Podcast review Charlotte 23 July 2019

What we’ll cover 11am-12.30pm Introductions What stories do we want to tell and how best can we tell them? 12.30pm-1pm How can we reach more people and grow our audience? 1pm-2pm Lunch Charlotte

What stories do we want to tell and how best can we tell them? Charlotte 1 min – think of a community business story you’ve come across. What was the most exciting thing about it? Who told it to you?

Podcast origins Charlotte The case for community control essay – May 2018 To show the breadth and depth of the community business sector, including how diverse the businesses and people are, through powerful storytelling To inspire people to get involved or stay involved in community business To share best practice / ideas between community businesses To highlight the benefits community businesses bring to a local area and local people To signpost to Power to Change funding and support, and other sector support  

Objectives Diversity of sector through powerful storytelling Inspire people to get involved Spread good ideas Highlight transformative power of community business Signpost to Power to Change funding and support Charlotte The case for community control essay – May 2018 To show the breadth and depth of the community business sector, including how diverse the businesses and people are, through powerful storytelling To inspire people to get involved or stay involved in community business To share best practice / ideas between community businesses To highlight the benefits community businesses bring to a local area and local people To signpost to Power to Change funding and support, and other sector support  

What have we achieved in a year? 12 monthly episodes featuring 28 community businesses Over 130 people from communities have had their say and shared their stories Around 65% have been women, despite our concerns that we would be hearing from a lot of men.  Curtis / Simon

What are the restrictions of current podcast? CJ/SJ Post it notes

Restrictions Having lots of different voices makes it confusing and can only get the surface of the story Lack of full long-term editorial calendar and social media plan The story sometimes feels very local and doesn’t link enough to national/global challenges facing all communities Not synced enough to Power to Change comms strategy Currently the host takes up a lot of air time explaining things. Not an interview format Timings can be tricky to fit with Power to Change funding windows Hard to get in touch with community businesses sometimes as ppl volunteer/work part-time/don’t check emails Production and expense costs are higher than expected (circa £7,000 per episode). Due to travelling to interviews and more editing time to cut down so many interviews. Each episode is a different community sector –finite format and feels disjointed sometimes Tips section always feel like an add-on and repetitive

How is the current format meeting our objectives? Curtis / Simon – post-its 5mins facilitation Diversity of sector through powerful storytelling Inspire people to get involved Spread good ideas Highlight transformative power of community business Signpost to Power to Change funding and support

What’s good Great mix of diverse voices – 65% women. Managers, beneficiaries, volunteers, local people, Power to Change staff,…represents the community Promotes Power to Change funding programmes Inspiring stories of change Good brand Good introduction to community businesses and the wider context they sit in Gives community business leaders a platform, engages PTC grantees Opportunity to promote Power to Change’s priority places and sectors

How are others using podcasts? Curtis / Simon

What have we learnt? 38 minutes average length of a podcast Length doesn’t matter as long as content is engaging enough Personal stories are inspiring Sharing personal experiences, memories and knowledge is really interesting for audiences Marketing matters Behind the scenes content of the show being produced, paid social, getting the interviewee to launch with us, getting more of the team to support it are all essential to growing our audience, awards Bring the podcast to the people Live events are a great opportunity to capture content and have a shared experience recording the podcast Hosts drive the show A good host gets involved in interviews and promoting the podcast.

What different format/content could solve the restrictions of current podcast? Curtis/ Simon – facilitating 5mins post-its >outputs Themes – finite number of sectors / restricting link with PTC news Host role / commitment / availability Interviewees – too many voices / unpredictable interviews / long edit process Production costs - £5000 production cost + circa £4000 expenses/ episode Production timeline – ways of working, newsletter link, process

Format options 1 rotating host, 1 rotating CB leader – one interviews the other and then interviewee becomes host in next episode with new community business leader 1 host, 2 CB leaders – interview that delves into one community business and motivations of people to get into it/effect on their lives 1 host, 3 panellists – interview about a topic? Trailer – vox pops from different ppl at CB so we keep breadth of voices ‘what does this CB mean to you?’ Mini-series within the series e.g. focusing just on community energy or just one CB? Be more flexible on format. Create extra content around main shows Ideas Content options What motivates people to become involved in community business? Turning point and journey of one or two people Local actions, wider change Best day/worst day as a community business leader What I did this week/day in the life The story of a community business starting up

Ideas Production What we won’t include in the show anymore Have a long-term editorial and marketing calendar Involve community businesses in the production of the show more Involve the research and development team Involve sector partners What we won’t include in the show anymore Tips from a community business A Power to Change person promoting a programme – can be done in show notes Lots of different voices – too confusing A host that is just a narrator

How can we reach more people and grow our audience?

Who is listening and who do we want to reach? Charlotte / Curtis/Simon

Listenership Currently very low figures Need to get all at Power to Change to listen to the shows + sector partners, grantees etc. Want all potential applicants to listen to it 4 ages of community business: Young people looking for work experience/sense of community New parents Empty nesters Olderpreneurs

How are we promoting it? Sophie 1468 total page views of CB Fix 45 clicks in newsletter for libraries (trailer

1468 total page views of CB Fix pages on website Marketing so far 1468 total page views of CB Fix pages on website 45 clicks in newsletter for libraries (trailer+episode), followed by wellbeing episode (18) and leisure centres (15) 13 Tweets about community shares episode – 16000+ impressions, 43 clicks 3 Facebook posts with 628 impressions 216 views of transcripts

What else can we do to market it and grow our audience? Curtis / Simon - 5mins Post-it notes Change release schedule? Paid social advertising Ads on other podcasts Guests on other podcasts

Marketing ideas Recording live podcasts Behind the scenes content of the show being produced – instastories / photos on twitter/FB Paid social ads Launching an episode live at the community business Entering Awards Featuring on other blogs Being more consistent on social promotion Host marketing on social

Next steps