Brands and businesses are experimenting with different types of content to market their products and build a large base of followers. While video content has been here for a while and will continue to be, businesses are now working on audio content like podcasts to promote their respective brands.
Podcast listeners have increased over the years. Until the past few years, people listened to only one podcast a year. But, since the last year, the frequency has changed to one podcast a month. In this sense, having a podcast will be of great advantage for your brand. It will help you expand your community and build a stronger connection with them.
Podcasts have gained a lot of popularity since the past year.
As such, it’s very important for you to learn how to make a podcast and build a community of listeners around it. You don’t need to have technical skills to be able to start a podcast.
Here’s a crash course for you on how to make a podcast. Follow this guide to start building your podcast and a community of listeners.
Starting A Podcast
In order to start a podcast, you will need a concept on which you want to build your podcast. This includes a name for your podcast, a set of topics, a format and a targeted length for your podcasts. You’ll also need a rode microphone and an MP3 player to record your audio files and editing software to edit them.
You’ll also need a podcast hosting facility such as Podbean or Libsyn. You then need to broadcast your audio files into the RSS feed. This will help you distribute your audio through iTunes and stream through any device of your choice.
You can listen to Shopify’s own podcast, Shopify Masters, to gather knowledge on starting and growing an online store.
Learn To Get Started With Your Own Podcast
You can start by picking the theme or premise for your podcast. All your episodes will then be according to that theme. However, if you operate out of specialized industries or niches, you will have to be more innovative with the topics. Once you commit to a theme, you will have to prepare a list of at least 10 to 15 episodes with appropriate content.
Conduct thorough research on similar podcasts and monitor their social media activity and following. At this point, you will also want to pick the format for your episodes. Depending upon your theme, niche and industry, you may want to go for an interview-based podcast or one based on storytelling.
Things Needed To Start A Podcast
To start your podcast, you need to pick an appropriate podcast name first. Make sure to use a name that reflects your theme and gives out the right message to your target audience. Add a relevant description for your podcast with search engine optimization to drive relevant traffic. Don’t forget to mention the names of all the celebrities, influencers and experts who feature in your episodes. Lastly, your podcast artwork also needs to be top notch. Platforms like Apple and iTunes only feature those podcasts with professional looking artwork. You can check out Shopify’s list of design experts and hire someone to design your artwork.
Use plug-and-play microphones for podcasts and avoid relying on computer or laptop microphones as these are not as effective.
Look for good audio recording software that will help you edit your recordings and save these as .mp3 files.
Recording Your Podcast
To record your podcast, start with plugging in your USB microphone and then start using your audio recording software. After setting your microphone as the default device for input, click on the record button and get talking. You can record long clips without stopping and then edit it later.
Editing Your Podcasts
Use a reliable audio editing software to remove any gaps, mistakes, and spikes in the volume. Some of the popular audio editing software to rely on include Garageband, Audacity, Adobe Audition, etc.
Getting Your Podcasts Hosted
For podcasts, you will need a separate host just to broadcast and host your audio files. You cannot rely on web hosts for .mp3 files as these aren’t equipped to handle the speed with which these get downloaded and streamed. Media hosting software such as Libsyn and Blubrry are available at affordable rates.
How To Submit Your Podcasts To The Right Set Of Channels
There are various channels to which you can submit your podcasts. iTunes is known to have a large pool of podcasts in its directory. Stitcher comes next in the rank. You should aim to put your podcasts on these platforms to generate more awareness. Soundcloud, YouTube, and Spotify are some other platforms you can rely on as well.
