How to start & produce a B2B podcast in 2022
Podcasting as a medium is on the rise. B2B leaders and companies everywhere are taking notice and want to leverage this medium to build relationships, generate new business, and boost their authority.
Starting a podcast is beneficial for a number of reasons, but producing a B2B podcast can be challenging and there are many details to consider before starting your journey.
In this article, we share the pitfalls to avoid and the technology to use to produce a winning B2B podcast in 2021.
Why Start a B2B Podcast
Network with Other Leaders
Many leaders or businesses that want to launch a podcast think the main goal is to build an audience. While building an audience has its benefits, the biggest pro of starting a podcast is being able to network with other respected prospects or partners in your industry.
Inviting someone on your podcast sparks a value-driven relationship and keeps you top of mind with these prospects if they are ever seeking out the services you provide. This can be a game-changer when it comes to generating new business from your podcast.
Podcasts Boost Your Authority
By hosting an industry-relevant podcast and inviting subject matter experts to be guests, you’ll quickly become a voice of authority.
The cross-pollination of your brand with your guests’ expertise is also an effective way to add more leverage to all of your other sales and marketing efforts.
Podcasts Open the Door to New Speaking or PR Opportunities
If your guests enjoyed being on your show, they may invite you to share your ideas on their podcast or other speaking platforms.
By establishing yourself as a relevant voice in your industry, there may come a time when you have the chance to speak at an event, conference, or even a webinar.
All of these opportunities boost your status as a thought leader even more.
Podcast Repurposing leads to an endless flow of content
Podcasts are the ideal medium to create other social media content from. With so much value packed into each episode, it provides the opportunity to turn that material into:
Repurpose video clips into social videos
Repurpose interviews into SEO optimized articles
Repurpose audio clips into audiograms
Repurpose interviews into multiple social media posts
If you’re consistently producing podcast episodes, all of your other content efforts can revolve around the podcast, streamlining your creation process. This article from Content Allies dive much deeper into how to repurpose podcasts into an endless stream of content.
How to Build a B2B Podcast Production Team
Deciding to Build an Internal Team or Outsource your Podcast Production
One of the hardest parts of producing a podcast is the sheer number of team members and the associated responsibilities involved in the production process. At any given time, you’ll need 8+ people with specialized skills each handling a variety of tasks within their role. Furthermore, it takes a great deal of effort and time to manage and coordinate all of these moving parts.
Though it is possible to build out an internal team, many opt to outsource podcast production because of the complexity of tying all the creative and administrative functions into a cohesive production team.
To better understand what it takes to build and maintain a quality podcast, let’s take a look at each role and their respective duties.
The Roles you Need to Fulfill on your Podcast Team
Podcast Producer:
Your podcast producer will be the single most important part of your podcast team. They are in charge of forming an effective strategy and coordinating all the moving parts of the production process. At many companies that produce podcasts in-house, the Podcast Producer is a full-time role.
Strong project management skills are an essential trait for an effective podcast producer.
Guest Scheduling:
Your guest scheduler will be in charge of researching ideal guests and lead guest outreach efforts. They’ll be responsible for inviting guests, setting expectations, and building an ongoing pipeline of high-quality guests to feature on your show.
Audio Editor:
The audio editor will be in charge of cleaning up and polishing all of the audio recordings from your interviews. They will ensure that the audio quality is professional-grade and will edit out any gaps, errors, or unnecessary information from the interviews.
In some cases, your audio editor can also help you create or pick out your podcast music. These audio editors may edit your audio files in a variety of tools such has Adobe Audition, Logic Pro, Pro Tools, Audacity, GarageBand, Reaper, or other audio editing software. The specific tools do not matter as much as the quality of the audio editors work. Read my full list of best podcast recording software.
Graphic Designer:
Your graphic designer will handle all of the visual creative elements and artwork for your podcast. They’ll create social graphics, episode thumbnails, graphic elements for videos, and also make sure you have podcast cover art that is attention-grabbing. Graphic designers may use tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, or Canva.
Content Writer:
The content writer is responsible for writing show notes, titles and headlines, social posts (Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), SEO optimized articles / blogs, and will also pull the best interview clips for video content. Anything that involves messaging outside of the actual interview will be handled by your content writer.
These writers will often take a transcript generated by a tool like Otter.ai and turn that script into a variety of different writing formats to promote the content. A good writer can take a raw interview and create an amazing blog post out of it.
Video Editor:
The video editor will be responsible for creating shorter video content repurposed from your interviews. These video clips are great for social media. When you provide your guests with social media videos, they are likely to share them with their audience.
