.

[00:19:20] And leaving a review because that helps in ensuring that other people are able to find this podcast. So that is all that I have for this week. If you have any questions, do reach out to me on the podcasting university.com. And once again, don't forget to subscribe to the four day ecourse, which is a free course on the basics of podcasting.

[00:19:41] Visit the podcasting university.com and join the course in there today. That's all that I have for this week. I'll be back again in a couple of weeks with another important aspect on how to start a podcast in India. This is goodbye from Dilip. You all have a wonderful rest of the week?[00:20:00] .