INSIGHT REPORT

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO

PODCASTING

Written by: Sponsored by:

Esther Kezia Thorpe

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING I

Contents

III Introduction

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING

1 THE BIG QUESTION: WHY START A PODCAST?

4 TOPICS: DECIDING WHAT TO PODCAST ABOUT

11 GETTING STARTED: WHAT RESOURCES DO YOU NEED?

15 RECORDING: TOOLS, TIPS AND TRICKS

18 EDITING: TOOLS, TIPS AND BEST PRACTICE

23 DISTRIBUTION: THE WORLD OF PODCAST PUBLISHING

26 MARKETING: SPREADING THE WORD

30 METRICS: WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?

34 REVENUE: MAKING MONEY IN PODCASTING

40 CONTINUATION: HOW TO KEEP YOUR PODCAST GOING

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING II

Introduction
It’s been a long time coming, but podcasts have finally got their
moment in the spotlight. With a growing number of smash hits
appearing from individuals, brands and publishers, the flexibili-
ty of the format and the depth of engagement with listeners is
proving that podcasts are more than a flash in the pan.
As one-third of the Media Voices podcast, I’m no stranger to
some of the challenges podcasts present. We started our own
podcasting journey almost three years ago as an extension to
theMediaBriefing, to supplement our daily written media analysis
and drive event registrations. The following chapters cover much
of what we’ve learned during that time from starting a successful
podcast from scratch, and what we wish we’d known.
There are many examples of hugely successful podcasts emerg-
ing from all sorts of people. But publishers looking to start a @EstherKeziaT
podcast have a distinct advantage in that they already have the
audience ready and waiting, and will have marketing and distri-
bution methods they can utilise. And with such a low barrier to
entry, publishers can afford to experiment.
The internet is full of advice on starting up podcasting, but writ-
ing for What’s New in Publishing has highlighted to me that
there are opportunities and challenges that are totally unique to
publishers in this space that much of the generic advice doesn’t
apply to. This guide is therefore written specifically for publishers
who already have an established brand, website and audience,
and are looking to add podcasting as part of the mix.
This is not intended to be a comprehensive comparison of the
technologies available to edit or distribute podcasts. Software
comes and goes, and proper research should be done based on
individual requirements before committing to the right tool for
you. Some solutions may be mentioned in this guide but this is
just for illustrative purposes, and every effort has been made to
ensure the details are correct at the time of publishing.
My deepest thanks go to my co-hosts on the Media Voices pod-
cast, Peter Houston and Chris Sutcliffe, who have lent their time
and expertise to this report. They are both a goldmine of informa-
tion around the brilliant innovations going on in audio, and pas-
sionate advocates of the potential of podcasting for publishers.

Esther Kezia Thorpe

About the author

Esther Kezia Thorpe is a media analyst, podcaster, designer and marketer. She
writes frequently for What’s New in Publishing, and has designed and edited
their two flagship reports; Media Moments 2018 and 50 Ways to Make Media
Pay. She also works as a content marketing manager for a major UK publish-
er, as well as co-hosting the weekly Media Voices podcast, which is rapidly
establishing itself as an industry leader.
See more at www.estherkeziathorpe.co.uk

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING III

ABOUT

Founded in 2008, What’s New In Publishing provides a single

destination for independent publishing businesses looking for
news, advice and education across a wide range of publishing
subjects.
We cover developments in digital publishing, magazines, and
newspapers, focusing on the issues and technological advances
confronting the industry at a time of profound disruption,
offering practical and useful advice from “What’s New?” to “What
Next?”.
With many thousands of publishers worldwide subscribing to our
weekly e-newsletter and many more visiting the site regularly,
WNIP is one of the world’s longest running and leading B2B
websites covering the publishing industry.

whatsnewinpublishing.com
@wnip
flipboard.com/@wnip
medium.com/whats-new-in-publishing

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THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING IV

THE BIG QUESTION:
Why start a podcast?
If you’re reading this, it’s safe to assume that you have some level
of interest in starting a podcast. Podcasts have been one of the
real bright spots in publishing recently, with 75% of ‘digital lead-
ers’ expecting audio news content such as podcasts to become
an increasingly important part of their content and commercial
strategies this year1.
Let’s start by clearing up exactly what a podcast is. A common
definition is that a podcast is a type of digital media, usually audio,
that is available in a series of episodes or parts, and is available to
download, stream and subscribe to2.
Podcasts are taking off around the world due to better content
and easier distribution. According to the Reuters Institute’s Digital
News Report 2018, around a third of people listen to a podcast at
least monthly, with under 35s listening to twice as many podcasts
as over 45s3. In fact, listeners in the US now spend over 6 hours
each week on podcasts, listening to seven episodes a week on
average4.
Podcasting as a format is not new, but they have exploded onto
the media scene over the past five years thanks to advances in
mobile connectivity, streaming, and an influx of high-quality con-
tent.
Their slow start could well be down to Amara’s law; the idea that
we overestimate the impact of technology in the short run and
underestimate it in the long run. Podcasting - essentially on-de-
mand radio - was considered disappointing by early investors, but
has since ploughed on to grow a loyal following5.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 1

WHY START A PODCAST?

But why should publishers look at podcasting? After all, it’s cer-
tainly not a quick-win for making money as many of the revenue
opportunities are still in the early stages, and there’s not exactly a
lot of spare cash washing around the industry to experiment.
The primary reason is because publishers are in a unique position
to take advantage of this exploding market. Most podcasts start-
ing out fail because they don’t have a strong enough proposition,
or because it takes too long to build an audience up.
But most publishers already have a very
“People increasingly expect it.
strong brand with which to look at podcasts
as an extension, as well as a ready-made au- Certainly young people are consuming
dience, established marketing channels, and a lot of podcasts. So if you’re looking
most importantly, trust. to build loyalty with users, podcasts
Couple this with the strong penchant for are a really good way of doing that
storytelling that a publication’s editors natu-
rally have, and the low financial and techni-
because it’s not fleeting attention.”
cal barriers to entry, and the case for start- Nic Newman, The Reuters Institute’s Digital News
ing a podcast looks a lot stronger. Report 20186

Podcasts can also afford publishers a new level of intimacy with

their audience for a very low cost, especially given the whole
ecosystem drives towards subscribers and building up that audio
habit. It’s a true enhancement to storytelling, not just another
channel to worry about.
However, this also means the stakes are high. Your audience will
expect a quality product, which means that you can’t afford to
make many of the mistakes that independent podcasters do in
the early days.

Podcast listenership in the US has increased by over 66% since 2013.

Chart: Francesco Zaffarano, Pew Research Center, via " How to launch a daily news podcast" on Medium

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 2

WHY START A PODCAST?

About this guide

The Publisher's Guide to Podcasting is designed to help you nav-
igate around some of the pitfalls that come with starting a pod-
cast, as well as giving tools, tips and tricks on how to make a
success of your podcast from day one.
It covers everything from deciding on the “Forget those worries that the podcast
initial topic of a podcast and the resourc-
es your staff will need to get started, right bubble would burst the minute
through to the nitty-gritty of editing, mar- anyone actually got a closer look: It
keting, and measurement. seems like podcast listeners really are
We’ve also included a chapter on monetisa- the hyper-engaged, super-supportive
tion opportunities, including some examples
audiences that everyone hoped.”
of publishers who are making significant
revenue from podcasting. Miranda Katz, WIRED8
Many senior managers will require a business plan of some form
before committing to a podcast. There are a series of questions
at the end of each chapter which have been designed especially
to help form a business plan, which revolve around how you as a
publisher could approach your podcast.
But most importantly, YOU as a publisher need to be clear on
why you’re making a podcast, and what it will take to do it. At the
end of each chapter, we’ve listed a number of questions to think
about. These will help towards a business proposal, and to ad-
dress issues that may crop up early on about how long it takes to
put a podcast together, the skills needed, and more.
For those that fear this ‘podcast bubble’ will go the same way as
the infamous ‘pivot to video’ a few years ago, be reassured that
the podcasting audience is far more stable than the transient one
second video viewers.
In fact, data from iTunes’ podcast analytics tool suggests that
most podcasts are listened to for at least 90% of their duration7.
That means there’s the potential there for your readers - who
may currently be reading a couple of minutes of your content
each week - to give over 20, 40, even 60 minutes of their time Most podcasts are
listened to for at least

90%
dedicated to your content.
With the growth of smart speakers and major investment from
platforms like Spotify and Apple into making podcasts more dis-
coverable, this is not a trend that is going away anywhere fast.
We hope that this guide will help you identify both the opportu- of their duration
nities and challenges at the start of your podcasting journey, no
matter how large or small a publisher you are.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 3

TOPICS;
Deciding what to
podcast about
Deciding what your podcast will be about is the most fundamen-
tal decision you will make. For many publishers, this may seem
like an easy decision, but it may require more care and thought
than anticipated at the start. Whereas you can make tweaks to
the format as the podcast grows, core changes to the topic and
structure once it’s been established is rarely a good idea.
A good place to start as a publisher is by thinking about the
context of the podcast. Is it to enhance the content you already
publish as an additional channel, or will it stand alone as another
stream of content? Both have their advantages and disadvantages,
but deciding this will perhaps narrow down some of the options
below, and how much resource to commit to it.
One point to bear in mind when deciding on a topic is that 46%
of people who listen to a podcast are between 18 and 34. This is a
format which is skewed heavily towards the younger end, which
in itself is a real opportunity for publishers looking to reach a
younger demographic. However, this will also influence which
topics are likely to do better as a podcast.
Advice on podcast topics varies based on a publisher’s brand, so
let’s have a look at some examples of different successful pod-
casts, and their relationship to the parent publisher.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 4

