How to Rebrand or Relaunch your Podcast

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 Welcome to Podcasting Q&A brought to you by the people at bus brawl.

spk_0 I'm your host, Kira Pasetti, and I'm bringing you the best tips and strategies to keep you

spk_0 podcasting with confidence. I am so excited about today's episode for a couple of reasons,

spk_0 but the first being we are answering a question that was sent in through our fan mail feature

spk_0 from Sacramento, California, one of our real podcasting Q&A listeners wrote in and is asking

spk_0 how to relaunch your podcast. That's so appropriate because we actually just relaunched this podcast

spk_0 podcasting Q&A, and I got to walk through that process, and I actually had a lot of help from

spk_0 Alvin, who is the head of our marketing department, and that is who is here with me today

spk_0 to help tackle this question. So, y'all, I hope can hear the excitement in my voice,

spk_0 but this is going to be a really fun episode. Let's go ahead and tackle this question together.

spk_0 Alvin, thank you for taking the time to be here with me. Thanks for having me, Kira.

spk_0 Okay, so Alvin, there is a difference between rebranding your podcast and relaunching your podcast.

spk_0 Before we dive into this, can you just explain the difference in those two?

spk_0 Sure, we've actually done both with this podcast, so I'll use these as an example.

spk_0 Rebranding is when you realize the brand for the podcast doesn't really fit the content anymore.

spk_0 And so, you're changing things like maybe the title, the or might be changing the artwork,

spk_0 the description, and you're just taking the show in a different way. So, the show has grown out of

spk_0 the brand that you initially had for it. This show, I don't know, seven years ago used to be called

spk_0 Five Minute Mondays. That didn't make sense because nobody knew what Five Minute Mondays was about.

spk_0 They didn't know if it was ballet tips or if it was about the gardening or if it was about

spk_0 podcasting. And so, okay, we needed better name. And then we came up with podcasting Q&A because

spk_0 that felt, oh, that's much closer to what we're actually talking about. So, we rebranded the podcasting

spk_0 Q&A. What you just redid, what you just did was a relaunch. And a relaunch is when a show might go on

spk_0 hiatus, maybe you just weren't loving it and so you stopped for a while. And then you come back

spk_0 and you go, ah, this is the time to get back into podcasting. Well, that's a relaunch. And so,

spk_0 it's exciting to kind of differentiate this for some people because rebranding can happen just

spk_0 in the middle of podcasting. Re-launching is when a show has kind of gone away for a bit and you're

spk_0 trying to bring it back. Great explanation. That really clears things up. I kind of think of a rebrand

spk_0 as very obvious changes. Like, we are changing audience even. I mean, we're talking maybe to different

spk_0 people, totally new content. And I feel like a relaunch when it comes to any changes that you're

spk_0 making are like a little bit subtle, maybe more known to the podcast or than the listener.

spk_0 Right. Because you know why the show kind of potted for a little bit. And in that relaunch,

spk_0 you're going, okay, we got to kind of think through. Why did this show stop coming out for a bit?

spk_0 For this show, we were doing podcasting Q&A as an audio podcast. And then eventually we said,

spk_0 what if we also added on a video component? And then we went, what if we had multiple hosts who

spk_0 did the video component? And the show got bigger and bigger and bigger. We went, oh, this is too much.

spk_0 And what it ended up being was podcasting Q&A was the piece we went, I think that can go on hiatus.

spk_0 And then an opportunity came up where you're doing all of the lives and loving it and said,

spk_0 oh, it'd be fun if I also added on like a podcasting component when we go, oh, that's not a new podcast.

spk_0 You can actually take this one we had had for a long time. Let's relaunch that podcast.

spk_0 Yeah, this was an exciting new project for me. And so I've been honored to carry on this

spk_0 already very successful podcast. We see value in this podcast even when it was paused.

spk_0 Listeners were still actively listening to episodes. And so I want to bring up that point though

spk_0 about historic episodes with a relaunch. You may have a back catalog of many, many episodes.

