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Adding an Alexa Flash Briefing For Your Podcast: How Difficult is it… And Should You Bother?

“Alexa, switch the kettle on.”

A couple of years back, shouting this across the office would have been pretty dependent on you having a colleague called Alexa who didn’t mind making the brews every time.

Now though, it’s a common phrase in the Podcast Websites office.

Smart speakers have exploded in popularity; 43 million Americans own one. Three quarters of users bought their first this year. It’s a huge growth area, and the Amazon Echo still leads the way.

As podcasters, how can we get in on the action? In years to come, podcast integration with smart speakers is likely to grow. Something you can do today, right now, is create your own Alexa Flash Briefing.

If you don’t already know, you can install a Flash Briefing onto your account which then enables it on your devices.

You can then tell Alexa to play your Flash Briefing and she’ll oblige with the most up to date audio on the feed in question.

You can ask your listeners to install your Flash Briefing, and then it’s super easy for them to get your latest episode playing.

Flash Briefings are limited to ten minutes, meaning they’re particularly suited to short and sweet regular podcasts (such as Mark Asquith’s 7 Minute Mentor)

But for longer shows, ten minutes is still enough time to give people a taster.

You could even do a ten minute edited version of your episode – if it’s your most recently posted podcast, it’s what Alexa will play.

Or if you really see this as an opportunity, you could create a new feed for your ten minute edits purely for Alexa Flash Briefings (Podcast Websites members can add a second feed for just $10 a month).

All this leads us to the ultimate question – just how difficult is it to create your own Flash Briefing?

Well I had a go at doing it for one of my podcasts, Sheffield Hopcast, and you can read how I got on and follow my step-by-step guide here

If you have any questions about Alexa flash briefings or you’d like to find out more about Podcast Websites, you can book a free one-to-one call with me today.

Ready to monetize your audience & become an audio influencer?

Podcasters all across the world are transforming from simply producing audio to becoming a monetised, influential brand with Podcast Websites. When you're ready to become an audio influencer in your niche, we're here for you.

Rachel Smith

Rachel is the Marketing Coordinator at Captivate, the podcast hosting platform. Rachel works closely with podcasters to ensure that the content that Captivate creates is genuinely helpful and easy to understand.

Ready to monetize your audience & become an audio influencer?

Podcasters all across the world are transforming from simply producing audio to becoming a monetised, influential brand with Podcast Websites. When you're ready to become an audio influencer in your niche, we're here for you.