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Heard about the advantages of B2B podcasting but not sure how to make a 'good' one that delivers? In particular, how a B2B podcast can yield a decent ROI for your company? Well, this article uncovers the planning, skill and expertise to make a B2B podcast successful. To ensure yours is resources-well-spent, we’ve rounded up 12 expert tips that are key for boosting podcast growth, driving overall success and benefitting your company.
But first things first…
You might be wondering what we actually mean when we talk about a “good” B2B podcast?
The answer, of course, is subjective. The goals of a B2B podcast can vary from business to business. That being said, there are definitely some common results most businesses want to achieve.
A ‘good’ B2B podcast should provide a business with one or more of the following benefits:
If you’d like to discover more about what a good B2B podcast can offer your company, check out B2B podcast guide below:
The Complete B2B Podcasting Guide (w/ Strategies & Examples)
To achieve the above results, there are some grounding qualities that can (and should) be incorporated into every show. It’s these basic guiding principles that will increase a podcast’s chances of success and boost your business.
Arguably one of the most important elements is the host’s presenting skills. This applies whether you’re recording solo or interviewing guests. It’s a skill. And it’s not something you’ll pick up overnight. Chris Williamson, host of the hugely-popular Modern Wisdom podcast, recently spoke to our sister company, Podcast.co, about his level of dedication and commitment to continually improving as a podcast host. He said:
“If you really want to be great at podcasting, you have to hone your craft. For example, I recently hired a speech coach to prepare me for my TEDx talk. He specialises in precision with the spoken word. And he came in and honed my diction. It turns out I actually had a lisp, but he helped me with my pronunciation. And that’s what professionals do. They master their craft.”
Check out the rest of the interview below.
Having a host with strong presenting skills is just one aspect of a good B2B podcast. Let’s take a deeper look at the 12 elements of a good B2B podcast…
Below are 12 great qualities that make for a good B2B podcast. You should ensure each one is applied to your own show.
A B2B podcast that tries to appeal to everyone will inevitably have a subject matter that is too broad. This poses the risk of getting lost in the sea of content and appealing to no-one. American podcaster and businessman, Gary Vaynerchuk, warns against this:
“I asked someone to start a podcast and said they should intertwine their two biggest interests for it. They came back to me with what those two interests are but it was too wide a range. Which is why being precise and narrowing your interests down to keeping it simple is so important.”
A good B2B podcast doesn’t try to speak to the masses. Instead, it’s hyper-focused on appealing to other businesses. Namely those within the same or relating industries and/or will benefit from its services.
The optimum B2B podcast strategy is to narrow down your target audience and create specific content for that group. Let’s take WriteUpp’s B2B podcast, The Healthy Practice, as an example. WriteUpp is a SAAS (software as a service) company offering, “practice management software designed specifically for healthcare providers”.
Rather than try to appeal to all healthcare providers, WriteUpp has narrowed down their target audience to a smaller segment within this group. The Healthy Practice is specifically for those healthcare professionals in the infancy of creating their own practices. And this is made crystal clear in the podcast’s trailer:
“If you’re listening to this, you’re probably at the start of your career or in the depths of running and establishing your own practice. So how can we help you navigate these common problems? We’ll cover everything from marketing your practice to getting the perfect work-life balance and everything in between.”
WriteUpp’s strategy has an inherent understanding that those looking for guidance on their practice set up are likely to be making decisions about services and products to use. While WriteUpp is available for practices at any stage, they understand this segment of the market may produce more leads than those already with processes in place.
So, rather than try to catch all possible leads, your business can yield better results if you narrow your B2B podcast focus onto a particular group.
As with all types of podcasting, listener time is precious. If you don’t appeal to your target audience straight away, you risk losing listeners. For this reason, it’s imperative your B2B podcast adds distinct value to your audience and it’s communicated from the off-set.
Some ways for your B2B podcast to add value to listeners include:
For example, Azets is an international outsourcing, compliance, and advisory group who have previously partnered with Cue Podcasts. They support more than 120,000 clients through their network of 7000+ people in 165 offices across Europe. Their podcast, Bang The Drum, is created for SMEs (small & medium-sized enterprises) and entrepreneurs. Taking an interview-format, each episode of Bang The Drum brings this group value by sharing the expertise, advice, and stories of business leaders and specialist advisors who have started and grown their own businesses.
Bang The Drum demonstrates that providing listeners with actionable advice in an engaging way keeps them coming back.
