How to Build an Audio Brand via Podcasting - Your Game Plan | Terran Benedict

Measurable Marketing That Moves You // © 2017 - All information in this document is copyright protected and the property of Anvil Media Inc.
How to Build an Audio Brand
via Podcasting – Your Game
Plan
March, 2018
Lunch & Learn Presentation and Webinar
Presented by:
Terran Benedict
terran@anvilmedia.com
www.anvilmedia.com

Who am I?
Terran Benedict
Social Media Expert & Podcaster
Anvil Media
Social Media Specialist & Account Executive
@terranbenedict
Useful Blog Articles:
• How to Increase Your Podcast
Following Via Social Media
• Emerging Social Media Content
Trends for Your 2018 Strategy
• Driving Social Media and
Marketing Results Through
Podcasting

Why Podcasting?
Podcasts listeners are hyper-engaged and studies have
shown they will not only listen to sponsored ads but
follow up and convert. 80% of podcast listeners listen
to all or most of each podcast episode and consume an
average of 7 shows per week.
In 2018, 44% of the US population has listened to a
podcast, while almost 30% of the population listens
monthly. And this number continues to grow steadily
each year.
50% of all homes are podcast fans, that’s over 60
million homes your brand can reach monthly.
That’s Why.

Should Your Brand Start a Podcast?
If you’re considering starting a podcast for your brand…
Questions to ask yourself
— Does your audience listen to podcasts?
— Do you have valuable information to share?
— Does your brand care about itself enough to talk about its
products, services, and/or industry related news on a regular
basis?
— Are you looking to build a relationship between your brand and
your audience?
— Do you want your brand to have a voice?
— Do you want to take the time to learn the technical details of
podcasting? And if not, are you willing to pay someone to handle
the technical details for you?
If you answered yes to all of those questions
above, it’s time you consider podcasting.

Why People Listen to Podcasts
People find more authenticity from podcasts than they do with other forms of content online. Podcasts are real
people, whether celebrities or regular people host them. YouTube vloggers use to be seen this way but now
they all seem gimmicky and attention hungry.
Podcasts have real experts gaining followings based on that expertise and not their wacky thumbnails, looks or
social trends.
Moreover, it’s a great source for inspiration, staying educated on
topics that interest you, to make mundane tasks interesting and more.

Auditing your Social
Presence
UNDERSTANDING PODCASTERS

Why are People Starting Podcasts?
If you’re considering starting your own podcast or just sponsoring one, you’ll need to understand podcasters
Why are people starting podcasts?
— They have information they want to share
— They want to become thought leaders
— They want to start an online community
— They want to connect with like-minded people
— They want to share knowledge, experiences, etc.

Average Cost for Equipment and more
Starting a podcast and maintaining it costs
money. People who start a podcast are
committed to it and much like
entrepreneurs, are willing to put in their
own money to see it become successful.
Podcasters have to cover:
— Website hosting fees or third-party hosting
fees
— Equipment costs – costs depend on the
setup
— Editing software
— And of course their time and effort.
This can cost anywhere from $75 to $500
depending on the quality of the equipment,
with monthly costs ranging from $20 to $100.
8
People who podcast have information and a voice to share with the world. If your brands voice matches,
then you know they’ll work hard for you and present your content to their audience in the most
engaging ways.

Presence
HOW BRANDS & PODCASTS WORK
TOGETHER

Why Podcasts Needs Sponsorship
Running a podcast costs money and to improve production value costs more. All podcasters also dream of
podcasting for a living. Some podcasts earn enough money in sponsorships to make that their full time job and
when they can dedicate 100% of their time to their show, it’s get that much better.
The goal of a sponsor should be position themselves to the audience as a savior in some form and fashion.
Essentially, the sponsors help keep the show broadcasting, the production value high and the content rolling.
And of course a sponsor is a savior to the podcast host for helping them turn their hobby into a full time job.

Presence
IS PODCAST SPONSORING RIGHT
FOR YOUR BRAND?

Questions to Ask Yourself
Questions to ask yourself
— Does your audience listen to podcasts?
— Are their podcasts out there that align with your brand?
(The answer is yes! Just look!)
— Can your brand offer value in a sponsored ad on a
podcast in the form of a discount, free shipping, gifts,
etc?
— Does your brand want to build a relationship its
audience?
— Do you want your brand want to share a voice with a
podcast?
— Do you want to reap the benefits of podcasting without
producing a weekly show yourself?
We’ll come back to sponsoring podcasts right after we run
down what goes into starting and maintaining your own
podcast. That way you know where your money is going.

