Redirection: A masterclass in podcasting

Dr Terri-Karelle Reid is a walking masterclass on how to build your brand, how to build a thriving global community online and how to include all walks of life to participate in that community.

She recently completed Season Two of the Redirection podcast, and as a digital strategist, I can say that if you were paying attention, she just served up a masterclass in brand development and marketing.

It may or may not be shocking that Reid has the most successful podcast that is coming out of the Caribbean region, but allow me to break it all down for you in hopes that not only will you give her all the flowers, but that you also take notes to implement in your capacity.

Key statistics:

– There are 37 episodes in total

– 4.9 rating with over 300 reviews (chartable stats)

– Over 107 countries have tuned in via podcast platforms

– Over 104k downloads

– 128k views on YouTube for Season two

Just so you have an understanding of the reach of this podcast, there were avid listeners from countries including Kenya, Japan, Luxembourg, Nigeria, Colombia, UAE, Hong Kong, Romania, Russia, Brazil, Portugal, Oman – and the list goes on.

The Redirection podcast is currently ranking on 26 charts across the world on Apple Podcast.

In all of the countries that the podcast is ranked on there are no other Caribbean podcasts even close to her on the charts.

In Jamaica alone, Redirection is no 86 on Apple Podcasts for all podcasts being consumed.

There are no podcasts from the Caribbean ranking ahead of her, and the next podcast from the region that is ranking on the Apple podcasts charts in Jamaica is DJ Puffy at 141.

Redirection is currently no 2 for the Personal Journals category and 15 for Society and Culture podcasts in Jamaica.

But it's when you see her ranking in Namibia for All Podcasts (95), Society and Culture (15) and the Personal Journals category (four) thatyou realise just how powerful her platform has become, reaching so many corners of the world.

How did she do it? Well, here are my five observations on what led to her success with Redirection.

Community: Reid has been building her community, fondly known as the TK Tribe, for years. She has built and protected this community, sharing her stories, showcasing snippets of her life, giving you gems that she has learned over the years and inviting them along for the ride.

The community was built not to go out and get followers or sell them products, but as a safe space to share, connect, educate and have fun.

Inclusion: Season One of the podcast was a success by all accounts, but Reid and her team went to work on how they could make this even more successful.

Being an advocate for inclusion, she decided to shoot a video podcast that would allow her to include the deaf community. So for those who wanted audio only, that option was there, but when you went over to YouTube, she shot videos for every episode and brought on an intermediary interpreter, Antoinette “Toni” Aiken, to sign for every episode.

Short-form content: The Redirection moments were short clips that were aimed to take key points from each episode and turn them into content for TikTok, Instagram reels and YouTube Shorts. This allowed people to get bite-size digestible content, to drum up interest in checking out the longer-form episodes.

Adding the video format: Whilst audio podcasts are amazing, they have the highest completion rate of all content types, since people can passively consume podcasts whilst doing other things.

The video format allowed Reid to introduce a captivating set that added another dimension to the visuals. It also paved the way for you to see the real and raw emotions of all the guests, making for heart-wrenching content.

The angle: Great content is all about having a unique angle or perspective that makes you different from the market.

Reid could have easily had Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness on the podcast if she wanted, but her angle was to find"real" people, whom you may not have heard about, but are doing amazing things. Her guests are from a wide cross-section of society.

The next factor that I believe that was going to make this season a success was that it was mission-driven. Reid had pledged to support,Eve For Life Jamaica before she even got a sponsor for the season. She set out to donate JM$150,000 but Heineken 0.0 came on board as a sponsor and agreed to match her pledge, to donate a total of JM$300,000. Toyota also ensured it sponsored the sign language in all episodes.

Reid left no stone unturned, and it is clear why this has become the most successful podcast coming out of the Caribbean region.

Keron Rose is a digital strategist who works with Caribbean businesses to build their digital presence and monetise their platforms.

Learn more at KeronRose.com or listen to the Digipreneur FM podcast on Apple Podcasts/Spotify/Google Podcasts.