The 5 Stages of Developing Your Branded Podcast Idea

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

As Auddy’s Content Development Exec, I spend a lot of my time developing ideas for branded podcasts.

But how do I do this? What’s the secret to coming up with a creative, relevant idea for a podcast, and how does this idea then go from some notes on a page to a successful show?

My general approach to developing a branded podcast ideas is as follows:

1. Research the brand

I begin by writing up a research document filled with information about the brand. Some aspects of their brand I analyse are:

their values and vision statement
their existing audience
the audience they are actually trying to reach (podcasts can be a really great way for a brand to reach a new audience. More on that in this video.)
general themes across their content
any previous podcasts

and so on.

2. Idea generation

Once I’ve completed my research document, I use it to cook up some podcast ideas. Usually, I come up with about 10 ideas that I think would work for the brand. I write up each idea in a few bullet points. This stage doesn’t require a huge amount of detail, so keep it simple.

3. Competitor research

I research the brand’s competitors and listen to any podcasts/video content that already exists in their niche. Then I cross out any of my ideas that are too similar to these existing podcasts/videos.

4. Expanding on ideas

I look at the remaining ideas on my list and select the strongest 3-5 to develop further. This is when I write up my ideas in much more detail.

Some of the important things to include in a treatment are:

Title – include a few different options.
Concept – this is where you explain what the idea is. You need to make the concept as clear and convincing as possible.
Format – let the brand know exactly what the show would look like. Is this a longform audio documentary, or a series of 5-minute podcasts?
Talent and contributors – include suggestions for suitable hosts and interviewees (if relevant).

5. Discussion

It’s always a good idea to have more than one set of eyes on your work. Somebody else might spot a huge opportunity you’ve missed, or a flaw in your plan that you hadn’t considered. I take my ideas to the wider Auddy production team. We finetune my ideas until they’re ready to be pitched to companies.

TOP TIP: Don’t be precious about what you’ve written up. If you want to improve and create the best podcast possible then you have to listen to other people’s ideas and be open to picking your work apart and rebuilding it.