Presence
HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN
PODCAST

Define Your Goals & Purpose
Purpose
— What is your goal with this podcast? Increasing brand awareness? Is this educational? Do you want this to
support/empower the community?
— What will be your content focus? How will you structure it to best service your goals?
Example goals for podcast:
—Break into new audiences
—Increase the size and value of online network
—Create thought leadership/become authority figure
—Promote your own products or services
—Increase web traffic
—Create more personal relationships
—Build trust with audience
—Increase sales/newsletter/form-fill conversions
—Get in touch with influencers
—Effective alternative to video

Selecting a Host
Podcast Host
— You will need someone who will be the voice of your brand. This host can perform solo, interview key
people, partners, industry leaders, etc.
— This person will need to have to be a good speaker that enunciates and keeps their voice level without
sounding too mono-tone. The better the speaker, the more attentive your audience will be.
— This person should know your brand well, whether they are internal or outsourced they will need to be a
novice to expert on your brand, depending on the structure of the podcast.
If this person will be the only one speaking on every podcast
episode, they need to be an expert. If they are interviewing
experts there is less need for them to know everything.
— You may also decide to have co-hosts that build momentum
off each other.

Planning Content
Planning Content
— What type of content will your podcast have? Make sure you have supports in place to amplify the value of
that content.
— Will you have guests on the podcast? Make sure your episodes are about the guest(s) and interview them.
— Do you want co-hosts that talk amongst each other? Make sure to structure your content to be about the
value of a conversation.

Show Description & Title
Show Description
— You need a keyword-rich description of your podcast.
Take some time to form a well-written paragraph
that fully describes the subject matter of your show.
Show Title
— Take your time but don’t hesitate when you have
something great. New podcasts are being started
everyday.
— You want something brandable AND keyword-rich.
It’s important to note that iTunes is the most popular
place people listen to podcasts and it’s one big
search engine. So, keep in mind when people are
searching for podcasts covering a certain topic, what
must they type in to find you?

Outline Episodes
Outline episodes
— It’s extremely easy to get off topic and it’s very important to have an outline for episodes. Develop a cadence
and stick to it.
Example of an outline
—Initial show ID
—Introduction
—Feature Segment
—Wrap up
— Moreover, be sure to keep track of time
and to stick to a pre-established show duration.
Test 2-3 episodes before launching
— Your podcast will not be perfect right out of the gate. There is always room for improvement but make sure
you are on the right path when you start. A lot of podcasts get started and then abandoned because they
don’t properly plan and test.

Logo
Logo
— Think brandable. You need something that will stick in people’s minds.
— For iTunes make your cover art/logo 1400x1400 pixels. This will be true for other podcatchers as well.
(FYI, a podcatcher is a place where people listen to podcasts)

Schedule
Plan podcast episodes a month in advance
— This helps when scheduling guests, conducting research, organizing sponsors, and more.
— Additionally, you might find it nice to always have an episode or two waiting to be published while you’re
recording a new one. Stockpiling episodes are great for when plans fall through, speakers take vacation, or
some episodes just don’t turn out.

Equipment
Cost Effective Setup aka “Dirt Cheap Setup”
First off, here’s the cheapest podcast setup you can make while
still sounding professional.
— Get a small cardboard box or one of those organization
square baskets you find in stores like Target, then buy some
cheap foam squares and line the box with them.
— Get a condenser microphone for around $20-$30.
— Buy a cheap microphone stand for around $8.
— Make sure you have the proper cords to plug right into a
laptop.
— Download free version of Audacity for editing purposes.
This setup with improve your sound quality and reduce echo
and unwanted noise, while costing you very little in the
process.

Equipment
Average Setup aka the Semi-Pro Setup
Here we have a setup that get a little more professional without completely breaking the bank.
— Get a condenser microphone for around $50-$70
— Get a sound mixer that can take multiple audio ports.
— Microphone stand for around $8
— Take cardboard, spray adhesive and foam squares to
create noise absorbing panels to hang on the walls
around recording space.
— Make sure you have the proper cords to plug into laptop.
— Pay $20/month for an Adobe Creative Cloud
subscription to the audio editing software
‘Adobe Audition.’
This setup costs more but will provide a more professional
sound, and give you the abilities to customize and control
audio, sound effects, music, etc.

