A Step-by-Step Guide for an Enterprise Podcast Episode
One of the challenges that those tasked with an enterprise-level podcast often face is lack of experience. While podcasts themselves have been around for many years now, it’s only been in recent years that companies have seen the various uses for this medium and hence have started to put time and money behind podcasts.
We’ve helped many companies that are new to the podcasting space with step-by-step directions to help them take a podcast episode from original idea to execution and on to publication and promotion. In this article we’ll share these steps with you.
Preparing
Decide on the Subject Matter
For every episode you need to decide on either a topic or speaker. Obviously you don’t want to do this on a week-by-week basis. Instead, you should take the time to have an editorial calendar meeting in which you put together ideas for a few weeks or even a quarter in advance. You can then have follow-up meetings to add to that calendar.
Depending on the format of the show you can ideate using the topic or speaker as the driver for each episode. Either works.
Hold a Kickoff Call
If possible, you should schedule a 15-20 minute kickoff call for each episode you plan to record. This may not be possible with some higher-profile guests, but most other guests will consent to it. It’s a chance for you to walk through an outline of the episode and, if necessary, add or subtract areas of discussion.
The best way for all parties to prepare for this call is to prepare a ‘brief’ (episode outline) ahead of time and then on the call, everyone can go through the brief.
After the call, you can take the edits to the brief and turn it into a bulleted outline for your host and guest. You can also choose to add more scripting or to leave it more open. Your show format and style will determine what is best.
This is also a point at which some of our clients will get sign-off from their marketing and communications departments. Most of those departments don’t necessarily have the time to listen to a finished episode, but they do have the time to look over and approve a written outline.
Some companies add a step at this point by using a finished brief to do a “dry run” episode, ensuring more polished responses from host and guest. We at Content Allies don’t advocate this, preferring to save some spontaneity and interaction for the actual recording, but we understand that some companies have internal guidelines that make this a preferred path.
Ship a Microphone
Many of our clients choose to ship a microphone to their guests ahead of the episode. This is the best way to ensure good audio quality from your guests. If, for whatever reason, this isn’t possible or you don’t have budget allocated for that, just make sure that your guest is in a quiet location and is using the best audio input they can manage.
Planning really matters here. The further out your editorial calendar is determined, the sooner you can get briefs and microphones to guests so that there are no last minute rushes.
Recording and Producing
Now that you’ve done all the planning, you come to the heart of the matter: recording. Make sure that your guest sets aside at least 45-60 minutes for recording and that they have a finalized version of the brief before the episode.
Producing an Episode
There is an entire set of actions that take place after recording an episode that can be considered part of production, including:
Editing the audio
Mastering the audio
Editing/mastering any corresponding video
Preparing for social media promotion, using:
Graphics
Quote blocks
Video/audio clips
Text for various platforms
Show notes
Accompanying articles
While it’s possible that whoever is in charge of these podcasts at a company may handle all these steps as well, it’s just as likely that they might hire someone like us to assist with these tasks so they can focus on simply getting episodes planned and recorded.
This may be another place in which a marketing and communications team might sign-off, as you will have all the finished assets ready before making them public.
Publishing and Promoting
You’ve done all the hard work of planning, executing, and producing the content. Now it’s time to get it out there to current and new listeners.
You’ll start by publishing your content in two places, on a page dedicated to the show and on a podcast hosting platform which will then syndicate the episode everywhere.
Promoting Your Content
Don’t take promotion lightly! This is where all your hard work can use the multiplier effect of social media to gain new listeners:
Promote the episode using scheduled social posts.
Promote the episode using Quuu Promote, one of the best-kept secrets in podcasting.
Quuu Promote has a partnership with Buffer that allows you to pay to put your content in front of tens of thousands of listeners via a “recommended content” section.
Promote the episode using paid promotions on various platforms. You’ll be surprised at what even a small boost can do for exposure.
Promote with the guest on the episode.
Get all the assets you’ve created in the production phase, like videos, graphics, posts, and articles to your guest ahead of time so that they can amplify your own efforts, which will include tagging them on relevant platforms. Make it easy for your guest to help you (and themselves).
While the time is past for any approval from marketing and communications at this point, it’s a great time to liaise with the PR department to get even more exposure via press releases, email newsletters, or any other organs the department uses.
So now you have everything you need, from start to finish, for every episode of your enterprise podcast. If you’d like to get a single-page checklist that features all these steps, feel free to email hello@contentallies.com and he will get one to you!
Have a topic you want to see us cover on the podcast? Write to our host at hello@contentallies.com.
This episode is brought to you by Content Allies.
Content Allies helps B2B companies launch revenue-generating podcasts. From startups to Fortune 500s, we have helped some of the world's leading companies build and run profitable podcasts. Contact us for your free podcast consultation at ContentAllies.com