How to Save Time and Money With the Right Home for Your Podcast

Apr 18,2017 / By Chiara Sagramola / No Comment

Podcasting has been around for longer than you think (over 10 years now!), but the ways it has enticed people to tell their stories, as well as connect with others in a very intimate way, has never felt fresher. Yet, while there are lots of potential podcasters out there ready to try it out for themselves, many get lost along the way. It’s easy to see why – the onslaught of “necessary” gear, like microphones, filters, and mixers and the time commitment involved, are intimidating distractions.

However, you don’t have to sweat it – not that much, anyway. With even the most basic tools, getting into podcasting is simpler than you think.

Podcasting Tips

Don’t Sell Your Brand. Tell It In a Podcast

Apr 6,2017 / By Charlotte Micklewright / No Comment

Advertisers Have Found a Secret Weapon and it’s Called Podcasts

Audiences and advertising are finding common ground: a passion for audio.

Already last year a study by Bridge Ratings predicted that as marketers gain more and more confidence in podcasts, the market spend for the platform will grow at a consistent 25% a year through to 2020. Similarly, Advertising Age predicts that advertisers will push for their content marketing strategies to produce audience-oriented content that aligns with their brand’s purpose and values.

All this culminates into an undeniable reality: podcasting advertising is the way to go.

Why Podcasters and Listeners Should Care About Dynamic Ad Insertion?

Apr 5,2017 / By Rob Greenlee / No Comment

Simply put “Dynamically Inserted Advertising” puts audio ads in podcast episode downloads and it stays there for a certain amount of time and then it stops being inserted when it’s reached a certain number of purchased impressions via downloads and plays.

“But one must be hyper-cautious of annoying audiences with bad ads and too many ads with this technology. The tech is not so much the issue, but how it is used.”

Ideally, all ads in podcasts should be read by the podcast host, an approach that can work with dynamic ad insertion.

One needs to be careful to make sure the listener experience isn’t degraded at all from this ad delivery method. One must be mindful of where the ad break is placed inside or at the beginning of the content. One also needs to be mindful that using music fades around dynamic ads must be thought through.

Podcasting Tips

How to Find Guests For Your Podcast Interview

Mar 29,2017 / By Charlotte Micklewright / No Comment

Whether it’s a feature or a one-off, interviewing a guest is a great way to shakes things up on your podcast. You’re bouncing off one another as well as offering a frame of reference for the topic you’re discussing.

But going about finding the right guest to interview can be tricky. Out of the thousands of exchanges you have online and IRL, this is a conversation that you have to set up yourself, in a way that can sometimes feel contrived. We break it down into 4 steps that take you straight to the point.

WHY? Count the benefits.

The back and forth of conversation is dynamic and makes great listening. In an interview setup, you are demonstrating how you are learning alongside your audience, and that strengthens your bond.

Plus, it offers a bit of variety and takes the pressure off you to create all the content!

There is just something irresistible about listening into a conversation – as proven by more and more audiences tuning in to listen in. Writing for the British publication Cultured Vultures, Callum Davies explains the popularity of podcast interviews in America as around the world is because “as long as interviewee and interviewer are equally interested in what they’re discussing, the appeal will manifest”.

Podcasting Tips

Brief Encounter: The Ideal Podcast Length

Mar 23,2017 / By Charlotte Micklewright / No Comment

Short, concise, intriguing: the ideal formula?

With so many podcasts out there for people to choose from, it’s great to keep your audience tuned in and engaged. That means cutting straight to the chase. And it seems that duration really is key: the shorter, the better. Generally, listeners just don’t seem to get through hour-long episodes. In fact, it turns out listeners actually prefer podcasts to be A LOT shorter- and the stats prove this.

But as well as nailing the length, there’s also timing to think about: what’s the ideal day to publish your podcast for peek listening? In time for Saturday? Or towards the start of the week? You would be surprised! It’s all about perfect timing – in the duration of your podcast, as well as the time and frequency of publishing.

Find out what our stats and experiences reveal in this episode of the Spreaker Live Show.

