When we speak about podcast brand building, what we’re really talking about is finding ways to make a lasting connection with your audience. This is what all of the instantly-recognizable brands have done. They’ve connected what they offer to their audiences wants and needs.
And the heart of building a strong podcast brand is the same. You need to firstly develop your brand identity, and then you need to create a strong connection between your brand and what you offer with your target audience and their needs.
Sounds easy enough, right? But this process can be tricky, and for the simple reason being that there are so many others out there making noise as we all attempt to compete for listeners’ attention.
So how do you build and strengthen your podcast brand amidst this noise? What will make listeners want to come back to your show? How can you create a brand that resonates with your target audience?
Lofty questions, I know! But we have given this topic quite a lot of thought, and have put together our top strategies that will help podcast hosts build and strengthen their podcast brand.
Check them out below!
1. Define Your Brand
Before you can begin building your podcast brand, you need to have a clear idea of the type of brand you are building. This means that you need to know what your ‘brand’ is. This includes answering questions like: What is your podcast’s mission and vision? Who are the key people listening to your show and why do they listen? What can they expect when tuning into your show?
Getting clear answers to these questions is important, as they form the foundation of building your brand. And if you have a strong foundation, you have the making of a strong brand!
2. Match Your Podcast Name to your Brand
What’s in a name? A whole lot when we’re talking about your podcast name! Once you have defined your brand, it’s time to pick a name for your show.
But not just any name! You need to pick a name that strengthens your brand, and cements your brand in the mind of your target audience.
Bottom line, your podcast name needs to match your brand.
Your name should also be:
Unique, catchy and easy to remember, and consistent with the type of content you’ll be sharing on your show. You also don’t want a name that is confusing, or too similar to some other brand.
I know this sounds like an exceptionally tall order, but the perfect name for your podcast is out there! You may just need to put the time in to find it. Have brainstorming sessions where you let your ideas run wild, ask your friends and family, use Google searches, and you’ll soon zero in on the perfect podcast name that loudly declares your brand identity!
3. Develop Your Signature Identity
This is the part of podcasting that sets top podcasters apart from others. It allows listeners to easily identify your content, and immediately link the content back to your brand.
And just like big brands do, you need to develop your own signature style for your podcast. And just like an expensive perfume, there are many things that work together to produce your podcast’s signature identity.
Some of these include:
- Your tone of voice, delivery, and your humor
- Your intro music (check out this post for resources)
- Your background and expertise in your niche
- The angle your content takes
- How often you publish episodes
- The general length of your episodes
- The type of guests you interview
- Your unique personality
All of these work together to produce your signature identity, or your podcast’s unique, authentic “voice.”
The important thing to remember is that you’re looking for your signature brand identity. Don’t try to copy another podcast host, be yourself! You have to stand out from the crowd, and you will do that by being yourself!
4. Share Your “Scent”
And once you have your signature identity, to build your podcast brand, you need to share your signature “scent” in order to establish yourself in the minds of your listeners. Extend your voice to all aspects of your brand – your website, your Instagram account, and even your Pinterest boards.
In order for your podcast brand to be built and strengthened, you need to share your content across multiple platforms.
This helps strengthen the association your audience makes between your brand, and any content you share, wherever you share it.
4. Develop a Tagline for your Show
If I said the following slogans to you:
“Just do it.”
“Open happiness.”
or
“Because you’re worth it.”*
More than likely, the brand associated with each of the above immediately sprang to mind. So now is the time to channel all the work you’ve done to develop your signature identity and bring it all together with a catchy tagline.
Your tagline should help listeners understand what the show is about, and why they should be listening. A great tagline connects others to your brand, and should be something that encapsulates what it means to be a part of said brand.
Again, a tall order, but spend some time writing down ideas or mind-mapping your thoughts, and you’re bound to land on a great tagline! Write down what you envision your community being, what you want your brand to represent, what you want listeners to feel when they listen to one of your episodes, etc., and somewhere amongst all that brainstorming, a theme should appear. From this, you should be on the right path to finding your podcast’s tagline.
*Above slogans are for Nike, Coca-Cola, and L’Oréal, respectively.
5. Get Your Look
It’s time to make things colorful! Specifically, we’re talking about using color and imagery to further develop and strengthen your brand’s unique identity. First up, your cover art. Your podcast’s cover art is usually the first thing people interact with when it comes to your show, so it’s got to be on brand! Great podcast cover art is absolutely essential for getting listeners engaging with your brand.
Your podcast cover art needs to:
- Include a picture or illustration of something related to your content/topic/brand identity
- Include the name of your show
- Bonus points if you can include your tagline!
- Be eye-catching and unique
Remember, this is the first thing people see when the interact with your podcast. And it is therefore the first building block of your brand in their minds. Make it count by making sure your cover art is totally on brand!
6. Share Your Look
The colors and imagery used in your podcast artwork are the foundation of your brand. Now, in order to develop and strengthen that brand, you need to share your look wherever you’re marketing your podcast or interacting with your podcast community.
You need to make sure that there’s a strong presence of the colors and imagery which represents your podcast’s identity on your social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, as well as in other online spaces such as your website backgrounds and email signatures.
You want your look to permeate all avenues connected with your podcast. Color and images are one of the most effective ways to build a lasting impression in the mind’s of your target audience, so make sure you’re reinforcing yours where people may be interacting with your podcast.
7. Diversify Your Presence
Besides sharing your podcast brand across your own platforms, to really strengthen your brand, you also need to diversify your presence. This simply means finding other places for your podcast and brand to “show up.”
Guest appearances on other podcasts, collabs with other podcasters on social media, speaking opportunities at podcast conferences, as well as reviews for your podcast in some well-known and well-respected podcast newsletters are all great ways to diversify your presence.
The more you and your podcast are able to offer valuable content to your audience, and the more places people are able to “find” your brand, the stronger your presence will become. And that strong presence is vital to building a strong, memorable brand.
Related read: Top Ways To Boost Your Podcast Discoverability
8. Consistency Is Key
And now, the final strategy, the one that ties all the others together and makes the overall plan a success…consistency. In order to strengthen any brand and build its reputation, consistency is key.
Firstly, when it comes to your podcast, you need to consistently put out highly valuable content with high quality audio. And that content needs to consistently communicate your overall brand identity. If you want your podcast brand to grow, you can’t chop and change the type of content you share. You need to know your topic, maintain your overall focus, and build your authority within your niche.
And then across all the platforms you use to promote your podcast and connect with your audience, consistency needs to be applied. Consistency in posting, consistency in what you post, and consistency in how you engage with your audience. A constant presence of your podcast, however and wherever you’re sharing content, is what will establish your podcast brand and give you a strong identity.
Some Closing Thoughts
Brand building is not an overnight venture. It takes time, persistence, and consistency. But the results are so worth it! A podcast with a strong brand will not only help you reach your podcast goals, but it can also open up so many doors!
The key takeaways for developing your podcast brand identity are that your podcast’s name needs to clearly communicate what your show is about, and your artwork and tagline should help further communicate that message.
You then need to ensure that the content you’re sharing, be that through your podcast itself, or through your other platforms are clear extensions of your brand. Your ultimate goal should be to make sure that everything you share – from logo design, TikToks, memes, reels, any and all of the above – clearly align with the identity of your podcast. Do this, and you’ve got a one-way ticket to a strong podcast brand!
For an interesting read on building brand identity, check out Hub Spot’s How to Develop a Unique (& Memorable) Brand Identity in 2021. It offers some key insights that you can incorporate in your own brand building process for your podcast.
