How to Make the Most Out of Your Podcast Transcripts
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IN A GIST
Podcast transcripts are word-by-word accounts of a podcast episode. It’s been emphasized time and again how beneficial transcripts are for both podcasters and listeners. By having a transcript, podcasters can produce more content that they can maximize across the board. But that’s just one of its many benefits, below are the other points raised about this topic:
- Benefits of having podcast transcriptions
- Making the most out of podcast transcriptions
- Best practices for having high quality transcriptions
- Integrating transcriptions in the podcast workflow
The process of coming up with a transcription can be time-consuming and stressful, especially if done manually. However, with the help of technology, there are online tools that can make this task easier.
MAIN ARTICLE
A podcast transcript is a verbatim manuscript of a podcast episode.
While others don’t regard its importance, there has been so much emphasis on why podcasters must include publishing a copy of the full transcript in their podcasting routine.
Definitely not only for the benefit of the podcaster, in terms of optimization and all, but more so for the listeners or audience’s listening experience.
The primary reason why you need to release a full transcription of your podcast episode is to improve its accessibility for people with hearing disabilities. The reality is, not everyone is healthy and completely able, physically.
In the United States, more than 37 million are said to fall under the category of people with some kind of hearing difficulty or impairment. If untapped, that’s a huge loss of potential audience for podcasters.
Hence, it’s mandatory to take some steps to make it easier for them to access, understand, and get involved in the platform.
Some ways to help these people become part of the podcasting community is by ensuring the clarity of the speech on the podcast, leveling the foreground and background sounds to the right levels, and by adding transcripts that they can read through as they listen to the podcast audio.
Aside from aiding people who have hearing impairment or auditory processing disorders, transcripts are also best for:
Better Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engines cannot index and rank keywords out of audio files. With transcripts, podcasters get the chance to have an output that can carry relevant and targeted keywords to optimize the podcast.
Increased Engagement with the Audience
When you optimize your podcast episode through written transcripts, you increase the chances of people discovering you and people engaging with your content.
Reposted content somehow equates to word-of-mouth advertising in the digital age. It’s one of the best ways to spread the word about something. When you have a transcript, people don’t have to jot down notes or key notes manually. They can quickly copy-paste lines that resonate with them from your transcript, making it more convenient for them to share insights on their own accounts.
Improved Show Notes and Blog Posts
If you want to add up more value to your show notes and blog posts, the transcript can make it easier for you. You can take key points from the transcript and write your blog around those points. Imagine, how many times you can multiply a single thought into a few more other pieces that you can craft into long form or short form content for a blog or social media down the line.
Making the Most Out of Podcast Transcriptions
Knowing the benefits of a podcast is one thing, learning how to write one that would serve its purpose is another.
Podcast transcriptions are meant to offer more consumable value to listeners. This output can help bring your content outside of the podcasting platform, that is if you know how to do it efficiently.
There are some key elements in a podcast transcript that are essential to leverage it for your platform’s growth and success.
Adding links and call-to-actions
How many times have you heard a podcaster say “links will be included in the show notes” but end up being disappointed because those links are nowhere to be found?
Don’t make the same mistake. Include the links for your sources, special mentions, and the likes on the transcript or summary of your show notes, in case people are really interested in checking them out for cross-referencing or for added information.
Also, don’t forget your call-to-action. If you want people to download a copy of your transcript, tell them. If you want them to follow your platform, share your podcast, leave a feedback or rating, explicitly encourage them on what to do.
Add a sense of urgency in your tone of writing. Let them know how they’ll benefit when they do these next steps.
Including Shareable Quotations
One of the most shareable types of social media posts are quotations, specifically inspirational ones. If you want to reach more potential listeners, what you should aim for is for your existing listeners to share excerpts from your podcast to their own followers.
Providing an Alternative to Audio
Two things that transcripts can offer to listeners: more information and convenience.
Some listeners may have a special interest on a specific sub-topic or point shared on the podcast. You want to make it easier for them to locate the timestamp wherein that point was tackled. With transcripts, they don’t have to listen to you for five minutes just to find a single sentence or word that they’re searching for. They can easily CTRL + F the word or phrase from your written transcript.
Some listeners also find it conducive to listen to an audio when it has supporting text, much like how some people like watching movies or shows with subtitles on them.
Best Practices for Creating High-Quality Podcast Transcriptions
Transcribing a 40-minute podcast episode can be exhausting, but only if it’s done manually.
In the age of digitalization, why be a martyr to the traditional way of writing down the word-per-word account of an episode by yourself when softwares in the market can make the job a lot easier?
The first step is to find the right transcription service. You must take into consideration the capacity of the software or tool. You don’t want a messy, erroneous transcription of your podcast. As much as possible, what you want to have is an accurate and consistent output.
The text-formatted output is created to support and enhance the listening experience of the audience, so it’s only necessary that it is consistent with the audio file, free from grave error (meaning nothing beyond spacing errors or punctuations), and with the readable formatting to boot.
Deciphr AI is a podcasting buddy that you should consider in downloading well-written transcripts, show notes, timestamps, and key quotations. The AI can understand and translate an audio file into these text formats for your podcast’s extra mileage.
Podcast Transcriptions for Social Media and Marketing
Podcast transcriptions are the best basis for social media and marketing efforts to further boost the reach and credibility of your platform.
In fact, podcasting is the new go-to industry for thought leaders in establishing their authority in their area of focus.
Social media plays an integral part in making this happen. With everyone being immersed in the online world, discoverability is obtainable.
The ease of connection and community-building through social platforms makes it a wise choice among podcasters, when it comes to pressing its usage to their advantage.
You can create numerous posts - static posts, reels, graphic design - by extracting the details from your podcast transcription.
If you want to incorporate long form content in your marketing strategy, you can utilize your transcription by using it to structure a blog post or to write a video script for Youtube, which is a platform known or optimization.
Of course, the first step in ensuring efficiency of a content strategy is by knowing who your target audience is and where they are.
Use your social media posts to redirect them to your other sites like your website and landing page, where you can put lead magnet and build an email list, which opens up another gateway for communication thru newsletters.
Integrating Podcast Transcriptions into Your Workflow
With over 3 million existing podcasts right now, the need to standout is greater than ever. However, this may not be a realistic goal for you, especially if you’re just starting out.
What you need to focus on is how to sustain the flow and remain in the game.
According to statistics, many podcasters drop out after only two episodes. If you want to use podcasting to leverage your personal brand or to be renowned as a go-to expert in your niche, you must know the practices that matter.
By integrating podcast transcriptions into your workflow, you would have the advantage, as long as you know how to capitalize on it.
From short form social media captions to fun to engaging newsletters to value-packed blog articles, you can create all these by having a transcript as the first step.