Wish to launch your personal podcast (or a podcast in your firm) however don’t know the place to begin? I’ve put collectively a podcast launch guidelines you should use to get your mission up and working, together with ideas gathered from my private expertise and insights from members of the HubSpot Podcast Community.
Let’s rewind earlier than 2018, after I began my very own present, Balanced Black Lady. I used to be one of many estimated 120 million folks listening to podcasts month-to-month. Ultimately, I had an concept of my very own and was capable of launch with no prior audio expertise — and if I can do it, you possibly can, too.
In actual fact, beginning a podcast is simpler than ever because the medium has elevated in reputation and profitability. Right here’s the final word guidelines that can assist you begin a profitable podcast.
Desk of Contents
Beginning a Podcast Guidelines
- Decide your area of interest.
- Determine your superb listener.
- Identify your podcast and safe social media handles.
- Resolve which format and publishing schedule you’d wish to observe.
- Choose a podcast internet hosting service.
- Create podcast cowl artwork.
- Get your podcasting tools.
- Create a roadmap and attain out to potential visitors.
- Plan your launch episodes in additional element.
- Report and edit your first three episodes.
- Write the present notes in your launch episodes.
- Create a podcast trailer.
- Add and schedule your trailer and launch episodes.
- Submit your podcast to on-line podcast directories.
- Market your podcast and have a good time your launch.
1. Decide your area of interest.
In case your present is simply too common, listeners won’t ever know what to anticipate in your present. In the event that they don’t know what they’ll get, they tune out. Kyle Denhoff, Sr. Director of Advertising at HubSpot, echoes this sentiment.
“The extra centered you’re, the simpler it’s to construct an viewers. For instance, be the technique present for B2B entrepreneurs or the information present for AI fans,” says Denhoff, who oversees demand era for all channels, together with podcasts.
For my present, I began by determining the style and area of interest that my podcast would fall below. This made it simpler for platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify to categorize my content material so my target market may discover it. As an illustration, my podcast present falls below the broader wellness style, with a extra particular give attention to the expertise of Black girls.
Different in style podcast genres embrace:
- Arts.
- Information.
- Music.
- Finance.
- Enterprise.
- TV and movie.
- Schooling.
- True crime.
- Society and tradition.
Professional tip: Decide which style finest describes the podcast you’d wish to create or the business you’re in, and hold this matter in thoughts as you intend out your content material and put together for launch.
2. Determine your superb listener.
After selecting the wellness style, I took time to zero in on my superb listener, which I discovered just like making a purchaser persona. Creating a super listener helped me hone my messaging and create a clearer focus inside my style.
Listed here are some traits I like to recommend contemplating when describing your target market:
- Age.
- Revenue.
- Pursuits.
- Hobbies.
- Occupation.
- Schooling degree.
- Geographic location.
I additionally discovered it helpful to brainstorm. I requested myself the next questions.
- What is that this listener eager about?
- How typically do they hearken to podcasts?
- The place do they study new podcasts?
- In case you have been having a dialog with this listener, what questions would they ask?
- What different podcasts is that this particular person listening to, and what does that inform me about what they wish to hear?
The solutions to those questions helped me craft content material that was particularly related for my potential listeners.
Professional tip: When you have mates or colleagues who suit your superb listener profile, it may be useful to survey them to get their suggestions in your podcast concept and be taught extra about their media consumption habits.
3. Identify your podcast and safe social media handles.
At this level, you already know what your podcast is about and have recognized your superb listener. Now, it’s time to decide on a reputation.
Whether or not your podcast title is said to your corporation or one thing totally new, carry out an in depth search to make sure the title you need is obtainable. You don’t wish to decide a title already related to another podcasts, manufacturers, or registered emblems.
At this stage, I additionally suggest registering the area title and social media accounts you’ll be utilizing to advertise the podcast and interact your viewers. When you received’t want them straight away, the very last thing you need is to create art work and produce your podcast, solely to seek out out that the handles you need have been taken.
Professional tip: Operating a search within the U.S. Patent and Trademark web sites will help you guarantee there are not any present emblems on the title you need.