Your video editors will likely be using tools such as Adobe Premiere, Vegas, Final Cut Pro, or other video editing tools. There are also other web tools such as Descript and Headliner which are also effective. Adobe Premiere is the industry standard and what we recommend that most video teams focus on using.
Publishing / Web Team:
The publishing team focuses on the operations side of the podcast, making sure your episode is properly uploaded to your hosting platform and gets published to your site and social channels. Your publishing team will ensure the podcast is syndicated to all of the podcast directories such as Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Spotify, Stitcher, RadioPublic, Google Podcasts and all other podcast directories.
Your publishing team will also ensure your podcast is submitted to the proper categories to ensure the best organic search visibility.
Podcast Promotion:
When new episodes are published, they need to be promoted. The promotion team handles the scheduling of promotional social posts, leads paid promotion efforts, tracks analytics & downloads, and makes sure your guests receive all promo materials so they can share the content as well.
How to Hire Individual Contractors
The list of roles above makes up a full podcast production team. But if you don’t want to hire people for all of these roles, you’ll at a minimum need to hire a podcast audio editor, podcast video editor, and podcast show notes writer. The reason being is that these are specialized skills and busy leaders rarely have the time to execute these tasks properly.
When looking for contractors to work with, we recommend Upwork. Upwork is a great platform to find experienced contractors for your desired roles. You probably don’t need to hire the top of the line, but you should also avoid people that have limited experience. Somewhere in the middle in regards to rates and experience should suffice for your purposes.
When Hiring a Podcast Production Company Makes Sense
If you don’t want to spend the time finding a contractor for each individual role or don’t have the right resources in-house, working with a full-service podcast production company is the way to go.
Here is a list of the top podcast production companies & agencies.
When you work with a podcast production company, you have a full team of experts at your disposal - including the all-important podcast producer. This is vital for the success of your podcast.
Also, when working with an experienced team, your monthly time commitment should only be around 4-6 hours. And most of this time will be spent focussing on hosting great interviews with your guests. All the organizing and heavy lifting will be handled by your production team.
How to Hire a B2B Podcast Production Company
When seeking out a podcast production company, you first need to figure out what services you need. You need to be clear on what you want to outsource and what you would want to handle in-house. What you need will vary depending on if you are a small business or exploring enterprise podcasting. Most companies will be willing to build a custom package for you that fits your unique needs.
Once you have an idea of what you’re looking for, it’s time to reach out to a variety of vendors such as Content Allies to see which vendor will be the best fit for you. Though most of the production companies offer similar services, you might mesh better with one over the other. It’s also worth looking for companies that have experience producing podcasts in your industry.
For example: Many B2B companies choose to work with Content Allies because we have a proven track record of producing podcasts in that space.
Planning your B2B Podcast
Coming Up with an Idea for Your Own Podcast
When deciding on the subject matter for your podcast, don’t tailor your podcast to your peers, but rather, consider what would bring value to your ideal prospects and partners.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with creating a podcast that your peers would enjoy, but your peers typically aren’t going to be a source of new business.
You want to appeal to other leaders and influencers in your industry in order to build the relationships needed to truly generate the ROI you want to see from your podcast.
How to Choose a Podcast Name
There’s no perfect formula for choosing a podcast name, but once again, you want to choose something that will attract your ideal customers. In our experience, there are three tactics you can use to pick a name that works for your unique show.
1) Straight Forward Approach: Many B2B podcasts have found success using a name that directly says what the podcast is about.
For example: Content Allies launched a podcast called ‘Leaders of B2B’ where we interview various leaders in the B2B space. A direct approach is professional and also helps with SEO.
2) Creative Approach: Taking a more creative approach can be a great way to catch people’s attention and become a memorable name. These should be related to your topic but they aren’t necessarily hitting on keywords. They often come in the form of a metaphor or abstraction of your topic.
For example: I named my personal podcast the ‘Working Without Pants’ podcast where I interview agency owners and consultants about leveling up their businesses. Many of these leaders work remotely, hence, they may work without pants from time to time. As you can see, it’s a fun approach to a valuable topic.
3) Ego Boost Approach: Going this route involves coming up with a name that your guests would feel ‘cool’ or part of an elite group by being on your show.
For example: Content Allies produces a podcast called the ‘LTC Heroes’ podcast where the host interviews experts in the long-term care industry. Any guest that comes on the show is immediately framed as a hero by virtue of the name.
How to Choose a Podcast Format and Length
When it comes to B2B podcasts, you don’t need to be the next NPR or other highly produced show. In most cases, the time and costs associated with this level of production aren’t worth the ROI. You obviously want to sound professional, but your subject matter is much more important than a fancy production style.
