Starting a B2B Podcast? Read this first
A ground-up approach to the issues most how-to guides miss
What is a B2B podcast?
A podcast is like a radio show. It can take any format you like. They are usually chat shows (interview-based shows), magazine shows (news plus short stories and features), or learning shows (a how-to show, an expert explaining a topic or a subject). B2B shows are the same as any other podcast, but as a general rule, they’re constrained by their business context. They can still be informal, chatty, relaxed and all those informal aspects of the medium, but they also need a little more structure to hit the mark. Think of it like the difference between a meeting with friends in the pub on a Saturday night and a meeting with colleagues on a Friday afternoon. Both share a lot of similar interpersonal dynamics, but the business one has more limits.
You might also consider making a video podcast — which has different considerations that greatly increase the cost and place a premium on good performers. However, there’s a reason why the audio podcast is the original and best. Audio makes it much easier to get a good result because people are less nervous recording audio than appearing on camera. The best approach is to record the audio podcast with video at the same time —this gives you the advantage of the audio-only being more widely distributed to mobile podcasting apps—and use video to publish short teaser clips that can be used on social media and Youtube for marketing purposes.
How do you start a B2B podcast?
Making a podcast means making a commitment to producing a series of shows. One-off podcasts don’t work; they never achieve the reach or audience to make them worthwhile. It takes regular episodes integrated into your marketing channels and social media to gain an audience. These could be a weekly 10-minute show or a monthly hour-long show. The format will usually dictate the appropriate length.
There is no right length. People listen to podcasts in the car, on their commute, walking the dog, in the gym, on a Sunday morning with a coffee — anywhere, in fact. How long they want the show to be depends on how long they spend doing their regular activity. Generally, 20 minutes to 1 hour is a good range. People will tell you, without any evidence at all, that your podcast must be x-long but ignore this. There is no data to support it until you make the show and see what works. Sometimes, short shows and long shows can co-exist and both come out strong performers. Length is best decided once you have a clear plan for your show, and you can actually test out your material to see if it works at that length or not.
What is critical is getting a good host or co-hosts, and good guests. This might seem obvious but this can make or break a show. Remember, just because someone has spoken at lots of events, or is good fun down at the pub, it doesn’t mean they will automatically be good on a recording. Ideally, people with media training are best suited. Whatever their background, they need to be authentic and confident. Whatever their background, they need to be able to deliver a concise answer and share the airtime with the host. People who interrupt, make jokes, waffle, pause too much and so on are difficult to manage and disrupt the flow of the conversation for the listener — but a good host should be able to manage that for you.
You also need to plan. A lot. Book guests in advance and have backup options in case a guest is a no-show. Record at least one or two shows in advance and schedule them for release during holiday periods when the host or co-hosts are away. It’s essential to contact guests as early as possible because many people won’t want to come on your show until they have heard a few examples and know what they are getting into.
Before you start, get your production mindset glued in
Thinking you have a great show and producing a great show are two very different things. The problem is simple — you don’t know what you don’t know. A podcast is more than just an interviewer and guests, it has its own mechanics and rules. Podcasts evolve over time, recordings improve, formats develop, and producing shows is an iterative process. Getting to the show you want is almost certainly not going to be the show you start with.
To put that in perspective, here’s a little thought experiment to help you think critically about the show you want to make:
A newsreader, a documentary maker, and a university lecturer walk into a bar, and they have a chat about industry Z, product X and problem Y. What do they say? (You can role-play this)
What did you discover?
- News shows tend to be in-brief, wide-ranging and summarised, dominated by events.
- Documentaries take a news event hook and use it to explore an issue in greater breadth and depth beyond the event that started the show.
- Lectures address a topic that could encompass the subject matter in both the news and the documentary, but specific events do not shape the content within lectures.
So what did each one say?
- Newsreader says: ACME products launched product X, for companies in industry Z who want to solve problem Y. Here are the main features of product X…
- The documentary maker says: ACME’s new Product X solves problem Y, which causes lots of issues in industry Z. Let’s explore the issues caused by problem Y in more detail for the people who work in industry Z…
- The lecturer says: Here’s how Industry Z operates. Within this lecture, we will consider issues A, B and C and possible solutions, including products A through to X.