Like Bang The Drum, good podcasts signpost fans towards free tools, real-world examples, and other sources of insightful information. We’d strongly recommend adding any relevant links into the show notes for each of your episodes (more of that later).
For your B2B podcast to hit the ground running, it needs to be different from the rest and offer listeners something that other shows don’t. You can draw inspiration from the other industry leaders, but you need to do more than rehash their content. Otherwise your podcast could just be viewed as a poor imitation.
Having a unique premise will help you stand out in the sea of noise. Good podcasts are built around one idea or concept, and they stick to it. They don’t try to please everyone, especially considering a good B2B podcast needs to serve a clearly defined (and refined) target audience.
When brainstorming different concepts for your show, make sure you know exactly who that target audience is and what value you could offer them. This means doing a competitor analysis to see what’s being offered in the B2B podcasting space. Focus on identifying what’s missing and you’ve got yourself an original idea.
It might even be as simple as a missing format that your target audience might appreciate. Be that an interview podcast, a solo one, or a journalistic exposé to name a few.
If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out the article below:
16 Fresh & Engaging Ideas for a B2B Podcast (With Examples)
Needless to say, your B2B podcast is an extension of your business. So if it’s not crafted with care and professionalism, that will reflect badly on your business.
To avoid awkward blunders, you’ll need an episode plan to keep your B2B podcast on track. Maintaining a solid, consistent structure throughout your episodes is key to keeping audiences engaged. It also helps ensure you’re providing listeners with value, each and every episode.
Make a bullet point list of the essential talking points for each episode and ensure you’ve covered this by the end. It’s better to have more content to edit down, rather than be thin on the ground and it be a poor episode. Keeping your B2B podcast on track is a skill, but one that can be honed with experience.
Unsure how to plan your podcast or how to offer clear value to your audience? Cue Podcasts can help. From concept planning all the way to podcast distribution, we offer complete production packages or can just help with whatever aspect you're stuck on. To find out more, get in touch using the form here.
A crucial aspect of B2B podcasting to keep in mind is the idea that every listener could offer something to your business. Consider that each listener represents a possible lead, prospective partner, or is a peer with a network you could capitalize on. In all of these circumstances, you need to value them. And that means interacting with them as much as possible. Just as you would not ignore someone inquiring about your businesses services, you can’t ignore people interacting with your B2B podcast.
Listener interaction can equate to leads, but you duly need to commit to building your audience to get to this point. Be sure to ask your audience for feedback, reply to comments, give daily updates, or just post behind-the-scenes content.
Daniele Bolleli hosts both The Drunken Taoist and History on Fire. Over the years, Daniele has gone out of his way to respond to as many listener messages as he can. He outlined his process for replying as efficiently as possible:
"It’s genuinely sad when somebody takes the time to reach out and you don’t reply. It feels ugly to me. I understand if you get too much then it's simply not possible. But as much as humanly possible I would like to avoid that. To make the task less overwhelming, I discipline myself by setting a time limit on it. Each day, I respond to as many messages as I can within a 30 minute window and pick up where I left off the next day."
When you’re starting out, the number of interactions and enquiries is likely to be manageable by following a similar approach to Daniele Bolleli. But as your podcast grows, you may reach a point of automating your lead funneling.
For more information on generating leads and sales, then check out the article below:
The 7-Step Guide to Generating Leads & Sales From a Podcast
Good podcasts thrive off good stories. It’s as simple as that. And by good stories, we mean ones that are genuinely interesting to listen to because of the way they're told. Good storytelling will retain listener attention, and increase the chances of listeners coming back for more.
Fun, entertaining content will always resonate more with listeners than something that’s stiff and bland. And content that makes people laugh, or sparks debate, is far more likely to be shared on social media.
Your B2B podcast host should try to be as entertaining yet informative as they can. Both characteristics work hand in hand. If your podcast only informs and completely neglects the duty to entertain, it’ll have a hard time reaching and retaining listeners. But this is a skill that needs to be honed.
At Cue Podcasts, we can help with finding the right host for your B2B podcast and shaping stories for maximum impact. To find out more, get in touch here.
If you’re serious about B2B podcasting, a consistent release schedule is essential.
Listeners like to know when they can expect new content. So don’t keep them guessing. If you do, you’ll lose a lot of listeners along the way. Decide on a release schedule and stick to it. Frequency doesn’t really matter, but what is important is that you’re able to sustain it. So think carefully about your team's resources before you decide and be clear about your publishing schedule, whether it’s every Wednesday, or the 15th of every month.
