Why your company should start a branded podcast
Starting a podcast for a business is one of the best ways to earn the trust of potential customers, develop a positive reputation in your category, differentiate yourself in an industry, and foster better. . .
Starting a podcast for a business is one of the best ways to earn the trust of potential customers, develop a positive reputation in your category, differentiate yourself in an industry, and foster better communication with your team. My business partner and I starteda podcastin 2018. Since then, the podcast has brought us customers, frequently generated word-of-mouth for our company, helped us find employees, and helped us make valuable industry connections. How to start a podcast for your business this yearWhat is the problem with most branded podcasts? They're boring. Listeners want to be entertained, inspired, and educated. To create audio that people listen to, you must make it compelling!Podcasting 101: how a professional podcast gets madeFirst, you'll need to understand the basics of recording, editing, and podcast publishing. Watchthis tutorial video, which covers everything you'll need to know:Additionally, you canread this guide, which covers recording equipment, editing software, and podcast hosting. Generally, here's what I recommend for businesses:Have a dedicated podcasting room, studio, or station in your office. If possible, equip it with lighting, a video camera, soundproofing, and a microphone. This will allow you to record video for promotional clips in addition to your audio. Hire a podcast producer or a podcast agency. If you can't afford a camera and lighting, you can start with a microphone, pop filter, and software. If you're just getting started, here's my budget recommendation for podcast gear:Microphone:TheSamson Q2Uis a good dynamic USB microphone. If you have more budget, opt for the Shure MV7. Pop filter:get a windscreenlike thisfor your microphone. Audio editing software:UseDescript(PC or Mac),GarageBand(Mac or iPad), orAudacity(PC). When you're ready to add a DLSR camera to your podcast setup, I recommend:Camera:Canon M50 MKIILens:Sigma 16mmKey light:Aputure Amaran 100x SChoose a compelling topic for your branded podcastMy podcast with my co-founder,Build your SaaS, focuses on the burgeoning Software as a Service industry. We covered our journey of building our startup from scratch and shared what we learned. Our show attracted a listenership becausewe chose a topic people were already searching for:"How to start a SaaS. "Examine your industry for topics that are resonating. Use tools likeExploding Topicsto help surface good ideas for your podcast:Tools for finding good podcast topics:Exploding TopicsSparkToroAnswer the PublicYou can also research tools likePodysseyandPodchaserto see what kinds of episodes people recommend. Do some detective work: What about a particular episode that compels people to share it? Those are the episodes you'll want to produce for your branded podcast. Record a trailer episodeThe most potent marketing opportunity is before you launch your first episode. You can build anticipation by recording ashort trailer episodefirst. A podcast trailer (sometimes called a "teaser") is a short, promotional episode meant to quickly give potential listeners a preview of your show, and what they can expect. Create a quick script for your podcast's trailer that answers these questions:What is your branded podcast about?Who is the audience?Why should they listen?Here is a sample script:"This is a podcast for retail business owners. Every week, I'll share my real-life stories about running my shop, the Dusty Anchor. You'll hear about how I deal with staff, manage cash flow, and increase profitability. You'll enjoy the show if you've wondered how other stores run their business. You can subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. "Record and edit your audio (see software options here), and then export the audio as an MP3 file. You'll upload that MP3 to yourpodcast hosting provider. Podcast hosts, likeTransistor, allow you to choose "Trailer" as an episode type:Once your trailer is published, you cansubmit your podcast to the various apps(Spotify, Apple Podcasts) and directories. This will allow you to get subscribers/followers on those platformsbeforeyou launch your official episode. I would also recommend creating a "coming soon" landing page for your podcast on your business' website. This will allow you to promote the podcast on your company's social channels and build up anticipation for the show.