The point of this exercise is to get a production mindset glued in for making your show. Is it news, documentary or lecture? Maybe it’s a combination of two or all of those styles. Maybe you want each show to be like a panel at a conference, or a presentation followed a panel. Or a fireside chat with a guest and a product demo. There are many different approaches, and many ideas to try out. Ideally, you can engage in some kind of ideation session to get a framework to shape your show before you start.
Making these decisions first will help you plan and record your shows. It doesn’t mean you can’t try out new ideas and vary the format, either. However, it will prevent you all from hitting record and then grinding to a halt — which many podcasts do, and it is the primary cause of podfade — the phenomenon where all the energy and enthusiasm for a show dies after a few episodes and your podcast dies with it.
Who should (and shouldn’t) host it?
A regular host is essential, preferably — and ironically — someone who does not work within your organisation. This is because the outside host acts as an objective third party, and by asking questions, he takes on an empathetic role to the listener — i.e. the guests answer the host’s questions and this makes the listener feel like the guest is talking directly to them. It’s a clever psychological prop. The host helps listeners suspend their disbelief and natural scepticism that all branded content is blatant company shilling. The host, in that regard, keeps the brand honest in the listener’s mind.
The reverse applies if the host works for the company making the show. Inevitably, the company host will reference their own products and services, which makes the whole thing feel like an infomercial and loses the audience's trust. If you have to use your own in-house host, make sure they remain as neutral and objective as possible. Otherwise, you are QVC selling tanzanite, and your show will be about as credible.
What makes a good interview?
The host needs a list of topical questions for the guest, themed around the key topic for the episode. It is essential the guest (or their marketing team) does not supply these questions because those questions will usually sound totally fake like:
“Why are ACME products the best in class?” or “How is it ACME services keep winning awards for your excellent customer service?”
Nobody wants to hear that, it’s not authentic. Leading questions that have obvious answers are not interesting. Of course, every guest will big-up their own products and services, so you don’t need to ask them about their stuff directly. Good questions put the product or service into context. like this:
“We know issue X is a major friction point for customers, what is ACME’s advice for them?” or “There have been a lot of news stories about issue X recently, and ACME has launched a product in response — what drove that decision?”
Obviously, guests and hosts will reference their own products and services — that’s the point of a B2B podcast — however, the service or product should be the predicate or object in the answer, not the subject. In other words, be subtle, don’t shout “buy our stuff” because it’s lame.
How many questions will you need per show?
Work on the basis that each question will get a 2 to 4-minute answer. Multiply that by the number of guests, and reserve about 5 minutes for the show intro and 2 minutes for goodbyes and the outro. That gives you a rough runtime for the show. So 2 guests and 5 questions will take between 20 and 40 minutes. And it is never 20, so count it as 40 or more. People tend to grow in confidence and talk longer, or they have prepped an answer and read it out. Forever.
Never read questions and answers, the audience can hear the difference. You have to learn your stuff and be conversational. This takes practice but it’s totally worth it — and helps manage your time much better because your answers are easier to contain than something that is written down in advance and inflexible as a result.
Roughly, each extra guest adds 10–20 minutes of runtime for a 5-question interview, more or less. Remember, if you record more, you can edit it down—this is good because asking each guest the same question gets repetitive. A good editor can cut answers together and get a variety of answers and points of view without too much duplication (see editing below).
So, if you want a 45-minute show with 3 guests and a variety of different questions for each, aim for about 3 questions per person and get ready to edit hard. Plan a recording session of at least 90 mins to get there, too.
Every show requires a storytelling approach
Remember, good questions tell a story and a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. These are two different storytelling challenges.
Firstly, the questions should place the guest in a narrative structure that starts with a big-picture view of an industry, market or issue; then each question zooms into the details of the guest’s work within topical aspects of the show. The questions need to be sufficiently open-ended to allow the guest to talk about their solutions, products and services without sounding like an infomercial.
Secondly, remember that a podcast listener is like a TV viewer — they have expectations that cue them into what is happening. The show needs a clear beginning (intro music, corporate credits, guest introductions, “coming up in today’s show”, etc.), a middle (the interview) and an end (the thanks, sign off, call to action, outro music, disclaimer/compliance statement etc.)
