Episode 320

How to Create Content for a Current and Future Audience

“What do you mean by how to create content for a current and future audience?”

I’ve listened to thousands of podcast episodes at this point in my life.

(What’s even crazier is I’ve almost created that much content too!)

But I’ve learned so many valuable lessons listening to other podcasts that I knew talking about how to create content for a current and future audience for your show would be helpful.

Let’s talk about the two biggest determining factors for serving the people currently listening to your podcast and those listeners that will stumble upon your show weeks, months, or even years from now.

Evergreen vs. Time-Sensitive Content

The way I see my audience is a spectrum of experience and knowledge — we’ll talk more about that in a second — that helps me determine which types of content I need to create for my podcast. It’s also what helps me decide if I need to produce a piece of content that will be relevant 2 years from now (evergreen) or something that’s a new update to Apple Podcasts or how Spotify is adding subscriptions to their platform (time-sensitive). 

Where a listener lands on the spectrum of a podcaster depends on how each type of content will be received. Here are the 4 stages of my audience:

1. Idea-person: They’ve said, “I think I want to have a podcast…” but haven’t taken concrete steps to make it a reality.

2. Beginner: They’ve launched their show, but everything is still “new” to them. AKA their show is less than 3 months old.

3. Intermediate: These content creators have been podcasting consistently for the last 6-12 months.

4. Advanced: The podcasters that land in this category are “serious” about their content and ready to monetize and build a business around their platform.

Why is it important to know this spectrum about my audience?

I want to make sure that my content isn’t always filled with beginner information or content only relevant to expert-level podcasters. I want to continue serving beginners to expert-level podcasters. 

Could I niche down and just serve one? 100%!

But the truth is, I like serving people across a broad spectrum of experience and knowledge. It helps me create content easier and not feel burned out constantly repeating myself on just “how to launch a podcast”.

“Who is My Current Audience?”

Here are a few things to consider as you think about how you can best serve your current podcast audience. 

Types of content and questions to ask for a current audience:

• How can you serve them where they are right now?
• Give them specific “how-to” content for the season they find themselves in

This content will remain fluid over the life of your podcast, but this is how you can best serve the people currently listening to your show.