There is a lot of buzz around podcasts. It seems like every person and every organization has started a podcast in the past few years. There are currently about 800,000 podcasts available on Apple Podcasts (and other podcast platforms), with more than 29 million individual episodes. 

With all the hype, the reality is most podcasts do not have consistent audiences and many die out after just a handful of episodes. The term “Pod-Fade” refers to shows that start with a lot of enthusiasm and then quickly fade away. Often this is because the host does not see immediate results in listener downloads or did not understand the commitment involved with producing a podcast.

But the numbers show that people around the world are listening to podcasts. Some of the latest statistics from Nielsen show that more than 50 percent of Americans have recently listened to podcasts and a third listen to at least one show regularly. The average podcast listener subscribes to seven shows via their smartphone, and these listeners tend to be highly educated and successful.  

Since so many people enjoy this medium, it is no wonder that more and more people are looking at how to use podcasting to promote their businesses. New podcasts are started daily, and they can be a great way to keep your event top of mind all year long. But event planners cannot just create cookie-cutter shows. You must get creative in finding ways to capture the best part of your live conference—showcasing the brilliance of the people present and putting it in your event marketing plan.

While few event planners are currently utilizing podcasts to help advance their meetings, it is an area where the committed and creative can prosper.

Here are three ideas for meeting professionals who want to enter the podcast game.

Create a podcast around your association or live event brand. Now, utilize your live event to record the episodes while everyone is in one spot. Your event is possibly one of the greatest gatherings of information and ideas in your industry. Create a podcast and interview your speakers, members and attendees on site. Ask each person for a best practice and combine two or three interviews into each episode. Release episodes weekly throughout the year—giving you a reason to talk about your conference at any point.

The National Speakers Association recently moved content featured on a monthly audio CD that accompanied its Speaker magazine to a weekly podcast format. Voices of Experience contains industry information and business tips from many of the top speakers, and the interviews are mostly recorded at the group’s annual Influence conference. Each year a volunteer host is selected, and that person oversees the production along with staff and a production company. The podcast is a great tool to keep sharing information all year long, and organizations can add in timely information and promos for upcoming live events and webinars.

Partner with others in your industry. You can use your podcast to help promote your sponsors and partners, while simultaneously putting your company or association in the spotlight. The Digital Enterprise Society (DES) was a sponsor/partner with another organization for an industry gathering (not a DES event) and had their podcast host (me) present at the conference.

The group hosting the event did not produce a podcast, so they partnered with DES to record live interviews with speakers and industry experts (and also recorded some breakout sessions and panels that could later be released as episodes for the Digital Enterprise Society Podcast). This partnership allowed both groups the chance to have continued exposure to their target constituencies beyond the physical event.

Partner with your speakers. If your organization does not have its own podcast and is not looking to start one, this does not mean you have to miss out on the powerful world of podcasting. You can get your message heard by another audience by co-hosting episodes of another person’s podcast to highlight your event.

The odds are that many of your members, attendees, keynote speakers, workshop leaders and master of ceremonies host podcasts. Many are always looking for unique content and ways to get exposure to new “earballs” for their podcast. Ask around and see who might be willing to use their show to interview key people from your conference in advance or live at the show. These episodes can be released in a variety of ways to showcase the great content shared at your event. 

Many event organizers cringe at the idea of having one more thing on their plate when planning events, but the use of podcasts can help make your conference content evergreen and enable you to reach people who would never have been in your sphere of influence. The podcasting arena is still the wild west, so do not look to copy what everyone else does with a podcast, but rather think outside the box and find ways to get your event participants and others to listen to unique content and share the love of your live meetings.