In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- Why content needs to be liberated from a single medium or device
- What podcasters can learn from adjacent mediums
- Why the first two minutes of a podcast are becoming increasingly crucial
Podcasting Is Changing
Steve is an audio leader. His experience offering counsel, production, and marketing of voice-first, podcast, and branded audio puts him at the forefront of podcasting conversations.
Ever since smart speakers hit the market, podcasting conversations have been changing more rapidly than ever. Over the past two years Steve increasingly speaks with peers and clients about where their podcasting strategy and content development fit within that space.
With over 800,000 podcasts available, podcast creators need a strategy.
Liberate Content
Over 100 million smart speakers populate American homes — that’s about 25% of the nation’s households. Steve says many users are moving toward asking smart speakers for answers and audio.
For example, the top three words on Google Home are: “What”; “When”; and “Best.”
However, podcasts are underrepresented. Steve says less than 1% of podcast audio is being consumed on smart speakers. This is a problem.
And it’s one Steve is attempting to solve. He spends many hours improving podcasts’ marketing, promotion and creating podcast names that are easy for smart speakers to understand.
He says the key for podcasters in the age of smart speakers is to recognize that their content needs to be liberated.
“I think there’s a need for content to be available everywhere. It needs to be where the user [is] or on the device the user wants to use.”
Ultimately, a user should be able to decide where to access content.
Learn From Adjacent Mediums
Steve advises that podcasts become as niche as possible. Because the choices for audio abound, the more niche your podcast is, the more likely it is to serve the specific needs of the listener.
Radio, Steve says, has survived in part due to its structure: It expects short durations of listening on a repeated basis. The average American commute is 24 minutes. Steve suggests that podcasters could start taking this into account and create episodes near the length of the listener’s commute.
Television has excelled at making its content available on practically every device — something podcasting can learn from.
Steve doesn’t think that podcasters always need to resort to video to make their content stand out. They should seize the opportunity of content that lends itself to visualization when it comes about instead of forcing it.
Create Consistent Podcast Success
Steve believes some podcasting techniques never falter:
First: Get to the story fast.
‘The first two minutes of a podcast is becoming more and more critical.”
Audiences have short attention spans and don’t have time to waste on content that doesn’t cut to the chase.
Second: Use an earnest tone that matches your brand.
Don’t try to fit your brand into a preexisting tone. This requires some planning, but it will set your podcast apart.
Third: If you’re starting a podcast, ask yourself, “Why this podcast?” and “Why now?” and know your target audience.
Steve shares that 40% of podcasts are abandoned within their first year — having a clear plan for your podcast is essential.
Future of Smart Speakers
Steve says while there are no real experts on smart speakers yet, the future is bright. He thinks the next step will be installing smart speakers into vehicles and integrating them with household speakers.
There is a lot of potential for podcasters to figure out how to better break into that space — potential that is largely untapped.
Going forward, Steve stresses that podcasters need to teach their listeners how to access their content on smart speakers. And always give them excellent content to listen to.
