3 Best Practices for Launching An Internal Podcast

Enterprise Podcaster

3 Best Practices for Launching An Internal Podcast

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Now more than ever companies are using podcasts as a way to connect with employees. Employers have found that with the majority in some cases, of their workforce at home the connection those employees feel to their coworkers and the company culture is suffering. Not only is company culture suffering, but productivity is down across the board according to several of my clients. However, podcasting has become one of the ways that companies are changing this dynamic and using the medium to rebuild connections with their teams.

As more companies are developing podcasts it's become essential to understand some best practices when it comes to launching an internal podcast and there are more than a few questions that you need to ask to make sure that you're on track to a successful podcast project.

Content / Episode Planning

One of the biggest pitfalls that I see in organizations that are starting an internal podcast is the lack of episode planning. They have intentions to get the podcast started, and they may even have somewhat of a content strategy behind how the podcast is going to go, but often they'll find themselves in the situation where they don't have the guests, or the talent lined up for the podcast episodes that they're planning.

Keep in mind your content calendar isn't the same as episode planning. The content calendar is going to help with planning the subjects you're going to talk about, the dates those episodes will be published, and how the episode will be promoted in the environment.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when planning episodes.

• How many episodes are being planned for the launch of the podcast?
• Who are your guest and how will you record them?
• How long is your post-production process and does it affect your planned publishing date?

Of course, there are many other things to consider but these three will at least get you started on the right path.

Target Audience

Who is the audience that you're actually trying to serve? This seems like a simple question but often the conversation shifts once the actual planning on underway for the podcast episodes. For example, once leadership becomes involved episodes that were just about one message can become a platform for the leaders to discuss whatever is important to them at the time, which is why defining the target audience and sticking to that audience is vital to the success of the podcast. A few questions to consider when developing your target audience demographic are the following:

• If it's for the entire company, how does this information benefit employees directly?
• What's are we trying to achieve with the podcast? Is it for training, information, or infotainment?
• Are we trying to create a better overall environment for a specific area?

Depending on which employees you're trying to serve will determine how you crate the stories and whom you'll ultimately have on the podcast.

Distribution

Understanding how you're going to distribute it is vital for companies that are planning an internal podcast because there are some costs and considerations involved with bringing in third party software or services into their environments. There are security concerns, and vendor approval processes that honestly more podcast hosting companies aren't prepared to deal with or aren't equipped to handle. Since I have relationships with proven providers for private podcasting I won't list them here but feel free to reach out if you want recommendations on whom to use.

What I do recommend against is using something like SharePoint, Microsoft Office emailing or your company LMS (Learning Management System ) to try to distribute podcasts. The user experience for distributing and listening to podcasts is exceptionally poor and will have a negative impact on listenership. Remember podcasting is popular because it's accessible and easier to consume than video.

When deciding on a platform and how your company will distribute podcasts here are a few things to keep in mind.

• Can the vendor pass your companies security review process? It's important the company you select can partner with your companies IT team to get the podcast distributed in a way that's both easy to consume but secure.
• Do they understand company cultures and how to navigate them? Seems odd I know but having a vendor that understands the procurement process, dealing with government regulations (if needed), and how to speak with the C-Suite is vital for your podcast to be successful.
• Onboarding stakeholders. It's often missed, but the experience you have when getting set up and how difficult the system is, or if the communications with the vendor is slow can make a podcast project come to a halt pretty quickly in most companies. So pay attention to their onboarding process and how they work with your staff to get them ready to manage all aspects of producing a podcast.

As with any media project, podcasts can be an amazing experience for a company and be used to deliver so much value to employees if implemented correctly and with a well-developed strategy.