spk_0 Abin, what do we look for to decide? Do those need to stay live and available? Or when would we

spk_0 archive those and say, nope, we need to take those off the feed and unpublish those episodes? What

spk_0 are some of those identifying factors? Would you say? I think my default is keep it. And the reason

spk_0 is a lot of times people will take stuff offline because they're embarrassed. And they go, oh,

spk_0 I used to not be as good as I am now. You know, I my technique was bad. And so you can hear it

spk_0 in this spot. And so we're always the harshest critics of ourselves. And so we go back and we want

spk_0 to take them all offline. Now, if there is something out there that's going to get traffic and is

spk_0 wrong, go ahead and re record it, maybe take it offline. But even on Buzzcast, we've got episodes

spk_0 that are about, you know, changes that Apple made in 2018. Well, those changes have been changed

spk_0 two more times since then. But those episodes are still kind of a historic record of what was going

spk_0 on in 2018. So I feel comfortable leaving even those episodes out there. That's such a great point.

spk_0 And I think most podcasters back up their episodes on their local hard drives, but some don't.

spk_0 Hopefully. I was going to say, hopefully you're backing up your content. But if you're not,

spk_0 they may only be live on your RSS feed. And so you're right. Don't remove it, especially as a

spk_0 relaunch. It kind of plays into look at what I've done. And then look where we're going now

spk_0 with any relaunch. There are going to be some changes. Like Alvin said, podcasting Q&A has gone

spk_0 through a rebrand and now a relaunch. And one thing that we changed was the host. And so we started

spk_0 with Travis for five minute Mondays. And then it got passed on to Jordan. And now I get to host

spk_0 podcasting Q&A. And that was a staffing change. That was a workload change. So that one was kind

spk_0 of obvious for us. But Alvin, what are some other things that might change in a relaunch?

spk_0 So obviously hosts can change formats can change. You can change the episode publishing frequency.

spk_0 Maybe the length. Some podcasts just realized that going all in on quality and publishing once a

spk_0 month is the best way for them to create great content. Others realized the weekly cadence is

spk_0 right for them. And they'd rather have a little bit tighter episodes once a week. Find out what

spk_0 works for you. Absolutely. Yeah. That's kind of the point I was making in the beginning that maybe

spk_0 the frequency is changing or maybe you started as a question and answer episode. And I actually

spk_0 on a recent episode of buzzcast, I heard Dave Jackson say he created a podcast expecting it to be

spk_0 Q&A. And then he said, we didn't get any questions because we had no A. No audience. And I

spk_0 loved that. So maybe that's how you started your podcast. But now you need to revisit it and actually

spk_0 build up that audience before you can incorporate that component. And so maybe that's what's changing.

spk_0 And that would be perfect for a relaunch. So really identifying where you want your podcast to go

spk_0 and how you're going to get there is that legwork you need to do beforehand before you actually

spk_0 go live with it. So we've identified why we're relaunching a show. Then we've identified what's

spk_0 the solution so that this doesn't happen again. What's going to change? What's the third step? I mean,

spk_0 I imagine it's going to be we're going to launch this show. Exactly. So the first two steps were

spk_0 conceptual. Now we're into action. So the first step for us was actually recording and publishing

spk_0 a trailer, which actually Alvin you and I saw differently on this. So I wanted to record a trailer

spk_0 because I knew that I was going to be a brand new voice for podcasting Q&A. And I wanted to just say,

spk_0 hey, I'm new. I'm Kara. It's going to be the same things, same podcast, but you're going to hear

spk_0 a new voice. And I might offer a new perspective. And so I just recorded a two minute trailer and then

spk_0 on our launch date, published that trailer. That was one way of doing it. Alvin, do you have another

spk_0 kind of method for whether or not to incorporate a trailer for a relaunch? I mean, my default is often

spk_0 just do the thing you want to do. And if what you want to do is relaunch the show and you've got an

spk_0 idea of what it is, I just say record one episode and launch it and see if it's any good. See if you

spk_0 enjoy it. See if other people like it. And you can just skip kind of to that final step with

spk_0 relaunching a podcast. And you were this is the first podcast you were going to take. My default was

spk_0 I don't know. Do you know if you really like this? Why don't you just take it to an episode?

spk_0 But you sounded like you felt like it's much more comfortable to be a bit more methodical. Think

spk_0 through this. Come up with a handful of episodes. Record plan and then launch. And lucky for us,

spk_0 you follow through on all that stuff. So it actually happened. No analysis paralysis here. Yeah.

