For many people, listening to podcasts was an activity that increased during the coronavirus lockdowns. They’ve now become a global phenomenon – a super-charged content medium.

With people stuck at home and no longer travelling to work, the pandemic threatened to kill off the ‘listener-commuter’ demographic, but in reality the need to stay at home actually gave podcast fans more time to listen to their favourite shows.

Cutting through the noise

Many small businesses and entrepreneurs, forced to find new ways to reach their target markets, picked up a mic and attempted to engage new and existing audiences.

At the start of the year Acast – a leading independent podcast company – found more than 1 in 10 (12.4%) people in the UK are intending to set up and start a podcast of their own in 2022.

Podcasting is not going away any time soon.

But in such a crowded marketplace, how can you stand out and cut through the noise? Who will take the time to listen to your podcast?

And is it too late to start a podcast for your charity?

A captive audience

We live in a generation of distraction. We are exposed to thousands of pieces of content every day. But podcasts give us space for focused thinking, allowing listeners to focus and be absorbed in a subject. Intimate and immersive as opposed to invasive and irritating.

You can create a one-to-one dialogue with your listeners and have a captive audience to tell your story to. This is storytelling in its most powerful form.

Here are three things to consider if you’ve not yet set up a podcast:

1. Clear your head

It’s not sensible to start a podcast simply because you ‘feel you should’. You need to think carefully about launching into producing your first series. Don’t do it just for the sake of it and because everyone else is doing one. Think more broadly.

Look at what you will likely achieve, what value it will bring, and who will likely bother to listen.

Look at your strategic objectives and see whether it’s worth investing in a podcast. It may not be. Yes, you read that right. It may not be the best use of time and resources… for now at least.

Look at what staff, resources and budget you have to make it happen, and then weigh up whether this form of storytelling and communication will help you reach the audiences you are targeting in a way that will achieve the objectives you have set for the year.

2. Choose your niche

What is your subject or story that will attract people to your podcast? Market research is a good idea here. Ask your likely future audience…

Your charity may cover multiple subject areas, but a podcast based on a single issue or topic is more likely a valid and engaging option. You can weave in wider themes, but making your hook unique and distinct is important for getting cut through.

Think what format you will go for. Will it be primarily news or magazine style or more storytelling? Both can work well.

3. Prepare to promote hard

There is more to a podcast than simply recording and editing episodes.

Marketing your podcast is a very labour intensive process, unless you have a guaranteed audience. So think hard about your promotional strategy.

Consider putting some ad budget towards promoting your podcast, learn from your ad performance and be ready to flex your tactics.

Look at who you can collaborate with and leverage their social following by giving them a reason to share the podcast episode they feature on. You may even get backlinks to your website which will be helpful for your SEO.

And make sure you’re doing the basics right, such as having a regular frequency of publishing each episode, ensuring your podcast is accessible with audible dialogue and accompanying show notes and transcripts. This will help build loyalty for your podcast, and make it easier to consume.

If you are thinking of starting a podcast and would like further advice or production support, Jersey Road PR can help. Get in touch with us today.

Written by Andrew Horton, Head of Content, Jersey Road PR.