What do podcasts like The GaryVee Audio Experience, The Customer Experience Podcast, and The Flipmyfunnel Podcast have in common?
They’re all successful B2B podcasts.
These podcasts cater to other business owners or service providers and provide them with actionable information that they can use to grow their businesses. No wonder 43% of business decision-makers listen to podcasts.
If you want to start your B2B podcast, this guide will show you how to deploy this potentially powerful marketing tool to transform your business, build credibility, and increase your bottom line.
Tip: Sign up with Hello Audio to set up your public or private B2B podcast in minutes. It’s fast, it’s easy, and it’s seamless!
What is B2B Podcasting?
A B2B podcast is an audio or video show produced by businesses, their owners, or their marketing team to engage with their target clients, prospects, leads, or customers.
With the right strategies, B2B podcasting provides businesses with an incredible avenue to increase leads, get new customers, and achieve spectacular business growth.
An ARN Neurolab study indicates that in-podcast ads or product recommendations are considered 30% more trustworthy than ads on other digital platforms. This makes B2B podcasts a potential goldmine for businesses seeking to grow their revenue and drive more sales.
Podcasting Benefits for Businesses
It’s easy to underestimate the power of podcasting to produce phenomenal results. Yet, estimates show that revenue from podcast advertising and product recommendations will exceed $3 billion this year in the US.
If you want a slice of that, you need to produce yours.
Some of the benefits of launching your B2B podcast include:
1. Improved Access to a Larger Audience
The Infinite Dial Report by Edison Research estimates that there are between 98 million and 135 million weekly and monthly listeners in the US alone. That number will likely increase as more people jump on the podcast bandwagon and become ardent listeners.
This provides any B2B business with an opportunity to get on the ground floor of this huge marketing wave, establish a presence, and reach a larger audience for a fraction of the traditional cost of advertising.
2. Improves Brand Awareness
Want to see how powerful podcasting can be for increasing your brand awareness? Nielsen’s Podcast Ad Effectiveness report shows that 56% of podcast listeners pay attention to in-podcast ads read by the hosts, while 71% can remember a brand or product after hearing about it in a podcast. That’s insane!
Currently, no advertising medium has that level of engagement. While that may change in the future, podcasting can be more effective for increasing brand awareness than any other marketing channel.
3. Shorter Buying Cycles
Do you want to generate more sales, accelerate your prospect’s or lead’s buying decision, or get them to hire your services faster? Podcasts can help. A recent Acast report indicates that 95% of US podcast listeners have taken action because of an ad they heard on a podcast.
Ordinarily, these listeners would have probably waited a while to take the podcaster’s preferred action. Instead, they took action right AFTER listening to the ad on a podcast. Insert calls-to-action in your podcast episodes and watch as your lead generation increases and your audience buys your stuff.
4. Demand Generation
The late Steve Jobs once said, “Most people don’t know what they want until they see it.” We agree. Think about it. There are products or services you didn’t know you needed or wanted until you found them or someone brought them to your attention.
The same applies to your products or services. Podcasting aids demand generation and stimulates purchase desire. Many listeners are open to brand advertising on podcasts, so you have the perfect opportunity to introduce your products and services to your target audience without offending or annoying them.
That is a rare feat these days! Use that.
5. Increased Industry-Wide Authority and Leadership
Would you like to be invited to speak at industry events or be seen as the go-to resource person in your industry?
Podcasts can quickly help you establish yourself as a thought leader and industry expert. This can open doors for unique opportunities, rewarding partnerships, and an increased bottom line.
Role of B2B Podcasting as a Marketing Channel
The average consumer is more discerning, so traditional marketing techniques are no longer as powerful as they once were. B2B podcasting, on the other hand, is the new “kid on the block.”
Its audiovisual component can complement a business’s marketing, making it the extra spice that puts the additional “oomph” in your marketing strategies.
That’s because B2B podcasting does the following:
- Fosters and increases brand trust: The consumer is king now, and they know it. They must like, know, and trust you before they can do business with you. A podcast can help fast-track that process and get them to open their wallets for you. That’s a great place to be!
- Humanizes your business: The average business brand seems unapproachable and standoffish, which is probably why it is referred to as “soulless.” A podcast helps make your business more relatable and “human.”
- Helps keep the target audience focused on your brand: According to a Microsoft study, the average individual’s attention span is shorter than a goldfish’s. Yikes! No wonder it’s difficult to retain customer attention. But with B2B podcasting, you’ll be able to maintain your audience’s attention and get them to take your preferred action.
- Strengthens your community or tribe: Podcasting works well for building rapport with your audience. The consistent release of educative and entertaining podcast episodes means that you can build a solid community around your brand.
- Lowers customer churn rate: Consistent contact with your audience means you can address pain points before they become an issue. This will foster customer loyalty, lower customer churn rate, and increase the customer’s average lifetime value (LTV).
B2B Podcasting Best Practices
Now that you understand the value of B2B podcasting, it’s time to learn the best practices that will help your podcast grow, expand your reach, and attract a lot of listeners:
Always Release High-Value Episodes
Whether your ultimate goal is thought leadership or increased sales, you’ll likely have to deal with decision-makers, corporate leaders, and other intelligent folks.
