To Cast Or Not To Cast ?

 Hello and welcome to Poke a Poke, I am your  host Doubles Queen. Today in our digital marketing tools series we shall be discussing Podcasts. That would have been a great introduction for a Podcast. The last topic that was covered in my digital marketing class was “Podcasts and Webinars” but I want to focus on podcasts. A podcast is essentially an audio programme / show. Think of it like talk radio but you can subscribe to it. These casts include a series of auditory episodes based on an overarching theme or topic. Listeners can subscribe to the cast / show through one of many applications such as Apple Podcasts, Audible or Podbay. The in-studio video recordings or streams of some casts can be viewed on streaming and video platforms like Twitch and YouTube. The benefit of a podcast is that it’s convenient as they can be listened to on the website or offline after downloading. You can subscribe to the creator to be kept up to date and listen on whenever you see fit.  Some people like to listen while multitasking at work or home, while exercising and even while driving. It is pretty similar to listening to talk radio, but you get to choose which topic you are listening to and who is discussing said topic.

Not Interested In Podcasts

I am more of a visual person and have never been a fan of talk radio. Quite frankly while travelling I find talk radio to be annoying but one cannot choose what the driver plays. Thus I have never considered intently listening to a podcast. So when this topic came up I was sure that I had never listened to one. The reality was much different while I don’t use podcast apps, I do use YouTube regularly. One of the video series I would watch is actually an in-studio recording of a cast. This series is “In Godfry We Trust” this is a cast hosted by the comedians Godfry & Andre Kim where topics such as black history, black culture, entertainment, interesting stories as well as funny offbeat topics can be discussed.

I decided to dive back into this cast and watched a segment of the video version of a podcast  episode on YouTube for the sake of this post. I made note of things that overlapped with what I learned about making a podcast in my class which I will discuss shortly. All in all these podcasts can be quite enjoyable once you find a topic or host you enjoy listening to. I have found that there is an extremely blurred line between talk radio and these casts. They are nearly identical and depending on who you are listening to; the cast can be playing on the radio, streaming on Twitch or another platform and then later uploaded in parts to a video platform like YouTube. Now as promised I will share what I have learned about creating a podcast.

Podcasting 101

Prior to this class the closest look I had into the creation of a podcast was Netflix's "The Midnight Gospel" where the protagonist would jump from one world simulation to another to interview persons for content for his Podcast. It was by far one of the strangest, confusingly morbid shows I have ever watched. I had the opportunity to create a podcast with my classmates about digital tools in digital marketing for a project. Thankfully I can say my experience was pretty normal and very positive. The thought of making a podcast seemed daunting at first but it is actually pretty easy once you prepare properly and have a flowing guided conversation that isn’t scripted to a “T”. 

1. Choose your topic

Podcast creation can be easy like making a voice note plus a little editing depending on the situation. Before you can do anything you need to know what you are going to talk about and who is going to be your listener. This will give you an idea how long your podcast should be and how you should format your podcast. 

2. Choose Your Format

Podcasts are usually of one of three lengths on average; ten (10), thirty (30) or sixty (60) minutes in length, give or take a few minutes. Now based on all of the aforementioned you need to decide how the cast should be formatted. There are three primary formats namely  a presentation, Q & A and Co-hosted. A presentation involves a monologue or a simple talk on any subject. Q & A is simply a question and answer session like an interview. Co-hosted is akin to a talk radio show. Now these can be used individually or in combination, it all depends on the length of the cast, topic and so on. If it is a commentary on something a ten (10) minute presentation could suffice.