TOPICS

Straightforward brand extension

The most common route publishers choose for podcasts is to talk
on the themes their websites or magazines cover. One example
of a publisher who does this well is WIRED UK. Their episodes are
themed in a similar way to their features; exploring issues around
technology and how we as humans interact with it.
The advantage of this method is that it aligns directly with the
brand, and can use the expertise of the journalists who write the
stories. WIRED’s journalists enjoy getting involved, work well
together as a team, and see it as part of the mix of content they
produce.
PILOT TV, from the team behind EMPIRE magazine, also do a
good job of this. They discuss the hottest TV shows of the week,
from the Handmaid’s Tale to Line of Duty, and will often have
prominent guests from the TV world joining them.
The New Statesman’s flagship podcast is
another example where the podcast does
exactly what you’d expect from the brand -
a mix of opinion, features and reviews each
week. The publisher then has a number of
other podcasts, from SRSLY’s weekly pop
culture podcast to The Back Half’s explora-
tion of the New Statesman’s arts and book
pages, all exploring more niche angles on
the main brand.
Of course, there are disadvantages too.
Chemistry between a team of podcasting
presenters cannot be forced, and talented
staff writers may not feel comfortable pod-
casting.
Getting the right combination of people on
board at an early stage is essential to the
longevity of the podcast, and making it an
enjoyable listening experience for the audi-
ence. The New Statesman's main podcasts.
Image via newstatesman.com/podcast

Issue-based
Issue-based podcasts may have substantial overlap with the
brand extension topic outlined above, but have a narrower fo-
cus. One example is the BBC’S Brexitcast podcast, which will run
until the issue is resolved (or Britain dissolves into Armageddon…)
Brexitcast is updated every few days, depending on how chaotic
the political situation has become,
Similarly, the New European’s podcast is issue-based, but also
covers their complete editorial strategy as their entire publication
focuses on the issue of Brexit.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 5

TOPICS

Political themes lend themselves well to this type of podcast.

Over in the US, The Washington Post’s weekly Can He Do That?
podcast sprung up in January 2017 in response to the number of
times readers were asking about Trump’s unconventional ap-
proach to the presidency. Each 20 minute episode covers topics
from ‘Here’s what happens if Trump imposes tariffs on Mexican
imports’ to ‘Trump ordered Russia investigation documents de-
classified. Can he do that?’. A month after the podcast’s launch, it
had been downloaded more than a million times9.
Of course, issue-based podcasts don’t have “When you listen to a podcast every
to touch politics at all. There are a number
week, it inevitably becomes a real
of examples of one-off seasons of podcasts
that are essentially longform audio docu- presence in your mind, in the way that
mentaries, from the Australian’s Bowraville, reading a writer’s articles does not.
chronicling the investigation into Australia’s There’s an intimacy with podcasts that
least-known serial killings11, to the LA Times’
Dirty John, which has since become a Netf- makes people interested in getting
lix series12. more.”
Issue-based podcasts will be much easier to Slate Plus Editorial Director Gabriel Roth10
get a short-term plan together for in terms
of content, but may also be harder to sell advertising against
if the issue is controversial, or if audience numbers don’t grow
quickly.
Conversely, it may be easier to get advertisers on board around a
particular issue in the short term, if it’s relevant to them.

News-based
News organisations like the Guardian and
The Telegraph are clear candidates for this
kind of podcast, but more niche news-based
brands are also able to make use of this
format for everything from technology to
sports.
The disadvantage news-driven podcasts
have when compared to the other formats is
that they age very quickly, and it’s much less
likely that older episodes will get listeners.
Podcasts reliant on news will also by nature
need to be much more frequent. Weekly, or
even daily episodes complement this format
better than a monthly, longer episode, and
will need dedicated resource and a process
established early on to ensure success.
In fact, the daily news podcast is now a
crowded market. Over the past 18 months,
daily general news podcasts have been
launched by a number of publishers, from Chart: Reuters Digital News Report 2018

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 6

TOPICS

The Washington Post, NPR, Vox and CBC to the Guardian, The
Economist and Slate13. These have become much more attractive
following the overnight success of The New York Times’ The Daily,
which reportedly has more than two million listeners tuning in
each day to its 20-minute episodes since launching in 201714.
This means that if you’re considering doing a daily news podcast,
there are two things to consider. Firstly, it has to stand out from
the crowd, and that means that unless you have an exceptionally
large or strong news readership, launching a daily news podcast
is not the best idea.
Secondly, it changes the way success metrics are measured. No
one will go back and listen to old episodes, and therefore historic The Daily has more than
listener numbers aren’t going to play a part in the success story.
However, the nature of high frequency publishing means that a 2 million
larger audience can be built up very quickly, and if you’re looking listeners tuning in daily
for a way to cement your brand into the daily routines of your
readers, a short daily podcast has potential15. The Guardian’s daily
podcast Today in Focus is the most popular of its ten podcast
titles, and claims almost a quarter of all podcast listens for the
publisher16.

Complementary topics
Echoing niche newsletter strategies, some publishers are choos-
ing to build a podcast on a complementary topic rather than as
a direct extension of what they already cover17. Dear Viv, which
used to be distributed by The Pool until its closure January 2019,
was a good example of a podcast that offered something new and
useful to the audience. Viv Groskop took an ‘agony aunt’ style ap-
proach to the podcast, answering reader’s queries and issues with
‘no-nonsense advice’ in just 10 minutes each week.
Another publisher taking advantage of an “Having written about Black Mirror
indirect topic is UK newspaper brand Met-
ro, who have a podcast about mental health in 2016 when the first Netflix series
called Mentally Yours. This involves having came out, and had good numbers
a mystery guest on each week to talk about and SEO value from that, I thought a
‘all the weird stuff going on in our minds’18,
and is definitely not one of Metro’s core
podcast would give us an extra edge,
news topics. particularly in the US where the show
Metro aren’t the only publisher with a men- has such a good audience and where
tal health podcast. Reach PLC launched No podcasts are so popular.”
Really, I’m Fine just a few months ago to dis-
Suchandrika Chakrabarti, Black Mirror Cracked20
cuss mental health issues. The publisher is
also behind a number of other well-known podcasts such as Pod
Save the Queen and Black Mirror Cracked, which proved a hit as it
went live on the same day as the Netflix series, shooting straight
to number 2 in iTunes19.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 7

TOPICS

Some publishers are finding inventive ways

to use back catalogues of content and other
historic assets to create podcasts.
DC Thomson Media has recently launched a
new podcast called Pass It On, which is based
on household tips from The Sunday Post in
the 1950s21. The team discuss what can be
learned from generations before them based
on the tips which were submitted by house-
wives of the 50s on the correct running of a
household.
DC Thomson Media's newest podcast.
Interviews Image via sundaypost.com

This is a classic podcast format, and one that can be easily adopt-
ed if a publisher’s writers already speak to relevant people as part
of their day job. Interviews have the benefit of working well for
both mass consumer media brands and very niche brands, as well
as B2B publishers.
Recode Decode, Recode’s podcast is a good example of this. Recode
cover technology and media and have an excellent network of
influential industry figures. Editor-at-large Kara Swisher does
lengthy in-depth interviews with figures such as Elon Musk, Ev
Williams and Nancy Pelosi which are then released as episodes
every couple of days, as well as providing source material for new
stories for the site.
Grazia is one of many B2C publishers to
utilise the interview format for a podcast.
Their Grazia Life Advice series features 25-
30 minute interviews with ‘women worth
listening to’ on the best and worst life advice
they’ve been given, from Bake Off winner
Nadiya Hussain to #MeToo campaigner Rose
McGowan.
Another well-known publisher podcast using
the interview format is EMPIRE. They de-
scribe the podcast as ‘an assortment of irrev- EMPIRE Editor in Chief Terri White with Ruth Wilson at the live
recording of their 300th episode in 2018.
erent, film-related chat, as well as interviews Image via empireonline.com

with Hollywood’s best and brightest’.

Although EMPIRE has an advantage with guests due to their sub-
ject matter, they’re a great example of how much of a difference
a Hollywood star can make, and the EMPIRE team make sure they
put the interview to good use across different platforms.

Narrative-based
Storytelling is a popular format for independent podcasts. In fact,
it was this style which put podcasts back on the map when Serial
launched in 2014, where a nonfiction story is narrated over multi-

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 8

TOPICS

ple episodes. Although not produced by a publisher, it’s a brilliant

example of the narrative format, and episodes of seasons one and
two have been downloaded over 340 million times: an ongoing
podcast world record22.
Narrative-based podcasts can be both non-fiction, like Serial, or
fiction-based. Marvel Comics have made use of podcasts to ex-
tend the Wolverine brand, with a scripted podcast serial featuring
the comic book character and starring actor Richard Armitage23.
The series is not available for free, and hopeful listeners have to
have a Stitcher premium account to access season 224. Ironically,
the podcast series was such a success that a comic adaption of
the story has since been published by Marvel.

Mix and match

Any of the above can be mixed and matched
to find the right blend for your brand, some-
thing which publishers are experiment-
ing with as their confidence in podcasting
grows.
One neat example which launched in Jan-
uary 2019 is The Economist’s The Intelli-
gence, hosted by the former editor of their
award-winning Espresso app. That in itself
gives a clue to the style; they describe it as a
‘daily news-analysis podcast’ which contains
a mix of news, an explainer or feature, and
unusual facts or statistics25.
This blend of Espresso brand extension and
news fits perfectly with what The Economist
wants to be to its readership.

Format
The topic you choose will heavily influence
the format, but that’s not to say you can’t mix
it up, for example you could have a round-up
of key stories from that week, plus an inter-
view with a relevant industry figure to form a
complete episode. The number of episodes consumed per week is growing according
to a report on Investing in the Podcast Ecosystem in 2019.
The key here is to let your knowledge of your Charts via Digital Content Next
audience inform its structure, format and
length. You could even reach out to a focus group to run some
ideas past them, and find out what they would most like to listen
to.
For example, a women’s fitness magazine might find that a short
weekly podcast with health and fitness tips is ideal, but then
longer interviews with key health and fitness interviewers would
also work just as well as a monthly special.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 9

TOPICS

Podcast material can also be used in ways outside the podcast.

In the example above, a fitness influencer interview for a pod-
cast could be combined to form a feature interview in the printed
magazine, with bonus audio for subscribers. This topic is covered
in more detail in chapter 7 on marketing.

