How to Create Shareable Content for Podcasts, YouTube, & Blogs

Creating shareable content makes everyone a potential marketer for your podcast, YouTube channel, or blog.

But making content so impactful that someone wants to share it with others is tricky. Attention is the biggest currency on the internet, and everyone wants a piece of it.

This guide to creating shareable content isn’t about what to talk about – you know your audience well enough to understand that already – it has more to do with the structure and packaging.

So here are six highly effective ways to frame your next piece of content. These don’t only serve your existing fans but widen your reach as the folks you help pass your podcasts, videos, and blog posts on to others.

1. Lists

This is where you break things down into bite-sized, numbered pieces that are easy to skim and share. Use lists to highlight top picks, tips, or resources your audience will love.

Putting a list together is a great way to have your episode shared by the people, channels, or companies you mention in that list.

Again, this starts with your topic. But here are some questions that might help get you started.

What are your top 5 favourite podcasts in your niche? What are the top 7 blogs writing about the same subject you cover? Or what about the 10 books that inspired you the most in your own area of expertise?

Running through a list and talking about each thing you’ve chosen to include is a fun episode to do. More importantly, your audience will love it, because it gives them loads of other things to check out that sound interesting and helpful to them.

Lists aren’t restricted to talking about other content channels, either. Another approach is to look at the frequently asked questions you get from your audience.

For example, if you run a gardening podcast, and people are asking about the best veg to grow in winter, you can create an episode titled “Best 10 vegetables to grow this winter”.

Or, if you run a writing podcast, a lot of people might ask, “What writing tools do you use?” You can respond by creating a “Top 7 tools for authors and writers” episode.

Once you’ve put an episode like this out, be sure to tell the folks behind each channel, product, or service. There’s a good chance they’ll share it, and that can result in their own audience checking out your show.

Tasks

• Brainstorm Popular Products or Tools: Identify 10 commonly used products, tools, or resources in your niche.
• Create a Best-Of Roundup: List five “best” examples in your niche (e.g., best books, podcasts, influencers, events).
• Identify Pain Points: Write down five challenges your audience faces, then create a list that addresses solutions for each.

2. Comparisons

This is where you help people decide by putting two options head-to-head. Break down the pros and cons so your audience can make smarter, more confident choices.

The comparison is a popular type of shareable content in any niche that involves gear, equipment, or tools.

The idea is pretty simple: try out two similar (competing) products and give your feedback.

In podcasts about podcasting, the “microphone shootout” is a common episode. The host will compare things like the price, durability, functions, features, aesthetics, and sound quality of two different microphones.

This can apply to almost any niche, however, from cycling and fitness to gaming or knitting. If you know your topic well enough, it should be simple to come up with a few potential episodes in this format.

So, why is this type of episode so shareable? Mainly because people want to appear informed and helpful and will repost content like this on social, often even without clicking on it.

Whilst that alone certainly doesn’t give you more listeners, it gets you in front of more potential listeners. And that’ll never do you any harm when it comes to growing your audience!

Tasks

• Competitor Showdown: List three pairs of competing products, services, or methods that are common in your niche and compare them.
• Classic Debates: Think of three ongoing debates in your field and frame them as comparisons (e.g., “X vs. Y: Which Is Better?”).
• Newcomer vs. Veteran: Compare a new trend, product, or method with an established one in three specific scenarios.

3. Reviews

This is where you share your honest opinion about a product, service, or experience. Show your audience what’s great, what’s not, and whether it’s worth their time or money.

Instead of comparing one product to another, you can focus exclusively on one piece of equipment, tool, or gear.

Reviews can extend far beyond that, though. You can review films, books, albums, websites, places, or even other podcasts. Again, it all comes down to your podcast’s topic. What kind of reviews will appeal to – and ultimately help – your audience?

Creating a review can be tricky at times. You need to keep your integrity by being honest, but you also don’t want to come across as ultra-negative – especially if you’re reviewing something someone else does as a labour of love.

Carefully choose what you’re going to review. Weigh up the pros and cons. Try to find at least some positives in something you don’t like, and look for any weaknesses in things that initially might appear perfect.

Tasks

• Review Essentials: List five essential tools, products, or services that people in your niche are likely to use.
• Compare Experiences: Think of five things you’ve tried in your niche and brainstorm review topics based on your personal experience.
• Best and Worst: List three items you loved and three you didn’t, then frame these as review topics.

