How to Create a Remarkable Content Experience with Podcasting

Podcasting is one of the most intimate content marketing experiences because we take podcasts with us during our daily rituals. A podcast is not words on the page, it is the human voice in your ear while you are brushing your teeth, out for a morning jog or driving home from work.

Podcasts numbers have been growing steadily for years.  As smartphone ownership explodes, internet connectivity increases and the consumers’ desire to consume niche content on demand grows, podcasting becomes more popular.

The average podcast is about 35 minutes. Compared to the average length of a user engagement with a blog post, Tweet or even white paper – 35 minutes presents a tremendous opportunity.  Combined with the particular intimacy of the medium, the podcast has the ability to create a deep and lasting impression of your brand with your prospect.

However, due to the intimacy and engagement required by the user with a podcast it is especially important to create content which is remarkable.

As told by Jerod Morris in his presentation, Become a Showrunner: 4 Essential Elements of a Remarkable Podcast, at Authority Rainmaker, here are the four elements of a remarkable podcast.

#1 Authenticity

People often think of authenticity as transparency, but being authentic doesn’t mean that you have to reveal everything about yourself. It does mean that you have to be candid with your audience in a way that builds trust and a meaningful connection.

In order to create an authentic podcast, you must:

1. Know yourself. Choose a topic for which you have a genuine passion. You are going to be talking a lot about this topic, so it much be something that you love talking, reading and conversing about. If you’re considering a podcast for your business, choose a related topic that you’re especially interested in or choose the employee who is most passionate to represent your business.
2. Know your audience. This is just as important as knowing yourself. Knowing your audience is all about empathy. You should understand their thoughts, pains, and hopes so that you can speak their language.
3. Find the intersection. Authenticity means finding the intersection between knowing yourself and knowing your audience. Once you find the balance of content that you and your audience really care about, your content will be interesting and authentic.

Being candid without taking yourself too seriously is critical. When you begin podcasting being natural is probably going to be really challenging. You’re going to want to read from a script, but scripted isn’t what people are looking for while they’re walking their dog or washing the dishes. Work to be natural and you will make the connection.

#2 Usefulness

Demand for podcasts is growing so quickly because people want to learn something while they are doing something else. Respect your audience enough to give them what they want, and create a podcast that is useful to your target audience.

There are three ways a podcast can be useful to your audience:

1. It educates. Like Grammar Girl or Stuff You Missed in History Class, the educational podcast is great at teaching the listener something they didn’t know.
2. It entertains. Akin to This American Life, the entertaining podcast is about telling a story, transporting your listener somewhere else.
3. It inspires. This podcast motivates the listener to take the next steps. Grow your business, get fit, start your own podcast – whatever it may be.

The best podcasts probably do all three of these things. However, you have to understand which of these the primary objective of your audience is. Knowing your audience means knowing why they are coming to you and staying true to that. This helps in building the authentic connection.

#3 Sustainability

A remarkable podcast is going to be more than just 3-4 great episodes. It’s going to be a valuable source of content over a long period of time.

There are three steps to creating the sustainability critical for a remarkable podcast:

1. Show up. If you set the expectation that you’ll be there, then be there.
2. Show up reliably. Publishing content on a consistent schedule builds trust. Also, on the flip side, if your listener is waiting for content, and you don’t have it, they’ll go somewhere else.
3. Show up reliably over time. A podcast is not about short term success. If you show up over time, then listeners will become a committed member of your audience.

#4 Profitability

If you’re creating a podcast for your business, you are probably interested in notion that your podcast may generate revenue. This is the last essential element to  a remarkable podcast.

There are three ways podcasts can create profitability:

1. Direct. Sell direct ads and sponsorships within your podcast. This is the most rare and difficult model to attain.
2. Indirect. If you are using podcasts as part of a content marketing mix for your business, podcasts may have an indirect impact on profitability by growing a community who may be interested in your products or services.
3. Intrinsic. If your goal is to create something remarkable, then creating something remarkable will have intrinsic value. If you find your topic valuable, then the creation of content and engagement of community builds fundamental value.

Direct profitability usually comes last…if it comes at all. It’s driven by the intrinsic level, because it’s your connection with the audience which is going to drive eventual profitability.

Now is a great time to start podcasting and  it is a fantastic way to reach an audience. However, to be successful use these elements in order to create a remarkable experience for your audience that drives results over time.

Keep your eye here on Online Marketing Blog as well as Instagram, Flickr, Pinterest and Twitter @TopRank for coverage of the Authority Rainmaker conference. You can also see the eBook we created featuring advice from Rainmaker speakers here.

Disclosure: Copyblogger Media is a TopRank Marketing client for the Authority Conference.