For extra insights on selecting the best area of interest, naming your present, and extra, you possibly can take a look at HubSpot’s video on 9 professional ideas for beginning a podcast.
9 Professional Tricks to Begin Your Podcast in 2024 (FREE Information)
4. Resolve which format and publishing schedule you’d wish to observe.
After naming your present, it’s time to get into the weeds of what your podcast will appear to be by selecting the format sort and your publishing cadence.
Frequent podcast codecs embrace:
- Scripted.
- Interviews.
- Storytelling.
- Documentary.
- Conversations.
When contemplating the publishing cadence you’d wish to observe, notice that the most typical podcast publishing schedules are weekly, bi-weekly, and month-to-month. That stated, consistency is extra vital than frequency on the subject of podcasting. Above all, select a schedule you possibly can preserve.
Professional tip: Denhoff recommends beginning along with your podcast’s objective, suggesting that you just “outline the worth your podcast goals to offer. Are you filling a necessity for information, schooling, or leisure? Your content material ought to align with the position it performs in your viewers’s life.”
As an illustration, if the worth you present is leisure, then a scripted or storytelling format may work finest. Conversely, since one among my objectives is to amplify the voices of Black girls within the wellness area, most of my present makes use of an interview format.
5. Choose a podcast internet hosting service.
Now, you wish to choose a podcast internet hosting platform. These platforms show you how to retailer episodes and make them obtainable in RSS feeds so you possibly can distribute them on platforms like Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
I feel Buzzsprout is a superb place to begin, because it provides a free plan and low-cost paid tiers. If you would like extra superior options like monetization choices, listener analytics, and subscriptions, premium companies like Captivate or Libsyn might be an excellent match for you.
Professional tip: Get your personal web site. This manner, you possibly can swap internet hosting companies if want be whereas offering a seamless transition in your listeners.
6. Create podcast cowl artwork.
Your cowl artwork provides podcast listeners a primary impression of your present earlier than they press play, so that you need it to be good. I like utilizing instruments like Canva to create my cowl artwork and templates for various kinds of episodes.
Earlier than I began to work alone graphics, I discovered it useful to browse directories like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts to determine frequent visible parts among the many top-rated reveals and add those who suited my model.
Picture Supply
When creating your art work, guarantee that:
- It’s simple to learn in smaller sizes.
- It’s constant along with your branding.
- It’s a transparent picture that doesn’t seem blurry.
- It doesn’t include any copyrighted photographs or logos of non-affiliated corporations.
Professional tip: It’s additionally crucial that your podcast art work is the proper measurement. Apple suggests utilizing a 3,000×3,000-pixel picture to future-proof your art work.
Incorrect sizing can impression your podcast’s potential to publish and show in directories accurately, so that you’ll wish to be sure your art work is the appropriate measurement. So, when your art work is full, add it to your podcast internet hosting service to make sure it reveals up accurately throughout platforms.
7. Get your podcasting tools.
Your podcast recording setup may be as advanced or so simple as you’d like. In case you’re opting to file at an area studio, this could be the right level within the course of to analysis choices close to you and e book a recording session.
In case you plan to file at house and are in search of a simple setup, you’ll want the next:
- Headphones.
- A laptop computer or laptop.
- Recording software program similar to Squadcast, Zencastr, Zoom, or Riverside.
- A USB or XLR microphone (should you use an XLR microphone, ensure you get a mixer to attach the mic to your laptop).
- Modifying software program similar to Alitu, GarageBand, Audacity, Adobe Audition, or Descript.
Professional tip: You don’t want to interrupt the financial institution on recording tools to begin a high-quality podcast. Take a look at this record of advisable podcast instruments and discover the gadgets that suit your finances and expertise degree.
8. Create a roadmap and attain out to potential visitors.
When you could also be itching to get behind the mic at this level (I do know I used to be), I discovered it useful to create a high-level define of your present’s first 10 to twenty episodes earlier than you file.
