It’s been a privilege to help ADM launch a podcast for farmers: In the Driver’s Seat. Now, after posting the 22nd episode, here are a few things we’ve learned along the way to help launch your own.
- Feature a company thought leader as host. Podcasting is a friendly, conversational medium. It’s a great opportunity to develop an authentic voice for your brand—someone credible, but not too formal. For In the Driver’s Seat, that’s Doug Roose, ADM’s V.P. of Producer Marketing. With a farm background and a role supervising ADM representatives across North America, he knows producer issues and can choose the best ADM team members to address each one. If your spokesperson is new to broadcasting, hire an experienced co-host just to get up and running. This transition plan worked well for Doug until he was comfortable soloing. Now he plans topics and guests firsthand, and DKY focuses on leveraging those conversations.
- Book guests from outside your organization. Broaden the content you’re offering and be sure to keep it non-commercial. One of the best ways to do this is to tap guests outside your organization—influencers, authors, analysts, and policy makers. This helps your podcast build credibility and reach. For example, we attended the Farm Futures Business Summit on behalf of ADM and interviewed the session speakers. This provided eight episodes worth of content on topics ranging from export markets to working with a farm lender. Guests shared the episodes with their own followers on social media, which drove greater traffic. (Ahead of time, schedule appointments with the speakers—and be sure to have them sign legal release forms.)
- Leverage the podcast in other content. Your podcast has life beyond the audio file. Build a blog around it, either a transcription or a shorter Q&A summary, with a link to the podcast on Soundcloud or other hosting site. With a visual, the blog becomes your landing page for an email, social, and text campaign, building search and traffic on your website. Your host can plan topics weeks or months out, and record several episodes in one sitting for a steady campaign pipeline. The podcast can even be the centerpiece at your trade show, where you invite attendees to your booth to listen or participate in a live recording. Having a podcast in place really pays off when special circumstances arise, like the wet planting conditions of the 2019 farming season. Doug was able to quickly convene a panel of experts about options for farmers, and we were able to get it published and promoted within 48 hours.
A podcast is a great centerpiece for your content engine. Choose a brand personality who has natural rapport with your audience, address issues that matter to your audience, and promote the conversations with a blog, social, and texts.
Launching your own podcast? At DKY, we have the experience, production, and promotional capabilities—along with a smooth process. We’re happy to help!
For more on launching a podcast, including technical tips, here’s our earlier blog.