A show needs a clear structure to keep the audience engaged, and that structure needs to use music, sound effects, regular content segments, regular calls to action and all the usual structural elements you find in magazines, newspapers, TV shows, shops, e-commerce stores and everything else. Nothing we use or consume just happens, it happens in a predictable sequence, in a planned order — even if we are only aware of it on an unconscious level. A box, a book, a shop, a TV show… they are familiar because we recognise formats — which are a kind of storytelling.
How to record your B2B show
It’s best to arrange 2 sessions for a show — one is an hour-long call with guests to talk over the topic and define a simple running order script. The host will use this to keep the conversation running on time and flow from the beginning to the end of the topic. The second session is a 2-hour recording session. This is really best done remotely or in person, although remotely via a virtual recording platform (I use Riverside.FM) provides the best value for money, and is the most relaxed and authentic.
Recording with people in a room or studio is harder to organise and also requires more complex filming arrangements (usually a 2-camera set-up with studio lighting). These elements tend to make people more nervous because of bright lights and general camera nerves. Also, you need make-up to manage sweaty faces and guests who are comfortable talking without worrying about how they look. Unless you are producing a show with media-experienced guests, this can make for awkward viewing and more complex sign-off arrangements (model release forms, etc.)
Also, video is problematic because on audio, everyone looks good. On video, you see people warts and all. Literally. It takes a small film crew to manage a video podcast, and the results can be weaker than an audio-only show because, on the radio, everyone looks good. Human communication is often non-verbal, so take away the image and our imaginations fill the blanks, usually in the favour of the person speaking. In simple terms, people on TV tend to look good and behave confidently, so we assume people on the radio (and podcasts) look good and are confident. If you can’t see them, you can’t judge them on their looks and non-verbal signals (body language).
For example, Jemima Von Monaco is a charismatic CEO who is media-trained and is very watchable, whereas Norman Slump, the grey account manager who looks nervous and talks in a quiet voice about databases and regulatory compliance, is hard to watch. Norman is better on audio only because people aren’t distracted by his nerves in front of the camera, and don’t make unconscious judgements based on his non-verbal signals.
Norman creates a more confident impression if you can’t see him because we assume he’s on the show because he’s confident. He also relaxes more because he isn’t worried about his hair or the fact he spilt coffee down his jumper that morning. Jemima, meanwhile, also relaxes and stops trying to control her posture and smiling photoshoot face. Norman benefits from Jemima’s confident halo effect, and conversely, Jemima feels more accessible and normalised by Norman’s down-to-earth demeanour. Where video increases the social distance between different characters, audio brings them closer together and is a great equaliser.
Why do you need an edited show?
I always recommend a 2-hour recording slot to produce a 45–50-minute show, 5 shorter 10-minute shows, or 4 20-minute shows (and endless variations/combinations). This is so that the recordings can be edited to feature the best answers and content and cut out any boring or duplicated answers. This also means you can edit answers together — say from 2 or more people — which makes it sound like the guests were flowing in conversation rather than 2 or more people taking turns to answer the same question.
The main reason for editing, however, is to make the guests relax. The host can relax, and everyone can relax. Generally, even experienced speakers perform better knowing they can have a do-over. So if they give an answer they’re not happy with, an edited show allows for a second take. Similarly, if they get names wrong, acronyms, or possibly mention topics or products that their PR people aren’t happy with, there is a safety net where their team can intervene and prevent any awkward red faces or PR disasters.
One time I recorded a show where a guest talked in depth about a product that hadn’t launched officially yet, and was embargoed. Editing that out and replacing it with more appropriate content was essential. In another case, a client managed to mention everything except their new product which had just launched, and I needed to add a re-recorded session afterwards. Also, one time, a CEO rapped a song by The Brand New Heavies, using language that would have led to his resignation.
Edited shows are a no-brainer. They also help you to produce roughly the same length of the show every time.
There are lots of editing packages out there. I prefer Adobe Audition plus the Izotope RX suite of audio engineering tools and the Sonible Smart EQ and SmartLimit. Audion comes loaded with lots of good stuff too. Try to avoid anything too basic or too automated, you generally will want to adjust some parameters yourself to get the sound right. Also, remember a lot of platforms offer AI-powered mastering tools, which will improve quality too.