Length
The biggest mistake people make when starting a podcast is
length. It can be easy for podcasts to end up unnecessarily long,
especially as hosts get more comfortable in front of the micro-
phone. A good edit can help immensely with this, and is covered
in more detail in chapter 5 of this report.
The overall average length of a podcast is 43 minutes, but this The average length
varies greatly across topics. This doesn’t necessarily mean shorter of a podcast is
is better: the average length of a podcast in the top 100 charts is
53 minutes, according to data gathered in October 201826.

43
The ideal length of the podcast should be considered in the
planning stages. Frequency and topic both play a big part; it isn’t
realistic to expect to produce an hour-long daily podcast, nor is it
realistic to expect people to listen to it.
minutes
Daily and weekly podcasts should ideally be a ‘commutable’
length, and it is important to set expectations around how much
time your audience actually has to listen. In fact, research from
Edison27 into people who don’t listen to podcasts found that the
top reason was length, with 50% of non-listeners saying podcasts
are too long.
Monthly podcasts can afford to be a little longer in length. There
are plenty of examples of both monthly and weekly podcasts that
successfully run from anything between 40 and 120 minutes.
However, it is rarer to see regular podcasts of over two hours do-
ing well, with the exception of gaming podcasts like Castle Super-
beast, which frequently hits over four hours, and is also streamed
on Twitch.

MAKING THE CASE:

• What value will a podcast add to your audience and
brand?

• What topics would your audience value your input on

that could translate to a podcast?

• How frequently could you produce a podcast?

• What length podcast would be right for your target au-

dience, given the above constraints?

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 10

GETTING STARTED:
What resources do
you need?
Although podcasting is one of the cheaper options available when
it comes to brand extensions, there are still factors to think about
when it comes to recording equipment and the staff time needed
to put a regular podcast together.
This chapter will consider a base level of resources needed to get
a podcast off the ground.
If you have budget for a full production studio and team, then by
all means splash out!
But if resources are limited, there are some essentials that you
need to get episode one up and running.

Recording equipment
At a very basic level, most laptops and even mobile phones have a
passable microphone, and as long as there’s a quiet room availa-
ble, technically no investment is needed to get a pilot or proof-of-
concept podcast.
To get a more polished finish requires very little financial invest-
ment. There are good USB microphones available on the market
even at the cheaper end that will capture voices clearly if plugged
into a laptop.
Keep an eye out for directional microphones - mics that only pick
up sound from a specific point in front of someone’s mouth - to
keep background noise to a minimum.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 11

GETTING STARTED

Similarly, there are good quality dual lapel mics that plug into mo-
bile phones as a viable option of recording interviews if out and
about.
However, if you want to take things to the next level, mixing
decks are a solid investment. These help balance the sound com-
ing in from individual microphones, so if someone talks more
quietly than someone else, their individual volume can be raised,
or muted if necessary! Mixing decks are generally used to give
more control during recording, meaning that less post-produc-
tion work is needed.
A point to factor in is how portable the recording equipment
needs to be. If your podcast is going to be based around inter- Basic recording
views, there’s no point spending hundreds of pounds decking equipment checklist
out a studio in the office, if staff are going to be out interviewing • A device, like a laptop or
people. The investment is better spent on good quality mobile computer, to record on
equipment. • A microphone, ideally
per speaker
Costs are difficult to estimate as they’ll vary depending on what
• A connection between
format the podcast is in, the number of people speaking, and
the two (USB mics are
more importantly, the room used for recording - more on that in
the most popular op-
chapter 4. tion)
A pilot podcast can be tested for free or with cheap microphones. • A quiet room
Once you’re ready to get serious, an investment of £100-£500 will
set your team up with decent microphones, and a mixing desk if
necessary.
Alternatively, there are a growing number of studios that can be
hired from £60-£250 an hour, with many offering everything from
basic setup and recording to a full edit as part of a package.

Editing equipment
There are a huge range of tools available for editing podcasts.
We’ll explore some of the aspects to consider in the following
chapter on editing, but if there are people on your team who are
familiar with a particular editing software, that’s an excellent
place to start.
There are many popular recording and editing softwares that
require little or no investment. Audacity is a very common open-
source audio recording and editing program.
At the other end of the scale, Adobe’s Audition offers an advanced
level of control, and comes as part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud Dual lapel microphones that plug
license, which many publishers will already have, although it can straight into a phone, like this one,
also be purchased as a standalone subscription. can be good for recording interviews
in situations where full kit isn't avail-
There are also an increasing number of cloud-based all-in-one able.
recording and editing options. Cast is one example of this, where Image via Amazon.co.uk / MAONO

multiple people can record into a browser application, and once

the recording has finished, it can be ‘mixed’, edited and distribut-
ed all from the web page.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 12

GETTING STARTED

Many of these tools have shortcuts which can be used to make

mixing and cutting easier, such as markers to keep note of a cer-
tain point, and sound balancers if multiple speakers are involved.
Whatever tools you decide to use, it’s wise to give staff enough
time to spend with tutorials and getting familiar with the soft-
ware, as this can save painful mistakes later down the line when
under pressure!
The cost of training employees on editing equipment or hiring in
talent should be included, which is covered in more detail below
on accounting for time costs.

Time costs
‘How long does it take to produce a podcast?’ is one of the most
frequent questions we are asked. It’s impossible to say, very
much a ‘how long is a piece of string’ question, and it depends on
a number of factors like topic, recording length, sound quality,
equipment, staff skill, and software used.
If staff are going to be involved in the planning, recording, edit-
How long could a
ing and distribution of a podcast, their combined time has to be
podcast take in practice?
taken into account.
If a publisher has three
Planning is a vital part of a successful podcast, and the time taken editorial staff doing
to plan will depend entirely on the topic. Interviews may require a topic-based weekly
just half an hour of preparing questions, but a discussion between podcast of around
multiple people should have a loose structure planned to ensure 40 minutes, this is a
it doesn’t go off-topic. breakdown of what the
time spent could look like:
When it comes to editing, there are some approximate guidelines.
As a rough guide, a one-on-one interview is fairly quick to edit, Preparation: 1 hour with 3
and a half-hour interview of good sound quality could take up to employees (= 3 man hours)
an hour to edit down to a final 20 minute product. Recording: 50 minutes
with 3 employees (= 3 man
A team of two or three people discussing a topic will take longer. hours)
If that team talks for 45 minutes, and someone makes notes of Editing: 2 hours with 1
which bits to cut or mistakes to edit as they’re going along, it employee (2 man hours)
could take between 1.5 and 2 hours to edit to a final 30-40 minute Miscellaneous*: 30
product. minutes with 1 employee
(0.5 man hours)
One rule stands true: the longer the podcast has been going, the
*Uploading, distribution, final
faster it gets to edit, as teams get more efficient and comfortable checks
with the format, equipment, and editing skills.
Total time for a 40
But when starting out and putting together a proposal, it’s best minute weekly podcast:
to take the final length of time you want the episode to be, and 8.5 man hours per week
multiply that by three for an approximation of the time it’ll take to
edit (e.g. a 30 minute episode will take 1.5 hours to edit).
Of course, this is based on the process running like clockwork
each week. Almost everyone working in podcasting will have
experienced the last-minute emergency where things go wrong
during recording or upload, and that can quickly absorb hours in

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 13

GETTING STARTED

patching it up or working out what’s happened.

Otherwise, it is safe to assume that preparation and editing will
get faster as time goes on and staff get comfortable with the pro-
cedures.

Staff skills
Again, it’s worth emphasising that the barriers to entry for pod-
casting are low. There are even tools available on mobile phones
which can be used to edit audio now to a reasonable standard and
with little training.
You may have the staff already with the nec-
essary skills in-house to edit audio. Popular
programs like Adobe Audition or Audacity
make it simple to get a recording to a state
where it’s good enough to distribute.
To take a podcast to the next level, there are
plenty of short online courses available for
the most common audio tools to either top
up knowledge on editing, or learn how to
edit to a high standard.
It is strongly recommended that at least a
few people in the team are trained up on
audio editing and distribution. A key staff
member being off sick or away unexpectedly
can mean that an episode doesn’t go out at Chart via Digital News Report 2019

all, so if those skills are spread around a few

staff members, it will reduce dependencies.
Alternatively, there’s a growing pool of freelancers who offer au-
dio editing and podcast production, which may be a shorter term
option to test the viability of a podcast before investing in inter-
nal training for editing.

MAKING THE CASE:

• How many employees will be involved in production?

• What skills do you have in-house, and which will you

need to hire in?

• How portable does the equipment need to be?

• How will staff cover if someone is off sick or away?

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 14

RECORDING:
Tools, tips and tricks
Preparation
The worst podcasts are those where people just ‘sit and chat’ as
though they were in the pub on a Friday. No one wants to listen
to that! At the same time, over-scripting can sap any dynamic out,
and can make the podcast sound stilted.
If your podcast involves two or more people talking, the key is
to get a balance. This is where ‘show notes’ come in - an overall
structure and key bullet points that will help direct the conver-
sation, and can even note which person is taking which topics to
get a balance between the speakers.
Show notes can be as simple as an online document that is shared
with the team. Having it in a format which speakers can collabo-
rate on, such as Google Docs, will mean that they can contribute
to ideas within a wider structure, rather than just bringing their
individual points to the table.
Straightforward interviews require as much preparation as the
interviewer needs, but it’s a good idea early on to plan a structure
and some key questions so that there’s a ‘point’ to the interview.

