For the last some years there has been a growing trend of publishing podcasts on different topics. While its popularity was earlier limited to the narrow niches, the recent podcasts cover a wider range of topics right from digital marketing to small business tips. Many bloggers have a notion that creating podcasts is a tedious and cumbersome task and it is not a suitable option for them during the initial phase. The reality, however, is different. While it is true that you need to invest some efforts in creating podcasts, with a reasonable learning curve you would be able to create decent podcasts.
Podcasts allow you to offer an additional and more interactive format of your content to the readers. A clever strategy to hike the consumption potential of your content is to serve a “buffet of content formats” to the audiences. This wider menu of content formats will enable them to pick and consume the content in their favorite format- text, video, or audio. Hence podcasts allow you to explore fresh set audiences in your preferred demographics and thus increases your reader base. Here are a few tips on creating impressive podcasts:
Podcasts ensure better engagement rate
Podcasts are already pacing ahead of text-based marketing with a higher open rate. One of the limitations of textual content is that readers generally skim through it or quickly check the headings to decide whether or not hey should read the entire content. It may result in an ill-informed decision based on the wrong presumption, for instance, if you have written awesome content but headings aren’t that catchy, you may lose your audiences.
Skim reading also compresses the stay duration as busy audiences would go directly to the specific point they need, copy-paste it, and immediately close your site. This behavior prevents you from extracting the maximum SEO juice out of your content by denying you longer stay durations and CTR opportunities.
Podcasts, on the other hand, cannot be skimmed through and thus it allows you to keep your audiences engaged for long that increases the SEO potential of your blog and helps you to acquire committed audiences. You can also create a series of podcasts on different aspects of the same topic to build a strong group of subscribers.
An easy way to start- converts existing posts into a podcast
Start by shortlisting the ideal content that seamlessly fits the criteria of a podcast format. Depending upon the matter and writing style some content might make great reads but fail to impress when converted into podcasts. It is also a good idea to categorize your posts and pick 4-5 posts that can be used to create multiple episodes that can be comfortably marketed into a single subscription package.
An immediate benefit of creating multiple podcast episodes is better reader engagement and more CTR opportunities but it has long term benefits as well. It will not only make it easier for you to commercially sell your podcast episodes in the future but will also make it easier or you to convert random visitors into committed subscribers.
Creative use of podcasts to attract users to low performing posts
Along with allowing you to amplify the impact of your best performing posts, the podcast also acts as an anchor to pull traffic to your poor performing posts as well. Or that you need some wise strategy.
· Start by shortlisting the content that is performing the best and then identify the poor performing content that is not getting good ranking, traffic, or social engagement
· Now make pairs of high and low performing blog posts that can be placed in the same category. Wisely bridge the high performing posts with its low performing counterpart without disturbing the logical uniformity
· Towards the end of your podcast, you can draw the attention of your listeners to additional aspects/perspectives of the topic and give them the link of your low performing posts
· There are good possibilities that the audiences who liked your podcasts would be more likely to click and read that post. Eventually, it will also increase the traffic and engagement on your low performing posts in a reasonable time.
Carefully design the presentation of podcasts
One thing to keep in mind while producing podcasts is that the presentation matters. Just like preferred formats, people also have specific presentation preferences. Some like to listen to opinions and ideas, while others love the content that categorically presents challenges and solutions. However, one of the most preferred content types for audio podcasts is a series of precise answers to the probable questions about the pain points of your target audiences.
Quora is a great source to check the most trending questions/challenges of your targeted audiences that will help you to create the most relevant and timely posts. Just go to quora and write your topic in the search box. Hit enter and you will see a list of questions around the same.
Look for the questions that match your area of expertise/niche and check their date. Filter out the old ones and copy the most recent questions. Creating a podcast on such topics will help you to connect better with your podcast audience by offering them a timely solution to their present issues.
Pick the reliable tools to automate the podcast creation process
Thanks to the sophisticated tools you don’t have to invest too many efforts or hours to create podcasts around your blog posts. These smart tools can automatically y transform your content from textual to audio format with a quick process. It compresses the tedious process into a few clicks.
For instance, Play is a highly competent tool that can automatically narrate the written content in high voice quality. It offers you to choose from as many as 30 different voice types to suit the accent preference of your audiences. WordPress users just need to download and activate it and start using it in their WordPress interface.
All you have to do is to open your preferred posts and click the button convert to audio. That’s all- your posts will automatically be rendered as an impressive audio session.
Manually record your podcasts but with a professional appeal
Bloggers with an impressive voice can also read their blogs in their voices. It will enable you to leave a better impact on your audience. Good oration skills, ability to align your tone and pitch to suit the content, and identifying/emphasizing power words are some qualities that will keep your audience hooked to the entire audio session.
Ensure that there isn’t any background noise or other disturbance as it can affect the impact of your podcast. Voice quality is as important as the quality of your content. So, be ready to invest in decent audio editing tools to polish your podcast presentation and give it a professional appeal before broadcasting it. As opposed to the common notion you can get reliable audio editing tools and paraphernalia at affordable prices.
It is a good idea to use a microphone as it renders the required level of loudness and precision to your voice. You would also need a good recording and editing tools. One such tool is the audacity that provides sophisticated editing and recording options to produce engaging and high-quality podcast sessions that compels the audiences to listen to the complete presentation. ??
Use the right promotion strategy for your podcasts
Due to increasing popularity there I a tough competition in the podcast market. So you need solid promotional strategies to make your podcast stand out of the crowd. Even the best podcast session can be lost in the crowd of mushrooming podcasts if you fail to promote it well.
Start by creating a quick but impressive blog post about your podcast. It will give an official appeal and also work as a powerful tool to attract the existing readers to your podcast. Near create stellar social media posts around your podcast and publish it on the major social media platforms. To connect with your audiences on a deeper and more personal level send announcement emails to your subscribers.
Conclusion
Podcasts allow you to create more engaging content and connect with your targeted audiences at a more personal level. However, to create impressive podcats you need to go through a specific learning curve. Right from choosing the right topics to using the right tools, there are multiple factors to consider if you wish to acquire a sustainable success as a podcast publisher. In this blog, we presented some actionable tips to conceptualize, create, and review your podcasts. The readers are advised to carefully read and follow this guide and also assess the outcome to create high-impact podcasts. You may also want to create a checklist based on the same to convert these tips into a practical daily schedule.