If you can’t commit to publishing new content all year round, you might want to consider releasing your show in seasons. It lifts the constant pressure to release new episodes every week. And it also gives you time to reflect and plan upcoming content. However, it inevitably slows down the rate at which you can grow your audience. So it’s a tradeoff to weigh up.
Whether you’re experienced in podcasting or completely new, a podcast planning template is essential for keeping your B2B podcast on track. For the best advice on what to include, check out the article below.
Why You Need a Podcast Planning Template in 2024 (Resources)
We mentioned this at the outset, but it’s worth repeating. All good podcasts need a good host. We could spend quite a lot of time outlining the characteristics of a good podcast host, but to quickly sum it up, we’ve listed some key traits below:
By embodying the majority of the character traits listed above, your podcast host is well on their way to becoming a great presenter.
Sit down with our founder, James Mulvany, as he talks you through how to master presenting:
If you interview experts on your show, be very selective about who you have on. In today’s podcasting market, interview-based shows live or die on the quality of their guests. The guests you choose to feature in your episodes are implicitly reflective of the quality of your show. Aim for guests who are experts in their field, and are the right fit for your audience. In other words, who would your audience genuinely be interested in hearing from? And what value will they get from it?
Of course, the bigger the guest is, the harder they are to book. Chris Williamson highlighted you’ll be able to book bigger guests after doing the groundwork: keep consistently producing episodes and growing your podcast.
So you won’t secure big guests overnight. You’ll still have to interview many guests with a smaller profile to reach that point. Even so, you should maintain strict standards here. Only interview guests that truly reflect the quality and integrity of your podcast. You’ll have to spend more time pitching and you’ll probably receive quite a few rejections. But booking great quests is a numbers game. A 5-10% success rate is to be expected, especially if you’re just starting out with your podcast.
To book the best possible guests for your show, you need to know how to write a good pitch. Find out how to do so here.
An awful lot of podcasts are very poorly produced, and give off a distinctly amateur vibe. Your B2B podcast is an extension of your business and poor quality indicates a lack of care and professionalism.
The good news is poor audio quality is easy to avoid. By investing in the right equipment and spending the time required to produce high-quality, professional-sounding episodes, you’ll instantly be ahead of much of the competition.
The best way to produce a good podcast is to invest time into planning, editing, and post-production. Especially when it comes to your audio quality. Bad audio is always magnified when the listener puts on a pair of earphones. Poor-sounding episodes can cause immediate listener drop-off.
This is where working with a podcast production partner can help. At Cue Podcasts, we take care of the technical details for you to focus on delivering your expertise. Check out our work below.
A podcast with a good SEO presence will perform much better than one without. The good news is, if you’re thinking of starting a B2B podcast, you’re most likely to already have a website ready to drive traffic to.
Naturally, your website will promote your business and services. But be sure to also create a resource hub for all your episode show notes, transcriptions, social links, and anything else you deem relevant. The benefits of this work in two ways. Firstly, people can discover episodes when searching relevant terms on search engines, which expands your podcast reach and can significantly boost audience growth over time. And secondly, you’re putting your business information in front of the traffic you drive to your website via your podcast.
An in-depth explanation of podcast SEO is beyond the scope of this article. But if you’d like to learn more about it, check out the article below:
10 Best Practices for Optimising Your Podcast SEO
Making clear, direct call-to-actions (CTAs) during your episodes is a key factor of having a good podcast. And inevitably, this can play a big part in your show’s growth. Is there something specific you’d like listeners to do? It might be following you on social media, signing up to your newsletter, or joining your community.
Whatever it is, you want to state it explicitly in your episodes (usually in the intros and outros). Don’t go overboard though. Cramming your podcast full of CTAs will make it sound like one long sales-pitch.
Call-to-actions can be tricky to get right. Discover how to make yours impactful with this guide:
How to Write a Good Podcast Call to Action in 7 Easy Steps
Those are the 12 elements that will ensure your B2B podcast is good, and most importantly, brings about the returns for your business.
Incorporating each of these elements into your B2B podcasting strategy is a sure-fire way of setting your show up for success. But this is a lot to take on if you’re new to the podcasting space and your team is tied up with the everyday running of your business. If you’re a larger brand with a production budget, partnering with a production agency like Cue Podcasts can bring your B2B podcast to life. As a full-service agency, we handle everything from concept development to post-production and distribution.
To discover more about our process and how we can help your business, get in touch using the form here.
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