Having a branded podcast strategy during a time when podcasts are increasingly popular makes sense. According to one study, there were more than 424 million podcast listeners worldwide. This form of content is prevalent in the United States, where around 62% of consumers listen to podcasts, and the numbers gradually increase with time.
Knowing the stats about podcasts and their popularity, many companies have started focusing on the branded podcast strategy. With that, they connect with their audience, earn an excellent reputation, evoke the audience’s interest in their brand, and ultimately increase their sales.
However, creating a branded content strategy isn’t easy for everyone. Podcast creators and strategists don’t know what it takes to create a fantastic branded podcast.
If you are looking for ways to create a successful branded podcast strategy, this step-by-step guide is for you. It will help you create a podcast strategy that can give you a competitive edge and help you achieve your goals.
Steps to Create a Successful Branded Podcast Strategy
Here are the steps that can guide you to a higher rate of success with your podcasting with positive results for your business.
1. Find the Purpose of Your Branded Strategy
To create a successful podcast strategy, you must know the goals that you want to achieve. Otherwise, your podcast may be able to help you in many areas but may not be able to help you reach your goals.
Your branded podcast strategy purpose may be increased brand awareness, improved sales, a solid reputation, a stronger audience relationship, or a competitive edge. Whatever your purpose for the show, it should be well-defined.
When you have a well-defined purpose for your branded podcast strategy, you can take every step in the right direction. It could ultimately help you in achieving success.
For instance, Sephora Collection, a well-known company that manufactures and sells makeup tools and skin care products, found its branded podcast strategy purpose. With its podcast, it entertains its consumers and enlightens them about the best skincare routine. Their podcast #LIPSTORIES is a great example of a branded podcast.
Similarly, if you know the purpose of creating your podcast, you can move quicker. You will be able to know what kind of guests you should call, what the questions should be, what promotional strategies to use, etc. On the other hand, when your purpose isn’t clearly defined, you won’t know what to do to attract more visitors and how to reach the goals that aren’t defined yet.
Here are some helpful tips for finding the purpose of your branded podcast strategy.
- Always keep your audience in mind
- Analyze your audience’s pain points and find what they need
- Search your competitors and analyze their podcast strategy and its influence on their audience
- Always consider your strengths while thinking about the purpose of your podcast
- Consider your niche and the knowledge gap that exists there
2. Invite Niche-related Guests
Once you know your purpose behind the show, the next step is finding the most suitable guests to talk about your brand.
The right guests will be able to enrich your content and provide expert opinions that can attract new listeners. Moreover, when you choose industry-related guests, you provide the most valuable content.
Apart from educating your consumers, this industry-related content should also entertain the audience. It will keep them engaged and encourage them to listen to more episodes.
#LIPSTORIES is using this tactic to make their branded podcast more successful. They frequently invite niche-related guests and get their opinion on various things related to self-grooming.
Below are a few benefits of inviting niche-related guests:
Niche-related Guests Enhance Visibility
When you invite niche-related guests, they don’t bring just their knowledge. They also bring the chance that you may ask them a question their audience has never heard their answer to before. That means a spotlight could be shown on that clip, which will then highlight your show. A well-known guest will have interested and engaged followers that can become listeners of your show if you give them the proper on-ramps and reasons.
Niche-related Guests Provide Valuable Content
The niche-related guests also provide valuable content to the audience. That content can help your podcast earn a good reputation in the industry. And that reputation can help you achieve your goals.
For example, if you own a brand and want people to know about it or its unique selling proposition, you’ll want people to connect with you in various ways.
One way to connect is through the various personalities you invite on your show. This diversity of opinion, insight, and experience will build a valuable asset for your business. Ultimately, it will help your brand get the recognition and appreciation that it deserves.
3. Avoid Complexity in Your Branded Podcast Strategy
Here is the third important step in creating a successful branded podcast campaign. Avoiding complexity means creating content everyone can understand and ultimately connect with. The content’s theme should be easy to relate to.
Moreover, it should use simple language and discuss new ideas and concepts in the same fashion. Even when talking about complicated matters, the language must be easy to understand.
Your goal here should be to engage listeners with your content, regardless of their expertise in the niche.
Trader Joe’s is using the same strategy. Their podcast Insider Trader Joe’s is using this method to attract more listeners. They make their content informative and educational while avoiding complexities that could make their content hard to understand. And so far, they are successfully catching consumers’ attention.
By avoiding complexity and developing engaging and understandable content, you can also establish yourself as a leader in the industry and attract a loyal following.
Here are a few benefits of avoiding complexity:
Improved Accessibility
When you use simple language in your podcasts, more people will be able to comprehend what you are talking about. In addition, they are more likely to share the podcasts with others. That’s how avoiding complexities can help podcast strategies improve visibility and through better accessibility of understanding.
Increased Engagement
Creating easy-to-understand podcast content can quickly increase user engagement because it means they will listen for longer. They don’t immediately click away to search for other options. That’s how your content with fewer complexities help your podcast get more engagement.
