What are the most popular podcast topics and how you can choose one?

Whether you’re just getting started in terms of podcasting or you are already an experienced professional, it might be tricky to come up with catchy podcast topics for your listeners. As a rule of thumb, podcasters should focus on their passions and expertise to deliver valuable and inspiring content.

In our previous post, we went over different ways in which podcasters can monetize their shows and episodes. This type of content is consumed by an increasing number of listeners around the world. To make sure that you stay on track, this article will cover the most demanded topics in terms of podcast consumption. Keep in mind that a good topic means nothing if the host is not passionate and enthusiastic while sharing it with others.

Before jumping into podcast topics, let’s go over some critical questions that you as a podcaster must ask yourself before making a final decision.

Who is your audience?

Remember! You are NOT creating content for you, instead you are doing it for your audience!

Even if it’s very important to create podcasts based on your passions and expertise, we are human beings and we can always adapt. Where possible, tap into unclaimed data regarding your listeners, such as demographics and interests. They might have a challenge to overcome that you didn’t know about. If that is the case, you can now do your research and act as a healer through your podcasts. And who knows? Maybe you’ll find out new topics that interest you based on your listeners’ needs.

What interests you?

If your audience is interested in a podcast idea in which you are not, there’s a good chance of burning out and losing listeners. For this reason, ask yourself how much do you care about a podcast idea?

Like other podcasters, you most likely have a job and other life responsibilities, meaning that you create content in your spare time. If you spend your free time on topics that don’t align with your goals and perspectives, it won’t last long until you realize it’s not worth continuing. Therefore, be aware that in the beginning you have absolute control over your prospective listeners. Your first podcast topic will bring together an audience that it’s worth creating content for in the future.

How can you stand out from other podcasters out there?

The reason why top podcasts on major platforms such as Apple Podcasts or Google Play have such an impact is because they are unique. To find your differentiator and stand out from other podcasters, try to narrow down a broad topic. If you are passionate about marketing, don’t talk about it in general. Instead, refine it to ‘eCommerce marketing on Shopify’ or anything else that aligns with your interests.

Now that we’ve covered some questions to ask yourself before deciding on a podcast topic, let’s go over some untapped ideas to get you started.

1. Discuss your favorite topic

You must have a favorite book series, TV show or movie series. If that’s the case, it might be a great starting point. You should be able to comment on plot twists and provide your listeners with personal views.

2. True crime

Just as dark tourism creates a real hype among travelers, podcasts covering true crime stories seem to be very demanded by listeners. Major podcasting platforms often have 3 podcasts about murder mysteries in their top charts.

In 2014, Serial started this true crime podcasting trend and it hasn’t dipped in popularity since. Numbers from 2018 show that it reached an impressive number of 340 million downloads.

3. Chat shows

Usually, these types of shows have multiple hosts with episodes including discussions on various topics. In chat shows, hosts tend to be influential people with strong personalities and beliefs. They are easy to listen and record, lasting for about 30 minutes to one hour.

4. Global news

In the past 20 years, the way in which we consume news has drastically changed. Newspapers got replaced by the internet and keeping up to date is more accessible than ever. More recently, news podcasts increased in popularity and number of listeners. In response, BBC developed their own news podcast station, the so-called Global News.

5. Sports

Among various forms of sports media, podcasts are one of the most unique ways to deliver such content. Ranging from motivational content for gym addicts to inviting famous athletes as hosts, podcasts finally have a saying in the sports world. The Totally Football Show is UK’s leading football podcast with over 60 million listens and counting.

6. Food

We all have our favorite dish, don’t we? There is no shortage in terms of food podcasts. Restaurant reviews, new recipes and even weird cooking challenges are available on different platforms. A show about fast food and chain restaurant called Doughboys is perhaps the most successful food podcast out there!

7. Paranormal

Compared with ‘true crime’ podcasts, paranormal podcasts talk about things that may or may not have happened. It seems that an increasing number of listeners are eager to hear mysterious stories related to unexplained disappearances, alien encounters, and everything in between.

All in all, the most important thing to remember before deciding on your next podcast topic is to ask yourself if you are truly interested and passionate about what you are sharing with your listeners. If you make sure that you enjoy it, good results will certainly come along the way!

Are you looking for an easy way to sell tickets online for people to access your content? Oveit is here to help. You may also want to take a look at our latest integration and see how (and why) you can sell NFT tickets using our online registration software.

Create copy that sells your events

You work hard to create the (almost) perfect event. And nothing compares to the feeling that you have when seeing the smiles on peoples’ faces, smiles that are a guarantee that they will attend your next events as well. You know that they will tell their friends, colleagues, and families what a great time they had and will act like ambassadors of your great work.

But what about those that never attended one of your events and neither do they know any of your past guests. How will you convince them that you deserve their time (and money)? What will make them decide to come to your events and not do anything else? The event management industry is highly competitive, nowadays there are so many events to choose from.

Here is where the power of words comes to the rescue. And even though marketing works on many channels (and we have talked about keywords, Twitter, Instagram and more) one thing is more important than anything: the way you tell your story. Words have the power to transfer feelings and the message that you choose can bring people towards your events or it can make you go unnoticed.

open laptop with "create copy that sells your events" text

Here are 5 things that you should have in mind when creating the message for you future attendees:

  1. Define your audience

You will never know how to adapt your message if you don’t know who you are writing for. Defining your audience should be the first step when building a marketing campaign. The better you know your potential customers, the higher the chances are that you will speak their language. And speaking their language is the key to getting to their hearts. Why get to their hearts? You will see later in the article.

  1. Have (just) one goal

Setting too many goals can keep you off track. After all, we all have a limited amount of time and energy. If you want to gain more from your texts you should create them by having just one goal in mind for each of them. Trying to build a road that leads to too many directions you may end up with a road that leads nowhere. What is the ultimate goal of your text? To convince people to buy tickets for your event? To convince them to read your blog posts? To subscribe to your newsletter? No matter the goal that set up for your message you should make sure that it leads the reader towards it.

  1. Look for the emotional response 

In sales, there is a theory stating that “people buy based on their emotion, and afterward use logic to justify it”. If you want to convince people to come to your event try to call for their emotions, dreams, and aspirations. Planning a business conference? We all want to be our best version of ourselves, and your conference can bring us one step closer to it. A 3-day festival? We all deserve a break from work, calls, and emails. We all crave for a long weekend surrounded by friends and good music in a landscape worthy of a fairytale.

  1. Always tell a story about your events

“Stories are a vital part of any business. And they are one of the most powerful tools you can use to engage your audience.” Tony Robbins 

You create experiences that, over the years, transform into your attendees’ memories into unforgettable tales. Stories have the power to carry us through time and space and show us that dreams can be fulfilled. Let people know your story and the ones of your attendees and they will want to be a part of your remarkable journey.

  1. Keep it simple 

In order for a message to touch us, we first need to understand it. With hundreds of messages that are “pointed” toward us each day we have started to filter things to see what deserves our time and what does not. Things we cannot understand easily will have a hard time getting our attention.

ex:

I can be that your attendees don’t care about the technical details of NFC technology, but will love the fact that they can add credit on a wristband and pay with just a tap of the hand. Too many details will make things more complicated than they need to be.

People should know the passion you invest in your events, but they should also know their gain from attending them. After all, there is one Radio channel that we all listen to and that is WII FM: What’s In It For Me? A medical conference, festival or concert, your attendees will choose to come to your event only if they can picture themselves in your story.