What kit do you need?
A decent microphone and a decent LED light (on a mini-tripod) improve the focus of your webcam or smartphone. iPhones are really good for recording a remote podcast, but ia standalone mic or headset and a well-lit webcam should usually good enough. Ring lights are cheap but can be very harsh; it's better to use a small LED pad (like above). Remember, when the video is on LinkedIn it will look a bit rough anyway (LinkedIn compresses video badly).
Webcam quality is not the same as recording using a DLSR vlogger cam or a professional camera and lighting, however, that is a different level of expense and complexity. Also, although a professional setup might improve the image quality, it won’t necessarily the content. Sometimes, someone speaking on a laptop camera in their home office feels more intimate and authentic, and audiences engage with it better. Don’t get hung up on looking and sounding great and then producing a load of weak content. What you say and how you say it is actually more important than how you look — for B2B. If you run a company that specialises in commerce, services, widgets or whatever, your main task is making that interesting.
What is essential is choosing a recording space with soft surfaces, not a large glass-walled meeting room in an air conditioned office building. I use professional studio audio tools to reduce echo and equalise sound to improve it (see links above) but ultimately, no amount of audio engineering know-how will beat a raw recording in a quiet space with a decent mic. A configurable mic is best if you have a noisy environment because you can turn the gain (recording volume) down and place it very close to your mouth to eliminate background noise (like a sports commentator). I use a Shure MV51 for live recording at events which is brilliant for noisy spaces. In the studio, I use a Shure SM7B (who doesn’t) and also a Røde Podmic, plus a bunch of Samson SAQ2U mics for mobile room set-ups (which are cheap and brilliant for limiting room reverb). However, a decent headset at around £30 with noise cancelling built-in can be great. Again, do some tests first, don’t just turn up on the day and hope for the best. Sadly Airpods, smartphone ear-mic combos, desktop multi-call phone discs and all that stuff… generally sound like shit.
If you have to record via a conferencing tool for security purposes (like MS Teams or Google Meet), the sound quality is often reduced anyway, so a decent set-up helps to improve the quality at source to offset whatever noise filtering or compression the video meeting software uses to make you sound like you talking into a bucket with a mouthful of socks.
How do you market a B2B podcast?
There are a lot of podcasts. Not as many as there are branded social media channels, Youtube channels and websites, or newsletters, but there’s still a lot. Discovery tends to be the hardest part of marketing a podcast, so you need to integrate it into your other marketing channels from day 1.
This means including links and promotional material in newsletters, on your website, on your social media channels, in print material and at events. This also means potentially buying ad inventory specifically to promote your show as part of your display advertising strategy. This is important because low audience numbers can be disappointing.
You also need to set realistic KPIs to measure your podcast reach. Of course, everyone wants thousands of listeners, maybe more, but realistically, how many people within your domain are likely to convert? How many newsletter subscribers do you have? How many people attend your webinars? These numbers might help guide your expectations.
There is a much deeper engagement level with podcasts than general social media posts or display marketing, which is important to remember. 100 people listening to a 30-minute show is 3000 minutes of exposure, or 50 hours, or nearly a whole week of one person 9–5 listening. How many client calls, conferences, webinars or blog posts do you need to match 100 x 30 minutes of branded content? That’s about 1000 people reading an 800-word blog post (for 3 minutes). If it’s a 50-minute show, and 150 people listen, that’s 2500 people reading a 3-minute blog post. Compared to social media — for example, LinkedIn post views — that would mean more like 15,000 views, or more because they scroll by very fast.
The point is, the bang for your buck with a podcast can be really large, even with a small audience — provided you reach the right people, and you make comparative measurements against your other social media output. Compare the podcast listen time to dwell time, equivalent post time or blog reading time. Also, remember, your team is exposed to more public engagement through a podcast than almost anything else, even a conference presentation or panel. This will increase too, provided you have an integrated marketing approach across all your channels.
Podcasts grow unevenly because listeners who start at later episodes will go back and listen to previous shows. This means shows will often have a long tail of listens from newly acquired listeners. It also means the more consistent your marketing, the more effective your podcast audience acquisition becomes. However this also means your first shows tend to appear more popular than your latest show, so make sure you measure metrics like the first 7 days of listens, not just the total over time. Get used to the nuances of podcast metrics.
