Give ‘em a Preview
Regardless of whether you are still thinking about starting your podcast - or you just launched - or, heck, maybe you have been doing your ‘thang’ for years - do you have a trailer? It might sound silly and unnecessary, but it serves multiple purposes.
Before you launch your show, you now have something to put out into the world - like a movie trailer - to tease your potential audience and let them know what the show is about and why they should listen. Nothing says ‘I’m ready to launch’ like a proper podcast trailer, and then you can direct people to that via a link, where they can also subscribe to your show while they wait for your first episode.
After your launch, people who stumble onto your glorious audio project will be able to preview your show with that lovely trailer. It will help them decide if your content is what they are looking for, or if they need to keep looking. Depending on how your website is set up (assuming you have one - which you should - that’s another blog post for later), you can promote your trailer episode right at the top of your website, or at least somewhere easy to find so that people can quickly figure out what your show is about.
Some podcast listening apps are able to feature your podcast trailer (as long as you designated the epsiode as such) so that it stands out in the top of your podcast episodes. Again - this helps people to quickly figure out what your show is about, but you can’t take advantage of that if you don’t have one …
This last one applies to folks who are just about to start their RSS feed with a podcast host. When you first setup your RSS feed, you will inevitably select which podcast distribution platforms (Apple, Spotify, etc.) your show will be sent to - BUT - when you first create everything, some distributors - *cough cough … APPLE …. *cough - can take a little longer than others to approve your show for distribution. By the time you confirm your show and submit it for distribution on Apple Podcasts it may take a couple of days or a couple of WEEKS to verify and approve everything. So, if you kick things off with a trailer, it now serves as the test dummy for confirming your episodes are being sent out to all the right places for listening. THEN - when you release your normal episodes, there won’t be any unexpected delays after you hit your “Submit” button for that first episode.
“You can always go back and swap out the audio … “
Let’s talk about what should be in the trailer.
Introduce yourself or the show (or both)
Clearly state what the show/podcast/audio awesomeness is about and who it’s for (aka your target audience)
Consider mentioning how often new episodes are published
Remind people to subscribe to your show so they stay up-to-date on the latest and greatest
Add in any other important tidbits that you don’t want to repeat for each and every introduction of your normal episodes
There’s definitely flexibility in how you can execute all of this, but don’t feel like you’re stuck with having to use one, and only one, version of your trailer. You can always go back and swap out the audio to update it as your show changes. Or - maybe you mentioned something in the trailer that was only applicable for when your show first released and now you need to go back and do a quick edit. Okay - no problem! Just like movie trailers, there can be multiple versions of YOUR trailer too! However, I would recommend carefully crafting your words so that you don’t have to continually update your trailer every single time some special event happens. You can always make a quick update or comment in the intro of your normal episodes, for special events, as needed. Your trailer’s info should essentially be ‘evergreen’ and apply to most situations.
Finally, when it comes to the length of your trailer, don’t go too crazy. I would recommend keeping it under two minutes if able. If you find yourself wandering in thoughts while listening to it, consider editing some content out. You just want to let people know who you are, what the show is about, why they should care, and how they can stay updated on your show (aka subscribing). That’s pretty much the gist.
Here’s the trailer for one of my own podcasts. See if I followed the rules, and then note the things that you DO and DON’T like before deciding what you might do with your own trailer. Note that I have some fancy music in the background. You definitely don’t have to do that, but I chose to give it a go, because many of my episodes feature music and sound effects. So, like we said - my trailer is previewing what people can expect for normal episodes.
Good luck!
