RTX Panel: Podcasting 101 With What’s Good Games

Hey friends!

This year we had the extreme pleasure of being guests at RTX in Austin, TX! While there we hosted a panel about podcasting, and we had the opportunity to chat with our audience about why we chose podcasting, the bright future of podcasting, how we make our “magic” happen, the hosting platforms we use, etc. We like to think we had a lot of good information in there, so we wanted to make sure we shared it with you fine folks on our website!

The shenanigans begin around the 7:00 minute mark!

Below are the notes we used during the show – they’re rough and unedited, but I’m sure somewhere in there you can find some tidbits of knowledge! 😉

<3 Britt

• Who we are, how we got started
  • Why podcasting was such a great fit for us
    • We wanted to produce content together as a team, but it’s hard to do when you live in separate cities so podcasting = win
  • ALSO: Podcasts are BOOMING
    • Ad revenue reached $314 million in 2017, which is an 86% growth year over year
    • Expected to reach $659 million by 2020 (which is obviously more than double of 2017’s record)
    • Source: IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau)
      • (We’ll talk about them later!)
    • Getting started:
      • What equipment should I use? Is it worth spending hundreds of dollars if I’m just starting out?
      • Where should I submit my podcast? (AVERAGES BELOW)
        • Get on iOS (Apple’s podcast app) 45%-52% of your traffic will come from there
        • Browsers 6-14% of traffic
        • Everything else (not specified) 12-30%
        • Sources: Libsyn, BlueBrry, etc. compiled their data and this was an average number
      • We manually submitted our show to 12 platforms:
        • iTunes, Apple Podcast app, Google Play, Google Podcast, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Blubrry, PodBay and Podtail
          • No surprise, the apple podcast app is where ~65% of our downloads come from
        • Note that your podcast will appear in even more places since there are websites/apps that pull your feed from other locations and populate it on their stuff
      • Hosting providers
        • Find a hosting provider that shows IAB and non IAB
          • Okay, WTF is IAB?
            • IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) seeks to ensure that podcast advertisers are getting their $$$ worth. Since there’s no easy way to determine whether or not someone actually listened to an advertisement, IAB created “IAB Compliant” measuring metrics.
            • This has its own set of problems, however. For example, pre-downloaded podcasts aren’t necessarily counted. Several downloads from one IP address (perhaps from a work building, dorm, etc.) aren’t required to be counted. So, while the idea of IAB compliant metrics is a noble one, it isn’t without its faults that hurt podcasts. Most podcasts see a double digit percentage drop!
            • The problem is podcasting is still a wild west, and nothing is “the law” and “legally” required, so people can kind of do what they want and enforce it HOW they want. Get clarification from your hosting provider.
          • Look for a hosting provider with insightful metrics.
            • IAB/Non IAB
            • Demographic information
            • Downloads by month, week, day, etc.
            • Devices being used
          • Spotify
            • We use Libsyn only for Spotify. You can now use Blubrry, Buzzsprout, Podbean, Spreaker to apply to be on Spotify
          • There are a TON of hosting options, use the Google machine and send inquiries!
        • Basic costs:
          • How much does it cost to host a podcast?
            • $39/mo for Backtracks
            • $50/mo for Libsyn
            • Program to edit the show
            • You SHOULD have a website where you post everything, so like, what, $30/mo
          • So, how do WE do it?
            • Our hosting
              • Like we mentioned we host through Backtracks and Libsyn
              • Like we mentioned we manually submitted our show to those 12 platforms
            • Facebook/Skype/OBS/Audacity
              • Andrea records our videocast via OBS locally on her end
              • Britt/Steimer record locally on Audacity, send their audio tracks
              • Once Andrea receives everything she makes everything nice and pretty, uploads the final product to YT/Dropbox and Britt takes it from there.
              • When uploading your podcast: You need to write interesting episode descriptions, make captivating thumbnails, USE TIMESTAMPS OR THE KIDS WILL RIOT
            • Marketing
              • So now you have a final product! But how do you market a podcast?
                • You can’t just record a show, put it out there and hope for the best.
                  • Britt knows people who have had the same show for 10+ years and their growth hasn’t budged BUT THAT’S OKAY if that’s what you want
                • Social media is your friend
                  • Create official pages for your podcast. Twitter, FB
                  • You must manage your personal accounts as well as your brand pages, but you have to treat them differently
                  • People want to know the people behind the brand, so use your personal accounts to network, schmooze, make friends.
                  • Use your brand page to promote the podcast, interact with fans of the show (ie respond to those who reach out)
                • Collaborate!
                  • Invite friends on the show, invite industry colleagues, invite those who have a similar audience to yours, guest on each other’s show
                • Join a community
                  • Britt’s IGN Blog days where everyone had a show and guested on everyone’s show
                • Cover conventions, no matter how small.
                  • We all start somewhere, and covering industry events (for whatever your niche is) is a good way to attract new people. Interviews, impressions, etc. “I interviewed so and so at WhiskeyCon!”
                    • Mention them in your social posts, maybe you’ll get a RT, and now you have more eyeballs/earholes!