Podcasts are one of the best ways of broadcasting a topic discussion in a community-minded way. This form of content is easy to make, easy to consume, and it can boost your brand’s identity. But making a successful podcast also depends on generating a community around it. Below are some tips on how to do just that.
Have a Vision
While it can be tempting to go straight into producing content, it’s important to establish a vision of what the community stands for first. In other words, what is the purpose of what you’re doing? What do you want it to achieve? What are your values? Once you establish what your podcast community’s aims are, you’ll be better placed to attract the right kind of audience.
Find Ways to Connect to Your Community
With the vision statement done and the content in motion, you’ll want to determine the best ways to connect with your community. Knowing who your target market is is half the battle but reaching those people can also be challenging.
A few of the top ways to connect with your community include:
- Facebook groups: exclusivity is one of the key ways to encourage community and a private Facebook group is a great way to do that. Rather than set up a public page that anyone can follow, set up an intimate group so that people feel as if they belong to something meaningful.
- Email marketing: while social media is a great way of connecting with your listeners, you’ll want to follow up with them afterwards. Email marketing is a brilliant way to keep you connected with your audience between shows. When sending out your campaigns, you can also use an email signature manager so that they are reminded of who you are and where they can find your podcast.
- Listener Q&A: responding to queries from your listeners is another great way to keep them engaged. You can gather these from your private Facebook group, for instance, and then respond to them on-air. As a podcaster, you are setting yourself up as an expert in your field so a Q&A mechanism will encourage people to engage with you and ask questions about the topics you’re covering.
- Get discussions going: one of the best ways to keep a community going is by generating discussions. This could be initiated by shout-outs from you to specific people on social media or on air, followed by focused discussions. These discussions could be initiated from the most recent podcast or by another group member who has asked a question.
Make Your Community Valuable
Remember that setting up groups and conversing over social media is just the start. You also need to continuously create value for your community. People are more apt to join a podcast community if they feel part of something that’s safe, meaningful, and accepting. Creating exclusivity also helps boost this sense of value and it will encourage your audience to share this experience with others.
Focus on Giving, Not Just Taking
At the end of the day, one of the most significant ways to help your audience feel valued is by giving more than you take. While this doesn’t mean giving all your services away for free, what it does mean is that you demonstrate a genuine caring for your community.
Whether it’s answering questions, involving yourself in conversations, or providing free resources, your audience will appreciate your efforts and will feel valued in the process.