Build community around your podcast to make it successful #CBAAConf

Almost 30% of Aussies between 18-54 have listened to a podcast.

Trevor Long, Melanie Withnall and Nic Healey hosted a panel about podcasting at the CBAA Conference on the Gold Coast, exploring the pros and cons of the medium.

Podcasts in Australia don’t make lots of money, but they are gradually becoming more popular and the successful ones are beginning to generate small incomes for their producers.

Podcasting is different from a radio show. You can put up a radio program and share it, but podcasting is different.Some of the points made by the panel include:

“Podcasting is a more personal form of radio, you are talking to one person – you have to be targeted, you really need to know your audience.”

“Think about what you want to say, what will make your podcast different from all the others?”

“You need to have a digital strategy for reaching out and building your community around that podcast for it to be successful. For example, we had a podcast about the holocaust, we approached the History Teachers Association to share it, they did and it became successful.”

Trevor Long said Whooshka and Omny are two easy-to-use platforms for podcasters. “They are working to monetise the audio for you, and the platforms are really easy to use and explain to people, that is why we use them.

But it’s not all about money, said Withnall, “it is also about being relevant and being in the space where the audiences are. We want to keep engaging our audience and this is another way of doing that.”

In another session, AMRAP’s Chris Johnson talked about the importance of  having a radio-on-demand content strategy, to leverage your content further and extend the sustainability of your content.

Stations need to be seen on social media platforms. Audio highlights are key to attracting social media audience but we need to follow through to entice audiences and build listening habits.

Content must be sharable and interactive.

Content should encourage new listening patterns.

AMRAP is currently testing a new service on Edge Radio, where program makers can mark segments of their program for replay and sharing.

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