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When creating a private podcast, there are many things you should do and many things you shouldn’t.
Even on platforms such as Podbean’s private podcast platform for corporations, where you create podcasts for a select audience, such as employees, members of a specific organization, or a closed group, there are mistakes you should avoid making. These mistakes can impact the quality, effectiveness, and engagement of your private podcasts.
Here is our list of the top seven mistakes private podcasters should avoid.
1. A lack of planning
Failing to plan your private podcast episodes thoroughly can result in disorganized content, lack of direction, and poor-quality episodes. Even if you are working with a top-notch producer and editor, you need to avoid an unhealthy injection of ums, ers, and ahs.
Plan all of your episodes in advance, including the topics, guests, scripts, and production timeline.
To do this, decide how many podcast episodes you can realistically release each month and pencil those release dates into a calendar. Then you can research your topic, look for guests or collaborators and identify ways to engage your audience.
Once you have these parts of your podcast planned out, you can flesh out these bones with your script, the content you plan to share on social media, and bonuses you have for regular listeners or subscribers.
Finally, write your script and rehearse. That’s not to say you must stick to your script word for word, but practicing ahead of recording will help ensure your podcast flows smoothly.
2. Not conducting research on your audience
Not understanding your target audience’s needs and preferences can result in irrelevant content that fails to resonate with them. Conduct thorough audience research to understand their interests, expectations, and preferred content formats to create episodes that cater to their needs.
If you have a particular audience for which you are creating a podcast – for example, employees – look at your audience and take note of their demographics, where they work, what they do, and, if possible, what they like to do online. In the case of a business podcast, you can share a survey with your staff to get this information.
If you are starting a podcast, you have to define your audience. Ask yourself, “Who is my ideal listener?” The answer to this will depend on your niche, but as a rough guide, you’ll want to know which other podcasts your listeners might listen to, where they might hang out online, what they like to do in their spare time, etc.
Once you have this info, you can build a “listener persona.” This is like a model of your target listener, and every time you plan an episode, you can ask yourself, “Would my model listener enjoy this?” If the answer is yes, you’re good to go, but if the answer is no, you’ll need to revisit your idea.
3. Neglecting audio quality
Private podcasts with poor audio quality, such as background noise, echo, or inconsistent volume levels, can be distracting and feel unprofessional. Investing in good-quality microphones, recording equipment, and editing software is essential to ensure clear and professional-sounding episodes.
Before you buy, read reviews on multiple sites or ask other podcasters what equipment they use, then make a short list of popular and high-quality options.
Don’t worry; these do not have to be the most expensive items on the market – plenty of affordable options exist. Instead of breaking the bank, set a realistic budget for your equipment and stick to items in your price range.
4. Ignoring audience engagement opportunities
Private podcasts are meant to engage and communicate with a specific audience, so neglecting opportunities for audience interaction, such as Q&A segments, polls, or feedback, can result in a lack of engagement.
Encourage and facilitate audience engagement to create a more interactive and participatory listening experience. This will likely help you build a solid listener base that looks forward to new episodes and recommends your podcast to others.
5. A lack of consistency
Inconsistent episode releases or erratic publishing schedules can lead to a loss of audience interest and engagement. Which podcast would you be most likely to listen to, the one that releases an episode every Tuesday and posts on social media on Mondays and Fridays or the one that randomly releases episodes and posts content whenever?
In addition, social media algorithms and search engines favor the release of regular output. If you have a regular schedule, you are more likely to appear in people’s feeds and search results than a podcast whose output is irregular.
6. Not promoting your podcast
Merely creating private podcasts without promoting them effectively to your target audience can result in low listenership.
It is important to develop a promotion strategy, including leveraging marketing tactics such as sharing new episodes in email newsletters, appearing in internal communications, and engaging with your listeners on social media to increase awareness and encourage listenership.
7. Neglecting podcast analytics
Failing to track and analyze listener data and feedback can result in missed opportunities for improvement. Use podcast analytics tools like those in Podbean to track your most important metrics, such as listener engagement, retention, and feedback.
Once you have this information, you can use it to make informed decisions on improving your private podcasting strategy. If you are still determining the best response to your podcast analytics, you can try A/B testing for your marketing and engagement strategies.
This should help you choose your best options for building and retaining your audience.
Conclusion
Trial and error is part and parcel of running a private podcast, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t specific mistakes you can side-step.
The seven private podcasting mistakes in the post are easy to avoid. Doing so will help you establish your output as a high-quality, engaging podcast that people actually want to listen to.
