Whether you want more content ideas for your podcast, you’re thinking about starting a podcast (but don’t think you’ll have enough to talk about!), or think podcasting isn’t for you…keep reading to find out how you can boost the ROI of all that time and energy spent creating your best blog posts.
How to repurpose a blog post into a podcast
In this post, you’ll learn:
- How to choose the right blog posts to repurpose into podcast episodes
- How to structure and plan your podcast episodes based on blog posts
- The different options for recording your podcast episodes — including voice alternatives and tech recommendations
Why repurpose your blog posts into podcast episodes
Having a podcast is becoming an increasingly vital part of a successful B2B content marketing strategy.
Podcasts tap into new audiences, help you connect with existing clients (improving retention and increasing lifetime value) and build relationships with potential clients and collaborators.
Plus, the data doesn’t lie. Isoline reports that monthly podcast listeners grew by 6.1% in 2022. They also state that organizations with branded podcasts saw a whopping 89% higher awareness.
From a content marketing strategy perspective, a podcast is brilliant because it sits at the top of the content pyramid. By that, I mean there is boundless repurposing potential for each podcast episode. It can fuel your social media content, enhance your website’s SEO with accompanying blog posts, and more.
So what’s stopping you from getting started?
If you think you’ll cringe at watching yourself talking to camera or listening to your own voice, there are alternatives which I’ll get onto later.
Or perhaps you feel you have nothing to say? Well, if you have blog posts, articles, social media content, or really create any type of content, then you definitely do!
It’s likely that you’re already sitting on a mountain of blog posts that are great for turning into podcast episodes. Here’s how to easily transform them, like a professional.
How to repurpose your best blog posts into compelling podcast episodes
1. Decide what posts you want to repurpose
First, take a look at your website analytics using Google Analytics or whatever tool you use to find out how much traffic your site gets.
Search for the blog posts that get the most hits and hold your audience’s attention for the longest period of time. This data indicates that this content is what people want from you. It’s topics that have clearly resonated with your blog audience, so it’s the best place to start.
Choose the top 5 blog posts or so to get started with.
2. Plan your podcast episode
The good news is, your podcast has everything you need for a great podcast episode. The bad news is, you can’t just read out the blog post. That’s going to be a major turn-off for your audience.
We don’t write how we speak, therefore blog posts aren’t written to be read out loud. But there are three ways you can stop them from sounding wooden.
Bullet point the key messages
If you wrote the blog post, you’ll have a good understanding of what the content is about. Use bullet points to guide you as you talk about the topic aloud.
Storyboard the episode
Perhaps you’re not so confident that you can rely on just bullets, but don’t want a full script. A storyboard is a happy medium that gives you enough information to ensure you hit all the main points in your episode. Think about this example as having speech cards for when you’re delivering a presentation.
Rewrite the blog post as a script
If you’re recording a video podcast and have a teleprompter, this can be a great option (and if you’re planning on recording video podcasts I recommend investing in one!). Just remember to write the script how you speak and not how you write. Imagine explaining the topic to your client or colleague to help you get a more natural speech pattern.
3. Prepare your tech
Teleprompters aren’t necessary unless you’re recording a video podcast. But mics are.
Nothing stops people from listening to a podcast episode faster than bad audio. A high-quality mic can ensure your message is heard clearly and is much more powerful than a built-in mic on your laptop.
There are plenty of mics out there, so get reading some reviews and figure out which would work best for you!
What if you don’t want to be the voice of your podcast?
As mentioned, there are other options if you or your team would prefer not to record a podcast using your voices. Alternatives include:
Text-to-speech apps, which read out your blog post for you. There are many options available including Speechify and NaturalReader. But beware, the recording could sound very robotic. Carefully consider if this choice is right for your brand.
You could also hire voiceover artists. There are sites out there that can provide this as a service or you could go straight to a freelance voiceover artist. If you go this route, think about having one voice to represent your brand — like Stephen Fry as the iconic voice of the Harry Potter audiobooks!
One last thing on tech, whatever option you go for, you’ll have to do some podcast editing to get it shipshape for the apps, so invest in a software that you like. We use Descript. There’s also Audacity and Adobe Audition, to name a few.
If you don’t fancy becoming a podcast producer alongside all your other responsibilities, this is the perfect time to outsource your podcast production. Hand your raw files over to us, and we’ll take care of it from here.
4. Add podcast-specific elements
Repurposing is all about making those nuanced changes that transform one piece of content into another — getting all the benefits in the most time-efficient manner. One thing not to skip is adding some podcast-specific elements like an intro to help your blog post complete its metamorphosis into a podcast episode.
Intros, outros, midrolls, ads, and music are all very common in podcasts, but not essential. These elements can help you reinforce your brand, plug in other content or give a call to action, so if you want to invest time in creating them, they can pay off.
Most B2B podcasts have an intro stating what the podcast is about and who it’s for. Outros are usually a friendly wrapping up and have a call to action, such as to follow them on social media. Music and midroll ads can be used at your discretion. I recommend a midroll ad with a quick call to action, such as to sign up for your newsletter. Just keep these elements short and sweet.
If you’re smart about it you can record one intro, outro, and midroll that can be applied to all podcast episodes!
5. Repurpose your podcast episode!
The one thing you need to add before your podcast can hit the airwaves is some accompanying show notes. Use the podcast episode or even your original blog post to help you craft these. Then hit ‘publish’ (we use podcast host Captivate for our podcast hosting).
Finally, you’ll want to market your new podcast episode by promoting it across your social media channels and more….but that’s another blog post!
So, if you’ve been looking for some inspiration for what to do with the blog posts on your website, I hope this post has inspired you. And, if you want to launch a podcast, I hope it’s given you the courage to take the leap.
All the content is already there…it’s just about turning your best blog posts into engaging audio content. Your audience will thank you for it!
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Originally published at https://www.content10x.com on January 20, 2022.