It’s also important to organise special events — like live interview shows recorded at conferences and shows themed around seasonal events (a Christmas Special, an International Women’s Day special, etc.) to offer more opportunities to address new audiences. And why not offer clients the chance to sponsor a show? Or offer to record a live show at a conference in return for more exposure? The possibilities are endless…
Podcast checklist:
1. What kind of show do you want? Decide on a format. Try doing a dry run in your office with some colleagues to get an idea of the length and tone of voice and test out your content ideas. Try to remember that the Joe Rogan Experience and other high-profile podcasts are professionally produced and have professional performers on them. Those things might not be appropriate for your B2B audience or your goals, so make sure you set clear targets and devise a clear strategy to reach them.
2. What channels do you want to use? Remember, an audio-only podcast show has better reach for long-term listeners, commuters, and people’s leisure time. Supporting your audio show with short video clips from the recording session is an effective social media strategy, but long-form video podcasts are more expensive to produce — and boring to watch if they are B2B (people tend not to watch video in the car or the gym, unlike listening to audio).
3. How much time and budget do you want to allocate? The cost will rise the more complex the production becomes. Producing a show recorded remotely via a virtual studio is much cheaper than recording in a studio; producing a remotely recorded video podcast is much cheaper than recording live video with multiple cameras. Ultimately, you need to decide where the right balance of cost-reach lies.
4. Who is going to host it? This should ideally be someone who has experience in public speaking or interviewing, radio, TV, theatre or performing. A good conference speaker or facilitator should also be very effective. What isn’t effective is assuming anyone can do it — because they can’t. It is a specific skill set. Especially avoid people who reply to a guest by saying “yes, I agree, that’s a great answer, I also think x,y and z too”. That’s awful. The first rule of journalism I was taught (by my editor as a national newspaper features writer) was keep yourself out of the story. Or in other words, what you think is irrelevant to the reader, listener or audience member. They want to know about the issue, the guest, the topic. Not your opinion. If they did, you wouldn’t need a guest. Duh.
5. Who is going to be on it? Nobody will admit to being nervous or sounding boring, so you need to cast a podcast just like a director would. Someone with a wobbly voice and desperate gasps for air will make people switch off. Also, try to avoid a bunch of middle-aged men and get a diversity of voices and accents to make the show more interesting to listen to. Try to get some natural conversation going and experiment with ways to manage live chats (to avoid speaking over each other often hand signals can work well to cue in the next speaker in a chat). And listen out for verbal ticks like “mmmm, yeah, I was just going to say…” before every sentence. Your editor will thank you for it, because they spend hours cutting that stuff.
6. Do you have a theme for each show and guests to match? Do not leave this to chance and don’t assume anything about anything or anyone. Plot out 12 episodes with topics and suitable guests. Once decided, invite people early. Remember, you need a show in hand to cover off holiday time. Remember that there will be roughly 3 hours per show, 1 prep call and 2 hours of recording time. If you plan to record live in person, you will need to consider the room for recording quality — for this, the most cost-effective approach is to record 2 shows or more per studio day.
7. Can you commit to 12 shows? 12 is a good number because that’s 1 per month, or 1 per week for 3 months, or 2 per month for 6 months. Whatever the cadence you choose, you will need 12 shows to develop marketing momentum and grow an audience. If you think you will dip a toe in the water and just make one, don’t bother.
8. Do you have the kit? This seems obvious, but some decent kit is essential. A decent headset is cheap and effective, a decent mic and headphones can be reasonable, and a light for your camera is vital for decent video clips. Getting these elements organised for a remote recorded show is important.
9. Do you have appropriate marketing support? Sometimes it is hard to get your podcast into the company newsletter, direct marketing activities, or social media feeds. Ensure you engage the right internal stakeholders early on with the show to maximise your discovery and reach.
10. How will you measure it? There is no point in setting unrealistic or ineffective goals. Audit your social media posts, newsletter opens, and other appropriate metrics from other outreach and marketing activities and use those to set realistic audience goals, and monitor time spent exposed to the brand across different platforms.