3. Podcast Production

You need to determine if the how the content of the podcast would be focused. Would the content be focused in an instructional or informative manner or would it be entertainment focused. Next you need to choose a moderator and create talking points. Avoid making a script because listeners respond better to natural flowing speech and conversation, rigid scripting ruins that flow. Next keep things simple. You need to be brief and content centric, length is secondary. Then all you have to do is record your cast, if it is solo simple recording apps on your phone or computer would suffice. If you are having others join in, you should use a podcast recording app like Anchor. These app let you create a recorded meeting room once you are finished recording you can download it and edit the audio using an application of your choice. Musician On A Mission gave some great free options for audio editing software. Try to include some music and don’t over edit the audio you want to still have a natural flow so your audience feels spoken to. You can also do a live podcast. Streaming platforms like Twitch can help here and again once you are finished you can download and edit the streamed cast and upload it to another platform. 

4. Upload Your Podcast

Once your editing is complete you can upload your podcast to any platform of your choice that facilitates your podcast there are many to choose from. Adam Enfroy gave a great list of options with all the details you ought to know about each platform. 

Remember that you are not only limited to podcasting websites you can use video based platforms like YouTube or even social media like Facebook and Instagram to get your cast out you may just have to either record some video when you are initially recording or put other videos in your project to take advantage of the visual aspect of these websites. Also, theoretically you should be able to use social media platforms like Twitter for their Spaces to get your recordings or meeting platforms like Google Meet or Zoom. Where there is a will there's a way, you have so many options.

My Experience Making A Podcast

My group and I followed the steps in the previous segment to create our Podcast “ Four Wise Women & A Beard” . It was a ten (10) minute podcast in Q & A format with an informative focus where “The Beard” was the moderator and I was one of the "Wise Women". I did violate the advice above and made a script, since I didn't want my anxiety to take the wheel during the recording but it is near impossible to read the script exactly and sound natural. While my script was there I did deviate from it a bit and in some cases, I left parts out in the interest of time. We tried to give two (2) views on each question so we had some variety when it came to editing. In the end our entire recording was almost twenty (20) minutes long but after some cutting  of the audio and the addition of the music we were able to get it down to around ten (10) minutes. One thing that we noticed was that in the case of shorter podcasts it is better to have one  song low in the background that will not conflict with the speech. Having the song change or being too prominent can distract the listener. All in all it was a good experience. Also as I have come to the end of my digital marketing course I have come to realize just how interrelated these digital tools really are.

Podcasts & Similar Tools In Hindsight

With the advancements and convenience of technology so many digital tools and marketing channels overlap; it really gives marketers and creators a vast array of options when it comes to reaching certain audiences. In the case of Godfry’s cast, it is available on his website/platform, YouTube various podcasting and auditory platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Audible and Podbay. A good example of how creators on these platforms can really benefit in so many ways from the versatility of the casting and streaming platforms would be in the case of WACK 901 FM locally. While this strays from podcasts only there is a point here so bare with me. WACK exists on radio, their website & app, streaming platforms and platforms which also facilitate podcasts like “Tune In”. While the majority if not all of their content can be digested auditorily only, streaming platforms allow them to tap into visuals and can open so many doors to them business wise especially during a pandemic. They have become a viable option for events companies to broadcast their client’s events. The Contemporary Choreographer's Collective (COCO) live streamed their COCO dance festival on several of WACK’s platforms ( WACK APP, Twitch, YouTube and Facebook). COCO saw great benefit in working with WACK for the event as opposed to doing it themselves especially since WACK as a radio station has music licences.  This allowed the event to be streamed on all of WACK’s platforms without the worry of being copyright struck or having the stream shut down.

A podcast can literally be the audio half of a broadcast or stream and many people can be digesting podcast content in a varied form. Listeners of Kim Iversen’s political commentaries can listen to her on radio, podcasting applications and on YouTube. Kim is able to target multiple audiences / market segments by creating one piece of content which can be edited and fed into different channels. So, if I haven’t lost you the point here is even if you think you have never listened to a podcast you probably have; especially If you have ever listened to a Ted Talk(s). Also as a creator or marketer a podcast may be a viable channel you can use; you probably just have never considered it. 

Reference

Images sourced from freepik.com