How to Start a Podcast: Everything You Need to Know

February 18th, 2022 by Socially Powerful

Audio content has been an emerging marketing method over the past couple of years. As a result of TikTok, consumers have altered their consumption habits to be audio-first. Nowadays, many brands have begun utilising this content format in the form of audio podcasts. In the UK alone, over 28.3 million adults listen to digital audio every week.

The podcast marketing space is far less crowded than blogging marketing. As of February 2022, there are over 2 million podcasts, but over 600 million blogs. If you want to know how to start a podcast, you’ve come to the right place.

So, how do you start a podcast?

How to create a podcast: Planning

In order to start a podcast, you need to start with planning. While this step might seem a little obvious, you can’t start a podcast without knowing the direction you wish to head in. What are they key planning steps when asking how to make a podcast?

Topic selection

To start a podcast, you need a topic focus. This can be a popular topic or niche, but make sure it’s relevant to your brand or following. When selecting your podcast theme, try and select something you can discuss across multiple episodes—this will keep your audience engaged and coming back for more.

You can expand your topic once you’ve found your feet in the podcasting world. You could even have each series dedicated to a different topic. You could start with a social media podcast, and then evolve this into a general marketing podcast.

Who’s the host?

The host is the face and voice of your podcast, so pick wisely. To start a podcast, you could initially have one person leading or add co-hosts. Having co-hosts means you will have a more natural and engaging conversation. Hosts can share their own views on a topic, and it can be helpful to have an additional partner to keep conversations on track and relevant. Some of the most popular podcasts have co-hosts—audiences come back again and again to hear people engage in natural conversations.

If you do choose to have a co-host, make sure both of you are in it for the long haul. It can be jarring to audiences if they become used to the pairing, and then one leaves. To avoid this, however, you could have rotating co-hosts, or guest hosts for every week.

Pick the name

Potentially the most important step to start a podcast is choosing a good name. The benefit about podcasts is that the types of names vary wildly. When choosing a name, you will want to go with something that is broader than your initial topic.

Should you decide to name your podcast after your initial topic choice, you box yourself into that particular topic. Should you want to expand your podcast topics, your name will no longer fit the theme.

Decide your show format

There are three main formatting options to consider in order to start a podcast: the length, style and episode format.

When deciding a length, it’s usually a good idea to ignore the experts who claim particular lengths are beneficial for podcasts. The length will depend entirely on your topic and co-hosts. Have a discussion with your co-hosts about topics before you start filming, and judge the amount of sub-topics you cover. This should give you an idea of how long your episodes should be.

There are many styles of podcasts nowadays. You can have interview shows, video podcasts (YouTube podcasts are increasingly popular), or in-depth discussions.

Your episode format will disclose what your show sounds like. Do you have teasers for next episodes? Do you have an intro soundtrack? Will your welcome be the same every week? Do you have an outro?

When discussing your episode format, make sure you make it appealing to returning and new listeners.

How to start a podcast: Preparation

Now you have planned the overview of your podcast, it’s time to get into the nitty gritty.

Cover art

Your cover art will be your first impression to new listeners, so you want something bright and exciting. You could hire a graphic designer to create something, or use a free platform like Canva. Make it fun, branded, and relevant.

Get a microphone

To start a podcast, you need a good quality microphone. Users don’t want to listen to conversations over a crackling mobile line. You can easily find a good, but simple microphone set-up that uses a USB to plug into your computer or laptop.

Select your guests

To start your podcast, it’s a good idea to have a few guests lined up. This not only saves you a headache mid-series, but also builds hype around episodes before they air.

Recording and editing

Arguably the most important part of your podcast preparations—finding a sustainable recording and editing schedule. There are tons of free editing softwares available, many of which are beginner-friendly.

Trial different softwares to find which one works best for you. As you develop your podcast, you may want to invest in a professional editing service, but that’s not necessary to begin with.

Where will you host your podcast?

There are many podcast hosting services out there—the most popular including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Find where your audience most frequently listens to music or podcasts, and upload your podcast there.

How to start a podcast: Get going!

Once you’ve completed all the above steps, you can finally start your podcast! Remember to listen to your audience’s feedback as your podcast goes on, and evolve any formats to suit their feedback.

FAQs

How to make a podcast for beginners:

There are two main elements to starting a podcast: planning and preparation.

Within planning, you need to consider: your topic, hosts, show name, and show formats. In preparation, you need to: create a cover art, invest in a microphone, select your guests, find suitable recording and editing software, and decide where you will upload your podcast.

Can you start a podcast with no following?

Absolutely! The best thing about podcasting is that you don’t need an existing audience to start. While having an audience will help bring in initial listeners, you can build hype around your new podcast by working with guests.

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@ Socially Powerful

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