24th Edition: How to Start a Podcast for Your Business
Harry Morton
Follow for posts on the business of podcasting | CEO, Lower Street, podcasts for brands | 7,500+ episodes, 120+ shows, 12M+ downloads | Clients Pepsico, Booking.com, Fidelity & more.
For business owners, podcasting can give any brand a considerable uplift in visibility. Here's our guide for starting a podcast for your business
Once an obscure audio format, podcasting has quickly become a disruptive medium that's found its place within the present day global digital market. The spectrum is enormous — ranging from gentle storytelling and one-on-one interviews to branded sci-fi narratives and in-the-field reporting. There are podcasts on everything and for everyone.
For business owners, podcasting can give any brand a considerable uplift in visibility and industry expertise, while at the same time growing your network and positioning your brand at the forefront of customers' minds.
If you're considering starting a podcast for your business, know there are some specific steps and technical necessities that you need to take care of before you can begin. But, once you have the basics in place, you’re free to create a show that's sure to be a worthy addition to any business' digital marketing strategy.
Why Create a Podcast
We have plenty of tips for starting a podcast, and will cover the specific steps and technical necessities we mentioned above in just a moment. But before we dive into them, let’s first consider why the medium is so beneficial from a marketing perspective.
It's one thing to know that podcasts are popular, but another to justify to the powers above why your brand should start its own show. From brand awareness to establishing expertise, we're just scratching the surface of?why podcasts are great for your business .
Massive Potential Reach
A few years ago, a wealth of "experts" seemed to be standing on their soap boxes and touting that, “Podcasts are dead!” Perhaps they didn't get the memo. Those who feel this way clearly haven't considered the value the whole podcast dynamic brings to a content marketing strategy, or seen the undeniable stats behind who is tuning in.
Today, there are an estimated?120 million podcast listeners in the U.S.?alone. Plus, projections see that number surpassing?160 million by 2023.
The potential to reach a broad audience through podcasting is HUGE and grows yearly.?Wherever, whenever, most podcast audiences aren't just tuning in to podcasts for background noise.
Instead, listeners are actively engaged and have a solid drive to learn, with?74% of podcast listeners ?saying they tune in to learn new things — even if they're multitasking. In fact, most listeners listen at home or in the car/during their commute.
Podcast audiences are also amazingly balanced, with a 51% male and 49% female split. No matter your target demographics, there is a strong possibility that you will reach exactly who you need to reach.?
More great statistics include:
It goes without saying that now is the time to take advantage of this medium.
A Unique Marketing Avenue
Podcasts are ideal as a marketing channel, mainly because consumers increasingly want two things: something that is relevant to them and is available on their schedules. Podcasts enable you to reach a one-of-a-kind audience and target individuals based on their interests and preferences.
As we mentioned, most people aren't just listening to podcasts for background noise. Instead, they are engaged, open to new conversations, and ready to learn.?
According to a Neilson survey,?78% of podcast listeners ?don't mind sponsorship or ad messaging. Podcasts also appeal to a myriad of people with different educational backgrounds and household incomes.
However, 68% of post-graduates and households that earn $250,000 per year form the majority. That means they are more likely to have disposable income, giving them the capacity to spend money on your products and services. It's also worth noting that 38% of people who listen to podcasts claim to have?purchased products or services ?mentioned on those podcasts.??
Low Cost of Entry
Any business or brand looking to invest in a new marketing channel will most likely ask the glaring question, "How much is it going to cost?"
The simple answer? What you put in is what you'll get out. Podcasts are an investment, both in time and in resources. When you're cutting costs, you may end up skimping on quality.
While listeners will forgive poor audio for a short time, if you want to engage them for the long term, the production value needs to be good. Even so, setting up and publishing a podcast doesn't have to eat up your entire marketing budget.
The Simple Setup
But, let's not be too glib. We have seen podcasters create great shows on a shoestring budget. For example, by far the simplest way to start a podcast is with just three assets:?your smartphone, your time, and a hosting service.