Listening

Writing and Podcasting: The Perfect Match – An Interview with Sarah Werner

Mar 9,2017 / By Chiara Sagramola / No Comment

Sarah Rhea Werner is both a writer who has a podcast and a podcaster who talks about writing. Her podcast Write Now, which is also a blog, is an inspirational, binge-listening journey into what happens in a writer’s mind. Her podcast seeks to find a healthy balance between an author’s work, life and writing process. As a listener commented, Sarah “relates to the writer’s heart”. Sarah is definitely a great mentor, and as a contributor on Forbes, you can also read some of her very helpful advice on how to podcast. That’s why we decided to interview her!

Listening Podcasting Tips

Spreaker Podcast Radio Gets a New Sleep Timer and Playback Speed Settings

Feb 28,2017 / By Anna / No Comment

Great podcasts are easy to love, so why not make them easy to listen to? We know you’re fitting in your listening-time anywhere you can—like on the way to the movies or as you’re getting ready to go bed—so we’ve added a few extras to Spreaker Podcast Radio for both iOS and Android to facilitate things: introducing new playback settings!

Sometimes inconveniences like time restraints get in the way, but a great podcast listening experience means that time works around you, and not the other way around. Now, a new sleep timer and playback speed settings will help you manipulate those limits.

Podcasting Tips

Why Podcasting Should Be a Part of Your Content Marketing Strategy

Feb 23,2017 / By Genevieve Thurston / No Comment

Think about it: when you hear a good story or conversation, it sticks with you much longer than a Facebook post you glanced at does. This is because we engage with audio in a different way than we do with written content.

As Emma Rodero, a professor at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, told The Atlantic,

“Audio is one of the most intimate forms of media because you are constantly building your own images of the story in your mind and you’re creating your own production. And that of course, is something that you can never get with visual media.”

Audio content involves the audience in the narrative; it entices them to imagine the people, places, and situations they’re listening to. This can help your brand create a deep and meaningful connection with potential customers.

Here are five reasons why you should start podcast for your brand:

General Podcasting Tips

The Numbers Game: New Statistics added to Spreaker’s CMS

Feb 8,2017 / By Tonia / 1 Comment

We’ve got a mission to provide the most complete, all-in-one podcasting solution out there with our CMS. It’s a professional dashboard that covers editing, feeds, social media distribution, and monetization opportunities (amongst other things) so that you have greater control over your content. Now we’ve ticked one more thing off our list of features: introducing statistics to Spreaker’s CMS.

They’re easier to access, and now thanks to a beautiful new redesign, even easier to read. Plus we’ve added a few extra goodies while we were at it – you’ll have the key to unlocking your audience in no time.

Why statistics are important

The importance of understanding your statistics cannot be overstated. They offer you a complete reading of your listeners, like who they are and where they’re from. With that insight, you get a clear idea of your podcast’s progress and how to further develop your content; stats function as feedback, encouraging you to keep doing what you’re doing, or pushing you to experiment and improve your process.

Detailed statistics are also crucial data to report to ad agencies and sponsors if you’re looking to monetize your content (if that’s the route you want to take, of course – Spreaker offers an easier, more automatic revenue sharing program, too). Ad providers want to be able to match up products and the audiences they’ll be advertised to as best as possible, and the stats you provide should be leveraged accordingly (for example, they’ll want to be sure that the men’s shaving kits they’re pushing aren’t getting featured on children’s programming). It’s similar in approach to any other type of content monetization – even bloggers have to provide reports of their readership to their sponsors, because why place an ad on your page that isn’t likely to get read or paid attention to? With the help of detailed statistics, you’ll be able to show them the power of your podcast’s reach and the who, what, where, and why of your listeners with one go.

Listening Podcasting Tips

How To Keep Your Podcast Topic Sounding Fresh

Feb 7,2017 / By Anna / No Comment

Exploring the different sides of your topic

How can you make sure that you never podfade or run out of things to talk about on your podcast? Most of the work you put into your podcast revolves around presenting your main topic in an entertaining and informative way – and it’s the core reason why your listeners tune in. It has to be multifaceted and provide numerous fresh angles.

While excellent storytelling skills can make anything sound interesting enough, bringing content that’s of value to your audience is what will keep them coming back. It’s all about drawing from the resources available to you, and finding those unique takes. You can refer to your listeners’ feedback and contributions, scrape show topic ideas from other media sources in your genre, subscribe to newsletters, set up google alerts, and run thorough keyword searches.

Learn about all the different ways you can make the most out of your podcast’s topic in this episode of the Spreaker Live Show.

Listen to “SLS99: How To Avoid Running Out of Show Topics” on Spreaker.