How to record
The detail of how to record a podcast will depend on the software
you’re using. Although a microphone per person isn’t essential, it
can help with ensuring a clean sound, and with balancing voices
later in the editing process.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 15

RECORDING

If your recording software allows, make sure the audio is set to

record in WAV format. This will give you the highest possible
quality recording to play with in the edit later.
It’s always worth checking some basics before starting, such as
ensuring available storage space on the laptop or computer.
Some questions to ask
Getting into the habit of doing a 30 second sound test with each before hitting 'record':
participant is a good idea, as it can help catch any early errors in
quality, potential invasive background noises, or microphones not • Is there enough storage
being plugged in properly (again, easily done!). space on the recording
device?
For people actually doing the talking, remember to talk slow- • Are all microphones
ly and clearly. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to stop and say plugged in?
something again if it wasn’t clear, and apply the same principle to • Is noise in and around
people being interviewed. It’s much easier to cut out poor audio the room at a mini-
in the edit than to try and retrospectively fix it. mum?
• Have disturbances been
Where to record minimised, e.g. a sign
on the door to indicate
The environment you record in is just as important as the equip- recording in progress?
ment you record with. You don’t have to build a studio to get a • Are all mobile phones
high sound quality, but thinking about the properties that make a off or on silent?
professional studio work is helpful.
A large room with solid walls and minimal furnishings will give
an echo-y recording, which no amount of editing will be able to
combat. Small rooms can also result in echo if they have particu-
larly high ceilings, or glass walls.
An ideal space is a small room or cupboard
with soft furnishings such as curtains, and
minimal outside exposure from windows
or audible nearby traffic. If there’s a space
which can be utilised permanently as a
podcasting space, acoustic foam panels are
inexpensive and can be attached to walls to
dampen echo.
The key for any publisher looking to start up
a podcast with minimal costs is to experi-
ment with rooms in the building that would
be suitable. Short test recordings will quickly
highlight the best rooms, and there may be
minor modifications that can be made to a NPR's reporters use blankets and jackets to improve audio quality
room to improve sound quality rather than when recording on the move.
Images via NPR's 'The ear training guide for audio producers'
investing in kitting out a full studio straight
away. It’s surprising how many podcasters record in cupboards,
or under blanket-covered cardboard boxes28!
Alternatively, there are a growing number of dedicated podcast-
ing spaces that can be hired on an hourly basis, and which come
with fully soundproofed rooms, professional microphones, and
mixing decks. Some even offer a full recording and editing ser-
vice, which may be a preferable option for time-poor teams.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 16

RECORDING

Backup advice
One lesson I would recommend everyone learns early on is to
double-record. Always have a second way of recording the ses-
sion up and running at the same time as your primary method,
whether that be on another laptop, or even just a mobile phone in
the middle of the table (on silent, of course!).
Although it’s rare for audio files to corrupt if you’re careful, it’s
easy to accidentally delete recordings, damage laptops, or end up
in situations where the recording isn’t accessible.
Recording remotely is another area full of pitfalls for backup. If
you’re planning a podcast with guests, you may end up having to
record interviews online or over the phone, and sometimes re-
Accoustic foam panels like this one
cording solutions can go wrong or not work at all. are inexpensive yet effective at re-
ducing echo in a room.
Having a backup recording can save a lot of stress. Even if the Image via ebay.co.uk

sound quality isn’t perfect, a mobile phone recording can be

edited to a passable level, given the quality of many phone micro-
phones these days.

Recording formats
How audio is recorded will depend on the software being used,
but the majority of podcasts are recorded and edited using the
WAV format; an uncompressed file format that will allow easy
application of enhancements and editing to the audio.
But even if a recording is recorded as a more compressed MP3 or
AAC pre-editing, it can still be cut and edited to a certain extent,
it will just be more difficult to apply enhancements fully.
Most dedicated podcast apps will compress the audio when an
episode is uploaded anyway. Where possible, podcasts should be
recorded and edited in WAV format for maximum control over
editing, and then exported and compressed to an MP3 file before
being uploaded for distribution. This will ensure that you have as
much control over the sound and quality of the output as possi-
ble.

MAKING THE CASE:

• How will the structure of the podcast affect the episode
preparation?

• What can you do to make collaboration on the content

as easy as possible?

• What space do you have available to record? Are there

any modifications which need to be made?

• What backup options can be put in place before re-

cording?

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 17

EDITING:
Tools, tips and best
practice
Before diving into editing, there is one very important point to
note: you can’t edit your way out of a bad recording. An echoing
room, microphones that haven’t quite picked things up clearly,
recording in rooms next to busy roads...there’s a limit to what can
be done when the audio has been recorded!
Podcasting teams will save a lot of stress by running a quick test
before recording, checking that the levels are right, the room
doesn’t echo, people are close enough to the microphone, and
everything is plugged in properly (!!!).
The finer details will come with experience. Many self-made
podcasters admit to having learned lessons the hard way. Emma
Gannon, of the Ctrl-Alt-Delete podcast, wrote a piece on the 7
things she’d learned from starting her own podcast, and admitted
she’d had many embarrassing recording failures of her own:
“My podcast is DIY by nature and I’m not embarrassed about
trying new things and getting it slightly wrong...Other learnings
include recording in a big marble kitchen which sounded like I
was recording in a wind tunnel, and I’ve had times where I forgot
that the mic needed to be nearish our MOUTHS. For some reason
in a few interviews I kind of left the mic on the floor and there’s
just a massive buzzing sound throughout the episode because the
angles are all wrong. Cringe.”

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 18

EDITING

However, publishers looking to launch their own podcasts don’t

have the luxury of experimenting widely with quality in the early
days. Audiences expect a good quality product, and although it
doesn’t need to be a studio-quality highly-polished podcast, your
audio will need to be of a better standard than the DIY-style put
out by individuals in the early days.
Which is all possible with a little investment in good equipment,
and training in how to get the best from your editing tools!

The importance of the edit

The editing process is the most time-consuming part of produc-
ing a podcast. Following best practice in getting the right room,
good recording equipment and tools will help reduce the time
needed to clean up the actual audio itself, but even the smooth-
est interview or discussion will take time to edit down to a good
episode.
In fact, the edit is often seen as the most “Each interview I record goes through
valuable part of the process. This is some-
thing publishers will be very familiar with,
a careful editing process which results
as it will be very similar to getting copy in roughly half of the original material
ready for publishing. An editor needs to go being left out. Is it a waste? No, on the
through articles and make changes, re-or-
der parts, cut things that aren’t relevant, and
contrary: it makes the interview two
generally ensure the finished piece is of a times as powerful. Even more.”
standard that reflects the brand. Ran Levi, host and producer of ‘Curious Minds
Similarly, a good podcast editor, listens Podcast’29
to what is being said, cuts what isn’t necessary, and sometimes
re-orders questions and discussion points in a way that makes
more sense - just like a good copy editor.
Because this part of the process defines the content that goes
out, editing a podcast is more than a technical role. The right per-
son will have a good understanding of the subject matter and be
able to distinguish between valuable and not-so-valuable points.
Editing requires discipline, and it’s extremely rare that a record-
ing will need no editing at all. For a 40 minute podcast episode,
expect to record content for an hour, and cut 20 minutes of that
out in the edit.
At the same time, if cutting audio to a specific time limit, try
and balance the cuts: an early mistake many podcasters make is
cutting audio disproportionately towards the end of the episode.
This can affect tempo and balance, and can make the ending feel
quite rushed.

Editing best practice

The actual nitty-gritty of editing will depend on the tool you
choose. You can use different tools to record and then subse-

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 19

EDITING

quently edit your podcast, depending on workflow and the level

of control needed over the audio.
It’s far better to edit a WAV file than an MP3 file as WAVs are
much higher quality. It’s the equivalent of having an image that
needs correcting or enhancing in that it’s much easier to see the
details on a 300dpi jpeg than a 72dpi jpeg30.
Similarly, background noises and other flaws are easier to filter
out when working on a WAV file. WAVs can be exported to MP3s
at the end of the editing process without a noticeable loss of au-
dio quality.
In the early days of recording, it is helpful to make notes during
an episode of where things can be cut or edited, for example a
cough at 14.29 or laughter at 33.40 that will need to be balanced.
This can be as basic as pen and paper, but many podcast editors
say that this is a real help when it comes to editing the recording.
Some recording software such as Adobe Audition allows you to
put a really quick marker in the audio just by hitting ‘M’, which
can either serve as a reminder, or can be labelled specifically dur-
ing editing.
Getting familiar with all the shortcuts and time-saving capabil-
ities of your chosen recording and editing software will make
production and editing a great deal easier in the long run.
Most editors will enable you to zoom right into waveforms (the
actual audio waves), which is useful for cutting out stilted speech,
or whole segments of talking. Good tools automatically join up
waveforms so any cuts will sound smooth, and won’t jar.

A look at Adobe Audition's editing interface.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 20

EDITING

Something to bear in mind with podcast editing is that this is the

one place not to strive for perfection. There’s a strong temptation
when doing the first few episodes of a podcast to edit out every
‘umm’, every pause, every ‘err’, and other speech flaws.
Resist this temptation. Not only will you spend hours trying to
make the speech sound flawless, it will come across very unnatu-
ral and slightly robotic to listeners.
That’s not to say you leave every ‘umm’ and ‘err’ in, but don’t
stress about getting them all out. They’re a perfectly natural
TIP: Making brief
part of human speech, particularly when it comes to pauses, and
something which the listener will appreciate too. notes during
recording on coughs,
Ideally, the edit won’t sound like an edit at all, but rather of natu-
interruptions and
ral speech and conversation.
things to edit out can
Some podcast editors swear by a ‘rough cut’, where they put really help speed the
together a rough version where all the speech and content flow
editing process up!
correctly, but before they get bogged down in the smaller details
of producing a finished version.
One of the basics to get right on an edit is sound levels. Humans
naturally vary their speech volume, so even if someone is speak-
ing at a reasonable volume, they may sometimes naturally fade
towards the end of a sentence.
Sometimes it’s more obvious than that, and the person can be ei-
ther much quieter or much louder than someone else. Most audio
editing software has speech volume levellers which will automati-
cally balance this for you, but be careful that this doesn’t accentu-
ate background noise.
While balancing levels, an easy trap to fall into is having your ear-
phones up too high or low, resulting in an abnormally loud or qui-
et episode being pushed out. Ensure this is consistent between
episodes - a useful way of doing this is by adjusting the gain to
keep the majority of the peaks in a certain range, for example
between 10-15 dB.
Depending on the software being used, vocal enhancers can be
useful for ensuring voices sound crisp, and reducing background
noise. Different editing tools will have varying levels of sophisti-
cation with the enhancements they offer, and it’s worth editing
staff spending time working out what the best ones are. Some
even allow you to set up and apply presets, which can save a lot
of time if the recording environment is consistent between epi-
sodes.