This setup entails recording an interview on your phone, uploading the audio to a hosting service, and distributing it to all the top streaming platforms. But, while it's one of the simplest ways to go, it's not the best.
As a brand, you want to create a product you can be proud of, so it's worth investing in:
None of these elements have to be wildly expensive. For example, an entry-level (but perfectly fine) mic can cost anywhere from $50 - $100.?
Establish Authority in Your Industry
Have you heard of E-A-T? This marketing acronym stands for expertise, authority, and trust. One way of is to establish a?branded podcast .?
Podcasting gives brands a platform to speak about their expertise in a given field. Consistently talking about a topic or topics with confidence and authority will help establish your brand as an expert in your niche.
Hearing someone's voice provides a much deeper connection than, say, a written blog or social media post. A voice — an authentic voice — humanizes a brand and deepens the consumer/business connection that is often really hard to achieve. Podcasting creates a space where listeners are invited into your inner circle.
Speak to Your Audience
Content marketing can be challenging, especially when you're up against a sea of competition and dwindling attention spans. But, here's where podcasts cut through all the noise. First, podcasts speak directly to your target audience. Not only that, but statistics show that audiences tune in and listen for extended periods, with?58% of U.S. listeners ?consuming up to 76-100% of a podcast episode.
That's the beauty of the format.?
However, when going into branded podcasting, you should consider your podcast as a top of the funnel entry to your brand and business. Consider it another avenue for people to find your business. Aim to build trust and authority within your industry rather than focusing solely on gathering leads from your listeners.
How to Start Podcasting
You know the why, now it's time to get down to the how.
Obviously there's going to be some tech involved, and we'll get to that later. But entering the podcasting world means that you are going to make many decisions, well beyond whether you want to start a show or not.
From determining how you'll stand out from other podcasts in your industry to identifying exactly who your show will target, deciding on the following key elements before you begin will ensure you're on the path to creating a rock-solid podcast straight out of the gates.
Decide on Your Theme
One of the first things to do when learning how to create a podcast for a business is to establish the overall theme and type of content you will deliver. For most branded podcasts, this could follow the rest of your marketing program and strategy.
As a starting point, you should aim to teach. Similar to how your blogs, ebooks, and webinars educate your consumers and provide value to your audience, your podcast should do likewise.
For example, as a financial institution your focus could be on money management concepts.
Identify Your Niche
Something must differentiate you from others working in a similar industry. Yes, you could create a podcast that offers a more general take on your industry, but niching down is often far more effective than going for the blanket approach where you try to reach all audiences, everywhere.
A law-centric podcast that focuses on U.S. divorce law and how people can navigate different legal scenarios is a great example of niching down on a specific topic.
Ultimately, your podcast theme and what you essentially teach will depend on your industry.
Choose a Show Format
Anyone who has been listening to podcasts for any length will know that they come in all formats. Deciding on your podcast format is an essential task that needs some careful thought.
While there is no "right" way to structure a podcast, there are a few things to consider. These are the most common formats for?business podcasts :
*This format focuses on storytelling and requires a higher production value.
Most podcasters in the B2B space tend to lean towards interviews or roundtable discussions with thought-leaders and industry experts. Others are usually led by a single host talking about a given topic.?
Our advice is to find a podcast format that is both repeatable and engaging for your audience. Going from one format to another on a regular basis can make you seem inconsistent and unreliable. Plus, constantly changing your publishing process reduces your chances of building a loyal following.?
When deciding on a format for your podcast, research podcasts outside your industry.?Story-driven podcasts ?like?Serial ?and?How I Built This ?can offer a lot of inspiration to businesses that are new to podcasting.
Know Your Audience
Your podcast will never appeal to everyone — that's just the sad fact of podcasting. For example, a technology podcast focused on A.I. probably won't appeal to flower arranging, cottagecore millennials.?
You need to find your people — the ones who will love your podcast and its content.?
