Podcasts are the new hotcakes that attract listeners and stay with you forever. For B2B marketers, podcasts are the latest marketing tools that leverage multimedia content to educate and engage audiences. Businesses of all sizes – from startups to Fortune 500 companies – leverage podcasting to engage their target audiences.

According to a recent LinkedIn study, podcasts are a useful and underutilized medium for B2B marketers. Further, analysts also revealed that 44% of senior-level leaders on LinkedIn listen to podcasts regularly.

So we understood the importance of podcasts, but why should businesses care about podcasts?

To begin with, when a person likes a podcast, he or she subscribes to it and starts listening to the podcast regularly. Podcasts are more efficient with their ‘Call-to-Action’ in gaining subscribers and followers as compared to other mediums.

For instance, consider marketing emails, they usually have promotional content, and these emails end up in folders that the recipients may or may not open. On the other hand, the listeners subscribe to podcasts and listen to them at their convenient time. Most of them prefer to listen to podcasts along with other activities such as driving or cooking.

Not convinced yet? Here are a few facts that could get you interested –

• 74% of podcast listeners do so to learn something new.
• 67% of people listening to podcasts are between the ages of 18 and 44.
• About 45% of podcast listeners earn more than $250,000 each year. Furthermore, 41% of them earn around $75K/ year, compared to only 29% of the total population.
• 65% of podcast listeners use mobile devices to listen to podcasts.
• 52% of the subscribers listen to an entire episode of the podcast.
• 54% of listeners say they consider purchasing a product advertised on the show.
• 77% of people spend more than 7 hours each week listening to podcasts.

Top 10 Tips for Creating a Successful B2B SaaS Podcast

Now that we have understood how important podcasts are for B2B companies, here are some valuable tips to creating a B2B SaaS product/company –

1. Define your podcast strategy

There are several benefits that a business can reap from a B2B SaaS podcast. Some of the benefits include educating customers and building credibility, increasing brand awareness, promoting products, establishing authority, and more. So before launching the podcast, you will have to determine what your strategy is going to be.

What is your strategy?:

• Is it to build a community?
• Is it to create more leads?
• Is it for brand awareness?
• Is it to establish authority in the industry?

Well, the good news is that you don’t have to choose just one of the above strategies. However, having a specific strategy helps you draw clear goals and create specific content.

2. Define your target audience

Your target audience should, ideally, be similar to your ideal customer persona. Speaking broadly, you should want to reach out to people who will benefit from your product/content. These people could be the ones trying to learn something new and return for more;m or the ones who can buy or influence others to buy the product.

3. Make sure that the podcast is aligned with your brand

Once you have figured out the strategy and the target audience, your target is to chart the course for your podcast. You need to come up with a content structure that is in line with your brand’s style, personality, and energy. The best way to do this is to collect feedback from your stakeholders. Based on the feedback, you can decide if you want to make it clever, informative, experimental, casual, conversational, energetic, educational, innovative, or something else.

Remember that – it is very important that your podcast is in line with your brand identity – so your listeners know your podcast is authentic, genuine, and trustworthy.

4. Decide on a podcast format

One important piece of advice when creating a podcast for your B2B SaaS product is that you decide on a format and stick with it. For instance, you could have a discussion-based format involving two or more people talking about a topic; or you could just go solo. Or, you might go with an interview format.

But the key here is to stick to one format because your subscribers would expect consistency from you.

5. Create a Style Guide

Now that the legwork is done, you might be pumped up to kickstart recording – but many rookie podcasters make the mistake of neglecting to keep track of their decisions in one place. Internal and external contributors to the podcast will inevitably change over time. So, be prepared and create a Podcast Style Guide as a reference manual for your show to ensure clarity and consistency.

6. Know your tech stack

Many B2B podcasters prefer working from home or office “studios”. This would be more convenient, but you have to know your tech stack to get it right. You will have to figure out the right podcast recording software, editing tools, and platforms for content outreach. There are several platforms to do these tasks for you, you have to research and use the best one to suit your needs.

7. Pay attention to the quality

Great content delivered in bad quality would be a bummer! So make sure that you give special attention to the audio quality. Make sure that you are recording from a quiet and soundproof place; or use pop filters for mics to eliminate speech glitches.

8. Set a time limit

You may have a great story to share or an important topic to talk about! But make sure that you also consider the attention spans of your listeners. They might start drifting away if the episodes are too long. Depending on the format and the topic, 20-40 minutes is a good length for developing snackable episodes. Keep in mind that a majority of listeners are multitasking when listening to a podcast. So sprinkle your material with fast tips and how-tos to keep them interested after the first episode.

9. Educate and include personal stories to build credibility

As important as the technical aspects are, you should also be focussing on the different ways in which you could add value to your followers while also creating credibility. Make sure that the topics you choose for your episodes add value to the listeners and they solve or address a problem area. This way, you will not only add credibility but you can also build authority.

Sharing personal stories creates relatability and your audiences know that you understand what you are talking about. This helps create credibility while also being engaging.

10. Get the community involved

Getting the community involved in your podcast is a terrific approach that increases its chances to succeed. You could engage the community by asking questions on social media, then debating the answers and giving shout-outs during a part of the show. Inviting your followers as a guest is another way to involve them. The Grammar Girl podcast is an example of this.

Final thoughts

Launching and maintaining a podcast isn’t an easy feat, but the podcast is an excellent marketing tool for sure. Now is the best time for you to launch a podcast for your B2B SaaS product. Make sure that you spend a good time researching topics for the episodes – keep them simple, educative, and engaging. Hope these tips help you create and launch a successful podcast.

Happy podcasting!

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