Over the last few years, I’ve been working with many companies helping them to create podcasts for internal marketing & comms, not their customers.
Podcasts are a great medium for getting a message across. Audio is far more intimate than video or a rubbish PowerPoint, you can connect better with your audience.
Podcasts are a powerful tool for Internal Marketing and Communications.
Some folks I’ve worked with have gone down the formal route of a half-hour monthly podcast featuring messages from the CEO, chats with management and updates on projects.
Others have gone informal. One company I worked with has a weekly 10 minute cup of tea with a member of staff. Because of remote working some folks had never met their colleagues so this was a great way to learn more about a Zoom buddy.
Most of the podcasts are private and some are just thrown out on Slack or Teams, no Apple Podcasts or Spotify involved.
It doesn’t really matter how you do it, what matters is that to set a goal or objective for the pod and try and reach for it.
Here’s a few ways you can use a podcast internally.
Onboarding new staff
Everyone hates a PowerPoint and how many folks actually read the manual? How many enjoy the never ending onboarding tick box exercise?
Podcasts are an amazing medium to welcome new staff in a relaxed way.
You can create a series of short episodes that focus on different topics, include interviews with managers and stories from colleagues giving tips from when they started.
Send the same series of episodes to every newbie and update them when needed.
Board messages to staff (a bit boring)
I’m not a big fan of these but if done correctly they can be quite useful and entertaining for folks. Just try not to make them too regular.
I’ve found this type of podcast works well in professional service companies and even better if they’re only distributed to certain members of staff, maybe senior management.
They can include updates on large projects and high level conversations about the business and industry.
They work well but be careful they don’t become a chore to listen to.
Company updates or just keeping in touch
Make them entertaining! Treat them a bit like a TV chat show where there are different short segments in each episode. Bring it all together to create something that entertains and informs.
I love this kind of podcast as you can express your personality and creativity and come up with something thats fun and interesting.
They’re not to hard to record if you’re clever about it. If someone interesting comes to the office, have 20 minutes with them and try and get two 5 minute clips for future episodes.
Anything is possible. Experiment!
Updating sales knowledge
How many of the sales team read the PowerPoint updates?
A podcast can help. It doesn’t need to be too long, use it to educate the sales team on product information, new pricing structures and anything else.
Include sales tips from business gurus. Hire one for a couple of hours and record a mountain of hints and tips and then spread them out over future episodes.
I’ve found that sales folk listen to this type of pod when travelling, at the gym or just out on their own somewhere.
Podcasts are a great way to communicate internally. Nothing needs to be public and you can keep them on the company intranet if needed.
If you’re in the UK and need a hand with ideas, production or the technicals then check out my one day podcasting training session.