MESSAGE HEARD MEDIA HUB
How to Become a Better Podcast Host
How to Become a Better Podcast Host
The best corporate podcasts have something in common: great hosting! While anyone can try their hand, it takes something special to be a capable podcast host. We share our three golden rules to becoming a better podcast host.
What does it take to be a great podcast host? Here’s what you need to know to make successful podcasts.
Podcasting is one of the most popular forms of media right now. The best corporate podcasts have something in common: a great host! While anyone can try their hand in front of the mic, it takes something special to be a capable podcast host. After all, contrary to popular belief, an engaging podcast isn’t just about creating a conversation — it’s about how you curate that conversation for the listener. So, what can you do to become a stronger podcast host? Here are our tips to get you started.
Start preparing early
Hosting a podcast can be intimidating - most of us aren’t used to being recorded! This means that having confidence on your subject matter is a great way to start, as well as preparing yourself for what needs to go into the episode you’re making.
Recently, we worked with NatWest to produce a branded podcast. Our hosts were first-timers to the world of podcast production, and one of the hosts, Burcu Karabork, had this to say about the process:
“There is a tremendous amount of discipline and experience required in knowing where to stop conversations, what questions to ask, where to prod a bit deeper...So the question becomes; can you afford that learning curve? Often we only get one chance to impress listeners, after which they turn away from us and don’t come back. It’s imperative to get it right the first time so we don’t alienate them.”
While a lot of podcasts sound ‘off the cuff’, chances are there was still a lot of preparation behind this. That means: having questions in mind, knowing what subjects or information you need to cover, and having thought through the way you want to articulate this. Even some of the most natural, and famous, podcast hosts are scripted.
Practice makes perfect
The great thing about podcast production is that you can always re-take a line if you mess it up. So give yourself room to practice! Try out recordings, and listen back to yourself. While this can be awkward at first, it’s essential to know how you are coming across, and whether you need to mix things up. Give it to someone else to listen to: do they know what you’re trying to convey?
The style of delivery required for a podcast is different from simply talking in everyday life, though it’s not too far removed. The art of hosting is about staying true to your style and tone of voice (as it represents who you are as an individual!). However, learning how to do things like clearly delivering the words in your script; conveying emotion through your intonation and pacing your delivery, are skills that different you from a rookie podcaster and host with command of the mic.
So if you’re new to this… practice, practice practice! Get you phone recorder out and give your read of the script a go (or two). Listen back to your way of delivering information, try different versions of the same thing as you are recording, and have patience. The process does become easier.
Work with a producer
A producer can be a huge help for making a successful podcast. In the case of NatWest, our Head of Production, Sandra Ferrari, was there to provide support and advice along the way. In Burcu’s words, “When you know that you’re being looked after and that you have a safety net, you relax. When you relax you say things in the moment that are more genuine and authentic to yourself, which in turn makes you far more engaging for listeners.”
Sandra was there to guide our hosts through to creating their vision. Burcu adds:
“It’s difficult to know what your artistic vision is if you’ve never worked on that before and Sandra was instrumental in helping us to discover ours. She went above and beyond to introduce variations into the podcasts, allowing us to pick and choose what we liked and discard what we felt didn’t speak to our authentic selves. I really appreciated being allowed to push my own boundaries in that way, expanding my views on what I thought our podcast should sound like, all the while feeling in control enough to let go of what I liked less.”
Producers are there as a trusted minder, to help you stay on track and create the episode you planned to make.
At Message Heard, we specialise in guiding your project through to completion. Whatever part of the process you’re struggling with, from ideation through to distribution, we can help.
It takes skill to become a great podcast host. Whether it’s your first time trying it out, or you’re a seasoned professional, the same skills apply. Take a look at our Business of Podcasting section for more great advice on creating amazing podcasts.
Want to learn more? At Message Heard, we make podcasts that help your brand reach new audiences. Find out how we can help you by getting in touch.
What's your perfect podcast marketing mix?
What's your perfect podcast marketing mix?
When it comes to podcast marketing, there is no one size fits all solution. Instead, we break down the tactics and approaches that will help you create a podcast marketing plan that is built for purpose.
Grow your podcast audience by creating a tailored marketing plan.
