Tips to creating engaging podcast content

Engaging podcast content takes time and work, but it’s worth the investment. We worked with Royal London, the UK’s largest mutual life insurance and pensions company, to create The penny drops, a podcast designed to improve people's understanding of finance in an engaging, entertaining and innovative way. 

The podcast has been hugely successful, and as a brand agency we have learned many skills along the way. Here we share our tips to help you build a successful podcast and in turn build a loyal following, as well as few guiding principles.

Decide on a clever and relevant name for the podcast series 

We agreed on ‘The penny drops’, as it links to the content and the aim of improving people’s understanding of finance.

Find a well-known voice to introduce the series 

We used Royal London’s existing relationship with Vicky McClure, as she has a distinctive voice and a warm, friendly accent.

Find an upbeat host 

After conducting some research, we contacted Andrea Fox, an experienced radio presenter and podcast host.

Create a standard structure for each episode to follow 

This includes an introduction from Vicky, an introduction of the topic and guest by Andrea, questions and answers, a round-up of useful takeaways, a note that further advice and support can be found in the episode notes and finally a closing line from Vicky.

Create a shortlist of potential interviewees for discussion 

Detail your reasons for choosing each potential guest, their experience and personality.

Reach out to potential guests to secure their services 

At times, for us, this meant contacting them directly, while at other times it involved contacting them via agents and negotiating fees.

Plan the recording logistics 

This may include booking slots at recording studios, finding times that suit everyone, creating briefing documents and organising travel, when recording in person. Be prepared, throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we have also been arranging for podcasts to be recorded remotely.

Create the interview questions and brief the host and guest 

The questions needed to be clear and direct (as Andrea would be asking the questions the listener may be too shy to ask) and they also needed to feel natural and fun.

Manage the process on the day of recording

A clear schedule allowed us to generate the best possible content.

Edit the audio 

Post-production involved working through transcripts to suggest initial edits and structuring of content. It also included editing the audio to iron out pauses or repetition and to cut the length down to approximately 30-45 minutes.

Liaise with IT teams 

Close teamworking with our IT team was important to ensure the podcasts were formatted, checked and published on time.

To create a successful podcast series, our guiding principles were, and continue to be:

1. Consistency. People like to know when they can expect the next episode.
   
2. Storytelling. The topic should be something that would work best in audio, with a conversational approach.
   
3. Clear audio. No one will listen if the sound quality is poor.
   
4. Build your audience. We always encourage our podcast guests to promote their involvement and help boost the number of listeners.
   
5. Enjoy it. If you’re having fun, so will your listeners.

If you’d like to have an informal chat about how a podcast could help with your marketing and communications, pop us an email at hello@wardour.co.uk – we’d love to speak to you.