Launching a podcast may seem like a great way to market your business and add value to your customers’ lives — but it’s only effective if they tune in. What’s your best tip for creating a podcast your customers will want to listen to regularly, and why?
These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year, and have created tens of thousands of jobs. Learn more at yec.co.
1. Replace the Fluff With Real Value
Be relevant. Include less fluff and more value. People don’t want to hear the chatter back and forth between the host and the guest during the intro. They want meat and potatoes. What are they going to learn from tuning in to your episode? Ditch the long intros, on-air catch-ups and the history of how you met, and instead provide real value to the listeners.
2. Share How You’ve Solved Problems
For each new podcast episode, come up with unique case studies and customer problems that your brand has solved. Customers want to see how their problems will be solved. If your podcast delivers a solution, they will stay glued to your podcast and eventually come to you to hire you for your solution. Also, be consistent with your release schedule and tell customers when they can expect new episodes.
3. Answer Real Customer Questions
One way to ensure that your audience tunes in is to ask them to send their questions so you can answer them on the podcast. This will not only create content that your audience is interested in, but it will also show them that you’re invested in their opinions and that you’re willing to help them with real solutions to their problems.
4. Interview Relevant People
Interview people who have information your audience will appreciate. This makes your podcast more interesting and also lets you tap into your guests’ followings. You may not be able to get world-famous guests when starting out, but you can find experts with moderate followings who can help you get more publicity.
5. Ensure Your Ideas Are Fresh
The trend I’ve observed in podcast listeners is that they want fresh and to-the-point ideas. This shouldn’t be another blog or e-book. Be creative and unique in your delivery. Podcasts are an ideal way to share unique insights and perspectives on topics, so make sure you put your own spin on things. Create a podcast title that resonates with the audience, and let the theme weave through every episode.
– Tonika Bruce, Lead Nicely, Inc.
6. Stay True to Your Identity
The best way to create a podcast your customers will want to listen to regularly is to stay true to your podcast’s identity. If you try to be something you’re not, or if you try to please everyone, you’ll end up with a podcast that doesn’t have a clear purpose or audience. Focus on being true to your brand and providing value to your listeners.
– Abhijeet Kaldate, Astra WordPress Theme
7. Make It Interactive
In my experience, the best podcasts are interactive. We like to host our podcast live so visitors can engage with us in the comments section and share their thoughts. Once it’s posted, we encourage new comments and practice social listening so we can talk to listeners who have opinions on our show.
– John Brackett, Smash Balloon LLC
8. Discuss Topics Your Customers Care About
The key to getting people to tune in to your podcast is to talk about things that matter to your target audience. When planning a podcast for our brand, we look at our Google Analytics data, feedback forms and buyer personas to learn more about our listeners’ goals and pain points. Users who care about the topics you discuss each week are far more likely to listen.
– Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights
9. Plan Content Around News and Trends
Plan your podcast around news cycles and trends, and then spin those topics to your audience’s interests. It won’t be too much of a reach to stay abreast of current trends in your industry, and becoming a thought leader is the end result of this strategy. Be sure that you optimize your podcast for SEO too. Not only is a podcast great for exposure and for creating brand loyalty, but it is also great for your web rankings.
