Over the last couple of years, podcasts have become an indispensable marketing tool. They are practically a gold mine of content that allows you to reach new audiences, drive engagement to your website and provide a ton of value. But podcasting requires a bit more involvement than just speaking into the microphone. It takes research, strategic effort, and some technical expertise to get your podcast on the right track.

When you record a podcast, it’s always good to be prepared, especially when your guest is an influencer in your industry. Since your podcast is an extension of you and your company, you want the guest to have a great experience. And most importantly, you want the episode to be relevant to your audience. But many podcast hosts, especially newer ones, don’t prepare as much as they should. They end up with a list of questions but nothing else. And they aren’t able to get good content from their guests. That’s why it’s important to have a podcast script. In this episode of Recorded Content, Justin Brown and Tristan Pelligrino talk about the importance of having a script to foster an excellent conversation with your guest and provide quality content to your listeners.

Many B2B marketers realize the benefits of a podcast. Your company gets a chance to hear from customers, connect with experts and influencers, and share perspectives on industry trends. But even when marketers know they need a podcast, most B2B marketers don’t know when to start. Is it better to get the company up and running first? Should you wait for product/market fit? Should a podcast be part of the initial launch of the company?

Launching a podcast sounds like a lot of fun, but most companies don’t do it because it also looks like a ton of work. Or, there’s pressure to justify a short-term ROI in terms of sales or immediate opportunities. Podcasting, however, has plenty of advantages when you think about it from a broader perspective. In the latest episode of Recorded Content, Tyfone’s Josh DeTar talks about what it was like to launch the company’s first podcast, the Digital Banking podcast, and shares the biggest lessons he’s learned along the way.

There are over 48 million published podcast episodes today and it’s more than any one person could possibly consume. And yet, people are still hungry for specific and timely content shared through the podcast format. Every company in B2B benefits from running a podcast. It helps the company learn from customers, connect with influencers and provide a perspective on what’s happening in the industry. But most companies struggle to narrow in on their audience, especially when their organization provides products or services to a variety of different personas. Organizations often fall into the trap of creating a show for a more general audience instead of really diving into what specific groups of customers really care about.

Is the phrase “build it and they will come” the primary strategy behind your podcast distribution plan? If it is, then that’s a problem. And it’s one experienced by too many podcasters. In the latest episode of Recorded Content, the co-founders of Motion and hosts of Recorded Content explain why a podcast is much more than an audio file that gets distributed through platforms like iTunes. During the episode, Tristan and Justin discuss some of the challenges that companies face with distribution and how to create an effective distribution plan for your company’s show.