spk_0 But that is such a great point. So once you've recorded the trailer, you want to make sure that

spk_0 your podcast is available. So if it is hosted with a podcast host and your content is on an RSS feed,

spk_0 you want to make sure all of your listening directories are up to date so that when you do publish

spk_0 that new episode, your listeners will hear it. And so you want to go through all of your directories,

spk_0 make sure that your historic episodes are there. And then another thing to consider is, are there

spk_0 any new directories that have popped up since your podcast was on pause? I know YouTube is now

spk_0 accepting RSS feeds and that was within the last two years. And so maybe that's an option now. You

spk_0 want to go ahead and get your podcast listed on YouTube. And so that when you do start posting new

spk_0 episodes, it's available for your listeners there. And then really the last step is to get the

spk_0 word out. That's really the last step in relaunching your podcast. So Albin, what are your go-to ways for

spk_0 advertising and sharing? We are back. I mean, the first is to release an episode because hopefully

spk_0 people's podcast apps are still following your feed. And if they are, they'll get that episode.

spk_0 And so you can just be honest in the trailer or the episode and say, hey, we're relaunching this

spk_0 podcast. We're coming back. Here's what's changing. Thanks for sticking with us. You're the best

spk_0 and move on to the content. Beyond that, you can start sharing stuff on social media or in your

spk_0 community groups or just in your friend group because you may have friends and family that weren't

spk_0 subscribed or dropped off. People who follow you on social media who never knew you had a podcast.

spk_0 And just depending on how long it's been, it's a great opportunity to say, I did this show,

spk_0 I took a pause. I'm coming back. I'd love for you to check it out.

spk_0 It linked in seems to be a good place for podcasting now. That's good to know. Yeah, I do know it's

spk_0 a little difficult with social media, but in general, podcasting is so much still word of mouth.

spk_0 Like when you hear a great podcast, you share it with your friends. And so like you said,

spk_0 that first step of just rerelease your content, start publishing new episodes, get it out there.

spk_0 If your listeners are loving it, they're going to share it. And so that is a great way. And especially

spk_0 with a relaunch, it's a little easier because like you said, hopefully you have listeners or followers

spk_0 who have been subscribed this whole time and your show is in their library. They're just waiting

spk_0 for new content to be released. So when you're ready to relaunch your podcast, you first want to

spk_0 determine why are you relaunching and why did it stop in the first place? You want to make sure

spk_0 directories are up to date and you're listed there. And then the third step, go for it.

spk_0 Publish your first episode and just start producing new content. I hope that it sounds encouraging

spk_0 and not intimidating. You can do this. Alvin, do you have anything to add to that?

spk_0 Oh, just just throw it out there and you know, people are going to be excited to your back. Someone's

spk_0 been subscribed. There's so many podcasts that I still hold on to them in my podcast player.

spk_0 And they just sit there in this folder that's like all these dead podcasts that I've loved at one

spk_0 point. And one released an episode after two years of being gone. And I listened to it that night

spk_0 because I was so excited that they were back. So you might be that podcast for somebody. You

spk_0 probably are released the content. Don't be embarrassed. It's exciting to come back and try

spk_0 something new. And you know, if it works out this time, that's going to be so exciting for

spk_0 everybody who stuck with you. Love that. Yes. And if you have any questions about relaunching your

spk_0 podcast or any questions about podcasting at all, you can always reach out to us by emailing us

spk_0 at support at busbrowte.com. If you have a question that you'd like to see answered on a future

spk_0 podcasting Q&A episode like this one, please click the send us a text link in the show notes.

spk_0 I was so excited to get this fan mail and to answer it. And so my listener from Sacramento,

spk_0 California, if you are listening to this, please shoot me another fan mail and let me know

spk_0 that you heard it because I was excited to answer your question. Albin, thank you again for

spk_0 joining me on this episode. It was really fun answering this question with you. Well, it's great

spk_0 being here and everyone. Send care to some more questions. Helper keep this show going so we

spk_0 don't have to relaunch it in the future. It's been really fun. Be sure to join us every Monday

spk_0 to kickstart your week. Thank you so much for listening. And as always, keep podcasting.

How to Rebrand or Relaunch your Podcast

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