When podcasting first emerged in the digital landscape, nobody knew how valuable it would be. Podcasting isn’t as direct as email marketing, and it doesn’t have the same reputation as social media advertising yet. However, within just a few years, podcasts have evolved to be a popular method of consuming information. In fact, 48 million Americans now listen to podcasts weekly. Statistics predict that the number of people listening to podcasts each month will reach 112 million by 2021. So how do you launch a successful B2B marketing podcast?

It’s not just consumers that have fallen in love with podcasting, either.

Today’s busy businesses also find podcasting to be one of the most efficient ways to catch up on valuable information too.

In the business landscape, podcasts can provide a useful source of quick and easy-to-consume information. Also, B2B users can listen to podcasts when they’re busy answering emails and traveling to meetings.

How to launch a successful B2B marketing podcast

The question is, how do you launch a successful podcast in the B2B marketing space?

Here are four tips to help you get started:

Tip #1: Develop a strategy

Just like any other B2B marketing campaign, your podcasting strategy needs to come with an effective plan.

Start by deciding what you want to accomplish with your podcasts.

• Do you want to accelerate your position as a marketing leader?
• Are you hoping to give your customers access to helpful information?
• Will this info make them want to subscribe to your newsletter?

Knowing what you want to accomplish will help you determine what kind of podcast you need to produce, and how you can track your success.

Once you have established your B2B podcasting goals, you can make some crucial decisions such as:

• What kind of audience do you want to attract? Do they come from a specific location, or have a certain job title?
• What sort of format will your podcast follow? Will you be hosting interviews, or just talking one-on-one to your audience?
• Which subjects/topics are your audience interested in? What can you cover that’s relevant to your industry?
• How often are you going to publish your podcast?

Tip #2: Have a plan for recording

Once you know the basics of what you will do with your podcast, you can start thinking about the process of recording your content.

As podcasting has become more attractive to companies of all sizes, it has also become easier for people to create podcasts. There are now apps and tools available to assist with everything from blocking out external sound, to editing your audio.

You don’t need a state-of-the-art recording studio to make your podcast more effective.

However, you do need a good microphone for maximum sound quality. You’ll also need some basic editing software and a sound-proof room where you can be free of distractions.

A couple of basic tweaks will ensure that your PC is up to the task without having to invest a lot of money into some new equipment.

You’ll probably need enough storage to save your recordings, so you might want to clean up some disk space. Alternatively, you can use an external disk.

A lagging PC can make you lose some parts of the recording or diminish the quality. The good news is that most computers that are in use today meet the minimum RAM requirements for processing files and running an editing software.

Tip #3: Strategically publish and promote

Once you’ve got your audio content ready to go, and you know it sounds incredible, then you’ll need a good podcast host to store your files.

There are plenty of companies out there to help, including Buzzsprout and Podbean. Make sure you do your research to find out what’s best for you.

Once you’re ready, publish your podcast across a host of listening platforms, choosing the ones you know your audience is most likely to listen to. For instance, your B2B customers might use iTunes, Google Play, or SoundCloud to tune in.

Keep in mind this important fact.

Publishing your content is only the first step in making sure that your material is found online.

Just like publishing a blog to your website, you need to promote your content if you want to ramp up your chances of success.

For instance, you could consider:

• Sharing a link to your podcast on your social media channels and any LinkedIn groups that you’re a part of.
• Publishing links to your content on business forums and subreddits where professionals may hang out.
• Sending a link to your podcast to your newsletter subscribers or adding a link to your email signature.

Tip #4: Track and improve your podcast

Finally, like most marketing initiatives, podcasting isn’t just a set-it-and-forget-it strategy.

Even if you’re lucky enough to get listeners the moment you publish your podcast online, you’ll still need to make sure that you’re tracking your success and updating your content to suit the needs of your audience.

Monitor how many unique clicks you get each month and whether the number is going up.

Ensure that you’re paying attention to your number of subscribers. If the amount of people listening to your audience goes down after you discuss a specific topic, then this is a good sign that you’re covering the wrong information.

Other metrics to look at include:

• Engagement: Are people sharing your podcast links, commenting on your website, or “liking” the things you share on social media?
• Average listening time: Do people stay with you throughout the entire podcast? If not, what’s losing their interest? Does your podcast need to be shorter?
• Sources of streaming/downloads: Where are your audience members most likely to listen to your content? Can you focus more on those channels?

Embrace the benefits of podcasting

Podcasting is still a relatively young channel for marketing – particularly in the B2B space. However, if you’re an advertising expert with information to share about the industry, then you could easily attract the attention of your audience with the right podcast. Around 17% of B2B marketers are now using podcasting in their marketing efforts – a number that’s gradually increasing. Now’s the perfect time to get on the cutting edge of this promotional method – before your competitors do – and launch a successful B2B marketing podcast.

This guest blog article was written by Jen McKenzie who is an independent business consultant from New York. She writes extensively on business, education and human resource topics. When Jennifer is not at her desk working, you can usually find her hiking or taking a road trip with her two dogs. You can reach Jennifer @jenmcknzie.