When we get asked “What is the best way to market our podcast?”
The answer is always: “Well, that depends…”
Very unsatisfying we know! But it’s true.
For some clients the budget for splashy ads might not be on the cards, or others might have existing channels we can cross-promote - like a blog or a youtube channel. Some podcasts have a very niche audience, and others have a mass appeal. With so many factors at play, every marketing plan has to be bespoke.
So, the bad news is: there is no one size fits all solution.
The good news though: there are repeatable tactics and approaches. You just need to select the right ones for your podcast.
In this post, we’ll give you the building blocks of a podcast marketing plan that is built with purpose.
But first, let's talk choosing the building blocks that work for you.
What is a podcast marketing plan?
Having a strategic marketing plan is key to growing your podcast audience. And, to build these plans for each of our shows, we first ask:
What is your marketing resource for this project?
Who is your target audience?
And, how will you measure the success of your podcast?
With the answers to these questions in mind, we start to create a marketing mix that will help you build the audience you want, and deliver against your goals.
This is when those key ingredients we mentioned earlier come into play.
Your Perfect Podcast Marketing Mix
Whilst every podcast needs a bespoke plan, you don’t need to start from scratch for each show.
We think about a marketing mix in three channels: paid, earned and owned:
Paid is anything where you exchange money to secure promotion, namely advertising.
Earned is where you depend on someone else’s curation to gain coverage or promotion - like a feature on Apple Podcasts or a review in a newsletter. There are sometimes external costs involved with this, such as award entries.
Owned covers the activities conducted on your channels like your website or social media.
With these channels in mind, as well as the budget, audience and goals for the podcast, we then pull out different tactics from each channel to build the perfect marketing mix.
Here are all the different channels and tactics to consider:
This is by no means an exhaustive list! All podcasts will have unique real-estate they can use for promotion. Do they have an app they can promote on? A print magazine? For example, our client Buffer uses their login page to put the podcast front and centre:
These are simply the building blocks we use to create a balanced marketing mix that will allow you to grow your audience strategically. This is also an ever growing list, have we missed any key ways you grow your audience? Let us know!
Want to learn more? At Message Heard, we make podcasts that help your brand reach new audiences. Find out how we can help by getting in touch today.
Two Seasons In, Here’s What We've Learned About Podcast Marketing
Two Seasons In, Here’s What We've Learned About Podcast Marketing
We have been creating and releasing our podcast Conflicted since February 2019. It’s taught us first-hand how hard building a podcast audience is — it’s not enough to make great content and throw it into an RSS feed. Here’s what we’ve learned so far.
When it comes to podcast marketing, do you feel like you’ve tried everything, or that you don’t even know where to start?
Frustrated your podcast isn’t getting the audience it deserves? Confused as to why your downloads plateaued? We know the feeling… we know all the feelings.
We have been creating and releasing our podcast Conflicted since February 2019. It’s taught us first-hand how hard building a podcast audience is — it’s not enough to make great content (if we say so ourselves) and throw it into an RSS feed.
But, after two seasons, we’re feeling positive about the progress Conflicted has made:
We’ve received coverage in The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Times.
99.6% of listeners say they would recommend it to a friend, family member or colleague.
For Season 2, average listenership over the first 7 days has grown 62% compared to Season 1 for the same time period.
We’ve grown an engaged listener community — 96.3% of the members of our Facebook Group have actively posted, shared or reacted.
And the cherry on top: we were nominated for an ARIAS (the Audio Oscars) for Best Independent Podcast alongside some of the world’s biggest podcasts.
We know there is still work to do, but at this juncture we wanted to share a whistle stop tour of what we’ve learned over the past two years of distributing and marketing our flagship podcast.
Our growth: Season One compared to Season Two.
Plan, Plan, Plan
For every podcast we make — either under our Originals umbrella or for our clients — we preach the gospel of strategy.
Thinking critically about who your podcast is targeted at and how you plan to reach them is vital, as is adapting that plan as you release your podcast and learn more about your audience.
We have tried different tools for planning, including Trello and Monday.com, but for Season 2, it was a good old fashioned word doc which really helped capture our strategy as well as the tactics we’d use.
How we map out our thinking.
