It seems to me that many small and medium-sized businesses like the idea of having their own podcast and have heard that it is good for business, and as a result, we get a lot of inquiries about recording and producing podcasts. However, it takes a lot of work and time to produce a regular podcast and it can be quite daunting for the new podcaster. So it’s no surprise that a good number of inquiries don’t turn into podcasts.
I feel like there are some very valid reasons for this.
cost
The cost of professionally produced podcasts can be prohibitive for small and medium-sized businesses that are new to the world of podcasts. In our experience, a podcast is only truly effective as a series, with recording and production costing between GBP150 and GBP500 per podcast, depending on the complexity and involvement of professional voice-over and audio editing services. With an average cost of around GBP 300 for the production of podcasts and a series of at least six shows, the financial investment is significant; However, if you get the right content from the podcast series, you should get a good return on your investment. More on this later.
Typical costs may include:-
- Use of professional voiceovers
- recording rental
- Mixing, editing and production.
- Inclusion of sound effects and music.
Done correctly, the benefits of your podcast series will far outweigh the costs for many years to come. Once on the web, it can be accessed and enjoyed by millions of people around the world. The trick is to pitch the podcast content correctly to your target market. If you’re business-minded and approach your podcast from this point of view, it may make sense to try to hedge your investment by selling Podverts (podcast ads) to potential sponsors. This works by simply placing one or more podverts within the content of your podcast show. The benefits of this are clear as the sponsor will be advertising their products to all of their listeners. Also, your listeners will be in a particular market group and it makes sense to have complementary industry sectors join your podcast series early on. Initially, this will probably be more difficult since you don’t have a proven track record, but once you have a successful series under your belt, you should have listener figures with which you can impress sponsors.
Your backers can pay a single fee for their podvert, or you can offer a discount for purchasing multiple podvert slots. In a 10-15 minute podcast, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to have 3-4 short ads/sponsor messages breaking up topic segments. As long as your audio producers are discreet about the placement and number of podverts, your listeners will simply accept them as part of the package; We are all used to seeing and hearing advertisements.
Once your podcast is established, you can take this concept a step further by offering an advertising feature to your sponsor, for example, an interview about their products and/or services. As long as the feature is relevant and offers value to your target market, it will also be accepted as part of the package. This already happens in radio and television programs. Most of the time we don’t even realize that we are being advertised.
content podcast
This is probably the main reason why a podcast never becomes a series and is probably the hardest part for most companies to understand. Writing a podcast script can be time consuming and quite difficult at first; however, once you feel it, like everything else in life, it becomes easier. If you really struggle with this, there’s no reason why you can’t hire the services of a screenwriter and give yourself the role of creative director. Personally, I think it’s more important to find a topic that is interesting and valuable to your target market than to create a perfect script. Brainstorming with colleagues and even clients about potential topics, features, interviews, and entertainment items will soon give you a general rundown of content that can be the raw material for your scripts.
Once you have the outline for your first and possibly second podcast, the shape of the series will become clearer, and from this you should be able to create a show template. It’s a good idea to test these initial ideas with a few people before spending money to record and produce a professional podcast. Once you’re happy with the general ideas for your podcast show, you’ll either need to write a script to be narrated by a professional voice-over (usually more favorable), or host the podcast yourself.
The choice to use a professional voice-over or to do the narration yourself is something you have to make. There are good and bad points in both. If you’re not used to speaking into a microphone, the results can be terrible for the listener, and many people may tune out and never listen again as a result. On the other hand, if you’re good at speaking into a microphone and can project the right amount of personality, you might just become a hit with your audience. The clear benefit of using a professional voiceover is that your podcast will sound polished and more like a radio show. Either way, you need to decide which one would be more appealing to your listeners/target market.
If you decide that hosting is a bit difficult for you, there are companies that can arrange the services of a professional voiceover for you.
There are several ways a good producer can incorporate elements of location recording with a studio-produced voiceover to provide varied and authentic contrast in a podcast production. For example, it’s easy for a voiceover to present a 5-minute interview or a 5-minute conversation you had at the office with a colleague or business contact. The contrast between the two will create variation for the listener. For example, I have known podcast interviews take place in trains, airplanes, bars, nightclubs, and even limousines.
Don’t be afraid to be creative. Being different can help you stand out from your competitors and could be the factor that gets you recognized by your target market and industry.
Taking out there!
Podcast marketing is a big topic, and as a business, the best way to get your podcast to the right listeners is to communicate directly to them. Use your customer list / mailing list, after all, these are people who have an interest in your products and services because they have used your services or joined your mailing list. If you have a newsletter that you send out to customers on your mailing list, perhaps you could create an audio version or just promote your new podcast series in your newsletter.
Okay, so you have a mailing list of 20,000 people that you sent out your latest newsletter to; you tell everyone you have a great new podcast and they all listen to it… not quite. Although most people have heard of the term podcast and think they know what it is, there are still a lot of people who don’t know what podcasting is, where to find podcasts, or how to listen to them.
When you advertise your podcast, direct your mailing list subscribers to a page on your website or blog that clearly explains and educates them about your podcast, the listening options available, and how to subscribe to future podcast shows.
In reality, many people don’t realize that a podcast can be easily listened to on your computer, iPod, or mp3 player, or burned to a CD for listening at home or in the car. Many people don’t realize that their downtime, especially during daily commutes, can be used as valuable time listening to podcasts. You could be the one to educate and entertain them through your podcast; they will always thank you.
Depending on your budget and product, a great business promotion would be to offer your best customers a complementary gift, for example, an mp3 player, preloaded with your podcasts and even company branding. There are companies that produce brand name products i.e. pens, mugs, coasters, etc. You could possibly do the same with your freebie.
Once you have your podcast subscribers, you need to keep them listening. Asking listeners for input and feedback will help refine your podcast series to keep them engaged and eagerly awaiting the next show and possibly your new series. You can do this simply on your website by asking for feedback or by having a comment box on your blog. It’s a good idea to offer an incentive to provide feedback, such as a drawing to win a new iPod, gift certificates, etc.
I strongly recommend that you have your podcast transcribed and available as text on your website or blog. The reason for this is that search engines cannot parse your audio content, they can only parse and index content that is textual. Your transcript will contain all of your relevant keywords and key phrases that will attract search engines and attract new listeners and potential new customers. This is an ideal place to have your comment box.
Supervision
Once your first podcast series is available, you need to monitor its effectiveness. Time and money have gone into the recording and production of your podcast, so you need to see a worthwhile return on your investment. This can be measured in a number of ways, however the key goals of your podcast should be:
- Consolidate existing relationships between you and your customers and provide them with added value.
- Attract new customers through your podcast on the web and through referrals from existing listeners.
- Increase awareness about your products and services and spread your message.
- Keep your company ahead of your competitors.
If you can accomplish all of this while gaining sponsors to cover the cost of producing your podcast, your podcasting venture should be very successful and very profitable.
