Podcasting is on the rise, in fact, approximately 80 million Americans are now weekly podcast listeners. In today’s oversaturated, multichannel marketing environment, B2B marketing requires a multifaceted approach.
Consider Starting a B2B Podcast
With so many B2B businesses pushing to generate leads and boost sales and conversions, starting a podcast offers a more authentic way to connect with your audience and elevates your brand perception as an innovator in your industry.
Unlike video content marketing, blog writing, and social media posts, podcasting allows you to reach a highly engaged and captive audience. This is because people intentionally tune into a podcast episode, especially a B2B one, and with nearly 300 million people in the United States now owning a smartphone, businesses can market to people in places that weren’t accessible before.
B2B podcasting is also naturally conversational making it a perfect top-of-funnel (TOFU) marketing tool to quickly build brand awareness and rapport.
So, now that you’re convinced to take the leap and start a B2B podcast, here are our podcast tips and best practices to get you started.
11 Podcast Best Practices for B2B Marketers
Your B2B marketing podcast concept needs to be engaging, unique, and on brand, and it must resonate first and foremost with your potential audience’s business needs (a mouthful we know, but it really does sum it up perfectly).
Let’s start at the top:
1. Have a Clear Purpose for Your Podcast
Your purpose will guide the content, format, and overall direction of your podcast. It will also help you attract and retain listeners who are interested in the topics you cover. To define the purpose of your show, it is important to:
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- Identify your target audience.
- Define your niche.
- Define your objective.
- Build your brand.
2. Adhere to Your Brand and Tell Your Story
A major part of "podcasting for beginners" is determining how your show will convey everything you want your audience to know about your brand. Your podcast and the stories you tell are how your listeners will define and remember you. Humanizing your brand and telling your brand story, using authentic voices from those in your business, will allow listeners to develop trust in and reliance on your business (and show).
3. Develop a Format That Fits Your Audience
Determine what podcast format will best achieve your business objectives and engage your target audience. Different formats include interviews, panel discussions, solo shows, or a combination.
Drift, a conversational marketing and sales technology company, whose focus is to humanize and personalize the way online businesses communicate with their customers, has followed best practices 1, 2, and 3 with their podcast, Conversation Starters, a podcast to help businesses have more effective conversations that put the buyer first (and accelerate revenue in the process).
Their podcast has a clear purpose — to leave listeners feeling empowered with the knowledge they need to start their business conversations, and Drift adheres perfectly to their brand by focusing on conversations with employees, customers, and special guests. They’ve also chosen an interview-style format for their episodes that works for their listeners.
4. Choose a Hosting Platform That’s Right for You
Choosing the best hosting service is an important step in starting your own B2B podcast as a host has the resources to store and deliver a successful and engaging podcast. There are many different hosting options, so identify what is important to you and choose accordingly.
5. Ensure Your Podcast Is Properly Distributed
The main purpose of creating a podcast is to reach an audience. Proper distribution ensures that your podcast is available on all the major platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and Google Podcasts, making it more accessible to listeners.
If your show is only available on one or two platforms, you’re limiting your potential audience. However, by distributing your podcast on multiple platforms, you are increasing the likelihood that new listeners will discover it and ensuring that your listeners will have access to new episodes as soon as they are released. This helps to build a loyal following, as listeners know they can rely on your podcast to be available on their preferred platform.
Lastly, having your podcast listed on popular platforms can lend credibility to your show and make it more attractive and discoverable to listeners looking for new and interesting content.
6. Promote Your Show
Podcasts help drive traffic to your website and other marketing channels. By including links to your website and other content resources in your show notes and promoting your podcast on social media, email, and other channels, you can drive more traffic to your business and generate more leads.
7. And Cross-Promote Your Show
Consider collaborating with other industry experts or having credible guests on your show to provide diverse perspectives and keep things interesting. If you share other like-minded podcasts on your show, the likelihood is that they will return the favor.
Bomb Bomb, a technology company that humanizes business relationships through videos, has honed in on best practices 5, 6, and 7 with their podcast, The Customer Experience. The show is distributed through their website, Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and Google, and their podcast website provides quotes from the podcast that can be shared on social media, specific video highlights, and links to their other related episodes. Lastly, they cross-promote by posting links to other related content their listeners might enjoy and always feature a guest speaker.
8. Use Proper CTAs
Having a clear (but not overly pushy) CTA in each episode will not only directly impact conversions, but allow you to track the ROI of your podcast.
9. Create a Consistent Publishing Schedule
It is important to publish episodes on a consistent basis to build trust and maintain your audience. If listeners know that you consistently release a new episode each Tuesday, they are more likely to remember to tune in each week.
10. Repurpose Your Podcast Content
Podcasts can be videographed, transcribed, and repurposed for other marketing efforts. Podcasts are content-rich and will provide you with tons of reusable content for blog posts, social media posts, and other marketing channels to help you get mileage out of your episodes.
11. Use Podcast Analytics to Your Advantage
Use your podcast analytics from each distribution channel to track your podcast success and make data-driven decisions about future episodes. In particular, you need to know who's engaging with your show and which companies they represent.
Practice Makes Perfect
Podcasting is a powerful tool for B2B marketers looking to build deeper relationships with their audience and establish thought leadership in their industry. By following the best practices outlined in this post, you can set your show up for success and make a lasting impact on your listeners. With the right approach, a well-executed podcast is a valuable asset for your B2B marketing strategy and one of the best ways to grow your brand and mature your podcast channel into a revenue driver.
Ready to start podcasting? Casted is the most advanced B2B podcast marketing platform available to marketing teams of any size. No matter your company stage, your team can leverage the same platform that supports B2B marketers at big global brands. Contact us to book your demo!
