The content of a podcast is what makes it thrive and build a strong and engaged community. Being the glue that holds everything together, the podcast hosts need to incorporate various things in the podcast.
Different things, such as quality of the audio, the guests, and the content, differentiate great podcasts from average podcasts. Here are some of the common features across various podcast genres.
Quality Production
Production enhancements of podcasts are popular in podcasts, which makes them sound and feel professional. A podcast’s beauty is that you can create and launch a very high-quality podcast with internet access and a laptop without much struggle. You do not need to make a massive investment in software, special equipment, or a studio to achieve the desired quality. Quality podcasts pay special attention to production values for an explicit podcast that is highly polished.
Podcast creators will only take personal satisfaction after striving to make a podcast that is consistent in quality and as professional as possible. Most podcasters spend enough time experimenting with their recording studios to obtain quality sound with zero echoes and background noise. Spending time improving editing skills gives creators assurance that their episodes are perfect for their listeners. Preferred podcast sounds almost like the audio tracks of television programs with title music, musical interludes, and narrations.
Consistent Structure
Most of the successful podcasts incorporate repetition and recurrence in every episode. It is because humans find recurrent elements of content and structure a comforting thing. Certain favorite songs bring comfort with fantastic memories, and certain kinds of assurance hence tend to be incorporated in most podcasts.
Most successful podcasts across genres will have a standard set of questions in their interviews, such as the types of books they gift most often. Also, podcasts tend to have recurring episodes such as extended interviews lasting for several hours, complemented with short episodes.
Most podcasts employ serialized content to give a podcast some identity and draw listeners into listening to upcoming episodes. They build upon an ongoing theme as it happens in films, making listeners follow up on the podcast to know what will happen next. To produce a highly polished podcast and build anticipation amongst the listeners, some podcasts tend to broadcast their episodes in series which are released weeks or months apart.
When creating a podcast, it’s essential to have a podcast hosting platform. Such a platform is essential for hosting reviews, and podcasters often take their content to the next level by starting with the best Hosting software. This consistent structure and recurrent features are what makes listeners become long term fans.
Music
Most podcasts incorporate recognizable theme music that matches the podcast’s content, which helps in outlining what the podcast entails. Interspersing podcast with musical segues helps in breaking up content for most podcasts.
Podcast creation tools have music that can be used freely as a bed for the podcast narrative; thus, no need to worry about adhering to music copyrights. Appropriate use of music is crucial as it enhances the content of podcasts and also helps when the podcast is discussing the subject of certain music.
Adverts
Most podcasts incorporate adverts within their content narration. Some podcasts divide the sections of their content using adverts in the middle of their content. This is a means of creating a break within the podcast. Others drop adverts between the introduction and the narrative’s body to allow listeners to listen uninterrupted.
Others will narrate their episodes and drop adverts at the end to avoid shifting the focus of their occasional listeners. To give listeners a recurrent listening experience, most podcasts place their adverts simultaneously in all their episodes.
It also makes listeners aware of when to expect the adverts to enjoy the narrative and avoid making the adverts seem unexpected. The podcast makes the adverts as entertaining as the podcast’s content to be part of the podcast’s enjoyment.
Objectively Selected Guests and Content
Most of the engaging podcasts bring guests from diverse backgrounds such as politics, music, entertainment, and comedy. Most hosts do not constrain themselves into inviting guests whom they share similar opinions, which helps drive listeners into a discovery journey. It also presents a more balanced and educative content that will make listeners want to have a consistent listenership.
Signposting of Other Contents
Most impactful and popular podcasts signpost other useful podcasts, films, books, or music albums that listeners can explore. Most creators use this opportunity to share pointers with additional content in addition to their audio content. It is a means of adding value to listeners and the chance to make them follow you for more exciting content, which helps in building a connection with listeners.
Creating value and appeal for podcasts does not require much effort. Content is the king, which can be achieved through dedication and enthusiasm to develop and enhance your podcast. It all lies in experimentation to find out what works best for the interest of your audience.