How Long Does Audio Branding Take?
It really depends on how quickly we would agree on certain things. After you answer some basic questions the next stage will be to get the scripts together and to actually find out what message we want to put in to all the elements.
It is a collaborative experience between us and the client. Production will start as soon as we agree on specifics like the music, voices and agree on the right balance for your personal sound.
Can You Alienate Your Audience With Changes?
If you’re already an established podcaster with a good audience base, retaining certain elements and adding new vocals or new scripts is advised rather than having a massive change to your audio branding from one episode to the next. This way your listeners would have a feel that they’re listening to the same thing.
However if you’ve just created a few episodes and your audience is really not established yet there is not much to lose in changing your audio branding right away and getting a great sound.
Example Of Changes In Audio Branding
Late Night Internet Marketing – Mark Mason has been podcasting for a long time and is a respected expert in his niche. He also has a very catchy theme song that many of his listeners have commented upon. So we kept the music theme and refreshed Mark’s audio branding with a mix of new sound effects, vocal effects on the singing and added some brand new voice overs.
Changes In Audio Branding For Radio Stations
It’s different with radio as broadcasting is 24/7 and you can do things over a period of time unlike with podcasting that can change (usually weekly) on each episode.
The general rule in radio is that you will slowly introduce a new voice, new sweepers and put them on air however I’ve also experienced sudden changes in radio branding like (parody alert) the North Norfolk Digital to Shape change the next day as shown in the new Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa movie but this also happens in the real world of radio. It can sometimes be part of a marketing strategy but in general preparing your audience for change is important.
Why Is Audio Branding Important?
Aside from getting that song into someone’s head and associating it with your podcast. It is key to having a professional sound for your listeners. Professional sounding podcasts give listeners the comfort that they’re listening to someone who knows what they’re doing and talking about. Audio branding and sound quality is as important as your content.
Why Do You Podcast?
In this podcast episode, Izabela asked me the question, “why do you podcast?”
I replied by saying that I want to document the knowledge I picked up over the years particularly in radio production and audio production techniques. I think there’s little information about some of the trade secrets and fun effects that can be achieved to this date.
I want to pass that knowledge to my audience and I also would like them to take it and improve upon it. So it’s like a learning experience for me but also I wanted to get the Music Radio Creative name out there.
You would have to list down all the selfish reasons why you wanted to podcast as well as the nobel reasons. This may help you decide to start podcasting too!
Izabela has worked with different podcasters – lawyers, teachers, financial advisers and more – who wanted to show the knowledge they have and to gain potential clients by sending out a very clear message on their audio branding to book them if they needed advice.
Messages In Your Audio Branding?
We could categorise podcasters into two. The first one is someone who wants to be an authority in a particular field and the second is someone who is already an authority and doing the podcast to essentially enhance the audience and find additional potential clients.
So with the first group of people who are trying to establish themselves they shouldn’t include that in their audio branding because it could really come across a bit off.
However with the second group who are professionals and authorities in their field they can definitely include a clear message in their audio branding which can easily be used in the outro or a jingle break.
Podcast Music Intros – Why Have Them?
It’s an icebreaker between the intro and the host coming in. The podcast host can use the music as a buffer. However, Izabella challenged me on this and explained that from an audio branding perspective for podcasters I’m not adding that much value by having a podcast music intro. As it is not about the music in the podcast but about the content.
I would actually have to disagree on that as most of the podcasters I respect have a music bed that plays after their into which they fade down. I like it 🙂
How Long Should A Podcast Be?
Firstly set the target length of your podcast. This is important so you can make sure that the ratio of your branding elements versus your content does not exceed to 10 to 15%. The last thing you want to do is to make your listeners feel like “come on get to the point”.
Defining Your Podcast Structure
I can see clearly 3 very defined parts of the podcast. At the beginning we would always want to have a chat but still being conscious about the content of the podcast. So it could be like a Music Radio Creative update. Then we get to the content and can have like a jingle break to transition. Then after the content finishes there could be a quick tip like a website or a resource. Finally, a call to action maybe in the outro jingle.
If you’re just starting out don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just have a simple start and you can enhance your podcast as you go along.
Call To Action In Audio Branding
As advised by Izabela, in audio branding you must only have one clear call to action in your audio. Any more than that you’ll lose the power, the listener will be overwhelmed and most probably will do nothing that you ask them! I think the very best call to action for Music Radio Creative would be to join out mailing list for frequent updates.
