Podcasts are rising and now are a core stream of B2B content. 18% of companies in the US have caught on and plan to incorporate the medium into their marketing strategies.
B2B podcasts represent a platform through which you can really create a brand persona, prove your expertise in your field, and directly engage your target audience - it’s a no-brainer. Plus, the numbers don’t lie: in 2022, 140 million people listened to a podcast every month. Podcasting is a lucrative medium if you can get it right.
In this article, we’ve put together a guide to B2B podcasting, why it’s worth it, what the creation process looks like, and how to use Riverside to make your vision come to life. Let’s jump in.
TL;DR
- A B2B podcast is a branded podcast that explores a business’ industry or niche as part of its broader content marketing strategy.
- B2B podcasts are proven to improve engagement, create more purchase intent, and enhance brand awareness.
- The benefits of podcasting include low barriers to entry, high ROI, and broader reach.
- Tools like Riverside that offer Team plans make professional-style podcasting easy, accessible, and collaborative.
What is a B2B podcast?
Let’s start by defining a B2B podcast compared to a regular podcast.
A podcast is a series of audio (or video) episodes that are pre-recorded and available for streaming or downloading from platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. They can cover all types of themes such as current affairs, lifestyle and wellbeing, or more niche topics such as specific hobbies or communities.
A B2B (Business to Business) podcast is a type of podcast that is launched by a business with the aim of reaching their ideal (business) customer base. The principal aims of a B2B podcast are to:
- Strengthen brand awareness
- Establish industry expertise and thought leadership
- Increase engagement with customers
- Generate leads and drive conversions.
A podcast effectively allows you to share your business’ voice and perspectives directly with your audience. From a business perspective, a B2B podcast should fit into your overall content marketing strategy.
Why should you create a B2B podcast?
Creating a B2B podcast is more than worth it. Here’s why:
Benefits of creating a B2B podcast
The numbers say it all. A BBC report found that businesses with branded podcasts see 89% more brand awareness, 14% more purchase intent, and 18% more engagement. In the long term, podcasts help consumers form positive subconscious associations with your brand. These stats alone demonstrate the revenue potential and positive impact of B2B podcasts.
Budget-friendly
Creating a B2B podcast is simple witht the right tools. For example, Riverside, that make it easy and accessible to start a business podcast no matter your skill level. You don’t need to fork out huge amounts on a dedicated podcast production team. It’s possible to create a podcast whatever budget your business is able to work with. B2B podcasts can range from big-budget productions to simple shows recorded with the most basic setup.
High ROI
Similarly, a B2B podcast offers a lucrative ROI (return on investment) with relatively little input required. You can increase engagement amongst your existing audience, create a new platform for generating leads, and strengthen your brand identity or authority.
High engagement
As we mentioned, branded podcasts foster greater engagement with your business in general. In addition to a uniquely captive audience, a B2B podcast gives you the opportunity to ‘humanize’ your brand. You can connect directly with your listeners in a direct and conversational format, rather than indirectly through marketing or advertising materials.
You can also include your audience in your podcast by leveraging livestreams, including an audience call-in segment, or asking your listeners for questions and comments on social media that you’ll address during your podcast.
Did you know that on Riverside live streams you can invite audience members to call in live? Learn more, or sign up to start podcasting.
Diversify your content output
A podcast is a sure way to diversify your content marketing output and maximize your brand’s reach. Not only will you be able to connect with new audiences, but you will also create content that is versatile and repurposable. As Dave Gerhardt put it on Riverside’s own podcast, Hit Record: podcasts are one of these amazing channels that marketers and brand builders have access to… where you can actually build an audience of dream customers before you even try and sell them anything.
To put it another way, B2B podcasts offer businesses hugely valuable, but intangible results: the opportunity to build a relationship with high-potential and engaged future customers.
Grow brand awareness
B2B podcasts help to give your brand a voice, humanize your business, and establish your expertise within your niche or sector. This is all incredibly important for generating increased brand awareness amongst existing and new customers.
Strengthen your credibility
B2B podcasts generally focus on a business’s particular industry or service. This helps you reinforce and demonstrate your business’s thought leadership and expertise in your field. Your target audience will trust you more as a source of information which can drive more conversions in the long run.
Is podcasting a good idea for B2B marketing?
