6 Time-Saving Tricks and Current Events for Audio Creators

The podcast industry is booming. Literally. There are currently over 800,000 million shows making us laugh, and cry, and think. If you’re a podcaster yourself, staying on top of all the industry news in addition to planning shows, editing, and marketing is a lot to bite off. Here at Sounder, we’re dedicated to making your life easier. In addition to a suite of free podcasting tools (check them out!), Sounder curated this weekly roundup of the most exciting podcast industry news and tips. If you’re strapped for time, you can also give it a listen.

This week we cover

What podcast category has grown by a third this year, how to find a month's worth of content in 10 minutes, exciting news for indie podcasters, and why transcripts are your answer to social media.

1. So many news podcasts so little time

Americans are very into daily news. No surprise there. 57% stay updated via their mobile devices throughout the day, compared to the 30% who check a computer or desktop. Pew Research says that Americans age 18–29 are 72% more likely than those 65 and older to regularly get news on a mobile device. But reading full articles and scrolling social media can take valuable time to sift through. Podcasts have the ability to fit into a busy day (gotta love multitasking).

We see a similar trend happening worldwide. According to a new report by the Reuters Institute, almost 12,000 news podcasts came to existence globally between January and October 2019 in the form of micro-bulletins, news round-ups, and deep dives. The study shows that “news makes up around one-fifth of the most popular episodes in the United States Apple charts” according to the analytics company Chartable. One-third of the top podcast episodes in France are categorized as news, and just under a fifth in Sweden, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Looks like everyone is trying to stay in the know and also get to work on time.

2. Find a month’s worth of great content in 10 minutes

Next up, if you struggling to find content ideas, look no further than your own podcast. “Think of the last podcast you recorded,” asks Colin Grey of The Podcast Host. “My challenge to you is to sit down and write out all of the distinct concepts that you delivered to your audience.” In doing so, you will likely realize that, wow, you covered a lot of concepts in just one episode. “This is where a lot of us go wrong: we try to squeeze in way too much,” says Grey. “It’s understandable, because one of our biggest fears is not being expert enough, not being entertaining enough, not being informative enough.”

Instead, Grey suggests thinking like a teacher. Whether your podcast is lesson-based or purely entertaining, the idea is to break down your subject as much as possible so that people can thoroughly take away what’s called a ‘learning outcome’ or one really well-defined concept, theme, or story. Take a look at your list. How many ‘learning concepts’ did you cover in your last episode? If they all relate to one over-arching topic, consider building out a series. That’s, what, a month’s worth of content in 10 minutes?

3. You tip your waiter, why not tip your podcaster?

In other news, get ready for some true underdog inspiration. Using a sample of 2,000 adults aged 18 and older, Edison Research reveals that 54% of weekly podcast consumers report that they listened to an unaffiliated, independent podcast in the last week. That’s right, a majority of consumers who listen weekly do so with independent podcasts (like you!).

Ready for more good news? A study titled The Canadian Podcast Listener 2019 found that one in every ten monthly podcast listeners said they donated money to a podcast through a crowdfunding service, like Parton or Indigogo. According to the report, that nearly doubles to 18% among Power Listeners (those who spend 5+ hours a week listening to podcasts). If you haven’t already, check out this “tip jar” model. Kinda feels like a big win, doesn’t it?

4. Synthetic hosts vs. human hosts

Next up, we interact with synthetic voices on our GPS and personal assistance device, but what about listening to a whole podcast hosted by AI? Toronto-based voiceover marketplace Voices.com collaborated with Voicebot.ai and Pulse Labs on a voice user experience study. “We all suspected users preferred human over synthetic voices, but there were no empirical studies attempting to quantify the difference,” says Bret Kinsella, founder, and CEO of Voicebot.ai. Now there is.

Inside Radio reports, “The study found that consumers across genders and age groups not only expressed a 71.6% higher preference for human voices, but they were also much more likely to correctly remember a call-to-action embedded in audible content compared to synthetic voices. And in a finding with potential implications for advertising, the data shows information recall more than doubled from 14.3% to 32.5% when human voices were used rather than synthetic ones.” Educating, inspiring, and connecting is still left to humans. And one human specifically: Joe Rogan. An AI software company called Dessa created a tool that makes audio footage sound just like Rogan’s voice. Joe, just remember that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

5. Podcast transcripts are your answer to social media

Twitter is working to remove accounts that haven’t been active for over six months. Are you in that boat? If you’re struggling to come up with social media posts to promote your podcast, try using your transcript. It’s simple. Pull the funniest, most thought-provoking quotes as a teaser and link to your new episode. For more ways to create engaging (and free!) marketing material from your transcript, check out our latest blog.

6. We can’t stop listening to this new podcast!

Scott is an SVP Sales & Marketing at Excite M. He started his podcast, Scotts Thoughts, to give people a chance to tap into issues and scenarios he works through each day.

“The problems I try to solve in 5 mins or less on Scotts Thoughts are things I wish I learned earlier in my career. I created my podcast for ambitious self-starters who are hungry for a wide range of knowledge from someone who’s done it before,” says Scott.

Tune in to refresh and grow your sales, marketing, and business skills. The host, Scott DC delivers cutting-edge digital media, broadcast media, and tech solutions globally, so he kinda knows his stuff. Tune in and subscribe!