These days, creating a corporate podcast is becoming an increasingly important tactic in your marketing strategy among other channels like blogging, social media, video marketing, email campaigns, etc. Big-name brands and small businesses alike are hopping on the podcasting train, and the trend isn’t showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Here are some of Edison’s research findings on the continued growth of podcasts in 2021:

That said, not every corporate podcast will become the next big hit. So what can corporations do to stand out from the crowd and make their mark on the podcast industry? 

Here are 10 tips for creating a successful corporate podcast, increasing brand awareness and adding value to your listener base:

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1. Confirm your budget

While podcasting is a relatively affordable medium, costs can add up quickly if you’re outsourcing most of the work and investing in top-notch equipment. Before you take any first steps in creating a corporate podcast, be sure to decide on a firm budget with your leadership team and keep a log of costs from the beginning to avoid any misunderstandings.

The bigger the budget, the more freedom and flexibility you’ll have to try new things with the podcast, but note that if you’re making the case for a greater investment, have a breakdown of how exactly you’ll be measuring success metrics and KPIs. 

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2. Strategize

Before you set out on your content creation journey alongside any colleagues, freelancers or agency partners you may be working with, be sure to align on a high-level strategy internally. This could mean putting together a deck including elements like the podcast theme and tone, or simply sitting down for a brainstorming session with your team. 

Here are some questions to ask your team during the strategy phase:

• What is our podcast “elevator pitch?” I.e., what is the show about in two to three sentences?
• What will be the name of the podcast?
• What topics will we cover, and what topics will we stay away from as a rule?
• What formats would we like to experiment with?
• What kind of guests will we have on the show (if this is the type of format you’ll be working with)?
• What will the overall tone of the podcast be? I.e., light and comical, or serious and to-the-point?
• What is the goal behind the podcast? What are we trying to achieve? 

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3. Select the right team

If you’re part of a large organization with a significant employee base, it will be important to determine who will be part of the podcast team in advance. For example, will the podcast be the sole responsibility of the marketing team, or will it be a cross-functional initiative? Maybe if the goal of your podcast is industry relationships for sales, your sales department might want to be involved to give you direction on guests. 

Taking the time to delegate and role sort in advance will save you loads of time once you hit the ground running with the show, and it will help you stay organized in the planning stages. If possible, select team members who have creative thinking skills and a passion for storytelling to help out.

4. Find the right partners

Once you’ve selected your internal team for the podcast, you may want to think about any outsourcing you’ll need to do to produce the show. For example, it could be helpful to partner with a full-service podcast agency to work with you on episode planning, scripting and social media, or you may only be missing a freelance sound engineer.

Whatever your needs are, make sure to choose partners and vendors that you trust, and who have a proven track record of delivering exceptional work to clients that operate in a similar space as your organization.

5. Stay current

When developing your overall podcast theme and episode plans, think about how you can bring the show into the present by drawing on current issues or events happening in the world around you. 

What challenges is your company grappling with at the moment? What does your audience care about right now? What are the hot topics of conversation at the water cooler?

Keeping your finger on the pulse of what’s happening in your industry is key when it comes to content creation—after all, the last thing you’d want for your corporate podcast is to sound tone-deaf. You may want to spend some time taking stock of what other creators are doing in your space so you can gain an understanding of the current climate.

6. Raise your standards

When it comes to sound quality and editing, you’ll want to ensure your corporate podcast sounds top notch. This is especially important if you’re attaching a big-name corporation to the show—people will expect high quality content from companies that are more established (no pressure!), so try to think about how you can raise your standards and keep improving with each episode.

This can sometimes come back to budget and having the ability to invest in the right partners, softwares, and resources to produce not only high quality content but also sound. 

7. Choose the right host

If the format you choose for your corporate podcast requires a host, it’s important to choose someone who will help you capture the right tone, voice and audience connection. You have the option to choose someone from within your organization who is knowledgeable about the subject matter such as the CEO or founder, or you could also outsource the role to a professional actor or TV host who can help draw in listeners.

Whomever you end up choosing, it’s important to consider some key elements including:

• Diversity. Is the host representative of marginalized groups or an underrepresented gender, sexuality or race? If not, you may want to rethink your decision.
• Charisma. Is the host charismatic, engaging and well-spoken?
• Expertise. Does the host have special knowledge or insights to bring to the table?

8. Determine your ideal listener profile

When planning content, it can be helpful to keep in mind who it is you’re really talking to when it comes time to hit record. That way, you can tailor your content to reach a specific audience demographic and ultimately, convert listeners to customers if that’s your goal.

Of course, you don’t want to risk alienating certain groups as listeners, but coming up with a rough outline of your ideal listener profile can be an enlightening exercise as you and your team navigate the content creation process. You can never be too detailed with this profile sketch: include things like their age, gender, level of education, daily habits, interests and more so you can begin to envision a real person listening on the other end of the microphone, and what their reaction might be to your content.

Again, don’t take this too literally. Consider it an exercise in empathy and understanding what makes other people tick.

9. Set some benchmark goals

Analytics are huge when it comes to corporate podcasts. In most cases, you’ll be reporting on your progress and the outcomes of the podcast to higher-ups so they can understand the ROI. It’s important to come prepared with regular analytics reports and more importantly, insights into what the data is saying about your podcast.

Before you release any episodes, set some benchmark goals such as a number of downloads, ratings and reviews so you can track your progress along the way. This way, if a particular tactic or format is performing particularly well, you’ll be able to continue leveraging it in future episodes to grow your audience.

10. Engage the whole organization

While you’ll likely only be working with a few other colleagues on the podcast itself, it’s important to engage the entire company to drum up interest and bump up your metrics. If you come from a large organization, it would be a missed opportunity to not take advantage of your internal employee base by encouraging them to listen, rate, review and share the show with their networks.

Even if only 30% of employees support the podcast, this can add up quickly and help you gain traction from the get go. An easy way to engage employees is to run an internal giveaway contest with prizes like tech accessories, gift cards or other swag to incentivize them to listen in.

BONUS: Podcast Marketing

Now that you’ve strategized, created and executed on your show, it’s time to focus on one of the most important components of the process: podcast marketing. There are plenty of tactics you can experiment with to spread the word about your corporate podcast. Don’t hesitate to keep trying different platforms, mediums and strategies on for size to see what’s a fit for your brand. 

Here are a few ideas to get you and your team started:

1. Social Media

• Audiograms
• Quote Graphics
• Community Engagement

2. Community Growth

• Slack Groups 
• Facebook Groups 
• Newsletters
• Meetups/Events 
• Reddit 
• Discord 
• Clubhouse

3. Podcast Guest Networks

4. Internal Communications

5. Podcast SEO

6. Podcast Cross Promotion

7. Sponsored Ad Slots

8. Episode Swaps

9. Advertising Apps

• Podcast Addict
• Spotify Advertising

10. Podcast Contests

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