The finishing touches

Most podcasts have intro and outro music, which makes a nice
transition rather than launching straight in with talking. The right
music can do wonders in helping set your podcast apart, giving it
a professional edge and making it memorable for listeners.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 21

EDITING

There are a vast range of options for royalty-free intro and back-
ground music pieces online, making it easy to find something
that’s just right for your brand for a low cost.
When putting in music like this, or segueing between different
pieces of audio, always do at least one listen to every instance of
the transition as this is a common area to get things wrong, such
as audio imbalances, runover or awkward gaps.
As with all editing, once the first pass is
complete, it is helpful to leave it for a while
before going back for a second check to en-
sure that the episode is coherent.
You may want to consider recording a stand-
ard outro with key information like how to
subscribe, relevant social media handles and
more. This can then be added at the end of
each episode, which will save just a little bit
of time when recording and editing. Sites like Pond5 have a vast range of royalty-free tracks available.

As a side note, for publishers of any size, it is worth having a few

people trained on the basics of audio editing to reduce the risk of
the podcast stalling if someone is off sick or leaves.

MAKING THE CASE:

• What training do people involved in editing the pod-
cast need?

• What will the workflow look like with editing, and who
will have final sign-off?

• Are there any software licences already in use in the

business (such as Adobe) which includes audio editing?

• What steps can be taken initially to streamline the edit-

ing process?

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 22

DISTRIBUTION:
The world of podcast
publishing
So, you’ve got your first episode all ready, the edit is sounding
brilliant, and the intro music is getting heads nodding. Congratu-
lations! What now?
The world of podcast distribution can be a confusing one for peo-
ple who have never listened to a podcast before. There are many
different podcast distributors, and in this chapter we set out what
to look out for when choosing a hosting platform, and where your
episode goes from there.
Before the episode can be uploaded or distributed anywhere,
it needs to be exported in the correct format. Most audio files
are recorded and edited in a high-quality WAV format (uncom-
pressed), but many distribution platforms require it to be in a
more compressed MP3 format before publishing. Simply export
the WAV file to an MP3 before uploading, and give it a quick listen
to check the quality is still good.

Design
Before you can upload your podcast, it needs to have a cover -
very similar to a CD cover - that is displayed when the episode is
playing. This will also show when the podcast hits the charts, so it
needs to stand out among the hundreds of other podcast covers
out there.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 23

DISTRIBUTION

The cover needs to be kept as simple as pos-

sible. Bear in mind during the design phase
that in many podcast apps and charts, it will
be a mere 100px wide, so in terms of text, it
doesn’t need much more than the title and a
simple image.
It is also possible to have a primary cover
for the podcast itself, and individual icons
for each episode. The Media Voices podcast
is one example of this, where the main icon
is the cover, and then each guest has their
picture featured on each episode’s icon31.
Cover art has to be simple and bold to stand out in the charts.
Distributing your podcast
Images via cultofmac.com / Buster Hein / Cult of Mac

How and where you choose to distribute your podcast will be

influenced by the metrics you want to use to measure success,
which we dive into more in chapter 8. There are more and more
platforms to help distribution popping up every day; some offer
more granularity on listener numbers, some focus on subscribers,
some offer stats on length of play, and it’s a case of researching
and finding the best one for you.
Firstly, some clarification on terms. Hosting and distribution are
separate things to consider, but many audio platforms offer both.
Hosting is where the audio file is uploaded and where it lives, and
distribution is how it gets to the many podcast players and apps
that your audience will find it on.
Think of it like publishing an article on your website, and then it
appearing in aggregators like Flipboard and Upday via your RSS
feeds. The actual article and its reader stats are in one place, but
people who read articles through aggregators will show up in the
referrals section of your analytics.
There are a number of different options for hosting:
Self-hosting: It’s generally not a wise idea to self-host podcasts
as it requires a lot of know-how about getting the right files up-
loaded, all the XML data in the right place and generating an RSS
feed, not to mention the size of audio files32. Given the number of
options available to aid distribution, self-hosting can open you up
to a lot of technical headaches.
That’s not to say you can’t post podcasts on your own website.
Hosting sites will offer embedding, so just like putting a YouTube
video in an article, you’ll be able to feature the latest episode in
articles or anywhere else on your website using embedding.
However if that is a route you want to go down, Blubrry is a pop-
ular podcast hoster which also has its own plugin to help sites on
Wordpress manage their own podcasts. They also offer their own
Media Hosting, as well as offering plenty of resources for publish-
ers looking to manage their own audio.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 24

DISTRIBUTION

Podcast hosting services: There is an endless list of places you

could choose to host your podcast. Soundcloud may well be the
most widely-known option, but in recent years hosters like Pod-
bean, Libsyn, Acast, Spreaker and more have sprung up.
Most of these charge per month for hosting with fees varying
depending on frequency of publishing or statistics available, but
some like Soundcloud also have free tiers for publishers looking
to experiment with basic functionality.
The hosting service you choose will also be where all the infor-
mation about your podcast is uploaded - the description, show
notes, cover, episode summary and more. This is the place to CHOOSING A HOST
share your episode from, via embed codes if you want to have the The right podcasting host
episode on your own site, or directly. for you will depend on
However, as with all businesses, there is a risk that a host may not your requirements. The
be available forever. It is essential to keep copies of your episodes Podcast Host has got an
on a local hard drive just in case they ever need to be re-uploaded excellent comparison
to another site should your host go out of business. of the best services out
there at the moment33.
If you change your mind about your host later down the line, Image via discoverpods.com

many offer migration options to make the experience as smooth

as possible. Always check migration options before committing to
a new provider.

Getting on to other podcast apps

A hosting site generates the RSS feed (Rich Site Summary) which
will send the information to other web services whenever a new
episode is uploaded, or changes are made34.
This RSS feed of your podcast is then what is submitted to iTunes
and other podcast directories. iTunes (Apple Podcasts) has a
number of requirements for its feed such as a title, description,
and category, but this will have been set up with your podcast
host and will be included in the RSS feed generated by them.
Other places to submit your RSS feed to include Spotify, Google
Play, Stitcher, TuneIn and Acast. Some podcast reader apps will
pull your show from iTunes so don’t feel like you have to submit it
to every distributor.

MAKING THE CASE:

• How frequently are you looking to publish an episode?

• Which hosting sites offer the insights you want?

• Which hosting sites offer best value for money based

on your requirements?

• What are the primary apps your audience uses to listen

to podcasts?

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 25

MARKETING:
Spreading the word
about your podcast
When it comes to spreading the word about your podcast, pub-
lishers have a big advantage over other podcasts in already hav-
ing a well-established audience, and it’s therefore easy to hit the
ground running with episode one by using all your existing chan-
nels to shout about it.
Providing the topic is aligned with the brand, and it’s something
that will be of interest to your existing readership, you should be
able to get a good proportion of your loyal audience giving the
first few episodes a go. Whether they stick around then depends
on how good the product is!
Most publishers have dedicated marketing individuals or teams,
and we wouldn’t dream of suggesting ways they can market bet-
ter, but there are some tips and tricks when it comes to podcasts
that can help spread the word about episodes without requiring
masses of extra effort.

Use existing channels

This might sound obvious, but it’s worth spelling out anyway. If
you have a weekly or daily newsletter, shout about your podcast!
Dedicate a slot in your communications to highlighting new epi-
sodes, plus links to subscribe, and review.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 26

MARKETING

At a very basic level, every episode should have its own article
on your brand’s website, with an embed of the episode itself, a
description of what it’s about, and any links mentioned. Consider
creating a dedicated hub which these articles live in to make it as
easy as possible for people who are looking for your podcast to
find it on your own site.
Similarly, leverage existing social media channels. Unless there’s a
specific business case for it, don’t waste time setting up separate
social handles for the podcast. Emphasise that it’s part of your
brand by promoting it in the same way you would articles, videos
and other brand extensions.

Make the most of the content

Even a short episode can provide ample additional content for
you to use both to promote the podcast and enhance your brand.
A growing number of podcast distributors
and editors offer tools to create mini video
clips with waveforms - also known as audi-
ograms - that offer samples of the episode
that can be shared to social media. These can
be short extracts of around 30 seconds, or
can be used to tease longer bits of an epi-
sode.
Audiograms can also be used on social media
or on your own website to release audio that
perhaps didn’t make it into the final cut, as an
added bonus. The video-style nature of audi-
ograms makes them more engaging than just
straight audio samples, and will also play well
to (current) algorithms on Facebook, Twitter
and more.
Podcasts can be used as a source for arti-
cles, especially if you’ve chosen the interview
format. An interview with a key figure can be
used as a written feature, or alternatively the
‘key points’ approach can be taken, picking
out just a few takeaways in an article to en-
courage readers to listen to the full episode.
An easy point to miss when taking this ap-
proach is linking back to the podcast. Always An example of an audiogram being used to promote a podcast
use this extra content as a way to point to the episode on Twitter.
fact you have a podcast, and build your listenership. Most pod-
cast distributors have embed functionality so you can feature the
episode directly in the article itself.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 27

MARKETING

Encourage guests to engage

If you’ve chosen the interview format, encouraging guests to link
to the episode on social media is an easy win for introducing new
listeners to the episode, and your brand.
Like feature pieces with influencers are used
to reach a similar audience, podcast guests
can introduce their own audience to your
publishing brand.
Because podcasting is such a hot format at
the moment, high-profile guests in most
sectors are willing to come on and talk, and
will hopefully be just as willing to promote
the episode.
Consider sending guests a briefing before
their episode goes live with the link you’d
like them to send out, or any accompanying
hashtags, articles and audiograms. High-profile interviewees can help amplify podcast episodes.

Encourage listeners to engage!