After I spoke with Joe Fier of The Hustle & Flowchart podcast, he described a method you possibly can break down the primary 20 episodes primarily based on their objective:
- Introduction: 1 episode (5%).
- Worth episode: 6 episodes (30%).
- Group episodes: 3 episodes (15%).
- Provide episodes: 2 episodes (10%).
- Visitor appearances: 4 episodes (20%).
- Repurposed content material highlight: 4 episodes (20%).
This is only one instance and may be tailored primarily based in your style and the content material varieties you’ve chosen to create.
In case you plan to interview visitors, I like to recommend creating your visitor record and reaching out at this stage. I discovered that confirming availability with visitors helps me plan out my podcast schedule prematurely so I can keep in step with my publishing schedule.
Professional tip: In case you plan on that includes different folks in your podcast, take a look at your present community for potential visitors. It’s powerful to get folks on board with chilly outreach should you don’t have any present materials folks can evaluate earlier than they comply with the interview.
9. Plan your launch episodes in additional element.
As soon as you already know your total plan, you possibly can map out extra particulars concerning the episodes that can accompany your launch. Sure, episodes.
In spite of everything, getting podcast listeners isn’t that completely different from how music artists draw consideration to their work — you lure them in with an excellent music, nevertheless it’s not till they’ve listened to the opposite songs within the album that you’ve really caught them.
Fier agrees and states, “Launching with two or three episodes is finest since you wish to hold your viewers in that momentum.”
In my expertise, beginning with a couple of episodes additionally provides you an opportunity to earn extra downloads, rankings, and evaluations in a shorter time period, which may be useful for discoverability and rating on the charts.
Fier goes on to suggest utilizing the primary episode as an introduction that “highlights your experience after which reveals folks the place you’re going to take them in your podcast.” From there, you should use the follow-up episodes to indicate them what that appears like.
Professional tip: In case you plan to characteristic visitors in your present, Fier suggests bringing your first visitor early on to introduce your viewers to the kind of interviews they will count on. “It’s additionally an ideal advertising and marketing technique to get a visitor to introduce you and your present to their viewers,” he says.
10. Report and edit your first three episodes.
With the define of every episode in your launch plan, it’s time to file and edit. Earlier than recording, I wish to create a script for every podcast episode outlining the factors I wish to make (if it is a solo present) or the questions I’d wish to ask the visitor I’m interviewing.
Making a strong script or define is particularly useful once you’re a brand new podcaster getting used to the medium.
As soon as your scripts are prepared, file your launch episodes in your recording software program of alternative. You may then edit them your self or rent an editor to take action. When modifying, be aware of background noise and filler phrases that would distract the listener.
Professional tip: Learn your scripts out loud to listen to how they sound. This may show you how to think about your content material as a podcast earlier than you begin recording.
11. Write the present notes in your launch episodes.
Now that your first few episodes are recorded, it’s time to put in writing the present notes.
Present notes are basically brief weblog posts that accompany every podcast episode. They’re an ideal place to place a common description of the episode together with group hyperlinks, similar to an e mail sign-up.
After I write present notes, I like to incorporate:
- A common abstract of the episode.
- Time-stamped chapters of various subjects we cowl.
- Details about my visitor (if it’s an interview).
- Hyperlinks to sponsors and any talked about sources.
Whereas it may be tempting to gloss over present notes, it’s value placing in some effort. I’ve discovered that apart from serving to with search engine marketing, which may carry new listeners to your present, present notes may hold your viewers engaged and able to observe your content material on different platforms.
Professional tip: Embrace hyperlinks to related sources, similar to books or research you point out through the present. This creates extra worth for listeners and might enhance engagement.
12. Create a podcast trailer.
As one closing step earlier than importing your first present, file a trailer. A trailer is a brief audio clip that introduces your podcast to new listeners and will get them excited to tune in. In your podcast trailer, you’ll wish to embrace:
- An introduction to your podcast and what it’s about.
- When listeners can count on new episodes.
- A teaser of what’s to return or highlights so the viewers is aware of what to anticipate.
- A call-to-action inviting the listener to return again.
