It’s Time to Tune in to Podcasts

Can you believe it’s almost been a full month since International Podcast Day?! If you missed the holiday, don’t worry—you’re probably not alone. Luckily, PadillaCRT celebrated enough for all of you, with the launch of our very own podcast, On Purpose.

According to Edison Research, one-third of Americans say they’ve listened to at least one podcast in their life—and that number is growing. The percentage of Americans who have listened to a podcast in the past month has doubled since 2008, from 9 to 17 percent.

If you weren’t paying attention to podcasts yet, it’s time to tune in.

With that said—is anyone out there considering launching a podcast for your company or client? If so, check out these tips for getting started.

Find your niche. No matter how often you’re planning to post, it will take time to position yourself as an expert. You’ll need passion, valuable insight and a whole lot of expertise.

To my fellow health communicators: think about the brands you represent. Which industry do they fit into? Just because the client is technically in the Health IT space, doesn’t mean they should be talking about electronic medical records and telemedicine if their strengths lie in cyber insurance.

It’s more about owning a specific topic, than rambling on about a little of this and a little of that.

Have a plan. It might seem like a podcast is more flexible than other channels, but being able to create regular relevant and engaging content comes from having a plan. Treat it like any other publication and make an editorial calendar. Outline any themes you want to address, and then work topics and guests into the calendar.

Hold yourself to a schedule. If you commit to posting 3 times a week—do it. Your listeners will start to anticipate your next post, instead of going looking for new content when they haven’t heard from you in a while.

Promote it! Try sharing it on your social media profiles or partnering with other podcasters to promote each other’s shows.

Most importantly—list your podcast in the top directories. iTunes is clearly the largest, with more than one billion subscriptions, but all of them give you access to a potential audience you couldn’t reach by yourself. This article has a great list of other platforms to check out.

What do you think? Any tips out there for new podcasters?

Photo credits: Colleen AF Venable and Studio Curve