The world of digital marketing is undergoing tumultuous changes and all marketers are looking for ways to test new technologies. Within this scenario, the podcast shows the sign of resurgence. It has become a buzzword in the tech world, which the leading social media marketing companies are employing to achieve success with their campaigns.

Are you thinking of creating a podcast for your business, but don’t know where to start and how to achieve success with it? Then this article is perfect for you.

What is podcasting and why do you need it?

Podcasting is a medium of digital content, usually in the form of digital audio or radio. Unlike any other social platform, it allows you to consistently deliver high-quality, relevant, and targeted content to a massive audience. Plus, you can personally connect with your audience on a one-to-one level.

But, to maximize its potential to your advantage, you need to plan a strategy. It’s like a professional media, which is usually done by professionals, but if you are trying to do an amateur endeavor, you will have to do it correctly.

Here are 4 steps you need to take to be on the right path to podcasting success:

1. Determine the podcasting frequency

Since podcasts consist of an episodic series, first of all, it is essential to decide its frequency. Like any other content medium: TV show, blog, etc. It is equally important to create your schedule and stick to it. Nothing can be more frustrating for a podcast audience than having an erratic podcasting schedule. So, be consistent and inform your audience about the schedule, to make it easier. As a newbie, you can start every two weeks and as time progresses you can try it weekly or multiple times in a week. But don’t forget your ultimate goal of keeping your audience engaged.

2. make a decision about your format

Deciding whether to do an audio or video podcast is quite overwhelming, which most of you must have experienced. Simply speaking, the format doesn’t matter; it is the quality that has all the value. So do what’s good and can perform at your best. If you’re not good with a camera, don’t have a great place to film, and your content is longer, choose the audio podcast.

Even if you’re not good with the mic, then weigh your choice, depending on the level of entertainment your podcast will provide. Also, keep an eye on what your competitors or people from similar niches are doing and what format they are using. This information will surely help you make the right decision.

3. Decide its length

Determining the optimal podcast length is a complicated beast, which can only be done by testing and testing what works and what doesn’t. The optimal duration is 12-15 minutes if you are a single host. Even if you are covering many interviews in one, try to keep it short and informative. And always stop before you feel like you’ve exhausted the topic. While in the case of co-hosting podcasts, 15 minutes is still an optimal length to keep the audience engaged.

Although, there are several popular podcasts of up to 45-60 minutes like Copyblogger’s (Robert Bruce) Internet Marketing for Smart People. So what’s important here is the podcaster experience and content type. If you are very confident in the microphone and have interesting content to keep the audience engaged, then you can work in a longer format. But, if you are a newbie, do it with caution. Also, if you have the power to make shitty content interesting, extending it will help you provide more insight to your audience. But, if it’s not the case, keep it brief to guide your audience to the conclusion. Obviously, it’s not bad to experiment here until you get it right.

4. Focus on the quality of production

This is a point that most podcasters do not emphasize, although it is valuable for its success. You can build or break your audience. So, focus on how your podcast sounds, what its segments are like: sound and audio quality. You can overcome it by using a good quality microphone and HD camcorder. If you seem fussy or your audience can’t hear you properly, then your podcast will be worthless.

So, these are the 4 crucial steps you need to take to achieve success with your podcast. Apart from these, keep these important points in mind as well:

• Your introduction should tell the audience what your podcast is about within 30 seconds of listening. Also, try to create a good elevator pitch that explains your podcasting in 1-2 sentences and adds it to each episode.

• Try dividing your podcast into different segments to make it interesting like a TV or radio show.

• Create an amazing podcast and you will think that everything is done. Do not stop! It’s post-production that gives your podcast a professional touch. So, put emphasis on it.

• Edit it and take the time to correct the sound levels. You can also use software for this.

After knowing all this, if you are thinking why spend so much time improving a podcast when it can be uploaded directly. But, don’t forget that if you don’t pay attention to its little details, so will your audience. So, think again!

If you’ve gone too far in this article, then you must be thinking that it takes too much work to make a podcast. But it will be in your favor, since you now know the crucial steps to your success and you don’t have to do it without any courage. Also, it may seem laborious than blogging or using other social platforms, but think about your interests first. If you like to do it, give it a try as you will not lose anything, you will only get results.

So what’s your take on podcasting? Are social media marketing companies over-promoting it, or is it really offering a lot of value?