As we’ve seen, B2B podcasting offers a variety of benefits, especially in marketing. Beyond building brand awareness and engagement, a B2B podcast can strengthen and deepen your marketing strategies, especially by reaching new and untapped audiences.
What do you need to start a B2B podcast?
As we mentioned, starting a B2B podcast doesn’t need to be a complex or high-budget operation. You’ll need to set yourself up with some essential equipment, choose recording software, and determine your podcasting format. Let’s look at this in more detail:
A dedicated team
We’re not suggesting you give up all your actual business responsibilities to podcast for your company. Still, you will need to decide who will be responsible for planning, recording, and managing your B2B podcast within your business. If you don’t have the capacity within your business, you might consider outsourcing the responsibility to a dedicated production service.
Podcasting equipment
If you choose to record your podcast independently, you’ll need to invest in basic podcasting equipment. This should include:
- Microphone(s) - Check out the Rode Procaster, Blue Yeti Mics or the Shure MV7.
- Camera(s) like the Logitech Brio or the Sony Alpha a6000 (if you’re going to be recording a video podcast)
- Headphones such as the Shure SRH840a
- Recording and editing software like Riverside
- The Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 is a great audio interface (if you need one)
- Pop filters which improve your audio quality such as the Auray PFSS-55
- Lighting can make a huge difference. Try and find a lighting bundle like this one.
- A boom arm for your mic such as the Rode PSA1.
Planning ahead
It’s important to plan ahead to launch your B2B podcast effectively. This means setting out a content calendar, deciding on your podcast’s format, where you’ll be publishing, and how you’ll promote it.
For small businesses, this is especially important because you’ll need to maintain a consistent recording schedule whilst juggling all your other responsibilities.
If you’ve got a bigger budget and want to delegate the actual podcasting to a professional, you could consider hiring a B2B podcast production agency.
How to Create a B2B Podcast in 8 Steps
Creating a successful B2B podcast requires planning and consistency. Here’s what the process might look like:
Step 1: Planning your podcast
Don’t be tempted to skip over the planning stage. Refine your message, establish your brand tone, and understand how your podcast sits within your content strategy.
You should conduct market research to compare what kinds of podcasts (if any) your competitors are recording. It’s also worth checking out the types of popular podcasts that already exist within your space. If you’re able to, asking your customers what kind of content they want to see from you might help to steer your planning process.
The planning stage should involve higher-level discussions around:
- The tone you want your podcast to strike
- How you want to present your brand through your podcast
- Your broad themes and subject areas
- Your podcast marketing strategy.
You’ll also need to decide on the following:
- Your standard podcast format (interview, monologue, panel, and video vs. audio)
- Who will be hosting your podcast
- Your podcast budget (for equipment, marketing, etc.)
- Practical logistics (where you’ll record, when, with who)
Though it may feel like a lot of decisions, once you’ve made up your mind about the little details you should put together a content calendar and stick to it.
Step 2: Kitting out your setup
Next, you’ll have to get your podcast setup ready for recording. If you’re able to, do some research about the types of podcast microphones, cameras, headphones, and recording software that will work best for you.
If you’re planning on recording with multiple guests in person, make sure you have at least a microphone for each individual. Note, though, that with a multi-mic setup in-person, it might be worth investing in a mixer and audio interface. You can learn more about what equipment should buy in our podcast starter kit guide.
We’d also recommend taking the time to test out all your new equipment. It’s best to try to record in various locations until you find the perfect spot. You’ll want to record in a quiet space with minimal background noise, and if you’re recording video, you’ll want a clean and aesthetically pleasing background.
Step 3: Recording
Now to the exciting part: bringing your podcast to life. This will be very simple if you’ve opted for a monologue-style podcast. All your host needs to do is sit down and record. Easy.
If you’ve got guests with you in the studio, you’ll need to factor in time to greet everyone and get them all set up. Ideally, you should have enough mics and headphones for each participant. You can then use your DAW or recording software to record each guest as a separate audio source onto individual tracks.
The workflow will look a little different if you’re recording with remote guests. You’ll need to use podcast software set up for remote recording like Riverside. On the day, once you’ve shared the invite link and all your guests have joined the virtual studio, you’ll need to take a minute or two to make sure that everyone is set up correctly. This will include checking that your guests’ mics and external cameras (where relevant) are being properly picked up. Once you’re happy, the actual recording session shouldn’t look too different.
