How can you make your podcast recognizable to your audience?

Before launching your podcast, you need to consider and define seven key aspects related to its creation, production, and distribution.

1. Define the theme of your podcast and the audience you want to target.

It’s crucial to focus on a specific topic that provides information, knowledge, case studies, and includes interviews and insights from people working in that field. For example, instead of creating a general business podcast, make one specifically about digital marketing for hoteliers.

"By trying to reach everyone, you will end up reaching no one."

2. Focus on the quality of your podcast’s audio.

Even if your content is high-quality, engaging, and valuable, poor audio quality will drive listeners away. Avoid recording in noisy environments. Invest in a good microphone, edit your material, and optimize the sound by eliminating pauses, "uhs," echoes, and other disturbances.

3. Plan and structure the content of your podcast episodes.

Uploading content without consistency won’t be beneficial in the long run. Define the theme of each episode. If you have a guest, structure the discussion in advance, organize your questions in a logical order, and share them with your guest beforehand. Identify the episode’s hook, title, closing statement, and call to action for your audience.

Choose music for your intro and outro, decide whether you want background music throughout the episode, and pick one that fits your podcast series.

4. Be consistent in publishing your podcast episodes.

Your audience needs to know when to expect new episodes. This anticipation helps build engagement. Announce whether you’ll be publishing weekly, biweekly, or monthly, specifying the exact day of release.

A best practice for podcast frequency is once a week or, if not feasible, every two weeks.

5. Promote your podcast in every possible way.

To grow and expand your audience, you must actively promote your podcast on your own channels and third-party platforms.

Before publishing an episode, share a teaser on your social media to create anticipation.

Once the episode is live:

1. Post about it on social media.
2. Create video clips with highlights and share them as standalone content.
3. If you have a guest, tag them or add them as a collaborator in your posts for more exposure.
4. If you run a business, send a newsletter to your mailing list announcing the new episode.
5. Upload it to all major podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

6. Choose a catchy name for your podcast and a compelling title for each episode.

Your podcast’s name should be unique, relevant to the content, and easy to remember and pronounce. Avoid generic, vague titles that make it hard for people to find your podcast.

The same applies to episode titles. Instead of "Business Podcasts," go for "Digital Marketing Strategies for Hospitality Pros."

7. Optimize your podcast content for search engines (SEO).

Even in podcasts, keywords play a crucial role. Use them in your title, general podcast description, and individual episode descriptions.

For each episode description, include timestamps with SEO-optimized titles. For example, instead of naming an episode "Episode 10: How to Attract Customers," use "How to Attract New Hotel Guests with Google Ads."

By doing this, search engines will identify your content and recommend it in relevant user searches.

Is podcasting just a trend that will fade?

In the following podcast episode, I discussed with Ioannis Anastassakis what you need to start a podcast (tools, platforms, equipment).

• How can your podcast stand out from the rest?
• How do you build a loyal audience?
• What are the benefits of a podcast for a brand?
• Can You Make Money from Podcasts?

By applying all the above strategies, you’ll see your podcast grow and become recognizable to your target audience. It’s a process that takes time, patience, consistency, and adaptability.