A few weeks ago, I was creating social media content for my local Zonta club (women’s empowerment organisation). They hold an annual IWD breakfast, and as a member of the group, I was in charge of content creation. This was my first time in a working role in Zonta, so I was asked to mix things up and experiment with marketing strategies. I found that Canva and online digital creation platforms were efficient and sped up the process heaps. As a predominantly older group of women, Zonta was looking to expand into younger generations. This was a huge challenge for me as their programs and brand image is tailored for their current member base. However, I overcame this by encouraging a more social media oriented approach. From this, we were able to target youth through QR codes, website links, Instagram and Facebook posts, and colourful, eye-catching visuals.

The first step is to create a detailed plan: organise the files, understand the vision/theme of the episode, and ensure the editing aligns with this concept. Secondly, an initial review of the raw footage is important to flag any audio or technical issues that need to be fixed. Then, editing the audio to ensure it is clear and crisp is essential. For this, a platform like Audacity can be used to remove background noise, cut out mistakes/long pauses/silences, adjust volume levels, balance audio levels, and finally export the audio file. Then, if applicable, the video editing will be completed in a platform like Shotcut. Here, the audio and video must be in sync and transitions can be added. Finally, the piece must be reviewed. Music, filters, thumbnails, subtitles or sound effects can be added to take the podcast to the next level. Once finished and approved by other team members, the episode can be finally exported and uploaded to the viewing platform for listeners!

If you’re aiming for social media growth, that indicates the business’ target audience is young people. Therefore, I would suggest sharing interactive content (polls, Q&A, ‘have your say’, themed challenges/contests) and prioritising the posting of short podcast snippets rather than long ones. The implementation of engaging content that is sculpted for the fast-paced nature of social media will successfully traffic users to the podcast.