Professional tip: Hold your trailer participating and informative however concise. One to 2 minutes in size is all you want.
13. Add and schedule your trailer and launch episodes.
Now that you’ve your first three episodes, present notes, and a trailer, you’re able to publish. Add your audio information and present notes to your podcast host, and schedule your episodes to publish in your desired launch date.
Professional tip: Your launch date ought to fall on the day of the week you intend to publish shifting ahead so your viewers is aware of proper from the beginning when to tune in.
14. Submit your podcast to on-line podcast directories.
As soon as your first episodes are uploaded to your podcast service, it’s time to undergo podcast directories so listeners can tune in to your present. Do not forget that directories can take a couple of days or a few weeks to approve your podcast. You’ll wish to issue that point into your launch plan.
I like to recommend beginning with the platforms which have the widest attain. The highest three podcast directories primarily based on variety of listeners are:
- Spotify, with 25% of complete listeners.
- Apple Podcasts, with 20% of complete listeners.
- Google Podcasts, with 16% of complete listeners.
Streaming your podcast to different platforms similar to Stitcher, Castbox, Pandora, and Amazon Music may be managed inside your podcast host settings.
Professional tip: Revisit step two to see which streaming companies your superb listener makes use of to find and observe their podcasts.
15. Market your podcast and have a good time your launch.
Congratulations — you simply launched your first podcast! Now, it’s time to get the phrase out by advertising and marketing your present to your superb listeners and celebrating your laborious work.
I’ve discovered that short-form movies are glorious methods to advertise my podcasts, so I take advantage of Instagram reels to focus on prime clips from my interviews.
Professional tip: Fier suggests leveraging YouTube as a podcast advertising and marketing channel, saying, “Video goes to be a bit of podcasting at the present time. YouTube can be the place plenty of momentum is occurring for podcasts due to their algorithm.”
For much more data on organizing, producing, and advertising and marketing your podcast, obtain our Final Information to Beginning a Podcast at no cost. You’ll even get e mail outreach templates and recommendations on the very best methods to measure success.
Issues To Know Earlier than Beginning a Podcast
After publishing greater than 270 episodes of my present, I can say that the journey has been thrilling, stunning, and rewarding. After I recall my early days, there have been loads of issues I had but to be taught.
Right here are some things I like to recommend understanding earlier than you begin a podcast.
Know the worth of visitors.
Getting used to the podcast format can take a while. To present your self a head begin, Fier says, “Guesting on different reveals may be the very best first step since you get to observe the muscle.”
Plus, guesting can be a wonderful technique to attain a wider viewers and promote your personal present in the long run.
Listeners don’t thoughts advertisements as a lot as you assume.
In comparison with different advertising and marketing channels, podcasting is among the extra advertising-friendly choices. One survey confirmed that 46% of podcast listeners don’t discover advertisements intrusive in any respect. In distinction, 77% of individuals discover advertisements considerably or very intrusive on YouTube, and 64% discover advertisements considerably or very intrusive on TV.
As such, don’t really feel shy about working with sponsors who’re an excellent match in your model. In a podcast setting, advertisements are much less more likely to be a turnoff for listeners. In case you can tie advertisements into the theme of your present or episode, they are often particularly beneficial in your viewers.
Podcasts take preparation.
Podcasts are a wonderful technique to construct group along with your target market, however if you wish to develop your present’s viewers, you could put together. From figuring out your superb listener and drafting a launch plan to crafting outlines for every present, the significance of analysis, planning, and preparation by no means goes away.
That stated, you don’t want to attain perfection to be ready. Belief me, although, I do know the temptation of getting each element good. When you’ve executed the work, the very best factor you are able to do is to get began. Over time, you possibly can modify your technique primarily based in your metrics and listener suggestions.
Every part You Have to Begin Your Podcast Immediately
I truthfully love the podcast medium and imagine increasingly more folks ought to give it a strive. And bear in mind — should you’ve bought a podcast concept that’s chomping on the bit, this podcast launch guidelines can function a roadmap to turning it right into a actuality.
Editor’s notice: This publish was initially revealed in September 2022 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.
