Is Your Podcasting Strategy All Wrong?

So here's the way we usually think about podcasting: "What can we repurpose on pods that we already do on-air?" Or... "What podcasts can we create that will have a big enough audience to make the exercise worthwhile?"

These are not wrong - but they are absolutely not sufficient.

Now if you're ambitious and bold you can do what we did with our friends at Hope Media with the SCROOGE podcast: Create a must-hear, award-winning event that strikes the sweet spot with underwriters and listeners alike. But not every broadcaster is that ambitious and willing to fund a podcast event.

So what about the "rest of us"?

Instead of thinking of podcasts only as tools to grow audience, what if you think of them as tools to superserve donors and underwriters?

For example...

• If your underwriter is a plumber, then you create a podcast that answers popular plumbing questions hosted by your client. As part of the overall spend, the on-air piece solicits questions that are answered on the podcast.
• If the underwriter is a charity, you publish stories of lives saved on the podcast. Again, the on-air piece drives to the podcast and vice versa
• If the underwriter benefits children, what about a storytelling podcast where an air talent reads public domain children's stories?

What all three examples have in common is that they are designed to benefit underwriters while reaching new audiences - all under the halo of your brand. Bonus: They are also paid for by the client.

Here's another strategy: Instead of growing your podcast from scratch, Google the market to find who is already out there with podcasts about faith or enhanced by faith. Bring these into your content family. I guarantee you that any local podcaster you find would LOVE to be associated with a local radio station, no matter how popular their show already is. Build your network from influencers who already exist in your market.

Can you imagine a sports podcast hosted by a believer under your brand umbrella? Well you should. Faith cuts across every category of content from sports to entertainment to children to better living. Any and all are ripe for podcast treatment from your brand.

So final thoughts:

1. Instead of thinking of podcasts only as tools to grow audience, what if you also think of them as tools to superserve donors and underwriters?
2. Instead of growing your podcast from scratch, Google the market to find who is already out there with podcasts about faith or enhanced by faith. Bring these into your content family.

Now go grow your brand 😄

Got feedback to what you're reading here? Comment online or email me or call me at 858-414-4191. Thanks!