Equipment
High-End Setup aka Podcast Superstar Setup
— This setup will set you back a pretty penny but it’s the best equipment and sound you can have.
— Your microphone will cost over $100,
some microphones can cost up to $400
but their so well made that you do not
need to do a lot of post editing to
improve your audio quality.
— Again, you’ll want a sound mixer,
microphone stand, foam panels, and
Adobe Audition for audio recording and
editing.
This setup is for professionals. They either know how
to manages and takes care of the equipment
themselves or have someone on staff that does it for
them. Podcasters that can afford this setup are very
Committed and have the income to sustain.

What About Editing?
But wait there’s more technical stuff to cover!

Equipment
Editing Software
— Audacity is free to use and you can download for Windows or Mac.
— If you subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud then you can use Adobe Audition, which is an advanced editing
software and has presents built in that will even out and clean up audio.

Presence
PODCAST HOSTING &
BROADCASTING

Hosting Site vs Podcatcher
Hosting Site
— Upload Episodes directly to
hosting site for distribution.
— Where you perform all of your
optimizations to channel and
episodes.
Podcatcher
—Displays viewable and downloaded
episodes fed through from the Hosting
site’s RSS feed.

Best Hosting Options
Hosting Sites:
Hosting sites will charge you different rates based on monthly
or lifetime data allowances.
— Libsyn
— Ranges ($5 | $15 | $20 | $40 | $75)
— BluBrry
— Monthly Ranges ( $12 | $20 | $40 | $80)
— SoundCloud
— Monthly Ranges (Free limited | $7 | $15)
— Buzzsprout
— Monthly Ranges (Free limited | $12 | $18 | $24)
— PodBean
— Monthly Ranges ($3 | $9 | $29 | $99)

Best Podcatchers
Podcatchers:
— iTunes
— Stitcher Radio
— Spotify
— Google Play Music
— Podcast Addict
— CastBox
— Pocket Casts
— DoggCatcher Podcast
Player
— Podcast Go
— TuneIn Radio
Note: All podcatchers are
free.

Presence
HOW TO ARCHIVE PODCASTS FOR
FREE

Why Archive and How?
Why to Archive
— Is you have a limited hosting data allowance or want to cut back
on hosting cost, you’ll want to archive.
— As you remove the oldest episodes from your hosting feed,
you’ll still have those episodes on YouTube for
discoverability and additional content.
— Even if you have plenty of hosting space, you’ll want to archive for
SEO purposes.
— YouTube has an SEO ranking of 100 in Google search,
meaning that content on YouTube, if optimized, is more
likely to show up in relevant search queries.
The Solution
— You do not need to film your podcast sessions, although this is a
popular and engaging tactic people take.
— All you need to do, is select a thumbnail image and set it as the
visual in the video that your audio underlays.
— Optimize each video and include links back to your podcatchers
(i.e. iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, etc.)

Presence
ADVERTISING YOUR PODCAST

Social Media
Not all social channels should be utilized the same way to leverage visibility of your podcast. Just like you do not want to use
hashtags on every social channel, you will not want to post the same type of content about your podcast to each channel.
Promoting Podcast on Social Media
Facebook/Twitter
- Share podcast episodes directly from website or direct link to your most popular podcatcher
(most likely iTunes) in posts.
Instagram (Recommended)
- Share a preview or announcement of the latest podcast episode.
- Share behind-the-scenes pictures and video of the recording of an episode for your Instagram
stories/posts.
YouTube (Recommended)
- Repurpose podcast episodes into videos and create a playlist for them dated by year or topic,
whichever you find more helpful.
Pinterest (Recommended)
- Share YouTube video version of the podcast, include CTAs telling people to subscribe on
iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play.
Google+
- Share podcast episodes directly from website in posts.
LinkedIn (Recommended for all ‘professional’ podcasts)
- Share blog that features the podcast episode, include a CTA telling people to listen to your
podcast for more information on the subject matter.
- Share blog articles on topics related to your podcast episode and include a CTA telling people
to listen for more thoughts on the subject matter.