If you’ve ever watched a popular YouTuber, you’ll notice that
many of them end their videos with a call to like the video, sub-
scribe to their channel and share the video with friends. Think
about scripting call-to-actions like this into each episode, regard-
less of the format, and be clear about the action you want listen-
ers to take.
Part of this will depend on the podcast’s KPIs. If subscribers are
the primary measure, make sure the host talks about how new
listeners can subscribe at the beginning or end of an episode. If
it’s about getting the listener numbers up, encourage the audi-
ence to share with their friends.
If you’re aiming for your podcast to stand alone and make its own
money, then it’s best to keep the call-to-actions straightforward,
and focused on encouraging listener growth.
Using social media to communicate with listeners is another easy
way of getting feedback, and spreading the word about your pod-
cast. Let listeners know the best social media platforms to con-
tact you on, and what your handles are.
Platforms like Twitter are great for staff involved in the podcast
to drum up some buzz about it, as well as interacting with your
audience.

Using podcasts for marketing

Podcasts can also be used as marketing themselves for events, or
to drive subscriptions to other products. For example, a weekly
news magazine might be using the podcast as a way of reaching

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 28

MARKETING

younger audiences. The primary call-to-action might therefore

be, ‘If you enjoyed this episode, you’ll love reading [x] magazine.
Here’s how you can subscribe to it,’ and perhaps with a pod-
cast-exclusive discount code.
Or the podcast could be a driver for newsletter sign-ups. A beau-
ty magazine might have a daily newsletter with beauty tips and
products, and so the call-to-action could be ‘For more from
[publication name], sign up to our daily newsletter, packed full of
beauty tips and the latest must-have products’.
These are just a couple of examples. But again, leverage the ad-
vantage you have as a publisher, and get your marketing team
around the table to see how they can integrate podcast marketing
with their existing strategies.
The Telegraph is one publisher who is open about using their

2 in 3
podcast as a driver for subscriptions. It has launched a number of
podcasts, from its fortnightly Technology Intelligence podcast to
pop-up series on topics like Strictly Come Dancing. But the pub-
lisher is open about the fact that the priority for audio is to reach
new audiences about specific topics and to get them acquainted of the FT's podcast listeners
with The Telegraph, rather than directly making money35. are non-subscribers
Similarly, the Financial Times has recently ramped up its market-
ing of subscriptions to audiences across its 12 podcasts, 60% of
which are aged between 22-3736. The FT estimates that two-thirds
of its audio listeners are non-subscribers, and therefore the pri-
mary aim of the podcast for the long term is converting them into
paying subscribers.
Of course, a podcast can support multiple goals. Or the goals can
change and evolve over time. But keep it simple starting out, and
make sure the goal/s of the podcast are kept in focus, otherwise
it can be easy to overload the messaging.
A podcast that supports existing business KPIs rather than just
flying under them is much more likely to get buy-in from other
teams, and that will help ensure its success in the long term.

MAKING THE CASE:

• What existing marketing tools have you got that could
carry the podcast?

• How can you use transcripts or extracts from the pod-

cast to support other content?

• What kind of engagement do you want to encourage

from your audience?

• What wider business business KPIs could the podcast

support?

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 29

METRICS:
What does success
look like?
As we’ve seen from the previous chapter, the KPIs for your pod-
cast should be defined before starting out to get a clear picture of
what its main purpose is, as either a product that will develop as
a standalone revenue stream, or one which will primarily support
other areas of the business.
There are a huge number of ways a podcast’s success can be
measured. This doesn’t have to be on listener analytics at all - in
fact, that can often be a more complicated measure, as is ex-
plained later.
But the success metric cannot simply be ‘making money’. That’s a
goal, which will be achieved by getting listener numbers up to a
certain amount.
Having a firm idea of what the key performance indicators will
be is vital to putting a business case together. As it will vary from
publisher to publisher, here are some ideas, and some things to
watch out for.

Analytics
Measuring a podcast’s success based on the number of listeners
shouldn’t be difficult. Many people assume that getting basic ana-
lytics is easy, like video views or article dwell time.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 30

METRICS

Unfortunately, the reality is more complicated, which is the rea-

son that deciding on the podcast’s primary measures of success
is crucial before choosing how to distribute it (see chapter 6 for
more on distribution).
Because podcasts are uploaded to one place
then distributed through many different
podcast players, and each of those directo-
ries has their own way of recording infor-
mation, getting an accurate idea of listens,
subscribes and downloads is difficult37.
When it comes to listens, the best place
to get analytics is your podcast host. Even
though people may listen through other di-
rectories, because these work off your pod-
cast’s RSS feed, which in turn is generated by
your host, your host will have a more accu-
rate idea of how many people have listened An example of Apple's new podcast analytics.
to an episode. Image via @miyagawa on Twitter

Podcast hosts offer varying levels of granularity on listens, but

another one they struggle with is how long people have listened
for. Again, this is due to different ways of measuring - some
directories download podcasts first which users then listen to
offline, and many people will stop and start episodes, meaning
it can be almost impossible to get a standardised measure of a
‘listen’.
Some of the major platforms, like Apple’s Podcast Analytics39, are
finally starting to offer a more comprehensive view of listener
behaviour, but only on their own platforms.
What has been reassuring about Apple’s “There is value and reliability of the
deep dive into analytics is how engaged
listeners are. On average, podcast listeners metrics. Two minutes on video is
are making it through around 90% of a given thought of as great; we’re seeing 85%
episode40 - a figure which is most likely to of the audience listen to a 30-minute
be consistent regardless of what platform
they listen on.
podcast. Once they find the content
they like, they will stick with it and
It’s important to set out early on what an-
alytics are important, as this can help with binge. The behavior is more parallel to
choosing a podcast provider. The Podcast Netflix and SVOD services.”
Host has a great list of some of the major
Steve Ackerman, MD of Somethin' Else38
hosting solutions41, and sets out what each
one offers in terms of audience and download statistics. If geog-
raphy is particularly important, or if you want to get a clear pic-
ture of listener retention, different hosting solutions will be able
to offer this at varying levels.
One thing podcast analytics can’t (yet) track is user profiles. Web
analytics can use a lot of data to build a profile of a user, meaning
that advertisers can ask to target based on very specific behav-

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 31

METRICS

iours. But due to the distributed nature of podcast listening, most

apps that people listen to podcasts from have only basic informa-
tion such as geography, and sometimes age range.
This isn’t necessarily a limitation, but there may be some expec-
tation management needed when talking to sponsors about your
podcast audience, and how much you’re expected to know.
Podcast analytics may be primitive compared to the website
analytics that publishers are used to, but it’s an area that is
fast-evolving. As the format grows in popularity, there is a wide
acknowledgement that the way podcasts are measured is incon-
sistent and unhelpful, and there are a number of initiatives dedi-
cated to making a breakthrough in the space42.
You may have heard people talk about podcast ‘subscribers’.
Subscribers are generally not a good way to measure success
as what a subscriber is varies across different directories and is
difficult to accurately measure. Some podcast apps download
new episodes straight to a person’s device if they have chosen to
‘subscribe’, but they may never listen to it. Similarly, someone can
‘subscribe’ to a podcast but never listen to a single episode. This
is one of the reasons listens are generally a more favoured metric.
Although all publishers should keep an eye on podcast analytics
regardless of other KPIs, listener numbers are generally held as
the best one to focus on if looking to develop the podcast as a
standalone product or an additional revenue stream.

Engagement
One less commonly used - but still valuable - metric is engage-
ment. This is interactions beyond just listening, and can include
anything from feedback on social media to reviews on iTunes or
the number of shares of an episode article.
As with analytics, it’s tough to get a com- “I can see podcasts being an
prehensive view of audience feedback. But
there are ways to make it easier, such as
important part of what we do,
directing listeners to an email address or not necessarily in terms of scale of
Twitter handle if they would like to give listeners but certainly in terms of
feedback, or requesting that users of iTunes
engagement with those listeners.”
rate your show.
David Higgerson, Chief Audience Officer, Reach43
Bear in mind that feedback like this can
appear weeks or months after airing the episode. With the ex-
ception of daily or heavily news-driven podcasts, the format has a
long shelf life, and you could still be getting feedback years after
an episode goes live.

Supporting other areas of the business

In chapter 7, we explored some examples of publishers who use
their podcasts to market other things the business is doing,

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 32

METRICS

from increasing exposure to the brand, to driving subscriptions.

Choosing to measure the success of a podcast primarily on this
basis doesn’t rule out ever monetising it, it just dictates where
the focus will be on aspects such as choosing a distributor, decid-
ing on call-to-actions and general development in the first few
months.
It never hurts to be specific when setting goals around other are-
as of the business. But remember that it takes time to build loyal-
ty and set a habit if trying to reach a new audience.
Short-term targets can help with assessing “In the UK, younger age groups, who
how well the podcast is meeting wider goals.
For example, if the primary success metric is spend much of their lives plugged
to drive magazine subscriptions, the pod- into smartphones, are four times more
cast could be used to encourage newsletter likely to listen to podcasts than over
subscriptions in the first few months, which
in turn helps build up a marketing base. 55s - and much less likely to listen to
Once the podcast is then more established,
traditional speech radio. Under 35s
you can move towards achieving the pri- consume half of all podcasts, despite
mary success metric. Having a way to track making up around a third of the total
conversions will make this part much easier. adult population”
Although it’s hard to point to the exact point
someone decides to become a subscriber, The Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 201944
consider using tactics like exclusive dis-
count codes for podcast listeners, or only releasing the podcast
to subscribers for the first few days.
One final factor to consider with podcast success metrics is drag.
Unlike many other channels used in publishing, podcasts have
a much longer shelf life (bar the daily or news-based podcasts).
The on-demand nature means that even a loyal listener might not
listen for a week or two, and the more popular a podcast gets, the
more the back catalogue picks up listens. This ‘drag’ in metrics is
worth bearing in mind when considering success, and how quick-
ly that success is defined.

MAKING THE CASE:

• What is the most important metric to you in the long-
term?

• What is the most important metric to potential adver-

tisers and sponsors?

• What does success look like in the short term?

• What is the long-term goal for the podcast?