To accomplish your goals with a B2B podcast, we recommend interview-based formats. This will allow you to be perceived as a niche expert in your space and to attract high-profile guests that have interesting things to say. Remember, the main goal isn’t mass appeal, it’s to appeal to strategic partners and prospects.
Podcast Episode Length
Many people spend too much energy trying to figure out the perfect length for their podcast episodes. In truth, there’s no right or wrong length. Whether your podcast is 20 min, 60 min, or 90 min, as long as you are delivering value throughout the whole duration, that’s the right length.
Preparing for Your Podcast Launch
How to Create Podcast Artwork
Unless you have graphic design skills, you’ll need to find a designer to work with. There are many contractors looking for work on platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork that could fit your needs. They don’t need to be the best of the best, they just need to be professional and able to understand your vision.
Once you have a designer, you’ll want to communicate the importance of making the artwork text big and bold. Most designs are created on a computer screen, but the designers sometimes fail to realize that most people will be searching for your podcast on their phone. For this reason, you need to make sure the text is easy to read and stands out on these mobile devices.
What Podcast Equipment to Buy
When it comes to podcasting, there are 3 primary pieces of equipment you will needd.
Podcast Microphone (Ideally a USB microphone)
Pop-Filter
Microphone Stand
Some podcast bloggers will tell you that you need an interface, compressors, XLR cables, and more. Unless you are a professional audio engineer, all of this equipment is unnecessary and will likely just lead to technical headaches. Stick with a simple USB microphone to make your life much easier. The quality will still be pristine and your audio editor can clean up anything else in the editing process.
The best podcast microphones
When choosing a podcast microphone, don’t obsess over picking the perfect one. There are many great low-budget options as well as high-end products. What really matters is that the audio comes out clean and fits your workflow.
While you could purchase an audio interface with XLR inputs, that setup is overcomplicated for most podcasters. There is no shortage of high-quality USB microphones these days which is what we recommend for most podcasters.
Here are a few suggestions for you to choose from:
Mpow USB Headset: $33.99
This low-budget headset has good quality and is comfortable to wear all day long. It’s also great for traveling and recording on the go.
Rode NT USB Microphone: $169.99
This studio-quality microphone is a nice option for those looking for great audio and ease of use.
Blue Yeti USB: $129.99
This great middle-of-the-line microphone is used by podcasters all around the world.
Audio-Technica AT2020USB: $149.99
High-quality microphone from a well-respected company in the audio industry.
Shure MV7: $249.99
This high-end microphone provides versatility and top-notch quality.
Microphone stands & boom arms are essential
One very important note is that regardless of what mic you choose, you’ll want to be sure to get a boom arm or some sort of microphone stand for your desk. Many of these mics will come with stands, or you can purchase them separately.
This is crucial because you need to have a way to get your mouth close to the mic and maintain this proximity without moving around too much. If the mic is moving around without stability, it will lead to inconsistent audio quality and diminish the professionalism of your podcast.
The importance of a pop-filter
Another essential part of your podcast setup is a pop-filter. A pop filter is there to prevent your breath from hitting the microphone which will cause it to "pop" or "hiss" as the air hits thhe condenser mic.
These come in two different formats. One is a piece of foam that sits on top of your microphone. The second has a bendable arm and a piece of cloth that sits between you and your microphone. Either will work fine, but don't skip this low cost purchase which will improve your audio quality.
This podcast kit includes both a boom arm & a pop filter.
Make sure to use headphones when you record
Have you ever been on a Zoom or Skype call where you heard an echo? This is most often caused because the person on the other end of the call is not using headphones. Their Mac or PC is playing back audio, and then the room is echoing that audio back into the microphone. Having an echo is not good for podcast quality so please make sure that you and your guest have headphones.
Where to Buy Podcast Intro Music
This is another element of podcasting that many people overthink. For B2C podcasts looking for mass appeal, the music may be something that requires more thought. But for an interview-based B2B podcast, you just need music that matches the vibe of your show.
There is an endless supply of stock music on the internet, although two Popular vendors for Podcast music include:
Envato Elements (Royalty free music)
You can also find free music through Creative Commons
How to Record Your First Episode / Trailer Episode
Before jumping into your guest interviews, you’ll want to record an intro episode or "trailer episode" to familiarize your audience with what they can expect from your show.
You’ll want to describe your subject matter, the types of guests you’ll host, what people will learn, and you can preview some of your upcoming interviews.
Some other questions you could address in your intro episodes are:
What inspired you to start this podcast?
What is your business?
Why are you credible?
What is your background?
How often are you going to be doing episodes?
How can listeners contact you?
