New year, new you, am I right?
Podcasting can open so many doors for you! Whether you’re looking to start one on your own, or you’re looking into launching a podcast for your business, podcasts are great for reaching new audiences, building trust with your current audience, and establishing yourself in the wider world as an authority in the industry.
Or it can make your mom very proud.
For every podcaster in the world, there is a reason to start – your decision to start a podcast is going to be wildly different from your neighbor’s, or your boss’s, or your brother’s. That’s part of the fun of podcasting; it brings every voice together and lets everyone be heard.
But how do you get there? How do you successfully launch a podcast?
Have no fear, as we’ve got you covered!.
1. Schedule a Launch Date – in the ~FUTURE~
When do you think your podcast will be ready to launch? Add like, two months to that date.
No, seriously. Two months at least.
Why is this? You want to build your podcast a steady base to rest on before you dive in with your podcast content. Coming in day 1 with the podcast and all your content at once can be overwhelming to both you and any potential listeners. Start low and slow, and build your way up.
Pick out your social media channels you want to focus on, go through our guide on starting a podcast, and come out the other side with a solid plan for what you want your podcast to look like, and what you want it to accomplish. Giving yourself the space to do this properly before your launch gives you a firmer grasp of your podcast’s direction, and what growth will look like.
2. Invest In The Right Tools
We’re phrasing this simply, but there’s more to investing in your tools than just “buy the most expensive mic setup on Amazon.” (Speaking from experience here!) Investing in your tools means figuring out what kind of setup will work best with your podcasting style, and taking the time to learn the ins and outs of your tech setup before launching your podcast fully.
Are you mostly podcasting solo? A USB mic will work for you just fine! Looking to do a lot of in-person interviews, or have more than one host that needs a mic? A setup with XLR mics and an interface is more your speed.
(If you don’t know the difference, a USB mic is a mic that is pretty much plug-and-play – it plugs in directly to your computer via USB. An XLR mic uses an XLR cable that has to plug into an interface before it can plug into your computer. USB mics are great for traveling and for solo podcasters, whereas XLR mics are great for multiple cohosts.)
Beyond the mics, you should learn how to move within your chosen recording and editing software so you can properly make use of all of the tools it offers. Most software will offer the same core basics for both recording and editing – it’s just making sure that you know those core basics, and what other tools your specific software uses.
3. Market Research Is For Everyone
Market research? In this economy?
No, but seriously. Before you launch your podcast, you have some research to do. The idea is to scope out what other podcasts are doing, and what you find appealing or repellant in a podcast. From there, it will help you lay out what you want to do with your podcast, and what you want to avoid.
First things first, you should check out our post on making an audience avatar. This is the perfect step for figuring out who you want to target your podcast to (or, to phrase it differently, whose podcasting needs you’re able to meet).
The other step is to do research on other podcasts, especially the ones that you personally enjoy. Some things to note down:
- How do they edit their podcast?
- Do they use segments? What kind of segments do they feature? What are your favorite segments?
- What kind of music do they use, if any? Do they have continuous background music, or just during transitions or the opening/closing?
- Do they feature a lot of guests, or is the focus on the main hosts?
- How do they write their description? What specifically encouraged you to check them out and have a listen?
- What does their online presence look like?
- Culminating all of the above together, what’s something that they don’t have that you wish they had?
All of the answers there will give you a perfect picture of what you want your podcast to look like, and what you want to feature to make your podcast stand out.
4. When You Launch Your Podcast For Real
The time has come for you to launch your podcast – officially, even! So what’s that going to look like?
- Create a podcast trailer. Don’t know where to start? Check out the finalists from our trailer contest in 2023!
- Publish your trailer – which is technically your first episode!
- With one episode live in your feed, you can start submitting your feed to podcast directories.
- Take advantage of people’s propensity to binge listen by following up a week to two weeks later by publishing 3-5 episodes at once.
- Throughout all of this – from before you launch your trailer to the actual drop of your episodes – make sure that you’re making posts and building some excitement on your chosen social channels.
5. Keep Up The Momentum
So you’ve launched your podcast!
Now what?
To keep the momentum going, you’re going to want to keep going hard on the promotion. Make posts, make audiograms, highlight your back catalog. You never know what episode is going to be a new listener’s first episode.
One thing to consider is reaching out to podcasts in the same niche to see if they’re down to collaborate, or do some cross-promotion. Being promoted on a podcast that’s already established is a great way to gain some new listenership.
This is also the perfect time to attend events and hype up your podcast. Podcast-themed events are great to learn about what’s going down in the industry, and topic-specific events are perfect for finding new listeners and new guests.
If you’ve got the budget, investing in paid advertising is also a great avenue to go for a wider audience.
Ready to launch your podcast? Get started at podbean.com with a free 30 day trial using the code PL2024!