Should You Pay to Make Your Podcast?
Are podcasting services worth it?! It’s a great question.
According to Sounds Profitable, there are around 2 million podcasts out there – and that number is growing! With this, there is also a growing number of podcast fans. The desire to create your own podcast for your brand might be greater than ever, too.
The world is changing, and it often feels unstable, but smart businesses are investing in marketing that will make their customers stick around – no matter what. And podcasting is just that.
But, there are a lot of things to consider before you start recording. This is why we don’t encourage you to just grab a mic, set up in your kitchen, and start recording – the quality, narrative and overall experience will suffer. So, if you are wondering whether paying for podcasting services is going to be worthwhile, here are a few more questions to help shine a light on the importance of making your podcast the very best that it can be.
Question 1: Who is your podcast for? What purpose does it serve?
Is it for your friends? Or for potential clients? While there’s a stereotype about podcasts being a few people having a chat, this is only one way of thinking about the craft of podcasting – one that serves friends more than it does potential clients.
Podcasts that resonate beyond a friendship circle often do so because they are easy to follow, they provide value or insight into a topic, and therefore aren’t totally off the cuff. They’re a cultivated conversation – and they can take a variety of other formats. A conversation is just one option. So the first question to determine is who the intended audience is, and the purpose behind your potential podcast.
Professionals trying to speak to other professionals, or hoping to engage potential clients, need to give the right impression. You need to create a lasting relationship with your clients. And you know what they say: you only get one chance to make a good first impression! Ensure that yours meets your offering and level of expertise by cultivating the right quality. Podcasting is an extension of your brand identity – it is your brand’s voice. Make sure you cultivate an identity people want to engage with time and time again.
Question 2: What quality level does the podcast need to meet?
Following on from this, quality becomes the key to unlocking the right tone. This is because we can all tell when a podcast has been recorded in someone’s kitchen – it will be echoey, low quality, there might be background noise, and so on. None of this screams ‘quality’!
Quality comes from having the right equipment and knowledge. But investing in all your equipment upfront is a cost, and it’s hard to recreate a quality-controlled environment if you’ve never had one before. Doing this yourself isn’t as straightforward as it seems, and professional podcasting as a service means your gear is sorted for you – not just mics and headphones, but editing and mixing, too!
The quality of podcasts out there is only getting better all the time. Audio quality can be a big factor in whether people listen to the entirety of an episode or not. It’s a steep learning curve – and this takes time and money to do yourself.
Do you need help with making your podcast the absolute best that it can be?
Check out our podcasting services to get started on the right foot.
Question 3: What is your budget?
We have written before about budgeting. Budgeting a podcast can be tricky and require buy in from stakeholders if you really want to make your podcast a success. But ‘cost’ can come in a few different ways – what would be the cost of a podcast that doesn’t sound great? Or a podcast that just never finds an audience? How much time will you spend creating something that doesn’t quite work?
Time, equipment and knowledge all come together to make for a great outcome. While you might be willing to front the cost of a lot of fancy equipment, the execution and expertise of using this is a time-consuming and costly factor to overcome.
You may think you saved money by cutting some corners, but no DIY project is ever really free. A professional editor can make the recording and editing of your podcast easy so that you can focus on the more important part of the process – finding great stories to tell and speaking with your audience.
Question 4: What are you hoping to achieve with a podcast?
We believe in the power of a podcast to do big things for your brand. According to the Australian Radio Network’s Neuro Lab, listeners experience a 134% uplift in memory for audio content, when this is delivered across two or more listening channels (like radio and podcasts, for instance). This means that relying only on one format really puts your brand at a disadvantage.
So, what are you hoping to achieve? What are your goals? And how serious are you about reaching them?
Once you have created a podcast, the hardest part of the project will be to get it out there into the world, in front of the right listeners. This can involve transcribing your podcast, creating audiograms, the right descriptions, and much more. These parts of the process aren’t usually the ones you might think about in the excitement of creating something new – but without them, the goals of your podcast will be hard to meet.
If marketing your podcast is sounding like a lot of extra work, we can help!
Find out more about our marketing services.
A podcast might seem like just another way of marketing a product or service, but it can also be a lot more. With the right help in creating and marketing your podcast, the right people will hear it and you will grow your network, your community, the trust and awareness of your brand, and make sure people stay loyal to your brand.
Reach new demographics, new clients and new listeners by engaging professional podcasting help.