You want to be where your audience is, right? If more than half the population is listening to podcasts, you have to ask yourself… Does my company have one?
Podcasting is more than just the latest trend in media and has moved well beyond celebrity chat shows, fiction, and an alternative to AM Radio. Podcasts have become a go-to communication/training solution. Not only for consumers but for human resource and legal departments at some of the biggest companies on the planet.
They’ve also become an integral part of maintaining a company culture when a team is forced out of the office and into their homes.
It’s for these reasons the enterprise sector of the podcast industry as a whole has seen a 230% year over year growth rate. It’s why organizations as different as JP Morgan and the University of Virginia turned to podcasting to solidify their brands.
Since podcasting works across organizations of all types and sizes, it begs the question. What are some tangible benefits and how does your company get started?
Creating and maintaining a tight company culture is a very different proposition in 2021 than it was in 2019. More than a year of quarantine nixed the weekly team happy hour and ensured that team members kept a minimum of six feet of separation.
In reality, this meant teams were scattered like sticks in the wind.
Employees are expected, more so than ever, to be informed brand ambassadors for their firm. This means being up to speed on what is coming out of employee communications. Or having the firm’s best interest at heart on what information comes out of public relations.
Podcasting is a demonstrable way for company leadership to stay in direct communication with their team. They can do so in a less formal format, and friendly setting, for an attractive cost.
Podcasts, as an audio format, are more effective communicators than even the most well crafted email blast. What you say matters, but how you say it, your tone and inflection, matter more. As a writer this pains me, but we know human beings are experts at picking up on signals. Podcasting is a medium that understands and takes advantage of this quality we have.
As companies and teams experiment with remote work, either in a fully remote environment, or perhaps more importantly, a hybrid environment, podcasts are dominant tools in keeping a community together. In just the same way a celebrity podcast can engage a worldwide audience, a well crafted company podcast can maintain a company culture.
Furthermore, podcasts come complete with metrics of who is downloading and who is listening. Managers can tell who’s engaged passively by viewing the metrics and not infringe on remote employees’ sense of independence.
An overlooked benefit of enterprise podcasting is as a low cost training tool to supplement or replace reading only material. Podcasts are a controlled messaging environment with high engagement. Perfect for HR, Compliance, Legal, and Internal Communication departments.
In sales, there’s an old adage. Macy’s doesn’t tell Gimbels what their strategy is. If you look at the ratio of Macy’s department stores to Gimbels department stores, the reason why is pretty clear.
Your IP is yours. It’s hard won and expensive to develop. You want a safe space for long form communication that can be transparent, honest. Where anyone can discuss issues that may be sensitive to the public image or stock price.
Your organization’s podcast is no different. This is one time you don’t want your data going viral.
The barrier to entry in podcasting is very low compared to other forms of marketing and outreach.
There are a few serious concerns when setting up a podcast, consumer or enterprise. We’ve done quite a few primers on building a successful podcast, but it boils down to:
Whether you stay in house, hire an agency, or freelance, whomever is behind the microphone needs to be engaging. And be delivering top-notch content. Lean on your communications team for the heavy lifting.
Experiment to get this right. There’s always a learning curve, but you’ve got a captive audience in a secure space.
Podcast studios are simple and cheap to set up and take down, should you need the space.
You’ll need quality microphones, headphones, a mixer, and a computer or dedicated recorder to round out your studio.
It can also be done on the go. Podcasting is a pretty forgiving setup.
Here’s where the path diverges a bit from a consumer or public facing podcast. Security and audience control are paramount concerns for any enterprise level messaging.
Just as your office has swipe badges to get in or VPNs to log into servers, your podcast host needs to have the same quality assurance in mind.
Which is why we love Podbean so much for this application. Not only are they consistently at the top of podcast host lists, their enterprise product pairs simplicity with security.
Their enterprise suite features
Depending on the size of your organizations, you can make sure only the team members who should hear a podcast, can hear a podcast. Multiple podcast channels mean you create a podcast for public consumption, or just a three member C-Suite.
Podbean’s philosophy is complete creative control.
Podbean has been a leader in the industry since its inception. You would be hard-pressed to find a solution that’s easier to use or plug into your organization’s ecosystem. You want as shallow a learning curve as possible. Enter Podbean’s corporate podcast solution.
Your team members are already listening to podcasts. Is your organization taking advantage of an opportunity to beam a message directly into the space between their ears? It’s never been easier or more cost effective to maintain that organization culture at any distance.
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