I co-run Larj Media, a podcast agency based in Seattle. We focus on creating podcasts for thought leaders and brands, and that includes developing podcasts at conferences and trade shows, as we did in March for the NW Event Show (you can listen to the trailer we created from the event below!).
Over the last 6 months I’ve done a deep dive into AI specifically to help solve the problem of audience development and podcast discoverability. Though it’s a daunting endeavor and there’s a lot out there, I’m excited by what’s emerging.
The podcast space is noisy, it’s both littered with mediocrity and tragically full of great shows that don’t get discovered. We used to rely on promotional social media posts, strong show notes (summaries drawing listeners into a podcast in hopes they are intrigued enough to listen), and paid campaigns to get what we call “earballs” on our shows. All of these tasks were assigned either in partnership with the client’s marketing agency or arduously managed by an in-house producer.
Here’s where AI has come to the rescue. With AI tools we’re able to pop an episode into an AI tool, receive a transcript in minutes and then with that transcript using either Chat GPT or the various podcast-specific options (Capsho, Swell AI, Momento) and instantly receive social media posts (engaging, educational and promotional), blogs, LinkedIn articles, SEO optimized titles, time-stamped episode summaries and even short videos.
I hear you wondering, did you just replace producers and marketers with AI?! Quite the contrary. What we’ve done is increase our marketing offerings using AI as our rough drafts. Then our producers or subject matter expert collaborators swoop in and edit, pare down and refine the outputs. In the end we have a host of rich creative assets for our client to use to across their whole marketing ecosystem. In essence the very podcast is now serving as the fertile ground for an entire marketing campaign, thought positioning, demonstrating brand mission and values, and any other branding initiatives they’re pursuing at the time.
It’s not all champagne and unicorns though, the fast pace at which AI is evolving makes it very buggy on the user side. I recommend proceeding with a lot of patience. Additionally, AI tools can be extremely overwhelming. The tools will do a lot of heavy lifting, but most will dump a lot of raw material out in the form of copy (blogs content, social posts, email copy) – so it’s still a lot of time and effort to parse through.
To give you an example of what you might get from a ChatGPT prompt, I asked it to write an engaging post for Instagram about this article and make it educational and not too promotional here’s what it generated (it also added those emojis and hashtags):
🎙️ Delve into the educational power of AI in podcasting! 🚀🌟
🔊 Are you seeking ways to enhance audience development and podcast discoverability? Explore the transformative capabilities of AI! 💡
✨ Discover how AI tools can swiftly generate episode transcripts, empowering you to create engaging social media posts, informative blogs, and captivating videos. 📝🎥
✍️ AI acts as a creative catalyst, working hand in hand with our talented producers and experts to refine and deliver high-quality content. Together, we elevate the podcasting experience. 🎧💼
🌱 Join us on a fascinating journey into the realm of AI-powered podcasting. Uncover the potential and possibilities that await! 🎙️✨
#PodcastingEducation #AIPower #UnlockingPotential #PodcastingJourney
As you can see, it isn’t perfect and it’s not quite up to the task of taking your job any time soon. But it’s good enough to get you a good head start when confronted with a blank page and the hungry engine of social media.
Guest post by Tina Nole of Larj Media
