7 steps to help you plan the perfect podcast for your audience

Podcasting is a great way to get your voice heard, build a community and generate more leads for your business, but unfortunately, creating a podcast is going to take a little more time and thought than just setting up a mic and talking!

So if you’re ready to create a powerful podcast for your business and are trying to figure out where to start, you’re in the right place!

Step 1:  Identify your audience 

The first step in planning your podcast needs to be clearly defining your target audience!

Without having a deeper understanding of who your podcast is intended for, you’ll find it a lot harder to decide the direction of your podcast and come up with relevant content. 

I recommend considering things like age, gender, job and interests. This will enable you to not only record content that really resonates with your audience but enable you to market it effectively too!  

Step 2: Figure out your audience's pain points

To really engage your audience, you’ll need to be addressing their pain points (things they’re struggling with) within your podcast and provide valuable solutions. This is a great way to establish your authority while building trust with your listeners!

If you’re already working with clients or customers, you’ll probably already have existing knowledge about what they might struggle with! 

In addition to this existing knowledge, feel free to do some research to see what challenges your audience faces on a daily basis and how you can help.

Step 3: Think about the listening platform 

You can host your podcast on various platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or dedicated podcasting apps. Ultimately, the choice is up to you but remember to consider where your target audience is most likely to listen to podcasts and use this to optimise how you share your podcast! 

You can find this out by simply asking your audience- an Instagram poll would be perfect for this!

Understanding the preferred platform will encourage people to listen more naturally while also enabling you to tailor your podcast's format, episode length, and content structure to suit the platform's norms and user experience.

Step 4: Identify your most engaging content pieces

If you’re already regularly producing content, whether that's on social media platforms, a blog or even a youtube channel, I can’t recommend enough checking your analytics.

You want to analyse your engagement metrics to see what content has previously performed the best and what has resonated the most with your audience! This way you can form podcast content around the most popular topics knowing that your listeners will resonate with it!

Step 5: Look for relevant guests

Guest interviews can add depth, diversity, and expertise to your podcast…plus collaborating is such a fun way to expand your reach and build your community! 

However, if you are looking to host guests on your podcast, make sure you’re choosing people who are aligned with you and your business as well as your podcast's theme. 

Seek out industry experts, thought leaders, or influencers who can provide unique insights or share compelling stories that will be of genuine interest to your listeners!

There’s no point in having a business consultant on your podcast if your audience comes to you for beauty advice and tips!

Step 6: Plan episodes in line with your existing content strategy 

It’s essential to maintain a level of consistency and cohesiveness across all of your content and your podcast is no exception!

When it comes down to it, your podcast should complement and reinforce your overall brand message and values. So when planning out your monthly podcasts, make sure it doesn’t feel completely out of the blue compared to the rest of your content that month.

Step 7: Get your tech in order

Now you’ve established all of the core foundations above, it’s time to start thinking about the physical recording process and any tech or equipment you might need!

The most important thing is finding a quiet place to record (pro tip, places with a lot of soft furnishings are best!). 

Then you’ll need a microphone, a webcam if you’re going to be recording video to complement your podcast (which I recommend!) and some editing software. Depending on your budget, you can invest in as much or as little equipment as you like but these are the basics!

Extra tip: Don’t forget about repurposing

One of the biggest benefits of creating a podcast is that you can repurpose the content within it to boost the content on your other platforms. 

This is an amazing way to make your content creation easier while effortlessly creating cohesive content on all of your platforms.

Keep an eye out for a blog coming very soon where I’ll walk you through how you can take one podcast episode and turn it into a big bundle of content for your social media.