Podcasting for Insurance Agents

Topics: Agent Resources

Would you like to develop your reputation among clients and prospects as an experienced leader within the insurance industry? How about diversifying your agency’s content offerings and driving traffic to your website? Consider podcasting.

Tips for Insurance Agents to Start a Podcast

Podcasting is engaging for clients and prospects, and if done well, can help you establish yourself with listeners as an insurance industry leader. Here’s a quick guide to get started.

Choose Smart Topics

Once you have made the decision to podcast, you will want to start developing topic ideas for your episodes. Ask clients or other agents for hot topic suggestions that will answer top-of-mind questions for your clients and prospects. As the host you should address common industry-related questions and provide additional insight into emerging trends, technology and service offerings. The key to building an audience is establishing trust while offering information people need, so be sure to research your topics and provide accurate, detailed answers and solutions. If you can accomplish this, your podcast will become a credible source of information for clients, prospects, and even other insurance industry professionals.

But before you publish your first recording, it’s important to brand your podcast. Give your podcast series a name that people can identify with a name that reflects the insurance industry or your agency. Branding your podcast will help you promote your podcast online through social media and your website or blog.

Lights, Camera...

You might be thinking that hosting a podcast is overly technical, but the reality is that producing a podcast is relatively easy. All you need is a quality microphone, which you can find for around $100. For example, an Audio-Technica AT2020 microphone, which is a condenser microphone, offers a rich quality of sound.

A microphone that has a USB output so that you can connect it to your computer is important. And, since we are talking about audio, make sure that you have a recording environment that eliminates any outside noise or disruption. Within an office environment, a conference room is usually a safe choice for a location to produce your recordings.   

The next thing you will need is editing software. We would recommend using Camtasia, or Adobe Audition, or for simpler projects you could use Audacity, which is freeware. For editing, you also want to make sure that you have a recording environment that will eliminate any outside noise or disruption.

...Action!

You have the equipment, you have selected a great topic and now you are ready to record. Whether you are recording alone or will be joined by others, make sure that the tone is conversational and relatable. Don’t overwhelm the audience with too much technical information, but still be detailed enough to thoroughly cover your topic and address the questions at hand. Remember that if you feel you misspoke or the quality isn’t to your standards, you can always re-record the audio. For mistakes, it is easy to pause the editing software, repeat what was said, and remove the error during the editing process. 

Publish and Promote

You recorded your very first podcast! Next, take your audio file and import it into your editing software. Here you can embed a music track (make sure that it is royalty free), edit your audio and finalize the rendering process. Once the final audio file is complete you will want to publish it your platform. There are many different platforms and methods of publishing, which you can learn more about here.

Once your podcast is published, it’s time to promote. It is recommended to promote across different platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, your website, blog and any other channels you feel will best reach your clients and prospects. You can also create PowerPoint slides showing merging the visual with the audio and create a video for your YouTube channel or agency’s video gallery. Lastly, consider creating a podcast subscription form on your blog or website and send an email promoting the podcast to your subscribers after each podcast is published.   

You did it! You have successfully recorded your first podcast! Now start preparing for your second. Remember to monitor traffic to the podcast and don’t be afraid to make changes to the format to see what resonates with your audience.

Love this post? Find out how to promote your new podcast with 6 Effective Ways to Grow Your Insurance Agency's Social Media Presence. Then subscrive to our blog to make sure you never miss another post.

Editor’s Note: This blog was originally published on May 24, 2016 and has been updated and edited.

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