Instead of casting the broadest net possible, you need to focus on fishing out the people you want to tune in to your show. If you think about it, the wrong kinds of listeners aren't going to subscribe, review your podcast favorably, or ever consider sharing it. So, your job is to target the people who will.
Create Ideal Podcast Personas and Avatars
To understand your audience, and create content that converts, you have to start with the who. Any marketer understands that you must always have your ideal consumers in mind for your communications to have an impact. It's no good trying to target the world as a whole, so you need to narrow your audience down.?
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By putting yourself in your customer's shoes and visualizing their needs and pain points, you'll have a deeper understanding of the kind of content you should be producing.?
An "ideal listener," sometimes referred to as?a persona?or?avatar, allows you to do just that. It's that one singular person you'd love to have to listen to your podcast. Having that person in mind makes it easier to structure your entire marketing process and plan your content.
To design your one dream consumer, write down their demographics: age, occupation, family situation, income, likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc. Be specific, even if that means creating more than one persona for a podcast.
Statistically, only 44% of marketers use ideal listener personas. By building a persona for your podcast, you'll be one step ahead of over half of the podcasters out there!
Plan Your Episodes
Planning is key for any podcaster looking to create a quality podcast that is chock full of value for listeners. While some podcasters may enjoy recording off the cuff, having a pre-prepared episode plan removes the stress and ensures things will run smoothly on recording day!
A?podcast script ?doesn't need to be word-for-word (although that may be a great starting point for beginners). Instead, it's a creative tool that can contain as much or as little as you need to voice your messaging and content in a way that suits your brand.
Consider Episode Length
When it comes to podcast episode length, the rule book gets firmly thrown out of the window. Instead, we suggest doing whatever feels suitable for your content and making it as long as it needs to be to communicate your message effectively.
While you don't necessarily have to have the same length episode every single time, the general rule of thumb is to keep your episodes similar in length. This helps keep listeners on board because there is that element of familiarity. When there is too much disparity between your episodes — for example, one is 30 minutes longer than previous episodes — it might not sit well with your regular listeners.
The average podcast length is 43 minutes and 24 seconds. The consensus is that most podcasts are between?20 - 40 minutes in length .?
Ask yourself, what do you want to achieve by publishing a podcast? Why are you creating a podcast in the first place? Knowing the "why" behind a show can help you choose the right episode length.?
Shorter podcasts?leave you less time to deliver complex information or entertain at a deeply engaging level. However, short and snappy podcasts work well if you have a lot of valuable tips to touch on. Or if your show predominantly covers breaking news stories.?
Further reading:?Ideal Podcast Length
Determine Your Publishing Frequency
As with most marketing channels, podcasters compete for visibility among thousands of other shows. One of the best things you can do to build trust around your podcast is to stick to a regular release schedule. But, "the best time" is highly subjective. For any publishing schedule to work, it largely depends on your chosen niche, target audience, and ability to publish consistently.
Megaphone's ?2018 research revealed that podcasters tend to publish the newest episodes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday between 2-5 am, with 5 am being the best time to gather the max amount of downloads.
Every podcast audience is different. Do your listeners prefer to tune in on their commute to work or on their way home? Are they mid-afternoon listeners doing house chores? Would they rather listen late at night once the kids are in bed?
Further reading:?Best Day to Publish a Podcast
Promote Your Podcast Episodes
Once you have established your preferred publishing days, you will need to create a bit of hype around every single episode before you publish. Tease the newest episode 24 hours ahead of time and keep sharing this post multiple times throughout the week. Ideally, you want to produce three different Twitter posts and share all three on the first day. Then, create and share 2 posts to Facebook within the first week.?
While some people steer clear of Instagram Live, it can be a great tool as it gives listeners and followers a glimpse of who the host is and puts a face to the voice.
Podcast marketing on social media is all about persistence. Keep talking about your show, and stay visible. So often, things get lost in the sea of posts on social media, so the more you keep posting, the higher the chances that people will see it.