Social Media
Boost Post Visibility on Instagram and Twitter using Hashtags
— Use popular podcast related hashtags on Instagram and Twitter, such as, #applepodcasts, #podmosphere, #podcast,
#podcasting, #podcastguest, instapodcast, etc.)
Social Ads/Boosted Posts
— Boost posts featuring the podcast to increase impressions and listeners.
— Set up Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn ads to target your audience.
— If you host your podcast on your website you can setup pay per conversion by setting up a pixel on the site to track
when a person presses play on the podcast episode.

Cross-Promotion
The most important aspect of doing a cross-promotion with another podcast or any brand is to make sure that
your audiences overlap. After that you need to ask yourself what topic would interest that overlapping
audience and entice listeners to start following the other podcast. Once you figure out your mutual benefits,
that’s when you can reach out and present a partnership opportunity.
Some things to keep in mind:
— Make sure to get some analyitcs back from the
other podcast and be ready to share your own.
— Determine what this other podcast can provide
you in return. (i.e. breaking into new market)
— Track progress and results from partnership via
link tracking, coupon codes, etc.

Presence
HOW TO SPONSOR A PODCAST

Midroll – Third-Party Advertising
Podcasts worth advertising on go through midroll, which is a third-party company that matches advertisers with
podcasters. Midroll’s goal is to let podcasters focus on their shows and give advertisers the benefit of working
with a professional sales team.
Midroll uses a cost-per-thousand
download model (CPM).
— For example: With a CPM of $25, a
spot of a show with 10,000 downloads
per episode costs $250; with 100,000
downloads, it’s $2,500.

Best Practices
1. Make your host your advocate
— If you have a product or service, it’s important to let the host of the podcast try it out for free so they
have that real experience behind their voice. Anyone can read off a piece of paper but truly great
sponsored ad spots are read (possibly with some appropriate adlib) by someone who understands
your brand.
2. Great Ad Copy or Bust
— Don’t pitch in your 150 word ad spot, tell a story. Great ad copy will make it so much easier for a
podcast host to sell and help your brand.
— Give your hosts some creative space to work within your ads. If there is room (and guidelines) for
adlibbing then hosts can make your ad spot sound so much more authentic and it really becomes a
part of the show instead of an ad.
— i.e. some podcasts with two hosts will often rift about an ad between themselves, sharing
personal experiences with the product/service. They personalize your ad for you and their
audience appreciates the quality content.
3. Track Everything
— Offer coupon codes or use custom/trackable URLs.
— Create check-out survey’s in tandem to verify where your customers heard of you or came from.
4. Test and Evaluate
— Be sure to track and compare different ad spots to see what works better.
— And before giving up on an ad spot on a podcast that shares your key demographic, try tweaking your
ad copy and test again. You’ll need to listen in to see how the host is reading your ad and maybe you’ll
need to ask them to be more loose and less deliberate with your ad spot.

Example of a Good Sponsorship
Nature Box and the podcast If I were You
— Nature box is a snack subscription service that tests well
with busy millennials that don’t like to set aside time to
prep their own snacks.
— If I were You is a comedic advice podcasts that many
millennials tune into to hear two unqualified jokesters
give somewhat helpful but always humorous advice.
Nature Box sends these guys the details of the special offer,
a tagline and a coupon code. The two hosts then share the
code and details of the offer, make some jokes, talk about
the snacks their currently getting in their subscription boxes
and then share the code and details again. The ad becomes
a part of their show, and listeners do not want to miss out.

Sponsorship Return on Investment
Midroll offers case studies from their advertisers showing off their great ROI.
Igloo Software
— A company with a digital workplace platform, offering solutions and support to solve unique business
challenges, saw 7% of all their software opportunities coming from podcasts in 2013. But the most
remarkable aspect was that 21% of opportunity value was influenced by their podcast ads.
— Podcast ads drove 7% of their opportunities but influenced nearly a quarter of the pipeline value.
Foot Cardigan
— Claims that between 15% and 20% of all their sales opportunities come from podcast ads.
Talenti
— Surveyed 608 Gastropod and Spilled Milk listeners and
found that 71% of them said they were much more
likely to buy Talenti after hearing the ad.
— And 74% of the listeners were able to recall which of
the 25 gelato flavors were featured in the ad they
heard.

Ready to Get Started?

Thank You! Any Questions?
Anvil Media
310 NE Failing St.
Portland, OR 97212
terran@anvilmedia.com
(503) 444-6231

How to Build an Audio Brand via Podcasting - Your Game Plan | Terran Benedict

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