Podcasts are becoming more and more popular and as a business owner, a podcast is a great way for you to share education, expand your community, and interact with the world in a different way. But, just like everything else in your business, your podcast can’t just be “thrown” together and that includes your podcast branding.
As a brand and web designer, I have worked with multiple different podcasts to help create unique branding that allows their show to stand out and connect with their listeners. Your podcast is an extension of your brand, and is so much more than a logo. Having effective branding can help bring your podcast to the next level.
So, let’s dive into why you should get podcast branding and how to actually use it once you have it.
The Importance of Podcast Branding
Just like any other business marketing venture, the base of your podcast is going to be built by your brand. How you talk to your listeners, what you say in your episodes, how you present your business – all of these things are going to be dictated by your brand in one way or another (brand voice, brand messaging, etc).
So, it is important that you build all of this on a strategic foundation. Getting professional branding for your podcast is going to give you guidelines and a roadmap for how to best communicate with your audience and grow your brand.
This means, before you jump into anything else, you want to get really clear on the why behind your podcast. What are you intending it to do? Why are you starting it? Is it to educate people? To give people advice on topics that you are an expert on? Is it a creative outlet for you that you want to be able to use to talk about all of the things that you are passionate about? Podcasts are powerful marketing tools, but starting one just to start one isn’t the best idea. Have a plan and a vision.
You also want to think about who you are trying to talk to? Who do you want to listen to your podcast and what do you want them to take away from it?
All of these build the foundation of your brand strategy and help guide you in creating a brand that not only looks good, but also connects with the people that you want it to connect with.
Plus, you will also need to get those visual elements so you can confidently put your podcast out into the world. Elements like: logos, color palettes, font suites, and podcast cover art + social templates can make a big difference when it comes to marketing and promoting your podcast.
Think about your own habits. Are you more likely to click on something that looks professional and put together or something that is messy and doesn’t really have any direction?
All of theabove are important to factors to consider so you can encourage folks to click on your podcast and listen to an episode. So, it is important that you take the time to make a good first impression to turn a complete stranger into a dedicated listener and member of your community.
How to Use Your Podcast Branding
Now that we have talked a bit about why branding is important for your podcast, let’s talk about how you can actually use your branding. We’ve already chatted about how your brand voice and messaging is going to help dictate what you say and how you say it, but what about your visuals?
Well, there are a few different places that your visuals are going to come in handy.
Your cover art
First, the one you probably instantly think of is your cover art. Cover art is very important because this is the first impression that most people are going to have of your podcast and maybe even your brand.
Now, we’ve all heard you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but, let’s be honest, most of the time you are going to judge something by how it looks. If you are scrolling through Spotify or Apple Podcasts trying to find a new podcast to listen to on your favorite topic, you are more likely to click on the one that looks professional and that looks cohesive, than something that looks thrown together or that just says the title of the podcast.
So, your cover art is a great place to use your branding.
Use your logos and your brand colors to create a cover that is eye-catching and intentional. It can also be a great idea to create a cover that has a photo of you (or anyone else involved in your podcast).
Not only will this give your cover a bit more variety, but people also like to put a face to a name. When it comes to business especially, they want to be able to trust the people that they are getting their information from and being able to see your face helps do just that.
Promotional materials
You will also probably have various promotional materials that you use for your podcast. This can be things like ads, marketing campaigns, email newsletters, and more. Again, the key with your brand is going to be consistency.
You want to make sure that anywhere anyone has a touchpoint with your brand, they get the same exact experience. Let’s say you have cover art that checks all of the boxes – you’re using your logos and colors, it has a picture of you, and it is put together in a way that makes it stand out – but you have a newsletter that you send out that is kind of just…there.
People who sign up for your newsletter are going to see it and wonder why this looks and feels so different from the podcast and start to feel uneasy about what they are actually going to get. Is your brand how you show it off in the newsletter or how you use it in the podcast?
Eventually, this can make people stop listening which is the opposite of what we want. So, you want to make sure that any promotional material you put out, uses your brand in a way that matches how you use it on your podcast and adds to the trustworthiness of your business.
Social media
Social media is also a major place where you are going to be using your brand. Today, it is extremely hard to grow a podcast without being on social media at all. This is the place where so many people experience content and can be a great way to grow your community.
Short clips of your podcast episodes, additional information and education on your feed, and even individual posts about upcoming drops or updates are all great things to share on your social media and should all be created with your brand in mind.
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To help make sharing content even easier and more streamlined, you can create a library of social media templates to use to share new episode drops or other education which can also help give your feed a cohesive and professional feel.
You can also create end screens for any clips of your podcast that you share on things like Instagram Reels or TikTok. This again just builds that trust and ensures that anyone who sees the video instantly knows where it is coming from even if they have never listened to your podcast.
Your website
Finally, your branding is really the basis of your website. Having a website for your podcast is a great way to 1) promote your episodes via a different medium (ie creating things like blog posts for each of the episodes with the audio feed embedded) and 2) give your audience more of a background on you and who you are.
We have talked about how trust is so important and a great way of creating trust in your brand and in your podcast is by showing off exactly who you are. Why are you qualified to be talking about what you are talking about?
Take this space to build a deeper connection with your audience – yes using your brand visual, but also your brand messaging and voice – and find ways to interact with them outside of just your podcast. This can mean having an email newsletter, having more ways to connect via social media, or even offering services.
Final Thoughts on Branding for Your Podcast
So, when it comes to your podcast, you do not want to skip out on creating a strategic brand for it. Podcast branding is going to help you get more clear on what you are doing and why you are doing it, and also how to connect with your audience.
If you are ready to take the next step and create your podcast brand, I’d love to chat. You can click here to learn all about my brand and web design services or you can head over here to get in touch with me and start building your brand today!
