Should we do a podcast?
Over the past week it’s been our pleasure to support a client launch its first podcast.
According to Statista – 15.6million of us, just in the UK, tuned into podcasts this year so whatever we think, we know there’s an audience.
The podcast we helped launch is the SanyuSisters – which was formed by two early career researchers in maternal and newborn health. COVID has knocked life-changing research and healthcare solutions off-track.
Global maternal and new born health is a major issue covering a multitude of subjects.
Every two minutes a woman dies somewhere in the world from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth and 94% of all maternal deaths occur in low and lower middle-income countries. Every 16 seconds a child is stillborn. Research and the solutions it will unearth is desperately needed.
To help our clients promote a podcast which will make a real world difference is what fires us up. But we didn’t go into this with eyes closed. PR tactics and channels can come in and out of vogue.
Over the years various PR tactics have included:
- ‘The newsletter’ (printed and posted at one point – millennials draw breath at this revelation)
- The PR stunt (‘let’s float something down the Thames’)
- The microsite
- The App
- ‘vlogging’, YouTube influencers etc etc
The good news is that there is a fairly simple formula for choosing PR tactics..
- What’s the end goal: what are we trying to achieve?
- Do our target community/audience use it?
- Do we have the resources, skills and time to do it?
- How will we measure its impact?
That is very abridged. But PR professionals and their clients should never think that one tactic is the silver bullet to a comms issue.
Podcasts are accessible, COVID and lock-downs seem to have accelerated audience numbers.
People like what they like. Where else would the average ParkRun plodder get top tips on running direct from elite Kenyan athletes? Or be involved in a discussion on needle-craft with maestros from the Fair Isle, Scandinavia and New Zealand?
In my own experience a relatively small-printed fanzine I have loved for the last 30 years (The SquareBall) suddenly connects with a global audience of hundreds of thousands.
The SanyuSisters (named after Edith Sanyu, a Ugandan woman who herself died in childbirth) are using the platform to connect others, who share researchers’ drive, passion and sheer determination to make a difference to the world.
Using our PR formula…
- What’s the end goal: what are we trying to achieve? Connection through a low-cost/free resource of people facing similar challenges across the world
- Do our target community/audience use podcasts? Yes absolutely and they need peer support, resources and connections.
- Do we have the resources, skills and time to do it? Yes! We have two fantastic, passionate presenters whose enthusiasm is infectious
- How will we measure its impact? We will pilot it, see where it goes, see how many people engage (the first broadcast attracted over 140 researchers – some blogs attract millions, but we’d rather have 140 of the right people than 10,000 of the wrong ones!)
From a PR perspective, we can help our clients connect, engage and make a difference. We should use everyone of the professional tools available to make a real difference to the world we inhabit.
As the SquareBall might say: “On and on, and On and On…”
The podcast is available on all streaming platforms for download or direct via https://anchor.fm/sanyusisters