B2B podcasts: capitalise on your brand voice

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Well, we live in an era where audiences want to know more about your brand story. It is thus crucial to optimise your brand voice to better engage with them. Here are a few steps to create high-quality, immersive, thought-provoking podcasts that echo your brand sentiments, look and feel.

Research the landscape and define the opportunities

Looking at some key figures, B2B podcasts are picking up in South Africa and around the world. In South Africa, the addressable market for podcasting is 16m people, while it is reported that more than 475m people are actively listening to podcasts around the world, according to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report. The choice for content is vast.

Now, how do you make your podcast stand out? Choose your own specific topic and make sure to solve a problem for your audience. Engage your target audience in the research to determine relevant podcast angles.

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Who is your customer, what problem are they facing and how can you help them? You could run a dipstick survey to better understand what they would need to know and what they expect from your brand. You should also benchmark with other industry leaders and see what the competition is doing. From there craft a series of topics to be addressed and put it all in a content calendar.

Define your tone and voice

One challenge facing B2B podcasts is that voice matters. Should you opt for a marketer’s voice or a CEO’s voice? These questions should be asked, though they might be difficult.

B2B companies should also consider investing in a well-known industry personality or ambassador who will embody your brand. Keep in mind though, the individual must have experience interviewing and hosting.

Don’t forget, podcasts work best for the attract and engage phases of the customer journey. So, you must sound interesting to intrigue listeners, so that you stand out from the crowd.

Think about all things technical

Recording, editing, hosting, publishing. These steps are as important - if not more - as planning your content calendar and identifying your host.

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Take sound for example. It is the first factor in producing a great podcast. You might want to research tools like QuickTime Audio, Audacity, and Adobe Audition to get this right. For interviews with external guests and influencers. recording on Zoom might be the solution. Another option is to outsource this important part of podcasts - if your podcast sounds terrible, people won’t listen or share it.

Give it an identity

Consider adding an intro and an outro. Distinctive music gives your podcast a unique identity, predictability and consistency for your listeners. When they hear that music, they’ll know they’re listening to your podcast. It also adds to a neat beginning and end.

That’s not all to your identity, though. Think about designing cover art for your B2B podcasts too. Cover art is the little thumbnail image that pops up on podcast listening apps with your podcast name on it.

Promote your podcasts

There are various avenues to promote the launch of your B2B podcasts:

• Mailing campaigns,
• Social media posts encouraging your employees, host and business partners to share,
• Blog posts to increase organic engagement. You might want to partner with an influential media house to give more visibility to your podcast and gain an audience,
• A paid LinkedIn campaign will be key to gain more listeners,
• Podcast episodes titles and descriptions should follow SEO best practices to be found easily online,
• Publish your B2B podcast regularly and stick to the publication frequency. It will give your audience a regular ‘rendezvous.

This is not an exhaustive list and there are many ways to get creative. Last but not least, do not forget to include a CTA at the end of your podcast. It should not be too pushy, but lead your audience to the next step.

Final thoughts

Investing in podcasts will give you a competitive edge. As your B2B company is preparing next year’s budget, think about including it. You can start in-house. It is a great way to empower your marketing and communications teams.

Podcasts take time given the technical implications, but if you decide to go ahead, publish regularly and ensure it is of great quality both technically and in content.