We also recommend creating a master copy document to create consistency and make sure you tailor your messaging to each channel, including your podcast’s metadata. This metadata includes your podcast title, podcast description, episode titles, show notes and other data like tags you input when you upload episodes to you podcast hosting platform. Using a master document helped us keep our language consistent but also acted as checklist prompting us to input all the data correctly each episode.
Marketing Needs To Be Baked into Production
Before you even press record, you need to have a production and marketing strategy in place – especially if the people producing and promoting the show are in separate teams.
Why? There are so many marketing considerations which overlap with the way your show sounds and what you capture during recording:
Audience Development - Who is this podcast targeted at? Who are you actually speaking to when you step behind the mic?
Audio Branding - Theme tunes, music beds, jingles, archival tape. What audio-materials will you use to create your distinctive sound?
Visual Branding - How will the look of the show capture the podcast’s tone and attract your target audience? A consistent visual identity across all brand touch points will professionalise your brand and attract new listeners.
Tone of Voice - Again, your show’s voice needs to be consistent across all touch points. The language of the show and language used in marketing need to complement, not quarrel.
Call to Actions - How do you plan on engaging your audience? Are these CTA’s scripted? Will they cut through?
Social Media Assets - Are you capturing the assets you need to promote the show during production ?
Trailers and Teasers - What are you sharing? And when are you sharing it? Do you need extra voice overs for your trailers? How are you building excitement?
Guest Engagement - How will you work with the guests on your show to maximise your combined reach?
Press Assets and Reels - What sizzlers do you need to sell your show to the press?
Cover The Basics
Making sure you are covering the basics is key before you start exploring marketing approaches tailored to your show.
As a company, we are now at a place where we have a best practice approach for all the shows we produce and release.
How to build your own best practice? When something works - write it down. Build a checklist as you learn. And execute that checklist. Every. Single. Time.
Doing core promotional activities for each episode also helps you spell out what actually works, as you can compare and see how things like content, topic and guests affect downloads or engagement. It’s about tracking the individual items AND the combinations of items to create a clear picture of what actually works.
Engage Your Audience
Tailoring your engagement strategy to your audience means finding the right channels for your podcast.
For the launch of Conflicted Season 2, we have focused on building a Facebook Group and running weekly giveaways. We’ve also started to see the benefit of having distinct social channels for each show, especially on Twitter, we’re people can tag, share and recommend the show to others.
An example of listeners engaging with the hosts via our Facebook group.
These were invaluable step for us in creating a dialogue with our listeners — but for your show the best channels and tactics may be different. Think about who your audience is, what engagement you want from them, and how to reward those who interact, share and feedback.
Test, Iterate, Improve
There is no silver bullet. There isn’t one scalable, repeatable thing that will get you a committed audience of millions overnight.
We do believe however, that there is a cocktail of things that will get you there one day. Working out that magic marketing mix involves testing, iterating and improving.
That is why we conduct thorough retrospectives after each season of the show. This entails:
Reviewing the Data – Dig into your analytics. Examine your growth, listenership trends and demographic data. Don’t just focus on the numbers —make sure to factor in any qualitative insights from Apple podcast reviews, emails and tweets, too.
Collecting Audience Feedback – We did our first audience survey for the end of Season 2. This has become an incredible resource for data about what our audiences enjoys and what they want to change. You can see our survey here, and Bello Collective also have a great resource on making an audience survey.
Doing a Team Review - We asked: what we do well, what went wrong, and what we could improve when it comes to marketing, production and monetisation of the show. Out of this process we have an actionable list of improvements to take forward.
Some of the results from our Audience Survey.
What isYour Unique Opportunity?
Every podcast needs to play to its strengths, as well as the resources you have at your disposal.
In this example, Conflicted is a discussion show so it made sense to focus on platforms that allow listeners to engage more deeply and run giveaways that provide ‘further reading’. It’s also personality-led, so we wanted our content and coverage to profile our hosts and allow their personalities to shine.
Ask yourself what unique opportunities your podcast has — is it the profile of your guests, your social media reach, your connection with listeners? These are the building blocks you need to grow your show.
If you want help developing a podcast marketing strategy that plays to the strengths of your brand and speaks directly to your target audiences — get in touch.
Click here to contact us about our services!