What To Look For In a Full-Service Podcast Agency
Your podcast is to your marketing strategy as Michael Scott is to The Office. Not the whole thing, but pretty damn important.
When you launch a B2B podcast, there's a ton of potential for it to positively impact other pieces of your larger marketing plan. And, let me be the first to say, it really helps to have a full-service podcast agency on your side.
But wait...
What is a full-service podcast agency? A full-service podcast agency assists with every step of conceptualizing, launching, producing, and promoting its customers' podcasts. It provides a comprehensive portfolio of services for the podcasting portion of a marketing strategy.
If you're looking for a full-service podcast agency to partner with, make sure they do all of the following:
[RELATED: Here are 7 podcasting services every company should consider.]
Podcast Strategy Services
One thing to straighten out before we start: A full-service podcast agency is NOT a full-service marketing agency.
Full-service podcast agencies like Sweet Fish focus on everything that revolves around podcast production and promotion. However, B2B podcasting often leaks into other tactics you might have in your marketing plan, like blogging and social media updates.
Keep in mind that a good full-service podcast agency will help you figure out how your podcast supports the goals of your marketing strategy. That includes mapping out your show's content strategy and determining how it serves your overall marketing goals.
Content Strategy
The content strategy for your show is one of the first things a true full-service podcast agency is going to help you establish.
For the best results, it's important that your show's topics are planned out ahead of time, particularly if a marketing goal of yours is to improve SEO.
[RELATED: How to Come Up w/ Topics for Your Business Podcast]
For example, if your podcast is directed towards healthcare professionals, you might plan to discuss topics like...
- Electronic medical records
- The mental health or well-being of nurses
- Best practices for bedside manner
Your full-service podcast agency should help you find keywords related to those topics -- such as "electronic medical records pros and cons" -- then, turn them into episode titles.
This process makes it easier to turn episodes into written content and will help you rank for more keywords related to your services in Google.
Host Selection
Another podcast strategy service your agency partner should provide is help with host selection.
[RELATED: Here are 5 reasons why you shouldn't hire an outside podcast host.]
If you're unsure of who the host of your podcast is going to be, here are some good places to look:
- Your CEO (it is a business podcast, right?)
- A different executive from your organization
- Your head of marketing
- Someone else from your marketing team
- Someone from your sales team
- Someone from your customer success team
There are a lot of great hosts out there, but we suggest recruiting someone from within your organization who's also an industry expert.
Guest Selection Strategy
There are normally two types of podcast agencies that offer guest booking services: full-service podcast agencies and podcast booking agencies.
When it comes to your guest selection strategy, our team suggests tying in Content-Based Networking. Basically, your full-service agency partner helps you identify who your ideal buyer is, then reaches out to leads who match your ICP and asks them to be interviewed on your show.
This way, you're able to start a working relationship with your ideal buyers that benefits both parties right off the bat.
Podcast Marketing Strategy
It's not enough for your full-service podcast agency to edit your audio and slap the episodes up on the internet. There should be a comprehensive marketing strategy woven into your podcast game plan.
From the content planning to the promotion of your show, your tactics should be tied to the overall podcast strategy, which -- in turn -- is tied to your marketing plan and goals.
Podcast Launch Services
A successful launch is critical for your podcast to perform well. There are several components related to the launch that will go smoother if you're working with a full-service podcast agency.
Naming Your Podcast
It all starts with the name. Your show's name is the launchpad for its entire brand.
The #1 thing we tell customers NOT to do is name your podcast after your company or organization. In other words, B2B Growth is going to garner a lot more listeners than The Sweet Fish Show.
When you hire a podcast agency to help you launch a show, make sure they understand that it's about the listeners -- not you or your company. So, the name of the show should reflect what the ideal listener is interested in.
Our team has helped so many podcasters pick great show names that we boiled the process down to four formulas:
- Ideal Buyer's Industry + Ideal Buyer's Role (Example: The Healthcare CFO)
- The Primary Activity Your Ideal Buyer is Responsible For (Example: Selling Homes)
- The Aspirational Identity of Your Ideal Buyer (Example: Masters of Events)
- Vilifying the Enemy of Your Ideal Buyer (Example: Stop the Noise: The Content Marketing Show)
The name of your podcast is how listeners are going to find you. Make it about something that interests them.
Podcast Cover Art
The full-service podcast agency you decide to partner with should also have some experience in creating cover art. A podcast's cover art (sometimes mistaken for its logo) sets the mood for the show.
There are a few major bullet points your agency partner should know in regards to cover art:
- It sets the whole vibe of the show and has to stand out
- Mood board creation helps to narrow down on specific design elements
- There are specific dimensions needed for podcast cover art
- You should have a vibrant color in the background (avoid white)
- Copy and images should be very limited on cover art
- A style guide should be created to inform other graphics for promotional use
Lastly, keep it light. Keep it bright. Keep it tight.
