Who are you talking to?
You know why you’re starting a podcast. You’ve chosen the right format. Before you start planning episodes and booking guests, there’s another question you need to answer: Who is you audience?
The answer can’t be “everyone.” One of the biggest mistakes you can make when starting a podcast is trying to appeal to as many people as possible. It sounds logical: the broader your audience, the more potential listeners you have, right? Not necessarily.
Trying to make a podcast for everyone often means creating a podcast that doesn’t feel like it was made for anyone. When you know exactly who you want to reach, it becomes much easier to choose topics, book guests, develop your tone, and create episodes that give people a reason to keep listening.
What Is a Podcast Target Audience?
Your target audience is the specific group of people you want your show to reach.
That doesn't mean you need to know the exact age, job title, income, and coffee order of your hypothetical listener. What matters more is understanding why that person would listen to your podcast in the first place.
What do they care about? What problems are they trying to solve? What questions are they asking? What information are they looking for?
Most importantly: What can your podcast give them that makes it worth their time?
For a business podcast, your target audience should also connect back to the people your organization is trying to reach. Your podcast might be designed for potential customers, existing clients, other professionals in your industry, community members, or people who could benefit from your expertise. The more specific you can get about who those people are and what they need from you, the more focused your podcast can become.
Why Does Knowing Your Podcast Audience Matter?
Your audience should influence almost every decision you make about your podcast.
Start with your episode topics. Instead of asking, “What do we want to talk about this week?” ask, “What does our audience want or need to know?” That small shift can make a huge difference.
Your audience should also influence the guests you book. A well-known guest isn't necessarily the right guest. Someone with specialized expertise that directly answers a question your listeners have may provide far more value.
It can even affect your tone and episode length. A podcast aimed at busy executives might look very different from an entertainment show designed for listeners who want to spend an hour with their favorite hosts.
Knowing your audience gives you a filter for all of those decisions. Instead of asking whether something would make a good podcast episode, you can ask a much more useful question: Would this make a good podcast episode for our audience?
How Do You Identify Your Podcast's Target Audience?
If you're creating a podcast for your business, you probably don't need to invent an audience from scratch. Start with the people you're already trying to reach. Look at your customers, clients, members, patients, donors, or other people your organization serves. Then start listening.
What questions do customers ask you over and over again?
What do people misunderstand about your industry?
What problems bring people to your business?
What topics generate conversations on your social media?
What are people searching for before they find you?
Those questions can tell you a lot more about what your podcast should cover than simply brainstorming topics your team thinks would be interesting.
Create Content for Your Audience, Not Just Yourself
The people making the podcast naturally want to talk about the things they find interesting. And there's nothing wrong with bringing your own interests and expertise into your show. But your audience still needs a reason to care.
Let's say you run a financial planning firm. Your team might be fascinated by the technical details of a recent regulatory change. Your potential clients, however, may be asking a much simpler question: What does this mean for my retirement? You can still discuss the regulation. You just need to frame the conversation around what matters to the person listening.
That doesn't mean chasing trends or letting your audience dictate every episode. It means finding the intersection between what you know, what your business wants to accomplish, and what your audience actually needs.
Pay Attention to What Your Audience Tells You
Defining your podcast audience isn't something you do once before launching and never think about again. And once you start publishing, you'll have real information to work with.
Pay attention to which episodes get the most downloads or views. Look at watch time and audience retention. Notice which clips generate comments or shares. Keep track of questions you receive from listeners and customers.
You may discover that a topic you thought would be incredibly popular doesn't connect with your audience at all. Another topic you almost skipped might become one of your most successful episodes. That information should influence what you create next. Your strategy should evolve as you learn more about the people listening.
You Don't Need the Biggest Podcast Audience
Especially for a business podcast, success isn't necessarily about reaching the largest possible number of people.
Imagine one podcast has 10,000 listeners who have very little connection to the business behind it. Another has 1,000 listeners who are exactly the people that business wants to reach. Which audience is more valuable?
That's why download numbers alone don't tell you whether a business podcast is working. A smaller, highly relevant audience can help you build trust, demonstrate expertise, nurture potential customers, strengthen relationships, and establish your brand within a particular industry or community.
The goal isn't necessarily to get everyone to listen. It's to get the right people to listen.
Make a Podcast Worth Listening To
The better you know who you're talking to, the easier it becomes to create a podcast worth their time. Before you hit record, be able to answer three questions: Who is this podcast for? What does that person need from us? Why should they come back for another episode?
This article is part of Wavestream Wednesday, a series from Wavestream Media about building better podcasts with a strategy behind them. Check back next Wednesday for more.
