P4B08: What do you talk about on a branded podcast?
6m
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Podcasting for Brands
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So, what do you talk about on your brand podcast? The answer to this question lies in your audience. That's why, if you haven't defined the audience avatar for your podcast yet. It's going to be hard for you to create content that strikes a chord with the listener The good news is it that you probably have a lot of content already in the house. That may be white papers and reports, but it also may be found in the conversations that your people have on a day-to-day basis. That's why there are four different sources for content for your podcast, the host, your internal body of work. Your guests and your audience Good podcasts include at least three of these four in their programming. And the choice of three is really dependent on the podcast design When you've chosen the right design for your podcast. Content choices fall into place. That's why one of the most important. Sessions that we hold with podcast clients is what we call the content mapping session that takes the design that we've worked on together in stage one. And manifest that as a content calendar. In stage two, content should always be based around the needs of the audience. Often one of the starting points for a podcast idea. Is this is what i want to talk about our goal as a podcast agency is to bring that starting point to the next level which is what does the audience want to hear about and that really is about what's her issue what's her frustration what problem are we solving for her uh why will she listen These are key questions that we must help answer in the pre launch stage of a business podcast. Once you have the design, you can then think about the audience avatar. And once you have the audience avatar, then you can go to work on the content choices. For example, I want my podcast to get me meetings and leads. I'm a startup. And I see myself as a leader within this space. Once you choose the news and analysis podcast. The next stage is the definition of the audience avatar and then defining the content. So my audience avatar are comms leaders. Corporate leaders out there people who are frustrated with The pandemic and being unable to get their key talking points out to the market in ways like they used to. They are frustrated and overwhelmed by content choices everywhere. Do i choose video do i choose tik tok or do i choose audio. They look at me because I've created a map for them to navigate this increasingly complex industry and make more informed choices. So with this podcast design combined with an audience avatar. My challenge now is to put together the content plan. And this comes back to the four content sources for your podcast. Now it varies by podcast design. But as a general role here are some of the ideas for podcast content. For the host focus on personal journeys and connection with the subject. I recorded my first podcast in 2006, I set up a podcast agency 2018. Let's look at existing body of work form the key talking points for the brand. In my case, I have white papers and guides. You can go to pikkal.com/guides and download all of them free. And then this guide, this audio book you're listening to now, I created it for you. It's your questions that you've been asking me over all these years. That's why audience are crucial part of your content. As a host, you must speak to their pain, their frustrations. You must know who they are and also the language that they use to talk about These important issues. For me for this guide, you are a comms leader, a corporate leader or somebody that services all of the above. I didn't write this guide for podcasters. Although you may be a podcast to, and the corporate leader already. So the questions that I've answered in this guide, aren't podcaster questions. No, there are plenty of podcaster guides out there about how to use microphones, etc. Instead this guide is for you. And it's the questions that you have about corporate podcast, about creating a podcast for your brand and the goal is to help you make informed decisions about those questions and it's the same with your podcast. A key part of making your content and your conversation relevant to your listener. Is not only defining those conversations that matter to the listener. But also defining what doesn't matter. When I work with the clients in defining the audience avatar and the design and the content map. One of the questions that we ask is not only who is this for, but who is this? Not for.
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P4B10: Who Should Host Your Company Podcast?
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P4B09: How to develop a cohesive podcast narrative for your brand
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P4B08: What do you talk about on a branded podcast?
So, what do you talk about on your brand podcast? The answer to this question lies in your audience. That's why, if you haven't defined the audience avatar for your podcast yet. It's going to be hard for you to create content that strikes a chord with the listener The good news is it that you probably have a lot of content already in the house. That may be white papers and reports, but it also may be found in the conversations that your people have on a day-to-day basis. That's why there are four different sources for content for your podcast, the host, your internal body of work. Your guests and your audience Good podcasts include at least three of these four in their programming. And the choice of three is really dependent on the podcast design When you've chosen the right design for your podcast. Content choices fall into place. That's why one of the most important. Sessions that we hold with podcast clients is what we call the content mapping session that takes the design that we've worked on together in stage one. And manifest that as a content calendar. In stage two, content should always be based around the needs of the audience. Often one of the starting points for a podcast idea. Is this is what i want to talk about our goal as a podcast agency is to bring that starting point to the next level which is what does the audience want to hear about and that really is about what's her issue what's her frustration what problem are we solving for her uh why will she listen These are key questions that we must help answer in the pre launch stage of a business podcast. Once you have the design, you can then think about the audience avatar. And once you have the audience avatar, then you can go to work on the content choices. For example, I want my podcast to get me meetings and leads. I'm a startup. And I see myself as a leader within this space. Once you choose the news and analysis podcast. The next stage is the definition of the audience avatar