Step 4: Editing & Post-production
The amount of time and effort you can commit to your podcast will affect how long you spend editing your recording. You could opt for quick and easy editing using Riverside’s tools in the text-based Editor or install dedicated editing software for more in-depth control.
During this stage you should trim, cut and maybe even rearrange your recording to carve out an engaging narrative that hooks the listener. This will involve making calls on what parts of your recording to include and which to sacrifice. You’ll also have the opportunity to cut out mistakes or unwanted noises in the recording and finetune audio or video.
It’s a good idea to finish off by adding additional branding to your podcast. This can include a unique intro and outro, plus logo overlays if you’ve recorded video.
Step 5: Distribution & Publication
Once your recording is ready for publication, you’ll need to upload it to your podcast host for distribution.
A podcast host is a platform that will store all your podcast recordings and help you distribute them to listening platforms. When you sign up to a podcast host and add your B2B show, your host will generate a unique RSS feed which stores all the information about your podcast and all its latest episodes. You’ll then use this link to distribute your podcast to directories such as Spotify, Apple and Google Podcasts. Through you RSS feed, these platforms automatically share episodes as soon as you upload them to your host.
In addition to the major listening platforms, you might also want to post your podcast straight to your brand website.
Learn more: Starting a Business Podcast in 2024: What You Need to Know
Step 6: Marketing & Promotion
For maximum exposure, you’ll need to implement a marketing and promotion strategy so your podcast reaches the right ears. This could involve:
- Posting preview clips on social media
- Sending out promotional messages via email
- Repurposing your podcast content by creating blog posts
- Refining and optimizing your podcast’s SEO for maximized exposure
- Build out a presence on social media that goes beyond promoting your podcast and engages directly with your listeners
Step 7: Monetization
Podcast monetization may not be something all businesses are open to try. That being said, monetizing your B2B podcast can be a great way of generating a new revenue stream.
There are different strategies for monetizing your podcast. You can:
- Reach out to potential sponsorships
- Join a podcast host that includes an advertising marketplace
- Use dynamic ads within your episodes
Read more: How to Make Money Podcasting in 2024: 12 Effective Ways
Step 8: Repeat & Enjoy the Rewards
Now all there’s left to do is repeat the process, record more episodes, and reap the rewards from your B2B podcast. You’ll likely see increased engagement, strengthened brand reputation and credibility, and new customers and audience members.
How to record your B2B podcast with Riverside
Riverside offers an intuitive and streamlined remote recording studio for professional-grade podcasts. Since there’s no learning curve, you don’t need to be an industry professional to make the most of Riverside’s features:
- Local recording. You and your guests record directly on your device rather than over the internet. Don’t worry about internet issues ruining your quality.
- High-quality recording. Riverside records audio in up 48kHz WAV and video in up to 4K resolution for maximum quality.
- Separate track recording. Receive separate audio and video tracks for each participant. This gives you maximum flexibility during post-production to cut and edit freely without worrying about messing up the whole recording.
- Teams plan. Work on your podcast collaboratively with team-view dashboards, individual permission settings, and shared team spaces.
- Producer mode. Give your producers the control they want behind the scenes. Producers can join your session and control guest settings without getting in the way of the recording.
- Record video & audio. Choose between recording a video or an audio podcast (or both).
- Text-Based Editor. Use Riverside’s editor for quick, streamlined editing that's as easy as going through a recording transcript.
- Easy to use. Riverside is straightforward to use - even for beginners.
- Magic Clips. Create social-media promotional clips at the touch of one Ai button.
- Transcripts. Automatically transcribe your podcast for easy captions, SEO, or content repurposing.
- Mobile app. Record on the go with any Android or iOS mobile device.
Start recording on Riverside for free to see how it can transform your podcasting game.
FAQs on B2B podcasts
How long should a B2B podcast be?
There’s no set or ideal length for any kind of content. A good starting point is to look at how long other podcasts are in your field. This gives you an idea of what kinds of episodes are popular amongst listeners. Most podcasts are over 30 minutes, but there’s no point in creating a long podcast if you’re just going to ramble.
How many subscribers do you need for a successful podcast?
First, you need to ask yourself: how are we measuring success? If you’re looking at podcast profitability, it’s not always about big audience numbers. If you’re able to develop a captive and niche listener base, you’ll probably still be able to secure lucrative partnerships and sponsorships.
Additionally, seeing higher customer engagement and high sales could indicate that your podcast is doing more work than you thought.
