If you’re looking for a new medium to reach your business audience, a podcast may be surprisingly effective. As much as 30% of all audio content that people regularly listen to is podcasts. A podcast is also material that a listener is motivated to follow the entire way through.
Another major benefit of a podcast is its ability to validate your experience. The easiest way to prove you know what you’re talking about is by providing lots of information on a subject. Podcasts offer an audience-friendly format to provide actionable and valuable information for your audience. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to implement them.
Step 1: Decide What Your Goal Is For A Podcast
Like any marketing method, you’re not going to get far with a company podcast if you don’t fully understand what your goal is. Like most inbound marketing, you’re generally going to want content that teaches, similar to an e-book or other content marketing methods. Most people tune in to podcasts either to be entertained or to learn, and a company podcast fits neatly into the latter.
Your secondary question, though, is going to be what your goal is through teaching. Saying something general like “getting more traffic to the website” isn’t going to cut it, either. Do you think a more informed audience will be more likely to follow your sales funnel above your competitors? Alternatively, do you want to create an interesting podcast, then start slipping more marketing time into it? Whichever you think is best for you, make sure that the goal is front and center when applying the other steps we are about to cover.
Step 2: Determine Your Target Audience and Their Questions
Another fundamental element of marketing that carries over to company podcasts is determining your ideal audience and planning content for them. In some cases, this can be harder than others when applying to a podcast format. If you were a company that specializes in making, say, sunglasses, it would be difficult for you to create a content roadmap (more on that later), just around sunglasses. The average consumer wouldn’t likely be interested in an hour-long podcast about sunglasses construction and other elements.
Keeping an audience engaged is tough and is why it’s so important for you, the team creating the podcast, to think about not just topics related to your niche, but questions that customers may have. Using our example of sunglasses, customers may be curious about how sunglasses support eye health, finding transition lenses, or even accessorizing their sunglasses with outfits. All of these can make good fundamental starting points for podcast topics. In addition, by building your content around customer questions, you may get organic SEO benefits from people who weren’t even aware of your content. For example, a person searching for “how can I tell cheap from quality sunglasses” may end up stumbling on a podcast optimized for that subject.
Step 3: Plan Out A Content Roadmap
Good topics and a slick presentation are important for long-term podcast success, but so is consistency. If you set an expectation for content production, whether it’s every week, every month, or something in between, you can’t afford to miss it. Inconsistent posting gives the impression you’re disorganized or unreliable, two adjectives you don’t want to be associated with your company. Along with this, you don’t want a sudden dip in quality. Say that you budget for a 12-episode “season” of podcast content, but end up running out of solid topics or interviewees after four episodes. Your audience will notice this, and you lose that authority you’ve been working so hard to create.
The best way to make sure you don’t end up in this situation is by putting together a content roadmap. Use the brainstorming you’ve done for step 2 to put together an outline of exactly what each of your podcast episodes will cover. The roadmap is great for a company podcast as it allows you to see potential topics areas where you are lacking, and address them early on. For example, a travel company can make sure they have episodes dedicated to family travel, singles travel, cheaper excursions, and splurges, among others.
Step 4: Choose A Format
Now you have the premise and the topics. It’s time to start getting into the nuts and bolts of your company podcast. Choosing the right format may be the single most important thing when it comes to prolonged success. A lot of the most popular podcasts follow a simple formula of an interview with a different person each week. If you have competitors in your niche, it pays to see what they are doing, as you have many formats to choose from, and a different approach may help you stand out. Some examples include:
- A solo format, where a host talks about a given topic for the podcast.
- A group-host format, where multiple people discuss the topic, rather than a different interviewee each episode.
- A narrative format, where the host is telling a relevant story as the centerpiece of the episode.
- A hybrid format, which mixes elements of each.
Even the traditional interview format has some room for development. For example, rather than a single interview on a topic, you could record all your interviews at once. Recording one time will allow you to extend and customize each episode from your interviewees on a potential topic. An approach like this also decreases the number of setups, recordings, and edits you need. It would be best if you also chose an appropriate length for the podcast based on your audience’s needs.
In terms of logistics, we’re not going to get too much into the technical side of things when it comes to choosing your audio/recording equipment. There are many options to fit different budgetary needs. However, the logistics of setting up a podcast go well beyond that. Some of the logistics may include things like:
- Creating your artwork/music, if needed.
- Determining the best platform to take your podcast live.
- Having a plan to reach out to interviewees.
- Deciding who at the company will host the interviews.
If often helps to incorporate some of this work into the content roadmap.
Step 5: Solicit/Incorporate Feedback, Then Improve
One thing you need to understand is that a company podcast is a long-term, 
slow-burn form of marketing. It would be best if you had time for a few episodes to come out for testing the best ways to get traction with your target audience. It’s also a good idea to continue making refinements as things progress. After a pilot episode/first few batches of podcasts, encourage people to give you feedback via social media or whatever platforms you think are appropriate. While you may think you know what your audience is looking for, things may be quite different in practice.
For example, you may have a podcast that’s too long for your target audience, or end up misfiring when it comes to a topic selection. While you don’t want to fall into knee jerk reactions, it’s a good idea to address common, repeated criticisms you see. If you find things are getting traction, you can start making other investments like better audio equipment.
At this point, you should have the foundation you need to create an effective podcast. In time, this can be a cornerstone of your marketing efforts, positioning your company as a true market authority. However, to properly leverage your hard work, you need to make sure that you have the means to showcase and market your podcast.
Managing this balancing act, while still running a company, can be tough. Sometimes it’s best to hire an accomplished marketing agency like Glint Advertising to assist. We can help you formulate a company podcast that best suits your needs, as well as promote it so you can get more traction. Reach out to us for a consultation today.
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That’s a great point Pat. Thanks for mentioning that.
One thing I would like to add is that for a company podcast, one must be extra cautious when it comes to using copyrighted music whether it’s added in post or just something playing in the background.