It’s hard to believe that back in 2005, the Oxford Dictionary named “podcast” its word of the year. Fast forward to March of this year and Apple Podcasts announced it passed 50 billion all-time episode downloads and streams. And you know us marketers – any place people are gathering billions of times is someplace we want to be with content!
Before you get too excited and order all the equipment and software to start recording your podcast, first ask yourself why you want to create a podcast. What topics can you create content around that showcase your knowledge or point of view? Who is your audience? What will the format of your podcast be? Like most projects, it’s vital to create a strategy and foundation before you jump into the logistics and execution.
It is also important to determine the level of professionalism your podcast demands. While it is possible to record, edit, and publish a podcast straight from your phone for free, remember that your phone wasn’t made to create high quality recordings. Yes, the “YouTube effect” means many audiences will ignore the echoes, reverbs or background noises you will capture when you record using your phone. We’ve come to accept phone videos for social posts and impromptu moments. But a podcast that is meant to showcase your thought leadership requires a higher level of professionalism, editing out distractions to keep your audience’s attention. So, what do you need to record, edit and publish professional quality content? We’ve got a few suggestions:
• For recording, we use the Blue Yeti USB Microphone. It’s perfect for any size office and small enough that it can be packed in a backpack for easy transport.
• Another vital tool for podcasting is this microphone cover. It reduces unwanted noises and keeps your microphone free from dust and (ewww!) spit.
• Adobe Audition is the only program you need to record and edit your podcast episodes. If you are new to Adobe Audition and need some help recording or editing your podcast, there are plenty of YouTube videos to help you out. You can find a list of Adobe plans and pricing here.
• Once you have the equipment and software, it’s time to publish your podcast for everyone to hear! At ODEA, we use Anchor.FM to publish our podcasts. The best part? It’s 100% FREE! They don’t charge you to host your podcast or to publish it across multiple major platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Keep in mind that it does take a while to get your podcast accepted across all platforms. (It took us two months to get accepted to Apple Podcasts.) But once a platform accepts your podcast, it’s published within an hour of uploading it to Anchor. You can also schedule episodes to be published at a later date.
When starting a podcast, remember to embrace the learning experience. We launched our own podcast in 2018 named Brain Lava (Are you following us yet?) and we discover something new nearly every time we record and edit a new episode. Are you currently producing a podcast? Tell us all about it at [email protected]!