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 33

REVENUE:
Making money in
podcasting
You’ve planned out your podcast, got a team in place to record
and distribute it, and it’s now out there in the wide world. Con-
gratulations! But how are you going to get a return on invest-
ment?
It’s a question many in the industry are looking to answer, but this
is the right space to be experimenting. The podcast ad market
may only be worth $650 million worldwide, but it has consistently
doubled year-on-year and is expected to reach $1.6 billion by
202245.
Podcasting revenue may still be in the early hype stages, but
there are plenty of creative ways existing podcasters are making
money, and there’s no reason publishers can’t get on board with
that as well.
But unlike someone starting a podcast from their bedroom as a
passion project, many publishers don’t have the luxury of trying
podcasting out without some proof of ROI in an initial proposal.
This is a chicken-and-egg situation if approached in the wrong
way. Some of the methods of money-making listed below require
you to have a threshold number of listeners, which of course
takes time to build up.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 34

REVENUE

But with the advantage of an existing audience and relationships

with advertisers, publishers are in a better position to make mon-
ey from the get-go.
Here are some of the most popular ways podcasts are currently
monetised:
Baked-in ads: Ad slots that are encoded “Publishers that can tap professional
into the podcast’s audio file account for
content creation talent and marshal
51.2% of all podcast advertising46. These are
often read out by hosts, or are sometimes print and digital audiences at scale,
pre-recorded by the sponsor and added in must have a shot at pushing aside
during production. some of the 396,000 underperforming
Often, a good volume of listeners are need- podcasts currently clogging up the
ed to go with this option, as advertisers pay
on a CPM basis (see on the following pages
marketplace.”
about pricing guidelines). Peter Houston, writing for Publishing Executive47
The downside of baked-in ad slots is that they remain in the epi-
sode forever, but that can be attractive to advertisers if a podcast
takes off and gets a surge in back catalogue listens.
Programmatic ad insertion: Unlike baked-in ads, programmat-
ic ads are inserted dynamically at the point of download, rather
than being pre-recorded. These currently account for 41.7% of
podcast ads48; a figure that is expected to see strong growth given
Spotify’s recent moves to make programmatic work for podcast-
ing49.
Acast is an example of a platform which got into this game early:
podcasters can either distribute through the platform with an
RSS feed, or can use the platform to host, where Acast offer dy-
namic audio insertion, even into a back catalogue50.
Full sponsorship: This is a growing area of
monetisation, which involves sponsorship
of an episode or series of episodes, often
including branding on the icon and in asso-
ciated assets such as newsletters and arti-
cles. There are even examples of end-to-end
podcast sponsorship. The Telegraph has a
monthly financial podcast called It’s Your
Money exploring everything from personal
tax to the Bitcoin boom, which is produced in
association with fund management company
Liontrust51.
Some potential clients may prefer sponsor-
ship of one-off episodes on special topics,
or to go the more traditional route of taking
out ad space in the newsletter or around the The Telegraph's sponsored podcast series.
article.
Image via telegraph.co.uk

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 35

REVENUE

Crowdfunding: This has been a popular option for many in-

dependent podcasters. Platforms like Patreon allow listeners to
‘subscribe’ for varying amounts, and also enable creators to share
episodes and content exclusively with subscribers.
This type of model probably isn’t suitable for most publishers, but
it’s worth being aware of as an option.
Live events: This is definitely a monetisation option for further
down the line when the podcast has some momentum. The ‘live’
format has taken off with a number of podcasts in the US, with
Recode’s podcast Recode Decode regularly doing live events. A re-
cent live taping saw host Kara Swisher interview Anand Giridha-
radas and Gabriel Weinberg in New York, with Ericsson as a
51%
partner and tickets at $40 a person52. of all podcast advertising is
Merchandise: Merch is never going to be a high-margin revenue made up of baked-in ads
stream for publishers, but it could be a fun place to experiment.
Everything from mugs, t-shirts, stickers, posters and enamel pins
are options, the only limit is what your audience is willing to pay
for!
There’s potential for crossover here for publishers who are al-
ready in the ecommerce game. For example, a fitness and lifestyle
publisher who may have their own range of fitness products such
as yoga mats or sports bottles could use the podcast as an addi-
tional way to promote these to listeners.
Otherwise, publishers can leveraging existing contacts and talk
to current advertisers about what part a podcast audience could
play in their strategy - a benefit few independent podcasters have
when starting out.
If you’re looking to support the podcast through advertising or
sponsorship, it’s worth reaching out to advertisers on your site or
magazine and seeing what their response is.
One example would be to offer a deal for “I am not saying that people should
exclusive sponsorship of the first three or
six months of a podcast. Then the initial do podcasts instead of videos. I just
setup costs are covered, and the advertiser think there is a viable ad model for
is getting themselves a really good deal if the podcasts, and I’m not convinced there
podcast takes off.
is one for ad-based videos.”
Another option is a package deal where
Tom Standage, Head of Digital Strategy and Deputy
some of the above options are combined, to
Editor at The Economist56
make an attractive deal for an advertiser.
Advertisers in turn may need an element of education when it
comes to both the potential of podcasting, and seeing returns.
There are ways they can directly track success of in-episode ad
slots and sponsored episodes, such as promotional codes and
custom URLs.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 36

REVENUE

Who is making money?

There are a number of publishers who have dipped their toes
into podcasting who are seeing financial returns. Reach (formerly
Trinity Mirror) has had successes in monetising its podcasts by
making use of its existing ad clients, especially local clients who
want to get involved in podcasts connected to their town or city53.
The Economist is an example of a publisher whose podcasts serve
a dual purpose of both helping attract subscribers, and stand
alone as a revenue stream. Their four podcasts average 7 million
streams a month, and they’ve managed to increase podcast reve-
nue by 50% between 2017 and 2018 by offering preroll and midroll
advertising, as well as allowing advertisers to sponsor podcasts by
the month54. The publisher has recently launched a fifth podcast
called The Intelligence, which is designed to appeal to both UK
and US listeners as a deeper dive on the big news stories55.
And publishers over in the US are making big
money, with The New York Times' The Dai-
ly allegedly booking ‘eight figures’ in annual
revenue, as well as securing radio syndica-
tion deals and a spin-off TV series57.
Similarly, sports outlet The Ringer made
more than $15 million (£11.4 million) on
straightforward podcast ad sales in 2018.
They have the benefit of a vast listener base,
with that revenue coming from an average of
35 million monthly downloads58.
But remember those core KPIs that were
explored in chapters 7 and 8. Just because a
podcast doesn’t make any money on its own
doesn’t mean it isn’t being used to meet other The Ringer's podcast network website.

important business goals.

The Telegraph has some podcasts that are subscriber-only, to
feed into their wider goal of driving subscriptions. They experi-
ment with having some whole series like Chopper’s Brexit Podcast
behind their member wall, to making all but a few episodes of a
series available to non-members59.
The New Statesman is another publisher who is experimenting
with offering subscribers early access to its podcasts, as well as a
weekly subscriber-only podcast as a way of adding value to their
£144-a-year package60.
Some podcasts are even crossing the divide and are exploring
partnerships with TV networks. The New York Times is creating
The Weekly; a television series created in the mold of its The Daily
podcast. It’s expected to debut in June 2019 on FX and Hulu, but
the producers have admitted there’s a huge amount of work to

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 37

REVENUE

transfer a good podcast to good TV61. Regardless of its success,

there are licensing opportunities here between publishers and TV
networks which could provide an additional revenue stream.

Pricing
People frequently want to know what the ‘industry standard’ is
when it comes to charging for advertising or sponsorship in pod-
casts.
Here’s a fact that will save you time: there is no industry standard.
Industry standards are a thing of the past, where you could set
your print page rates by number of subscribers and circulation.
But a frequent mistake both advertisers and “Many within the industry are eyeing
media organisations make is in placing too
much emphasis on the numbers. The previ- a much bigger number: $17.6 billion.
ous chapter dealt with some of the challeng- That’s the amount that traditional U.S.
es of measuring podcast engagement, which radio brought in over the last year.
means listeners and subscribers can be a
misleading way of quantifying engagement.
Even if podcasting is able to chip away
at just a small chunk of those dollars,
Much of the mentality around pricing is still
on the pageview-style model. Advertisers then there’s good money to be made
expect thousands, if not tens of thousands in the space.”
of listens before considering spending
Simon Owens, What’s New in Publishing62
money. Some publishers may see this as
achievable early on, especially in lifestyle and entertainment. But
for more niche publishers, this undervalues the audience, for a
number of reasons.
Take for example a small but well-respected B2B publisher. They
have a steady readership, a high-value audience, and advertisers
who spend frequently on display.
A podcast may be an excellent brand extension, allowing the
team behind the site to reach the audience in an inexpensive but
much more personal way. Listeners might take a while to build
up and numbers may be small, but if those listening are the same
high-value audience that they attract to the site, the value is far
more than just a page view.
The right person listening to an episode of a podcast done by a Podcast revenues
publisher is dedicating their attention to that brand for a signif- hit record levels of
icant amount of time. Even daily readers of a website may not
spend forty minutes a week reading articles, but will listen to an
episode for the same length of time whilst commuting, making
£700
dinner, or during their lunch break. million
Just 100 of the right people spending that time listening each in the UK in 2018
week is far more valuable than ten times that number of people
quickly flicking through an article online. This is where there’s an
opportunity to educate advertisers on the benefits of audio ad-
vertising, which in itself is still a massively untapped market.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 38

REVENUE

In fact, despite widely-held views over the demise of radio, the

medium has actually been rising in popularity over the past few
years. Revenue hit record levels of £700m in the UK last year, with
advertisers showing more interest in commercial radio than ever
before63.
Podcasting is not quite at radio levels yet, but Digiday have pulled Analysts are
together some numbers for what some existing publishers are
paying, albeit approximated and with the caveat that ‘not all pod- seeing a

30%
casts are created equal’.
They say that in the UK, podcasts ads are fetching around £9
CPMs (cost per thousand), while host-read ads can cost £30
CPMs. At the moment, because of the value around context and premium on
audience, analysts are seeing a 30% premium on podcasts com- podcast ads
pared to onsite pre-roll video ads64.
So how much should you charge for advertising in your podcasts?
Have conversations with your sales people and your editorial
teams, and establish what is a fair cost to reach these super-users
of your brand.
And don’t feel restricted to traditional ad formats. This is a me-
dium that rewards out-of-the-box thinking and the blurring of
traditional media lines. See what your team can come up with and
what your clients will buy into, and you’ll arrive at the best mone-
tisation option for your business.