You don’t need to overcomplicate these intro episodes. Just setting the expectations for the upcoming shows can go a long way.
How to record your intro, outro, & sponsor plug
There are two standard ways that most podcasts are produced.
Custom intro & outro for every episode
Canned intro & outro for every episode
While a custom intro and outro is great, it is a lot of work. With each interview, you need to take the time to record a custom intro and outro. For most B2B podcast hosts, they don't have the the time or energy to do this (or it is not a great use of their time).
That is why we recommend that most B2B podcasts take the approach of a canned intro & outro. You put together an intro & outro script, record it once, and then use that over and over again.
While this may seem repetitive, there are ways to make this interesting. One trick is to have your audio editor grab a 10-15 second segment of the interview and add it as the first thing the listener hears when they start the show. You want to grab one of those "ah-ha" moments and put it right at the front of the episode.
Then you go from that clip to a 30-60 second canned intro. This keeps the start of each episode fresh while reducing your workload as the host.
Recording Podcast Audio (the easy way)
How to Use Zoom for Podcast Recording
Recording your podcast through Zoom is an easy way to capture audio as well as video in case you want to create shorter video clips.
To get the best audio quality from your Zoom recordings, you should navigate to preferences, click audio and video recording settings, and then make sure you check HD audio/video.
Just don't forget to hit that record button! There is nothing worse than doing an interview and forgetting to record!
How to Use Riverside for High-Quality Podcast Audio
A tool that we like to use in tandem with Zoom is called Riverside.fm. With Riverside, you send your guest a link in the Zoom chat, they open it up, and then Riverside will record an MP3 & video file in both your and your guest’s web browser. It also can automatically upload this MP3 directly to Dropbox.
What’s great with Riverside is that it records a clean and polished version of the audio regardless if there were lags in the Zoom recording. This is a great way to ensure that you capture all of the audio and serves as a backup for your Zoom recording.
How to record podcasts remotely
While podcasting was once something that was done exclusively in studio, today it is easier than ever to online tools like Riverside and Zoom to record podcasts. You can interview people from around the world by hopping on a quick video call and interviewing them on their expertise.
How to schedule guests for your podcast
One thing you will need to do with your podcast is do outreach to schedule credible guests. To do this, you first want to identify who your ideal guest persona is. Get crystal clear on this just like you would for a B2B sales persona.
What is this person's title?
What size of company do they work at?
What industry are they in?
What interests or special qualifiers do they have?
Are there any associations, conferences, or virtual events who have a list of speakers who would make for ideal guests?
Are there any associations with boards of directors who may be my ideal guests?
Get crystal clear on who you want to have as a guest on your show. Think outside of the box on places you can look to find that perfect list of ideal guest criteria.
Next you will want to reach out to those guests via email or Linkedin. While there is no perfect script for this outreach, here is a general framework.
Ask if the person would like to be interviewed.
Demonstrate that you have social proof. List your audience size or the names of other credible guests / companies who have been on the show.
Prepare a professional landing page with more details about the podcast if they ask for more information.
A quick tip: If you can schedule a few high-profile guests on your podcast through your existing network, this will help you with credibility when reaching out to other potential guests. Social proof goes a long way. 1 or 2 big names is all you need to have credibility to reach out to others.
With those simple pieces in place, you are setting yourself up for success with booking high-profile guests on your show right out of the gate.
How to Create a Podcast Website
A podcast website isn’t necessarily essential for a podcast, but it significantly helps with credibility and professionalism when reaching out to new guests.
At Content Allies, we build most of our podcast websites on Squarespace. Squarespace is a great tool with incredible templates. It’s easy to use and looks professional right out of the gate with minimal web design experience.
Another great platform is called PodcastPage. This is another website builder that allows you to create a professional-looking podcast site without needing to know how to code. PodcastPage is great because it strikes a balance between micro podcast sites and a full-blown website, making it a popular choice for new podcasters.
If you don’t want to build a podcast website, you’ll want to create a separate page on your existing business website that’s dedicated to your podcast. This at least gives you a podcast landing page to direct traffic to.
How to Conduct a Great Podcast Interview
Many new podcasters are a little uneasy about hosting their podcast, but there’s nothing to fear. When you're interviewing someone, you're actually only going to be speaking for about 10% to maybe 20% of the time during interviews. The vast majority of the speaking will be done by your guests.
Here are some essential tips to help you when conducting your interview:
Research the Guest in Advance
This doesn't need to be overly in-depth, but a quick review of their LinkedIn profile and a quick review of their website should give you enough information to host a great interview.
If you have someone who creates a lot of content, it would be worthwhile to check out their material and get familiar with it.