4. Produce Content That Delivers Value
Almost every podcast listener wants some value for their time spent on the podcast. They don’t want to waste their time listening to off-topic or irrelevant discussion. As a content creator, you must respect their time and always strive to provide valuable content.
That valuable content won’t only add something to their lives but help you achieve your purpose and goals as well.
As a result, they will consider giving your brand more listens. You also need to build a social media strategy for your podcast so that your show can reach the maximum number of people. That’s how value-driven branded content works.
Take the example of Trader Joe’s. They educate their listeners about the best seasonal products, trending snacks, and tips for choosing products. It’s not just about how great Trader Joe’s is. It’s the helpful, insightful education that ties into what they can provide in the store. That’s how a smart branded podcast strategy works.
Let’s discuss a few benefits of providing valuable content:
Valuable Content Builds Trust
Building trust in the brand is one of the most significant benefits of producing valuable content. When an audience is impressed with a branded podcast, they not only continue to listen to that podcast but also gives the brand a shot. They start thinking that the brand is better than its competitors.
Valuable Content Improves Sales
Another great benefit of producing valuable content is that it immediately improves sales. When your podcast continuously highlights issues and represents themselves as the solution, it gradually improves sales and encourages people to buy the brand’s products and services.
5. Highlight Your Brand’s Core Values
The next step toward building a branded podcast strategy is to highlight your brand’s core values. Mentioning those values in your podcast can help you in many ways. For example, it can establish a strong relationship between your brand and those who share those values.
And it can also help you build a loyal customer base. Identity overpowers many other lesser affinities, which is why most successful companies always mention their values.
They repeat them to allow their consumers memorize them. Ultimately, their consumers appreciate them and hold a soft corner for the brand in their hearts.
Almost everyone who wants to protect the planet will consider purchasing your sustainable products over others. Almost everyone who wants to protect their children will consider purchasing your child safety products over others. Because you have made these values your guide.
Here are the perks of highlighting your brand’s core values in podcasts:
Strengthen Your Brand Identity
Highlighting your brand’s core values repeatedly in your podcast can help you build a brand identity and leave a long-lasting impression on consumers. In addition, it can differentiate your brand from competitors and attract consumers aligned with your values. It will also repel those who do not share those values. And that is OK, too.
Build a Deeper Connection with the Audience
This practice can also help you establish and strengthen your relationship with your audience. When you and your audience share common values, the deeper the connection with the audience grows over time. Ultimately, you become part of a community that cares for each other.
6. Create Visuals That Match Your Brand, Purpose, and Values
Once the podcast has been recorded, now is the time to promote them and attract new listeners. And it’s hard to do that without just as compelling visuals like cover images, thumbnails, social media posts, and other related visual content.
Searching and using any random thumbnails will not work here. Thumbnails are the gateway into whether someone will even give you chance and read what your show is about before they click play.
Visuals play a crucial role in the success of a branding strategy. When potential listeners search for a new podcast or just browse the web, they get heavily influenced by the thumbnails.
These branded visuals can give a sneak peek into the audio or video content. It’s why the YouTube thumbnail has become such a huge factor in getting views. It’s why Netflix changes them all the time for the same shows and films. They want another chance to entice you to click.
And when the brand visual matches the brand audio, the listeners grow to trust that brand more.
However, there is an issue with thumbnails. Not all thumbnails can attract visitors. Some are very boring, and they don’t leave any positive vibes. That’s why podcast marketers must know how to create eye-catching, detailed, and on-brand podcast visuals.
Below are some tips for searching for and creating inspiring thumbnails and marketing images:
Find Images That Arouse Curiosity
The thumbnails you use must arouse curiosity about the podcast and your brand. They must tell a few details about the content, but at the same time, they should also raise a question that compels new listeners to click.
One way to find inspiration for your visuals is to save or download a picture of your favorite podcast covers, YouTube covers, or even album covers. Search for it on an image search engine. It will show you numerous related images that have been used in that niche or genre to attract similar audiences.
Now, you have plenty of examples to inspire your images and visuals. Analyze them, and you will be able to create your thumbnail.
Represent the Brand
Focus on creating a thumbnail that represents your brand. Remember your brand identity while creating a thumbnail. Otherwise, you may confuse your listeners. Make sure that every single visual design element, including colors, font styles, and copy, aligns with your brand, its identity, and values. Just like your podcast, the visuals must also act to attract listeners and confirm they are in the right place.
Be Consistent Across Your Visuals
Consistency is a must-have element in the branded podcast strategy. When creating a podcast to boost your business, you should make sure that your podcast can differentiate your brand from others. Not only in the production of the show but also in the thumbnails and other social media content. For example, when you use a consistent style, listeners will trust that this podcast is yours quickly and click on the link to listen to it.
To Conclude
Taking these guiding steps toward a branded podcast strategy will separate you as a unique brand that stands for your community in a noisy world. Moreover, you will see extraordinary results that payoff long after you are done with your podcast production. That’s why it is essential for podcast creators or marketers to consider these steps to take their brand and podcast to the next level of success.
Emma is a digital marketer and a writer who loves talking about modern marketing strategies. She has also written a number of articles and blogs for teens and children on using technology.