Many branded podcasts experience ‘podfade’ — a scenario where your company’s show fades away after about seven or eight episodes. There are many reasons branded podcasts don’t make it past the first few episodes.
But most of the time, this happens because the marketing team cannot generate a consistent flow of content ideas.
At Motion, we’ve worked with over fifty brands (mostly podcasts for B2B tech companies) and have helped companies bust through the podfade stage. And one of the reasons our clients can sustain momentum with their show — they collaborate with us to develop their own system for generating new podcast episode ideas.
If you’re new to podcasting (or want to start a podcast for your company), you might not have an agency to collaborate with every week. And you might need to develop your own system for generating good podcast topic ideas.
In this article, we present seven major areas where you can source content ideas:
- Audience
- Questions
- Company updates & announcements
- Industry experts
- Different formats
- User-generated content & partnerships
- Events
By using the techniques within each area, you can generate an endless stream of content ideas for your company’s podcast. You’ll get to connect your best podcast ideas to your company’s overarching content marketing strategy, keep the conversation going, and build a strong relationship with your best customers.
Decoding your audience: The first step to a thriving podcast
Understanding your audience is the foundation of generating engaging podcast ideas. It’s about knowing who they are, what they want, and how your podcast can deliver value.
Here are some key techniques to help you understand your audience better and build podcast episodes around what you learn:
1. Conduct Customer Surveys: Regularly survey your customers to gather insights about their interests, challenges, and feedback. If you’re in marketing, you’re probably already conducting customer surveys. This can be done through email, social media, or directly during your podcast episodes. The feedback you receive can be a goldmine for content ideas.
2. Monitor Social Media: Your audience’s social media activity can provide valuable insights into their interests and concerns. Look at the topics they discuss, the questions they ask, and the content they share. For example, take a specific post that blew up on LinkedIn. Go through the comments and see how people reacted — positively or negatively. The comment section of a viral LinkedIn post can spark many ideas for specific podcast episodes.
3. Analyze Audience Behavior: As a B2B marketer, you’re already measuring engagement on various content types. Whether you analyze your company’s blog, organic social, or YouTube…determine which topics get the most downloads or shares. Find out which videos get the highest completion rates. Identify which blog posts hold the attention of your website visitors. This data can guide you in creating more content your audience loves.
4. Conduct Audience Research: Develop detailed profiles (or personas) for your audience and find out where they hang out online. What are their demographics? What are their professional interests? What challenges do they face in their industry? What publications or online sites do they consume the most? You can use a tool like Sparktoro to get deeper audience insights and learn more about your audience. When you conduct research regularly, you often stumble upon trends or patterns that lead to relevant podcast ideas.
5. Engage with Your Audience: Regular interaction with your audience can provide direct insights into new podcast episode ideas. When you get involved in communities or through social media, you can often source content ideas directly from ongoing conversations. What’s the most engaged community for your audience right now? Find out where your audience spends time (maybe it’s a Slack group, or maybe it’s on a platform like Circle) and see what conversations are gaining traction. In many cases, you can ask people to expand upon their ideas in a podcast episode or build upon the conversation yourself in a solo episode.
By understanding your audience, you can generate content ideas that resonate with them. This not only keeps your podcast fresh and engaging but also builds a loyal listener base that keeps coming back for more.
Remember, your best podcast topic ideas are for your audience. The better you understand them, the better your content will be.
Feedback to the forefront: Driving your podcast content strategy
Leveraging questions and feedback from your audience is a powerful way to generate content ideas for your podcast. This strategy not only ensures that your content is relevant and engaging but also makes your listeners feel heard and valued.
Here’s how to do it:
1. Encourage Listener Questions: Once you get your podcast moving along, make it easy for your listeners to ask questions. This could be through a dedicated segment in your podcast, an online form, or social media. Regularly addressing listener questions on your podcast not only provides you with content but also increases listener engagement. At Motion, we created an entire show built around audience questions — check out the Anonymous Marketer to see how we put it all together.
2. Use Feedback Forms: After each episode, encourage listeners to provide feedback. What did they like? What didn’t they like? What topics would they like to hear more about? Make sure to uncover if your audience needs more information. A lot of times, a single episode doesn’t answer all of the questions, and you need to expand upon certain ideas in a follow-up episode. This feedback can guide your future content.
3. Monitor Social Media and Comments: Consider the questions and comments your listeners post on social media or your own podcast host’s website. These can provide valuable insights into what your audience is interested in and spark ideas for future episodes.
4. Address Industry News: If you’re in a specific industry, there are likely common questions that people have. But the key thing to remember is that your industry changes, too. So it’s important to recognize when new regulations surface or new challenges exist. Use your podcast to answer these questions and provide valuable insights for your audience.
5. Use Live Q&A Sessions: Consider hosting live Q&A sessions where listeners can ask questions in real-time. This not only provides you with immediate content but also increases listener interaction and engagement. Some companies use the live format as the foundation for their entire podcast. And over time, the audience guides the content each and every week.
By leveraging questions and feedback, you can create content for a podcast that truly resonates with your audience. This strategy ensures that your content is always relevant, engaging, and valuable to your listeners. Remember, your podcast is a conversation with your audience. The more you listen to them, the better your content will be.
Your company, your content: Leveraging internal stories for your podcast
When producing a podcast for your company, it can be difficult to determine how and when to integrate your product. But if you don’t have a way to connect your product to your podcast’s audience, then you’re missing out on an opportunity to generate revenue.
For me, I like to simplify things a bit. From my perspective, you should create a show designed to help your specific audience. And since your product also helps your audience — you need to connect the dots.
Showcasing your company through inspirational stories on your podcast is a unique opportunity to humanize your brand, share your story, and build a deeper connection with your audience. Here’s how you can do it:
1. Share Your Company’s History: Your company’s journey can make for compelling content. Share stories about your company’s founding, its growth, and the challenges it has overcome. This not only educates your audience about your company but also builds a narrative that listeners can connect with. Recently, we produced an episode on Recorded Content outlining the evolution of Motion and documenting why we decided to acquire another agency, New North.
2. Highlight Employee Stories: Your employees are a vital part of your company. Sharing their stories, experiences, and insights can provide a behind-the-scenes look at your company and humanize your brand. When you involve various employees in content creation, you also break out of traditional silos within your company. You get a larger group of individuals contributing to the marketing team.
3. Discuss New Product Updates or Services: Use your podcast to announce and discuss new products or services. This not only keeps your audience informed but also allows you to go in-depth about the features and benefits of your offerings.
4. Share Customer Success Stories: Customer success stories can be a powerful way to demonstrate the value of your products or services. They provide real-world examples of how your company solves problems and delivers results.
5. Comment on Industry Trends: Position your company as a thought leader by discussing industry trends and providing your company’s perspective. This can stimulate discussions and keep your content relevant and engaging.
By showcasing your company, you can turn your podcast into a powerful tool for building brand awareness and loyalty. Remember, your podcast is not just a platform for content; it’s a platform for your company. Use it to tell your story, share your insights, and connect with your audience on a deeper level.