Pro Tip:?People are curious about how things are made, so talk about what goes on behind-the-scenes in an Instagram or Facebook story. Try to include your guests in these Instagram posts where possible.?
Further reading:?How to Promote a Podcast
Design Your Podcast Artwork
Branding is deathly important for getting your podcast found. While podcasts are very much an audio medium, there is an element of the visual that needs to go into your planning.?
Your podcast will also need a square image representing your show, which will be uploaded to your hosting site and be used across all your integrated podcast directories, such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify.?
This?cover art ?is what people will see before listening to a single spoken word, so it needs to make an impression.
The?Apple Podcast image requirements ?change periodically. This is from the most recent update:
Your cover art should be a minimum size of 1400 x 1400 pixels and a maximum size of 3000 x 3000 pixels, 72 dpi, in JPEG or PNG format with appropriate file extensions (.jpg, .png) and the RGB color space. To optimize images for mobile devices, Apple recommends compressing your image files.
Try to keep the cover art in line with your brand, incorporating similar fonts and colors if it feels right.
What You Need to Record a Podcast
You don't need to spend a fortune to start podcasting. However, you will need a few basic things, some of which you may already have and some of which are free:
A Solid Recording Space (Preferably Soundproof)
You can record a podcast anywhere. Some podcasters have created mobile setups in train cars, hotel rooms, and even music festivals! But, if you want quality audio, a secluded space with some soundproofing is the ultimate way to go.
The beauty of the medium is that you don't need a huge space. You only need somewhere quiet where you can fit a microphone and a laptop. To ensure a quiet space, consider investing in some soundproofing material, like foam panels that can be easily affixed to a wall.?
A Laptop or Desktop Computer
You'll need something to record your podcasts onto and somewhere to house all your raw interviews and tracks.?
A Reliable Microphone and Mic Gear
The main pieces of equipment you'll want to get are a microphone (we recommend the?Shure SM7B ), a pop filter, a sturdy?mic stand/arm , and?an XLR cable .
Further reading:?Proper Microphone Techniques and Placement
Recording Software
You can download?Garageband ?or?Audacity ?and turn your laptop or tablet into your recording studio. Both offer free versions where you can record live audio, edit files, cut and splice, and output your podcast to a digital sound file. For the tech-savvy, pro podcasters among us, you can try using??Pro Tools .
Further reading:?Podcast Software Roundup: Top Tools for Recording & Editing
Noise-Canceling Headphones
Your headphones matter. During a recording session, they allow you to hear how the recording is being translated into your recording software. If there are any strange noises (like someone breathing into the microphone), you'll be able to pick it up.
The?Sennheiser HD280PRO ?has a tighter seal around the ears, giving you an accurate recording sound. Don't use Bluetooth headphones, such as Apple AirPods, as they can interfere with your recording.?
A Hosting Service to Broadcast Your Podcasts
A podcast hosting site is where you will upload your episodes (Libsyn ?or?Transistor ?are both good options). The hosting site then distributes your episodes via your?podcast RSS feed ?to all the directories you've signed up with (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, etc.). We suggest using a host that provides the best?analytics tools to help track your podcast's success .
Evaluating different platforms can be whittled down to the following criteria:?
Final Thoughts on Starting a Podcast for Your Business
Pitching a podcast ?to your boss may seem like a tough mountain to climb, but think of it this way. Starting a podcast for your business is a great way to provide value-based content for your audience and customers.?
Podcasts provide content that targets and meets your ideal consumers where they are, builds trust with audiences, expands a brand's network, and establishes reputation.?From a business leader's perspective, podcasts genuinely set the foundation for building your personal brand.?
There's a certain amount of prep work and planning that goes into creating a successful podcast, but once you hit your stride it will become an easily actionable item on your marketing to-do list.
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Want to showcase thought-leadership with your own award-winning podcast?
At Lower Street we develop, produce and grow podcast series for the biggest & best brands (think BCG, HPE, Pepsi etc).