These are the skills you can’t go without.
So, you’re ready to launch your own branded podcast. You’ve seen how this sort of medium can benefit your brand, and you have your team on board…
Next stop? Execution.
You’re probably wondering if this is a project you can complete in house. Perhaps you’d like to hand it off to that one team member who’s great at pretty much everything.
To put this bluntly…
The former might be possible. The latter definitely isn’t — and if you think it is, you’re wildly underestimating the scale of this project.
We’d like to give you a clear idea of the skill sets required to produce an exceptional series that also attracts the audience it deserves.
So, without further ado, here is our breakdown of the team members — and skill sets — you’ll need to effectively execute your own branded podcast.
Seasoned content creators
While these folks might fall under a variety of titles, the bottom line is that a podcast isn’t just an audio file, and you want content creators from several fields on your side.
During production and marketing, you’ll need…
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Graphic designers for your visual assets
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Writers experienced in copy and creative content
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Social media creators with the knowhow to grow your show
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And of course team members experienced in all things audio
Whether these folks are freelancers, producers, contractors, agency staff, or members of your in-house team, they’ll be crucial to making your show a success.
Great content marketing is the result of extraordinary skill sets and experience — and you’re unlikely to succeed if you just pluck someone from sales, customer service, or leadership.
An experienced Producer
Just as you would with TV, film or radio, you’ll need a producer to create your very own branded podcast.
This person may wear a few different hats, but will generally be responsible for…
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Finding the perfect host
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Writing scripts and question lines
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Sourcing and vetting appropriate guests
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Creating a written edit of each recorded episode
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Communication between your brand and podcast team
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And working with your marketing team to promote your show
Clearly, this person is crucial to your overall success, and should be experienced in areas including — but certainly not limited to — research, booking, marketing, communication, creative storytelling, and management.
A competent Creative Director
In addition to your producer, who certainly has a hand in some creative aspects of your project, you should have a creative director on your team.
This person may be the creative director for your brand — although they probably have their hands full already — or a podcast pro from a qualified agency.
They would be responsible for…
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Establishing or fine tuning your series concept
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Managing and overseeing all creative work
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And ensuring the end product matches your original vision
This person is a big-picture creative thinker who will turn out a series that feels cohesive — and as clearly branded as your business — from graphics, to social media, to the concept and execution of your show.
A diligent Project Manager
Given the complexity of this project, you’ll also want to enlist a project manager.
This person will be ultra-focused on the particularities that keep your production moving along.
Their responsibilities might include…
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People wrangling and team meetings
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Ensuring your project stays on schedule
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Balancing the budget allocated for your show
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Resourcing as needed to support your team
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Providing feedback throughout the process
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And keeping up effective task management along the way
Much like your producer, this person will be essential to making sure this complex, involved undertaking runs as it should.
A skilled Audio Recordist & Editor
You will also need a dedicated and experienced audio recordist and editor on your team.
This person is responsible for…
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Recording the podcast
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Ambient noises and sound effects
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Inserting custom or curated music
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Ensuring your show is technically cohesive
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And cutting the fluff with help from your producer
Audio editing is it’s own beast, and if you want to do it well, you’ll have to have a specialist on hand.
Remember — you’re usually broadcasting directly into your listeners’ ears. The small details make a huge difference.
At least one Writer
We’ve touched on this already but podcasts are definitely not just about audio. The written word also plays a huge role here.
You should have at least one team member on board that knows how to handle tone matching, brand identity, and the composition of both creative content and copy.
This person may also be a marketer or producer, or an additional team member who collaborates with both.
They might be responsible for tasks such as…
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Crafting the description of your show
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Writing social media captions
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Writing and editing your marketing material
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And helping with the scripted portions of your show
The written assets that go with your series will help to demonstrate tone, attract new listeners, and translate your brand identity to readers near and far.
Again, this isn’t work you should allocate to just anyone. Sure, anyone can write — but truly effective writing comes with education, training, and extensive experience.
An engaging Host
This one’s pretty obvious but we’re going to touch on it just to be sure we’re on the same page…
You will absolutely need a qualified and thoroughly vetted host for your series.
This person can be sourced internally but this isn’t something we generally recommend. If you do choose this route, they should be trained by podcast pros and prepared to really devote themselves to this project.
Again, a branded podcast is no small task.
No matter who your host is, they will need to…
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Be full of personality and charisma
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Be able to read scripted content patiently and believably
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Be a great listener with outstanding emotional intelligence
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And have the experience and expertise your subject matter requires
Remember — finding this person is usually up to a competent and qualified producer.
That said, you can learn more about choosing the perfect host for your series by checking out this comprehensive guide.
At least one expert Marketer
In order to grow and effectively represent your series, you’ll want at least one skilled marketer on hand.
Ideally, this person should have experience in the podcast space as not all marketers — or missions — are created equal.
Someone whose experience lies mostly in B2B or hospitality, for example, probably won’t have the best grasp of this kind of work and might not be the right fit for the job.
Your team’s marketer might be responsible for…
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Conversion
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Promotion
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Audience growth
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Brand awareness
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Strategy development
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Community management
It should go without saying that this person will need to have experience in communications, content marketing, and at least a few aspects of creative work.
Time to outsource?
We’ve walked you through a pretty big list here. We know.
The truth is that to create a great series, you need a lot of skill sets and dedicated, experienced team members on board.
We understand that you probably don’t have all of these roles covered in house — and that if you do, they probably have their hands full already.
This is exactly why we recommend you outsource your branded podcast…
A qualified and well prepared production agency should offer all of these skill sets and more — everything you’ll need on your road to success.
Ready to get started? Check out our awesome team and reach out to learn more.