MAKING THE CASE:

• How can you leverage your existing audience to get a
podcast deal in place right from the start?

• Which monetisation options align most closely with

business KPIs?

• Are there any advertisers you have an existing relation-

ship with who could be approached for a package
deal?

• What ideas do your sales team have around monetising

the podcast?

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 39

CONTINUATION:
How to keep your
podcast going
Hundreds of podcasts get launched each month, but less than half
make it past seven episodes in a phenomenon known as ‘podfade’.
And of the 540,000 podcast titles available on Apple Podcasts, less
than 20% have produced a fresh episode within 90 days6.
A podcast which has run for a couple of episodes is no more likely
to be successful than a new website which only has a few articles
on it. It takes time for these things to build a steady audience,
which is where publishers have a distinct advantage of having a
ready-made audience.
Once the first few episodes are out the door, your team can begin
to settle into a routine, and look for ways of making the process
more efficient, or tweaking the format slightly.
But be cautious of changing things up too much in the first cou-
ple of months. If listeners like what you’re putting out, they’ll stick
around, and adjusting the format, length or premise too much
risks alienating them.
However, feedback can be a great thing once you’ve built up a
consistent listenership. Offer surveys about the podcast in your
newsletter, and open it up to non-listeners too - you may discov-
er reasons why dedicated readers haven’t yet tuned in.
So once you’ve got past seven episodes, how can you keep going
to ensure the consistency needed to get listener numbers up,

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 40

CONTINUATION

support business goals and explore monetisation options?

Here are eight tips to keep going:

1: Make use of your advantages as a publisher

With so many people in the podcast game, the competition for
attention is only going to grow. Publishers have so many advan-
tages, from being experts at content creation, to having a ready-
made audience and commercial contacts.
Whether you explore initial ideas for a podcast with a focus
group, or leverage marketing channels to promote your first epi-
sode, list ways you can use your expertise to springboard into the
podcast game.

2: Plan the first six months

Have a clear idea of what the podcast will be in the first six
months. It’s always good to have bigger goals and ideas around
this, but setting out those first few months will be vital to help-
ing the team get into a routine, with a shared vision. This doesn’t
mean you can’t make changes during that time, but this will give
the podcast chance to settle.
When it does come to making changes, don’t overhaul everything,
but make small changes and see what works.

3: Reduce dependencies
It can be easy, especially at smaller publishers, to get the pod-
cast up and running when relying on just one person for editing
and distribution. But getting a small team familiar with the tools
is worth the investment and peace of mind - we’re not talking a
whole department, but a core group of three or four people who
you can call on to get an episode out if necessary. This is key to
continuation and ensuring everything goes as planned if a key
staff member is off sick or leaves.

4: Build resilience
The point many podcasters stumble and begin podfading is on
missing an episode due to sickness or other reasons. Training
staff up will mitigate some of this risk, but sometimes things hap-
pen and episodes get missed.
Resilience will help here - put a note out if necessary, and focus
on getting the next episode ready.

5: Get feedback
Although a podcast needs time to settle, getting feedback at any
stage can help nudge the podcast towards a more successful
path.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 41

CONTINUATION

Again, leverage your advantage as a publisher. Are there reasons

why people who read your content aren’t listening - for example
is it too long for them? Are there things that frequent listeners
want to see change, or things they love?
See what feedback you can use to make small changes, and which
ones will require a bigger change of direction.

6: Educate advertisers
Podcasting is a fast-growing format, but many people still have
misconceptions about it. If you have the resources available, con-
sider creating an info pack with some key facts about the growth
of podcasting, the opportunities for ad spend and why a dedicat-
ed podcast audience is so valuable, even though numbers may be
more modest.

7: Manage expectations
Podcasting is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time to set habits
among listeners, which is why at least six months is needed to get
a realistic idea of the trajectory of the podcast.
Don’t expect to see massive numbers in line with article views
- podcast listeners are a much smaller but much more engaged
group.
Keep an eye on the analytics, and if they’re going in the right di-
rection, keep going!

8: Think outside the box

In today’s media world, a lot of the traditional lines are blurring.
This means that there may be opportunities beyond traditional
podcast formats and monetisation options.
Monocle magazine launched a weekly podcast in 2008, which has
now evolved into an internet radio station called Monocle 24 after
hitting download figures of 250,000 a month66.
There’s never been a more exciting time to be in this space and to
experiment with crossing those lines.

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 42

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APPENDIX

THE BIG QUESTION: WHY START A PODCAST?

1. Digital News Report 2018, Reuters Institute
2. 'Podcast', Techopedia
3. Digital News Report 2018, Reuters Institute
4. The podcast market is booming. Research offers insights into monetization and the marketplace, DCN
5. The unstoppable rise of podcasts: How an industry was reborn, City A.M.
6. Digital News Report 2018, Reuters Institute
7. Podcasters Have Had Apple's New Podcast Analytics for Two Months Now. What Have They Learned? Backyard
Media
8. Podcast listeners really are the holy grail advertisers hoped they'd be, WIRED

TOPICS: DECIDING WHAT TO PODCAST ABOUT

9. The Washington Post’s “Can He Do That?” podcast reaches one million downloads in first month, Washington
Post
10. Slate uses podcasts to drive paid memberships, Digiday
11. Australia's Serial: Dan Box on the making of true crime podcast Bowraville, The Guardian
12. Dirty John (TV series), Wikipedia
13. Why every news publisher is launching a daily podcast, What's New in Publishing
14. NYT's 'The Daily' now reaches 2 million listeners per day, TechCrunch
15. Why every news publisher is launching a daily podcast, What's New in Publishing
16. Podcasts now 'core part' of news publisher's offering, but Guru-Murthy warns too many would be 'boring', Press
Gazette
17. Why Publishers Have the Upper Hand in the Growing Podcast Market, Publishing Executive
18. Mentally Yours podcast, Metro
19. How mojo thinking scored Trinity Mirror a top-shelf podcast, DCN
20. How mojo thinking scored Trinity Mirror a top-shelf podcast, DCN
21. New podcast from DC Thomson Media, InPublishing
22. ‘Serial’ Season 3 Podcast Premiere Date Set, Variety
23. Wolverine Podcast, wolverinepodcast.com
24. Here’s How to Listen to Marvel’s Wolverine Podcast Drama, The Wrap
25. Why The Economist is launching a daily podcast, Medium
26. How to make your podcast the right length: how long should a podcast be?, PodNews
27. Where Does Podcasting Go Next? Medium

RECORDING: TOOLS, TIPS AND TRICKS

28. How to Make a DIY Podcast Recording Booth, Medium

EDITING: TOOLS, TIPS AND BEST PRACTICE

29. The Importance of Editing to Your Podcast, Medium
30. What’s the big deal about WAV vs. MP3 podcast recording? Zencastr

DISTRIBUTION: THE WORLD OF PODCAST PUBLISHING

31. Media Voices Podcast, Soundcloud
32. Why you should never host podcasts on your own website, The Podcast Host
33. The best podcast hosting services, The Podcast Host
34. Your RSS Feed: What it is, Why You Need It and How to Use it, Spreaker blog

MARKETING: SPREADING THE WORD ABOUT YOUR PODCAST

35. The Telegraph launches audio show for Google Home, Digiday
36. ‘It’s a fertile hunting ground’: The Financial Times sees podcasts leading to paying subscribers, Digiday

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 44

APPENDIX

METRICS: WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?

37. Podcast Metrics: How to Measure Your Performance (With Such Little Data), Impact
38. Publishers are getting serious about podcast revenue, Digiday
39. Access Podcast Analytics, Best practices, and Secure RSS feed, iTunes Connect
40. Podcast listeners really are the holy grail advertisers hoped they'd be, WIRED
41. The best podcast hosting services, The Podcast Host
42. Podcast industry aims to better track listeners through new analytics tech called RAD, TechCrunch
43. Podcasts now 'core part' of news publisher's offering, but Guru-Murthy warns too many would be 'boring', Press
Gazette
44. Digital News Report 2019, Reuters Institute

REVENUE: MAKING MONEY IN PODCASTING

45. Is it time for every publisher to “pivot to podcasts”?, What's New in Publishing
46. DTC brands drive 53% growth in podcast advertising, The Drum
47. Why Publishers Have the Upper Hand in the Growing Podcast Market, Publishing Executive
48. Podcast ads projected to grow to 4.5% of global audio ad spending by 2022, Marketing Land
49. Spotify now lets advertisers target podcast listeners, The Drum
50. Podcasters, Acast
51. It's Your Money Podcast, The Telegraph
52. Recode Decode Live, Recode
53. Podcasts now 'core part' of news publisher's offering, but Guru-Murthy warns too many would be 'boring', Press
Gazette
54. How The Economist Uses Podcasts To Drive Revenue, Which-50
55. The Economist launches daily US/UK podcast with 'transatlantic DNA' in bid to double audio reach, Press
Gazette
56. Publishers are getting serious about podcast revenue, Digiday
57. Is it time for every publisher to “pivot to podcasts”?, What's New in Publishing
58. For Bill Simmons’s the Ringer, Podcasting Is the Main Event, The Wall Street Journal
59. Podcasts, The Telegraph
60. The UK’s New Statesman is putting up a paywall, Digiday
61. ‘The Daily’ Becoming A Weekly In New TV Series, InsideRadio
62. Why every news publisher is launching a daily podcast, What's New in Publishing
63. From podcast advertising to radio sponsorship, 2019 audio marketing trends, The Drum
64. Publishers are getting serious about podcast revenue, Digiday

CONTINUATION: HOW TO KEEP YOUR PODCAST GOING

65. How Many of the 540,000 Podcasts Have "Podfaded?", Amplifimedia
66. Monocle to embark on 24-hour radio show, Campaign

THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 45

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THE PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO PODCASTING 47