The power of podcasts: Broadcast Revolution gets the lowdown from podcast-producing experts

Podcasts are undoubtedly a media platform with a serious and growing presence that, if used effectively, can offer enormous impact for a campaign. Surprisingly, despite 98% of journalists believing that podcasts are set to become as popular as live broadcast, Broadcast Revolution’s latest annual report found that 71% of PRs don’t have a podcast strategy.

At our latest event, we got expert insight as we delved into the dos and don’ts; the how-tos and the how not tos, of the podcast world. Kaz McBride, Guest Production Manager at FlightStory Studio (home of Diary of a CEO) and Al Riddell, Head of Factual Podcasts at Global (home of The News Agents), sat down with our Head of News, Mike Young, to share some valuable podcasting takeaways. 

Testing the waters

For Kaz, Steven Barlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast, which rakes in 50 million views per month, has set the blueprint for podcast production at FlightStory. At the heart of its success, is testing. 

Kaz revealed that hundreds if not thousands of tests are run across every element of a podcast, for every episode. From thumbnails to episode summaries, every choice is made intentionally to ensure podcasts have maximum reach. 

Data driven decisions

In podcast production, data collection is key to decision making. At Global, Al and the team keep a close eye on listen-through rates, as well as using qualitative data such as listener age, location and interests to gather a comprehensive picture of target demographics. 

Kaz and Al agreed that listener data for each podcast is vital to understanding who the audience is, to inform what Kaz referred to as the 1% changes: tiny amends to optimise the listener / watcher experience. 

Pitching with purpose

Understanding the podcast audience is also critical for PRs who are pitching guests. Al’s advice is to listen to a few episodes before pitching to a producer, and understand the tone, content and direction of the show. 

While longer lead times are often useful, both guests agreed that last-minute pitches are always worth a shot – even if only to put a guest on the radar for future opportunities or among other producers. 

The message with pitching was to get as much information as possible: understand the podcast audience demographics, the talent being pitched and their community, the schedule of the producer. 

Strong story, strong voice

When it comes to what makes a strong podcast voice, Al sees being authentic as a given. Beyond this, he looks for open-mindedness and an insight into their lives. 

Kaz echoed this, adding that the key to podcasting is human connection. Its longer form means consumers are looking for a conversation that is engaging and dynamic: a good story is a good story, no matter where or who it comes from.