Overcoming Podcast Paralysis

You cannot iterate from a blank page

Analysis Paralysis is the leading cause of delays in producing a podcast.

Isn't this often the case where we get in our own way?

Yeah, it can be a little intimidating stepping into a realm where you see podcast big-guns like Rogan, Cooper, Bartlett, Robbins, Huberman, Galloway, and Ferriss, dominating the headlines. And pondering what your podcast should sound like in order to stand out and deliver results for you.

Fear not fellow podcast adventurer, they too started somewhere, and that's what we want to help you do today...

Start!

Somewhere!

Firstly, you have to know if your podcast is a media offering, or a strategic communications tool. If it's the former, then you're building a media business and you should model everything on that realising that the metrics that matter are audience size, segmentation, quality, and engagement rates. This model is driven mostly by CPM (cost per thousand) and you'll become obsessed with 'the numbers'.

However, with a few notable exceptions, our client list is made up of businesses who already have a business and a business plan. They are not looking to start a new business, and certainly not a podcast/media one. What they want (what they really, really want) is to be more effective in implementing the business plan.

I am not going to tell you that podcasting is a panacea to all your marketing and communication challenges. Though I can tell you it is incredibly effective at delivering long-form content directly to a targeted and engaged audience. The trick is to identify which aspects of your business plan can do with a jolt of adrenaline.

Back to the 'media type' of podcasts - these are usually highly formatted and often sound a lot like radio. And for good reason. They are working hard to get you hooked on the series. They want to habituate you to listening and hearing their adverts. Spoiler alert! All radio content is designed to get you to stick around for the next ad break. And media podcasts do the same thing. Click-bait teasers, you won't believe what happened next links, suspense over what follows - yip all that spiel you've come to know and hate.

Now the podcasts that we're talking about, the ones that really matter in our world, work hard to be niched and relevant to a particular person. We endeavour to ensure that the listener knows what to expect when they click on the play button. We're not trying to trick them, mislead them, or keep them around to hear adverts. No siree, we want to provide answers to questions they have on their customer journey.

I'm hoping that, by now, it's obvious that this is nigh on impossible to do with a single-format podcast. And this is where the paralysis stems from. How do we do this multitude of communicating, with a plethora of niche audiences, without a consistent format?

I'm glad you asked...

We suggest you start your podcast journey with these four content frameworks:

• FAQ

• It depends

• Deep dive

• AMA

1) FAQ - Frequently asked questions
These are podcasts you make to answer those questions you get every day. They are usually added to an FAQ page on your website, and even linked to in support emails. They can be solo podcasts, conversation, long, short - all sorts. What matters is that you out-source the time it takes to answer these every day questions to these podcasts.

2) It depends
A sure signal that you should be making a podcast is when the answer to a question you are asked is "it depends". e.g. "How much life insurance do I need?" or "Should I buy a diesel or electric truck?" In these instances the podcast does not set out to answer the question, but rather to reveal the factors and process that should be considered when engaging with the question. These podcasts will usually involve 1 or more guests, and the conversation lead will vary depending on their field of expertise.

3) Deep dive
These are likely to sound most like your favourite business podcasts. Meet our guest, learn more about them, and go deep on their subject of speciality. The objective here is to clearly demonstrate knowledge and competence in an aspect of your industry. i.e. "You can trust us, we've got this."

Now before we talk about the AMA framework, let me point out something vital in the above two options: We are not trying to make a podcast series where everyone listens to every episode. Au contraire. (That is what the media type has to do. to drive clicks and CPM revenue.) We are making content that appeals exactly to a specific person or need. A customer with no children does not want to know about education policies. A customer with questions around breast scans does not have questions about testicular cancer. (these are specific examples of content on a client's channels BTW) and we must not try and generalise the content to have wider appeal. In fact, make the niche narrower for each episode.

4) AMA - Ask me anything
An AMA episode is a wonderful way to cover a lot of ground in a short time while demonstrating your responsiveness, knowledge, expertise, personality and culture. This is where we take 3 to 5 questions from emails you've received, comments on your Socials, or even voice notes sent in by listeners, and answer them briefly and succinctly. These are not intended to be long fully-comprehensive answers (that's the deep dive's role), but rather shorthand and easy to digest answers. Often, a question will reveal that a deep dive is warranted on a topic.

In 9 out of 10 cases*, we'll recommend you kick off your new podcast with an AMA episode. The 10th time, we'll think about it for a while, and then recommend you start with an AMA episode. And yes, we're still going to create a trailer and show intro at the same time :-)

Remember, as a business, you're not starting a podcast to build a media empire.

You are using it as a strategic communication tool to help you execute on your actual business plan. Your podcast should be an Adrenaline boost, helping to make things:

Better, Cheaper, Different, Easier, or Faster

Thank you for your time today, if you have Questions or feedback, please drop us a mail.

Let's have an adventure!

* apologies to Darrel Dawson for re-purposing his golf advice on when to putt and when to chip :-)