Creating the Intro/Outro
The next step in the launch process your podcast agency should take care of is creating the show's intro and outro.
With the insights you provide during the onboarding process, your agency partner can write up the intro and outro. Then after your review, the intro, outro, and even an advertisement should be professionally recorded, edited, and mixed into your episodes.
Recording the Show Trailer
Podcast trailers are extremely important when launching a new show. Your full-service podcast agency should be able to write, record, and mix an intriguing trailer to draw listeners in.
Recording the First Episodes
A part of your podcast launch package should be the first few episodes. Audiences are more likely to listen to your show if you release a handful of episodes right away instead of only one.
Your agency partner should be prepared to help you record and publish several episodes by launch time.
Podcast Production Services
Production services should always be a part of a full-service agency's offerings. Typically, a podcast production agency provides services related to recording equipment and sound engineering.
However, there are a few more things your full-service podcast agency should be doing for you in pre and post-production.
Guest Outreach & Scheduling
Identifying the right guests and reaching out to them isn't often a service that's provided by podcast production agencies. However, before you partner with a full-service podcast agency, you should be certain that they book guests for you.
As you onboard with a new agency partner, they should inquire about your ideal buyers and create a list of potential guests for your show based on that information. Your guest queue should always be full when working with a full-service agency.
Hosting
Nope, not that kind of hosting! Here we're referring to a podcast hosting platform. Your full-service agency should handle everything in regards to choosing the best site for your show to live.
[RELATED: Here are 34 podcast hosting platforms & our top 5 picks.]
Additionally, a good agency partner will handle all of the embeddings of the podcast episode players on your website.
Guest Follow Up
You shouldn't have to worry about following up with guests after the interview (unless you want to, of course). A great full-service podcast agency will always make sure to send guests the finished episodes once they're published.
Podcast Editing
Almost any podcast agency you work with will edit your sound for mistakes and um's and uh's.
A full-service agency should definitely offer this service. If they don't, just back away slowly.
Podcast Publishing & Syndication
Like we mentioned before, your agency partner should publish all of your episodes and make sure they're being distributed to all the major podcast players (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.).
Podcast Marketing Services
You can launch a podcast... but sometimes no one shows up to listen.
*Crickets*
A great full-service podcast agency will offer effective marketing strategies to make certain your target audience knows about your show.
Content Splintering
There's so much juicy content that can be extracted from one single podcast episode. Your podcast agency should understand this and take advantage of it.
Content splintering -- or repurposing content -- is one of the ways Sweet Fish grows listenerships for our customers. Here are some things we create from episodes:
- Blog posts
- Social text posts
- Social video posts
- Social slide decks (aka, carousels)
- YouTube videos
- Quote graphics
The list goes on.
Owned Media
Owned media -- or marketing assets a brand controls -- should absolutely be something your full-service podcast agency offers (as long as it revolves around your show).
These assets include the actual podcast and anything that comes out of the content splintering process, like blogs and videos.
Paid Media
Show me tha moneyyy! 💸
Some full-service podcast agencies offer paid media services for your show. It's nice to have a specialized ad manager that knows the best ways to target your audience.
[REALTED: Here's *literally* everything you'd ever need to know about PPC for SaaS companies.]
Earned Media
Earned media -- sometimes referred to as PR -- is coverage your brand receives, from a news outlet or otherwise.
The fun thing about podcasts is that your full-service agency can develop a tour for you to promote your show on similar shows.
When your agency partner is versed in guest booking, they generate a network of hosts and guests. This makes it easy for them to schedule you to be a guest on other shows. And that makes it easy for you to plug your new podcast!
Podcast Review and Measurement
It's not enough for your podcast agency to do all these things and not measure the effect or meet with you on a regular basis.
Tracking Progress Towards Goals
A full-service podcast agency should keep you updated on where your show's at in terms of your goals for it. Those goals are critical because they inform your overall marketing goals which, in turn, impact your business goals.
Analytics & Dashboards
You should have access to the analytics and dashboards that your agency partner is using to track your podcast's success. There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to look up the metrics reports for anything the agency is handling for you.
Quarterly Reviews
Our team has found it extremely beneficial for ourselves and our customers to have Quarterly Podcast Reviews (QPRs).
These meetings help everybody stay informed and on track to meeting your podcasting goals. Nobody likes a partner who never checks in with them, right?
Full-Service Podcast Agency Takeaways
When you're searching for the best full-service podcast agency, keep these pointers in mind:
- A full-service podcast agency is not a full-service marketing agency.
- Your full-service podcast agency should handle every step of the podcast strategy, launch, production, marketing, and measurement.
- Partnering with a real full-service podcast agency will give you the best chance of hitting your podcasting, marketing, and overall business goals.
Interested in learning more? Ask us anything!