Starting an unbranded podcast

[Philip J. Fry]

Not sure if this is the right forum. Mods, please move if needed.

I want to start an unbranded podcast for my industry. It's the travel industry. It's unbranded because: 1.) I have never started a podcast before so I'm sure any earning expectations would be false 2.) it'll get traction easier unbranded 3.) people would rather hear stories from people than from a company.

IMO and from others that I've talked to, it seems like many companies are starting podcasts these days and many people are podcasting. It's content marketing with audio instead of text. We're also going to record the discussion with video so that the video of the podcast can serve as YouTube content.

Does anyone have any ideas, opinions, or experience here? From discussions so far, the podcast would just be people BS-ing about traveling, similar to talk radio. We'll have some news updates and that's about it. IMO most people listening to a podcast would listen because they're subscribed. It might just be background sound similar to having a radio on. WBU?

 

[DanielS]

I think a big mistake many new podcasts make is assuming that people will watch/listen because they are a podcast that is entertaining, informative, etc. Ideally, especially when starting out, a primary topic needs to be discussed in each episode so they can actually be optimized and discovered. If you just start pumping out "My Podcast Episode #" you'll struggle to gain any organic traction because nobody knows what "My Podcast" is. With this said, if you go heavy on promotional activities then you can somewhat bypass the need to satisfy search engines.

 

[Philip J. Fry]

I think a big mistake many new podcasts make is assuming that people will watch/listen because they are a podcast that is entertaining, informative, etc. Ideally, especially when starting out, a primary topic needs to be discussed in each episode so they can actually be optimized and discovered. If you just start pumping out "My Podcast Episode #" you'll struggle to gain any organic traction because nobody knows what "My Podcast" is. With this said, if you go heavy on promotional activities then you can somewhat bypass the need to satisfy search engines.

Great point! The themes would be location such as Goa, south of Spain, Baltic sisters, or Bali! Awesome!

 

[bernard]

Great point! The themes would be location such as Goa, south of Spain, Baltic sisters, or Bali! Awesome!

A digital nomad podcast?

I mean, normal package tours happen to those locations, but Goa, Southern Spain and Bali are 3 of the most popular digital nomad destinations.

Digital nomads is the rebranded backpacker of course.

I listen to expat podcasts as well, currently the Bangkok Podcast, from when I used to live there. Expat podcasts are also popular.

I don't think a normal travel podcast can do well, because travel is so individual now, and much more of a group identifier.

 

[ToffeeLa]

There are heaps of digital nomad podcasts - I've been doing some video courses over the past year or so and there are a few people in that field who have been involved. Van life is another big one.

Most people seem to be doing (or to have switched into) combo YT/FB/Insta/Pinterest video plus podcast. Not sure that a travel podcast alone would be that interesting (and I would potentially be your target audience) without the images of locations and that then of course is reliant on skills at video.

You could always do travel marketing but that is very niche. Are you thinking of an audio/video version of something like TravelMole?

 

[Ryuzaki]

What do you mean by unbranded?

Because anything will become a brand. Whether it's attached to the company you work with, if it's based on your name or pseudonym, or even if you just call it "Travel Podcast", something is going to stick and become the brand.

It will be given one by your fans eventually because people need some way to refer to it and discuss it with each other. And if that's the case, then you might as well choose what you want people to call it and leverage that to your advantage.

Alternatively you can just insert the company as the sponsor or something, with a more generic or personal brand name.

 

[GNews]

Great idea. People love to work while listening to audio in the current era. It makes people feel less alone.