The podcasting industry is constantly evolving and changing, and it’s important that your podcast keeps up. Otherwise, you might not be reaching your ideal audience and bringing in new listeners on a weekly basis.
One way to check the status and quality of your podcast is to audit it through a self-audit or by a podcast expert. This is especially helpful for independent podcasters who are a one-person show.
Let’s review the top five reasons to do a professional podcast audit on a quarterly basis.
Ensure You’re Still Serving Your Audience
Hopefully, before you launched your podcast, you identified your target audience. It’s easy to cater to your ideal demographic in the beginning, but as you keep podcasting it’s second nature to veer away from them from time to time.
A quarterly podcast audit will ensure that you’re still serving the people you set out to serve with high-quality content that meets their needs.
Additionally, after you launch your podcast you may be surprised by the audiences it reaches. They may not exactly match the audience you set out to speak to, and that’s okay. An audit will help you identify your current audience, their needs, and how you can best serve them with your podcast.
Make Sure Your Podcast is Meeting Your Business Goals
If you launched your podcast to support your business or personal brand, it’s a good idea to evaluate how it is or isn’t reaching your goals on a quarterly basis.
Is your podcast content driving people to your website? Have listeners signed up for your online course? Has your podcast converted your followers into clients?
A quarterly podcast audit can evaluate your podcast against your goals and make sure you’re on the right track. It will also help you reevaluate your goals and adjust them for each quarter of the year.
Continue to Improve Your Podcast Quality
In an ideal world, your podcast should get better and better as time goes on. If you started a do-it-yourself podcast on a low budget, eventually it will be time to upgrade to better software and equipment.
A professional can identify weaknesses in your podcast’s quality and give you tips for improving it. This doesn’t just relate to how your podcast sounds (although that is important), but it’s also an audit of your content, your intros, outros, interview style, and more.
Keep Up With Podcasting Trends
Podcasting trends can change overnight, and as a creator, it’s hard to keep up with it all. If you’re a busy entrepreneur who’s already balancing a ton of plates, staying up to date with podcast trends may not make it on your to-do list.
Luckily, a podcast expert can educate you on the current trends for each quarter and help you incorporate them into your show. They can take the weight off your shoulders and help you enjoy podcasting more. Meeting quarterly will ensure that you never fall too behind a new podcasting trend.
Evaluate Your Marketing Plan
When you work with me, a podcast audit doesn’t only include listening to your podcast and giving you notes. I also evaluate your full marketing plan, including your podcast landing page, your show’s description, and your promotional graphics.
I believe that podcast content should boost your SEO and grow your business, so it’s important to have a rock-solid marketing plan that includes a podcast landing page and online library. I also make sure your podcast is published on all the major podcast players so it gets in front of more listeners. A monthly audit of all of your marketing channels ensures that your podcast meets your goals and continues to benefit your business.
How to Audit Your Podcast
If you’re ready to audit your own podcast, make sure to sign up for our Mini Podcast Audit Challenge, a three day challenge where we’re walking you through the first steps of your basic podcast audit, which include auditing your podcast goal, description, intro & outro, and making sure you’re on all major players!
Take your audit to the next level with our full self-paced podcast audit inside Mic Check Society, our community for podcasters! In this full audit, we’ll walk you through the basics, along with the production process, the marketing process, and a few other big-picture considerations for your podcast!