and then defining the content. So my audience avatar are comms leaders. Corporate leaders out there people who are frustrated with The pandemic and being unable to get their key talking points out to the market in ways like they used to. They are frustrated and overwhelmed by content choices everywhere. Do i choose video do i choose tik tok or do i choose audio. They look at me because I've created a map for them to navigate this increasingly complex industry and make more informed choices. So with this podcast design combined with an audience avatar. My challenge now is to put together the content plan. And this comes back to the four content sources for your podcast. Now it varies by podcast design. But as a general role here are some of the ideas for podcast content. For the host focus on personal journeys and connection with the subject. I recorded my first podcast in 2006, I set up a podcast agency 2018. Let's look at existing body of work form the key talking points for the brand. In my case, I have white papers and guides. You can go to pikkal.com/guides and download all of them free. And then this guide, this audio book you're listening to now, I created it for you. It's your questions that you've been asking me over all these years. That's why audience are crucial part of your content. As a host, you must speak to their pain, their frustrations. You must know who they are and also the language that they use to talk about These important issues. For me for this guide, you are a comms leader, a corporate leader or somebody that services all of the above. I didn't write this guide for podcasters. Although you may be a podcast to, and the corporate leader already. So the questions that I've answered in this guide, aren't podcaster questions. No, there are plenty of podcaster guides out there about how to use microphones, etc. Instead this guide is for you. And it's the questions that you have about corporate podcast, about creating a podcast for your brand and the goal is to help you make informed decisions about those questions and it's the same with your podcast. A key part of making your content and your conversation relevant to your listener. Is not only defining those conversations that matter to the listener. But also defining what doesn't matter. When I work with the clients in defining the audience avatar and the design and the content map. One of the questions that we ask is not only who is this for, but who is this? Not for.
P4B07: The Importance of Audience Avatar in Your Podcast
The audience avatar is one of the most important assets that you'll create for your podcast. It's a single sheet that contains everything we need to know about the listener and when I say everything, I mean, everything. For me, this audio book, the audience avatar is. Nicole. I go for a name she's 42 years old. She's a corporate leader she's a communications leader for her brand. Give your audience avatar a name, humanized them. How old are they? What positions do they have in their organization? What are their frustrations? What are they paying points? What are their fears? What has changed for them in the last 18 to 24 months? Why are they going to listen to you what kind of language did they use. Now what qualifies you to be in a position of leadership to influence Nicole? I'm regularly reminded that most people start podcasts without even firstly, an idea of who the listener is and therefore, why their content is important to them. Which means no matter how hard you hustle with the guests and getting great guests for your podcast. If you haven't designed the audience avatar. Then it's all academic. When you record the podcast, when you do the intros, the outros, the calls to action. This thing is the callbacks and the bumpers. You should be speaking directly to Nicole. You're not speaking to you guys or the listeners or anybody out there. You see, Nicole doesn't want to be anybody. Or everybody she wants to be somebody and done right. A good audience avatar should not only be that one pager. For your podcast in the production. But it should also be the go-to sheet for your social and communications teams for understanding how to communicate to your audience when that episode goes live. The more, you can involve all different aspects of communications and marketing across the organization. The more you can make your efforts. Omni-channel. The more likely you are to turn a listener. Into a fan As a podcast owner, your goal should be to turn listeners. Into subscribers and subscribers into fans. Fans comment fans share fans, promote your podcast. Your fans are your best marketing department when it comes to podcasts and the best podcast, uh, partnerships between hosts and fans. One of the most important aspects of any corporate podcast. Is how you speak to the audience and how you involve the audience. In your community. A podcast should never be, this is what we want to talk about. It should always be, what does the listener want to hear about what is the listeners frustration of? Why are they listening to me? And you're only ever really know that by speaking to Nicole. That's why when we take on a new podcast project, The two upfront development assets that we want to work with. Any client on are firstly, the audience avatar. I E understanding who the audience is. Understanding their personality, understanding their language and understanding what their problem is and secondly, the podcast design itself. Meaning how will that podcast speak to the audience and how will it involve them in the process. Involving the audience in the process doesn't necessarily mean phone ins in the old school radio vernacular, but it does mean speaking to them directly. And many corporate podcasts today. Ignore the audience or say. The audience or you guys or the listeners as opposed to simply saying you. There are many ways you can involve the audience in your podcast and turn them from listeners into fans and this is where any good podcast agency should be able to help you. Whether it's helping you with callbacks that reference both back catalog audio. And what's coming up next or designing with a clear call to action that encourages the listener to get involved in the podcast itself. That could mean, for example, email feedback, filling out a form, downloading a lead magnet or simply subscribing to the podcast on their favorite podcast platform. Your biggest asset in your podcast is the audience. And that means having a really good understanding of who Nicole is and why you're doing this podcast for her. Because, you know, what's going to happen. You'll get to six podcasts. And the novelty of doing the podcast itself will wear off and internally people will start asking questions as why are we doing this? However, if you get feedback, if you involve your audience in the process, Then you have the foundations for long-term communications success.