4. Case Studies

This is where you tell real-life stories to inspire or teach your audience. Dive into successes, challenges, or unique approaches that they can learn from or relate to.

A case study differs from a review because it uses examples of someone doing something. Or an event taking place.

A cycling podcast, for example, might take a deep dive into how one cyclist prepared for and won a big tournament. A podcast about podcasting might do a case study on how a certain show reached a million downloads. Or a football podcast might chronicle the journey of a team of underdogs from a small village who won a national trophy.

Doing a case study is a great opportunity to tell a story. Stories are the ultimate and oldest form of shareable content.

In your story, you want to hit certain beats. You can almost think of it as a film.

Imagine a case study relevant to your topic. Now, run through the following questions.

• Who is the hero, or ‘protagonist’?
• Why will your audience relate or be sympathetic to them?
• What is their ambition?
• What are their main motivations?
• What are the big obstacles in their way?
• What are they doing differently?
• At what moment does it look like they’ve failed? The classic “all is lost” moment that’s found in almost every film.
• How do they turn things around?
• How do they achieve their goal? Or maybe they fall short. If so, why was that?
• What is the outcome of it all? What impact does it have? What changes take place because of it?

This is the framework to tell a compelling story that teaches a valuable lesson. If done well, people who hear it will want to share it without a second thought.

Tasks

• Success Stories: Think of three inspiring success stories in your niche that would make engaging case studies.
• Personal Journeys: Outline three significant milestones or achievements in your own experience that could be framed as case studies.
• Historical Case Studies: Research two or three key figures, companies, or events in your niche and develop ideas around their stories.

5. Costs

This is where you break down what things cost and whether they’re worth it. Help your audience understand where to spend, where to save, and what to expect financially.

If someone is planning to buy something these days, chances are they’ll do a bit of pricing research online beforehand. Why not be the person they go to for the info they need?

This is where “How much does X cost?” episodes can help you grow your audience. So, what are the products and services people buy in your podcast’s niche?

For example, a nutritional therapy podcast might run an episode titled “How much does a food sensitivity test cost?”. Or a show about living off-grid might run one about “How much does a wood-burning stove cost?”.

In these episodes, you tend to break everything down with options for each budget. You may even use affiliate relationships or create one of the products or services yourself. That’s absolutely fine, so long as you’re upfront about it from the beginning!

Tasks

• Budget Basics: Identify five entry-level costs for someone starting in your niche (e.g., equipment, subscriptions, materials).
• Compare Price Tiers: Choose three categories in your niche and outline low, medium, and high-cost options.
• Is It Worth It? List three investments or expenses in your niche that people frequently question the value of.

6. How-Tos

This is where you teach your audience how to do something step by step. Make it simple, clear, and actionable so they can achieve their goals with confidence.

This is the classic problem-solution pairing. What is your audience struggling with? What do they need help with?

You might already have a decent idea based on the types of questions they ask you. If you need more help on this front, consider conducting an audience survey.

Starting your title with “How to” is arguably the most effective way of getting folks to click on it. You might think of that as clickbait, but if it delivers what it promises, people clicking on it is a win-win for everyone.

Here are some examples of ‘how-to’ episodes that’ll have their target audience hitting play without a second thought:

• How to become a scratch golfer
• How to improve your sleep quality
• How to talk to your kids about grief
• How to pass your driving test

Tasks

• Skill Essentials: List five foundational skills someone in your niche might need, then turn them into how-to topics.
• Problem Solvers: Identify three common problems in your niche and brainstorm how-to guides to address them.
• Tools and Techniques: Think of five essential tools or techniques in your field and create how-to topics for each.
• Efficiency Hacks: Brainstorm three ways to save time, money, or effort in your niche, and create how-to ideas based on them.

Creating Shareable Content

Now that we’ve gone through some ideas for creating shareable episodes, you should have plenty to go and think about. Try writing down two or three ideas for each type of content within your niche or topic.

What kinds of lists, comparisons, reviews, case studies, pricing, or ‘how-to’ episodes would be valuable to your audience?

These tips are heavily inspired by a great book called They Ask, You Answer, by Marcus Sheridan, which is well worth a read!