Like most people that get into podcasting, you have a voice and message you want to share with your community. You want to be a thought leader, an influencer, or use your voice to expand your business’s marketing or personal branding. That’s where your focus should be: expanding your reach and influence while growing your audience with your content.
But there’s a lot behind the scenes that goes into podcasting that can distract you from your main objective: Post-production, editing, sound bites, cover art, show notes, metadata, social media promotion, websites, marketing, researching and scheduling guest interviews; the list goes on!
And that can be overwhelming if those areas are not in your wheelhouse when you initially set out to share your ideas with the world. That creates a dilemma: You want to deliver a polished product for your audience and be a success, but you don’t have the skills or capacity to make it happen. What do you do? Hire a podcast producer!
What does a podcast producer do?
A podcast producer can help create a solid podcast by acting as an administrative, creative, and technical director. They are responsible for managing the podcast, recording and editing the episodes, and many other behind-the-scenes activities. The podcast producer also performs research on various marketing strategies and campaigns needed to ensure a podcast’s success.
Managing Production
The podcast producer is the podcast development administrator from start to finish and ensures the podcast show’s smooth running. They oversee the podcast’s vision and make sure to execute the concept to fulfill that vision. It’s a lot of work making a podcast, from generating fresh ideas to managing production to creating strategies for a successful promotion of the podcast show; this all falls under a podcast producer’s prime responsibilities.
Creative Vision
Some go so far as to call the podcast producer the creative genius behind the podcast. Mostly, this is due to the keystone position the producer holds to the entire process. Their role is to develop and maintain the podcast’s creative vision and then research and deploy strategies to run successful campaigns that reach those ends. They are in charge of the overall gameplan, ensure everyone is on track with the big picture, and know when to adjust the game plan when agility needs to come into play.
Finding and Researching Podcast Guests
Podcast producers are in charge of researching, finding, and coordinating guests’ scheduling for your podcast. They need to be highly skilled in communication, research, and networking to connect with influencers in your areas of topics to get them booked for your show. They will need to find exciting and captivating guests that your audience will love and will be able to attract new followers.
Managing Audio, Directing, Post-Production, and Editing
Another primary role of the podcast producer is delivering a polished, high-quality product. What separates the lone podcaster on his laptop (who hits record and hopes for the best) from the pros is what you see, or rather hear, here. The podcast producer will work on directing the audio production, overseeing the recording, editing, and broadcasting of every episode. As you can imagine, this involves tons of editing, mixing music elements and narration clips, and smooth transitions, to a professional degree that rivals radio broadcasters. This also includes what happens after the episode is produced so people can find you on the web – show notes, metadata, social media promotion, and marketing promotional campaigns.
Tracking Analytics
A podcast producer needs to track how your podcast is performing to optimize key performance metrics. They will be monitoring downloads, listener demographics, and what times listeners are tuning in for your show. The data and analytics are an essential part of understanding how your podcast is performing and how/when to correct course to optimize your reach.
If you are looking to hire a podcast producer, the most critical factor you should be looking for is experience. You want someone with an extensive background in audio production or podcasting, and they should have communication and research skills for booking and interviewing guests. You’ll also want someone with strong writing skills and a firm grasp of SEO for writing your show notes and metadata to boost your online presence.
Podcast Taxi is a comprehensive podcast production service that takes the grueling work of post-production off of your hands, leaving you free to do what you love – grow your show and connect with your audience. Jump on a Discovery Call today to see how we can help take care of every aspect of your podcast!