These are busy people who have no time for lame or trite content. Make sure every episode is worthwhile.
Have a Consistent Posting Schedule
Consistency is one of the secrets to a successful B2B podcast show. Many podcasts have daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly posting schedules.
You should, too. Establish a posting schedule and stay committed to it.
Reverse-Engineer the Competition
Go check out what some successful B2B podcasts are doing. See how they design their podcast episodes, their guests, their content formats, and the topics they’ve covered.
Study to see what works and apply it to your podcast.
Use High-Quality Recording Equipment
This is important. The quality of the average podcast has improved dramatically in the last five years. To keep up, you need good-quality recording equipment and editing software.
If that seems out of scope at the moment, follow the tips in this concise guide to record an audio podcast on your phone.
Tell Your Story
Technical jargon and industry-speak may be great for your listeners, but people can get tired of “serious” content. So, lighten the mood by adding personal anecdotes, thoughts, experiences, and stories.
This makes you human, relatable, and likable. People love that.
Make Your Podcast Fun and Entertaining
Find ways to inject humor and entertainment into your content. Take a cue from some of the most popular podcasts. They’re funny, lively, and interesting. Bring on witty guests, have entertaining conversations, and do quirky stuff.
Your audience will appreciate it.
Network Within and Outside the Industry
Create connections with fellow podcasters and thought leaders within and outside the industry. Invite them as guests on your show and pick their brains.
Promote Your Podcast
Spread the word about your podcast on social media. If you have the budget, pay for ad slots on other podcasts.
Ask your listeners for reviews. Participate in content collaborations or ad swaps with similar-sized podcasters.
Repurpose Your Content
Switching content formats can drive engagement, increase reach, and boost your listener base. For example, you can chop your podcast content into short-form 30-second to 1-minute videos and upload them on TikTok, Reels, or YouTube Shorts.
Transcribe your podcasts, create downloadable PDF resources, and produce punchy audio clips. These are just a few examples of how you can repurpose your content.
While this is not a complete checklist, implementing these will get you on the right track to podcasting growth and profitability.
How to Start a B2B Podcast from Scratch
Here’s a step-by-step approach to starting your B2B podcast today:
- Have a clear idea of the podcast’s purpose.
- Identify the ideal target audience within the B2B industry.
- Brainstorm an acceptable podcast format for your audience.
- Develop a publishing schedule or calendar.
- Create a catchy cover art.
- Buy quality recording equipment — If it’s too expensive, use your phone with the right settings.
- Start recording your podcast episodes — If you already have some content, you don’t necessarily need a new one to start.
- Upload your recordings to a podcast hosting platform – Hello Audio.
- Follow the steps to create your RSS feed.
- Enter all the relevant metadata.
- Distribute your podcast to streaming platforms like Spotify, Google Podcasts (now merged with YouTube Music), Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and others. Hello Audio users can easily do this on the platform instead of doing it manually.
Explore Private Podcasting on Hello Audio
Now that you know how to start a B2B podcast, it’s time to explore an even more powerful type of podcasting – private podcasts. Done well, these can offer a faster and more efficient path to profitability.
Here’s how it works: a private podcast has a private feed that can only be accessed by you and those you grant access to. Unlike the public podcast feed that’s accessible to everyone, a private feed is more exclusive. Think of it as your podcast’s VIP section.
You can keep your bonus content, behind-the-scenes, audio, special audio clips, and other exclusive content and charge people an access fee.
With Hello Audio’s private podcast feature, it’s easier to reach your target audience, offer monetization options, track audience or listener behavior, and increase profitability.
Want to learn more about private feeds? Sign up on Hello Audio today. We offer a 7-day free trial to test-run the platform.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some of the common questions that people ask:
What is B2B Podcast Advertising?
B2B podcast advertising is a super-effective way to promote and market your products and services within a podcast episode. This can be done in your podcast or another B2B podcast show for free or for a price.
What are the Goals of B2B Podcasting?
The goals are typically audience growth, quality lead pipeline, increased revenue, bottom-funnel or top-funnel lead generation, and any other specific objectives that the podcaster has in mind.
What is the Perfect B2B Podcast Length?
There’s no perfect B2B podcast length. Some B2B podcasts are 15 minutes or less, others are 30-45 minutes, while some are hours long. Find and determine the ideal length that works for you and your audience.
How Can Businesses Use Podcasting for Lead Generation?
The best way to increase lead generation through podcasting is to demonstrate your expertise, offer valuable insight and actionable advice, and establish your products and services as the right solution to your prospects’ problems.
Conclusion
So, whether you’re looking for help setting up your B2B podcast or ways to generate more leads or sales using it, we can help.
At Hello Audio, we provide a podcast hosting platform that allows you to launch your podcast within minutes. All you need is your recording(s), and you can start podcasting within minutes.
Join the league of business owners like you who have used Hello Audio to transform their businesses and grow their bottom lines.
