Good Reasons for Podcast Seasons

When you’re starting to look at podcasting as a marketing strategy, the sheer amount of work can be an intimidating prospect.

A weekly release cadence is the most common frequency, and for many companies strikes a good balance between the amount of work involved for you and your team members (or the price, if you’re working with a producer) and the benefits you’ll be getting from the show. All things being equal, if you can manage a weekly cadence, this should be the option you consider the most seriously.

Bi-weekly releases can be a little easier to add to your workflows, but it makes it more difficult to gain traction or make progress towards key goals, and while there are shows that release every month, that cadence makes each episode almost a standalone project rather than part of a cohesive body of work.

An option I often recommend people consider, if committing to a permanent content channel feels like to strong of a start, is a limited-release season.

Unlike an ongoing podcast (even one that is divided into multiple, recurring seasons for organization or convenience), a limited-release season has a pre-planned beginning and end. Each season could stand alone and be complete in and of itself. They are typically between 6 and 12 episodes, and are focused around a specific theme and have specific goals.

A season can also be a great way to test the waters of podcasting to see if 1) you like it, and 2) your audience and community are interested in hearing from you in this way.

Making the decision should come down to your goals - if you can accomplish everything you want to in a closed timeframe - go for it! If you want a show that is going to be a part of your marketing on a permanent basis - then it’s got to be ongoing. 🙂 There’s no right answer - only right for your business.

What Does The Data Tell Us?

Seasons only represented 7% of the 100 top business podcasts we looked at late last year, and only 3 of them were limited releases.

This is by no means a reason not to do it. To be a top 100%, you almost have to have an ongoing release schedule to build up the audience that gives you those kinds of numbers.

If you have a specific goal for your business that a season can help you achieve, why not give it a go?

Some popular goals / season topics we see are:

• Book, Product and Event Launches - these seasons work with your launch strategy to build up some excitement, get the word out and keep your community engaged.
• Lead Nurturing Podcasts - these are seasons strategically created to educate potential clients about you and your company so they are excited to work with you.
• SEO and Content Development - this kind of season is designed to fill any gaps in your body of work, and be a resource your audience can use again and again.
• Training Seasons - these seasons can be gated and work as opt-ins to drive list-building and community growth.
• Case Study Seasons - this type of season is a deep dive into your unique process or methodology, ideally with a client or two, that you can use in your marketing to demonstrate your services.

If one of these sounds interesting to you, you could have it live and ready to go in a matter of weeks. If you’d like to discuss, we can jump on a call.

Latest on the Company Show

What’s the best way to grow your podcast audience? That is a topic that could be debated hotly by pretty much anyone who works in podcasting. But all would agree that if being a guest on other people’s podcasts isn’t the very best method, it’s high on the list.

Pitching well, which is to say, effectively and in a manner that results in guest appearances and new professional relationships is one of those things that is simple but not easy.

Simple: Find complementary shows, communicate your value, bring your best content and generally be a helpful and gracious guest.

Not easy: How do you pitch, are you good enough, will they listen to you, how much research do you need to do, do you have to promote your episode, how long is this all going to take and what if no one accepts you?

Maybe I’m the only one who gets a little in my head about it, but it’s not likely.

Angie Trueblood the founder of The Podwize Group is one of my greatest friends in the industry, and connecting podcast guests and podcast hosts is her specialty. Since our very first interview, we’ve been talking, collaborating, workshopping and generally working together to create ways that different kinds of businesses owners can leverage podcasts and podcast appearances.

And through these conversations we’ve come up with really excellent use-cases for different kinds of business owners—most specifically, authors. Turns out we also have in common a love of the written word and the people who create those words as a marketing strategy for their companies.

So, enjoy this conversation I had with Angie; there have been some changes in both of our businesses since it was originally released. Check the show notes for the latest links and details but the strategy and practice of pitching is solid.

There is so much gold in this conversation that will help you refine your own pitching strategy to get more visibility on your show, your book and your business.

If you’re interested in any of that that, check it out!

Do This Now

Want to take one action to make a difference in your show and how well it’s working for you? It’ll only take 5 minutes.

Is there a short-term business goal that a season - or series within your ongoing podcast - could help you achieve? Think about:

• Questions you have to answer all the time
• Search Engine queries that most often lead people to your website
• Events you have coming up
• Your most popular lead magnets

And brainstorm how you might use your podcast content to build, or enhance what you’re doing.

Are you considering a podcast season? Hit reply and let me know your idea, or share your existing one so we can check it out!

Onwards!

Megan Dougherty

and the rest of the team at Podcasting for Business by One Stone Creative