Podcasting is no longer a fringe channel. The number of global podcast listeners exceeded 500 million users in 2023, and 42% of Americans over the age of 12 listen to podcasts (up from just 12% a decade prior). While podcast consumption peaks during typical commuting times, 62% of listeners listen to content from home.
In financial services, where trust and clarity matter, podcasts offer a format that allows for both depth and nuance—whether you’re breaking down a market theme, sharing a founder story, or hosting a conversation between experts.
But if you’re thinking about launching a podcast for your firm, it’s not always clear where to begin. Unlike a blog or a video series, podcasting can feel more technically involved and more vulnerable. It’s your voice—literally—out in the world.
This guide walks through what to consider in the early stages: how to think about purpose, structure, production, and promotion. If you’re deciding whether this format belongs in your marketing mix, or getting ready to make a case internally, this is a place to start.
Clarify why you want to podcast
Every effective podcast starts with a clear intention. That doesn’t mean you need to know every detail up front—but you do need to understand what role the podcast will play in your broader marketing or brand strategy.
Some common reasons brands launch podcasts:
to make space for deeper thought leadership or longform storytelling
to build relationships with a niche audience or client segment
to feature internal talent or subject matter expertise
to create a reusable content stream that complements other channels
If your team is aligned on why you’re doing it, you’ll have a better sense of how to measure success—and how to shape the format, tone, and guest list.
Define your audience and niche
Knowing your audience makes everything easier. Are you speaking to institutional investors? Advisors? Founders? Internal teams? The tone, length, and structure of your show will flow from who you’re trying to reach and what they care about.
It also helps to look at the competitive landscape. Which finance or business podcasts are your audience already listening to? What gaps exist? Are there themes or tones that feel overdone—or underexplored?
You don’t need to reinvent the format. You just need to offer a point of view that feels relevant and clear.
Shape the concept and format
This is where your podcast starts to take shape. Concept, structure, and tone all work together to form the listener experience. Think of this stage like building a prototype—it doesn’t need to be perfect, but it should feel coherent.
Ask yourself:
What topics will we cover?
Will the format be conversational, solo, or story-based?
How long will episodes be? (For financial brands, 15–20 minutes is often ideal.)
How often will we publish? Weekly? Biweekly? As a limited series?
Some teams choose a single host or pair of co-hosts to anchor the series. Others rotate voices to reflect different parts of the organization. Both approaches can work—what matters most is consistency and chemistry.
Establish your podcast brand
Your podcast is a branded product, so name and visual identity matter. That doesn’t mean overthinking it—but a few principles help:
Choose a name that’s short, easy to say, and clearly signals the topic or tone
Avoid jargon—business-speak tends to blur in podcast directories
Check SEO and Apple Podcasts to avoid duplicating existing names
Design cover art that works well at small sizes and reflects your brand identity
Tone matters too. Most successful brand podcasts sound like real people talking—not scripts being read. Aim for clarity and warmth, especially in financial topics that can feel dense or abstract.
Build a realistic production process
This is where many podcast ideas stall. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by gear, editing, or coordination. But you don’t need a full studio or complex workflow to get started—just a setup you can sustain.
Here’s a simple path to get an episode off the ground:
Plan your first 4–6 episode topics
Identify guests or hosts and send invites
Draft a loose “run of show” for each episode (just bullet points—not a script)
Choose a quiet space with good sound (soft surfaces, minimal echo)
Use a decent USB mic or a corded headset
Record using a platform like Zoom, Riverside, or SquadCast
Save backup audio files and share with your editor or team
Review final edits before publishing
Editing, mixing, and show notes can be handled internally or outsourced to a production partner. Either way, build in time for review—and expect a few episodes before the process feels natural.
Host, publish, and promote
Once episodes are recorded, you’ll need a podcast host—a platform that stores your audio and distributes it via RSS to apps like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google. Most hosts also offer analytics and embeddable players for your website.
Promotion doesn’t need to be complex. Start by integrating the podcast into your existing channels:
Share quotes or highlights on LinkedIn
Link episodes in your newsletter
Embed them on relevant landing pages or blog posts
Use short audio clips or “audiograms” for social
You can also encourage guests and team members to reshare episodes within their networks. Internal traction often drives early visibility.
Decide how to measure success
Not every podcast needs thousands of downloads to be effective. For some brands, success means deeper engagement with a smaller, specialized audience. For others, it might mean sparking new conversations, winning speaking invitations, or supporting a sales effort.
Whatever your metric, define it early—and revisit it as the show evolves.
Keep it sustainable
One of the most common pitfalls in branded podcasting is fading out after a few episodes. This usually happens because the show was launched without a clear workflow, timeline, or internal support.
A few ways to keep things sustainable:
Record episodes in batches
Reuse podcast content across other formats
Involve multiple team members in planning and promotion
Give yourself space to adjust the cadence or format over time
If it starts feeling like a burden, revisit your goals and format. Podcasts can evolve.
Mic drop
Podcasting isn’t the right fit for every financial brand—but for many, it offers a low-barrier, high-engagement way to tell stories, share insights, and build credibility. If you’re in the early stages of planning, don’t overcomplicate it. Start with the core idea. Build a pilot. See how it feels.
You don’t need to be everywhere. You just need to be consistent, clear, and useful to the people you’re trying to reach.
