So, you’ve listened to a few podcasts and thought: Hey, I could do that!
(That happened to me, too.) 🙂
Maybe you like the idea of hitting record and sharing your ideas, or building relationships with interesting people you’d like to interview, or creating a new way to deliver resources to your community.
Or maybe, you’re still warming up to the possibility of starting a podcast and wonder if you could pull it off!
Whatever the inspiration is, the first step to starting a podcast is to clarify your idea.
Think of your podcast as another piece of your content creation in place-based marketing. How would your podcast fit into your overall strategic plan?
For example, if your strategic plan is about supporting existing businesses through marketing and outreach, you’d want a podcast that interviews local business owners. You could talk with them about their products, what a great place it is to work (if they’re focused on recruitment efforts), expansion, or how they’ve been resilient over the last two years. Your conversation can align with whatever their current needs and goals are.
Another way to look at is to clarify: How would your podcast strategically help your community with its goals? For example, if recruiting talent to the area is your goal, you could talk with people who have recently relocated to the community, interview HR directors, or tell the story of unique neighborhoods for anyone who’s considering moving there.
Just like any part of your marketing plan, you need to clarify the following:
Your Podcast’s Purpose or Mission – Knowing your mission can help you stay committed to the work of developing your podcast and guide you as you make key decisions along the way. For example, the Frederick Factor podcast aligns with our overall mission creatively (we love trying new things) and it also aligns with our values of economic inclusion, equity, and diversity. Through this podcast, we’re able to be a part of that dialogue in our community.
Your Podcast Audience – Just like with any part of your marketing strategy, you’ve got to know who your podcast audience is. Who is your organization trying to reach? What is the overlap with the people you could reach with your podcast?
Your Podcast Name – It’s important to come up with a podcast name that’s clearly related to the topic you’re speaking on. It can help for your name to be searchable so that new listeners interested in that topic can find it and for it to be catchy at the same time.
What Types of Guests You’ll Interview – Your guests should be people who can provide additional insight on the topic of your podcast. These can be people you already know and are affiliated with or people you don’t know who are knowledgeable voices on the topic. Interviewing guests is one of the most fun and fulfilling parts of podcast creation, and we’ll share more about that in an upcoming newsletter.
Your Podcast Host – If you’re not comfortable with the idea of being the host and conducting all of the interviews, that doesn’t have to be a barrier to your organization creating one. You could have another person host or even rotate hosts each season.
Getting these foundational pieces right is so important to creating an aligned strategy for your podcast and making sure it supports your organization’s goals. PPR Strategies is pleased to be offering our strategic support with podcast creation. Contact us to set up a free 15-minute consultation with us.
‘Til next time,
Sandy