Brainstorm Questions You’re Curious About
These are going to be things that could be based on a person's professional background, their business model, what they're doing, or any other info that you think is relevant and useful.
The really cool part about podcasting is that you basically get a free consulting session with your guests. So think about the things you genuinely want to learn from the guest.
The biggest thing to remember is if you’re getting value out of these interviews, then you can be confident that the audience will as well.
Have a Standard Set of Fallback Questions
If your initial questions don’t take as long as you think they will, you’ll want to have some fallback questions to keep the conversation going. Create a list of these, have them in front of you, and you can choose to use them or not based on how the interview is flowing.
Some of these questions could include:
How did you get to where you are today?
What is your vision of the future for your business or industry?
What do you think other people in your industry disagree or agree upon?
What advice would you give your younger self?
Having these fallback questions will go a long way in helping to keep a conversation engaging and moving forward.
Follow your curiosity in the interview
The number one skill when interviewing is active listening and forming the right follow-up questions.
When your guest is talking about a topic that’s interesting, it’s important to find ways to help them expand upon the details of that topic.
Let them finish up the train of thought they’re on, then circle back to something you think could be clarified. Many times, the great gems from interviews come from follow-up questions that expand a topic in an interesting way.
For more insight on conducting successful interviews, visit this page on how to conduct a great podcast interview.
Where to Host, Distribute, and Syndicate Your Podcast
A key component of launching a podcast is choosing what platform you will host it on. Many newcomers think that iTunes, Spotify, or other places where you search for podcasts are hosting the actual podcasts, but this isn’t the case. These platforms simply syndicate your podcast RSS feed and make it easy to find by listeners.
When choosing a podcast hosting platform, there’s a variety of options out there such as Libsyn, Buzzsprout, Anchor, or Simplecast. These platforms allow you to upload an mp3 file and easily syndicate this out to all of the major podcast networks.
At Content Allies, we recommend Anchor due to the ease of use, up-to-date technologies, and one-click syndication to platforms of your choice. Anchor is also a free podcast hosting platform. So if you are looking to produce a podcast for free, or on a budget, then Anchor is another great tool to use.
How to Promote your Podcast
Promoting your podcast and getting it in front of your audience is essential for growth.
Here are some proven strategies to generate awareness and expand your reach with your podcast:
Repurposing Podcast Content
Since podcasts have so much value packed into them, it’s useful to pull out quotes or bits of information and turn them into social posts, SEO-optimized articles, and/or social videos.
Some of these will be meant to directly drive people to go listen to the full podcast episode, whereas others can simply serve as engaging thought leadership content.
Social videos are very effective for this because they get alot of engagement and the social platform algorithms favor video content.
Optimizing your show notes for SEO is also important because podcast apps are essential search engines. This means you’ll want people to be able to find you based on relevant keywords and topics.
Use QuuuPromote.com
Quuu Promote is a content marketing tool that shares your content with their large network of industry-specific followers. Using Quuu Promote dramatically increases the chances of your content being shared across all social media channels.
Boost Podcast with Paid Promotion
All social media channels have some sort of paid promotion that you can leverage to get your content in front of more people. For B2B companies, Linkedin is an extremely effective channel.
Word of Mouth
Don’t downplay the power of word of mouth promotion for your podcast. A great place to plug your podcast is when you’re a guest on someone else's podcast or other speaking outlets.
Provide Your Podcast Guests with Promo Materials
When done right, this can be one of the most effective ways to promote your podcast. It’s important to have a consistent process for getting these materials to your guests and how to share them.
At Content Allies, we always send our guests an email with social thumbnails, video clips, quote graphics, and any relevant links for them to share on their social channels. This really enhances your reach because you are being exposed to your guest’s network and those people will reshare the content leading to even more exposure.
Repurpose your podcast into videos
Podcasts can provide you with a lot of high-quality video content. You can hire a video editor to repurpose each episode into video posts, or you can use a tool like Veed.io, Descript, or Headliner to produce your own social videos.
Starting a B2B podcast is a lot of work
As you can see, it takes a lot of work and different skills to launch and produce a B2B podcast.
Though it’s possible to build a podcast team internally, it will require a great deal of energy and a full-time team member with project management skills to organize all the moving parts.
For most businesses and leaders, hiring a full-service podcast production agency will save time and money, increase quality, and ensure the success of their podcasts.
Ready to start your B2B podcast?
Content Allies helps B2B companies launch revenue-generating podcasts. We schedule interviews between you and your ideal prospects and strategic partners. You show up and have engaging conversations, we handle everything else.
Start your podcast by saying hello at ContentAllies.com
