When you’re looking for help with your podcast production, there are several options available. You can use a company to help you manage aspects of the production process, such as editing, promotion, or graphic design. Or you can look to work with professional full-service podcast production.
In this article, we’ll look at what this term means and if it’s the right service for you.
What Do We Mean by Full-Service Podcast Production?
Full-service podcast production is a service where you hire one company, like Produce Your Podcast, to help you manage and produce your podcast from start to finish. A company that offers a service will help with every step, from crafting a strategy for your podcast topics, helping you to record your episodes, creating graphics for the podcast and the episodes, editing the audio/video, and publishing the content on numerous streaming channels.
Other services will be included within the general work, aspects that might not be offered by smaller services from niche businesses or, perhaps you know, are part of the general processes employed by successful podcasters.
For instance, show notes and sponsorship recruitment are services that you can benefit from.
Benefits of a Full-Service Podcast Production Company?
There are numerous benefits of employing a full-service podcast production company. These can include some of the following.
Access to Knowledge and Skills
A full-service podcast production company is an excellent way to benefit from the experience and knowledge of some of the top professionals in the industry. Therefore, your podcast has a higher chance of securing the listeners and sponsorship deals you need to make a return on your efforts.
If you’re new to podcasting, then enlisting podcast experts can help you navigate around and avoid some of the common podcasting mistakes made by new podcasters. These mistakes aren’t always the end of a podcast, but they can slow down growth and become very disheartening.
In addition, access to this knowledge and skills can help you refine your podcast from the start, helping you to become more consistent in your show’s output which will help you retain more of your audience.
A Consistent Approach
Some new podcasters might hire one freelancer to complete editing, another to do social media, and perhaps a third to help with show notes. While this might be a less expensive option (though not always), it can mean that you have a disjointed production process.
At the very least, you have three different people who have their work schedules and priorities, and your podcast might not be on the same priority for everyone. You might have run into other problems, such as an inconsistent approach to the work, which might translate into episodes through a disjointed brand.
A full-service podcast production company will have a team that communicates with one another, and your podcast will be important to everyone on that team.
Saves Time
One element that you might benefit from is time efficiency. When you have one company to deal with, you don’t need to tell several people the same details or ideas. And you don’t have to organize the payment of three separate invoices.
Therefore, you can save yourself some time and spend that on more important activities, such as recording episodes or selling your product or service.
Another way that a full-service podcast production company can save you time is by taking tasks off your hands that will take you away from other business-critical tasks. You don’t want to be overworked to get your podcast working, and the experts from a podcast company might be able to do the tasks quicker than you can.
Fill in Skill Gaps
You might be very skilled in some areas of podcast production. You might, for instance, have graphic design skills or know how to edit video or audio clips. However, you might not have all the skills you need. Using a production company helps you to fill in those skill gaps to help you complete the podcast to a professional level that will help you attract, retain, and sell to audiences.
You Won’t Miss Opportunities
Podcasting is full of opportunities. You might be able to sell advertising space or build a mailing list far quicker than you would originally think. Podcast experts as full-service production companies can spot the signs that you can move your podcast to the next level and help you improve the ROI (Return on Investment) of your podcast.
Podcast production companies should take the time to have strategy meetings with you at regular intervals. This could be every three to six months, and during these meetings, you should be given opportunities to grow your podcast and improve your returns.
What Services are Included in a Full Podcast Production Service
Full podcast production service will offer all the services you need to fully produce your podcast show. These include some of the following elements.
Creating Your Podcast
A full-service podcast production service will include the creation of your podcast. This process will encompass the complete lifecycle of your podcast and the episodes themselves.
At Produce Your Podcast, the process starts with a detailed Podcast Discovery session. You will sit down with a podcast development expert who will discuss many aspects of the podcast creation process and help you develop a podcast brand.
Part of this process will include research into your niche and a look into the style of your show. There is a lot of research put into the Podcast Discovery sessions, allowing you to hit the ground running and ensuring you have a consistent, high-value show that will attract your target audience.
If you already have a brand then the discovery sessions will include strategy development that will help you blend your current organization branding with the podcast branding, so you can be sure that existing brand advocates can recognize you and connect the podcast to the brand.
A high-quality full-service production will not just focus on the style of your podcast. It will also help you grow your audience and monetize the show. There are lots of monetization options for podcasts, but sponsorships are a significant opportunity that can help you have a return on investment quickly.
To help with keeping costs down, professional full-service podcast production companies should be able to provide you with full budgeting information, so you know the costs upfront, not just for their services but for all the other elements of producing a podcast such as equipment and software.
Marketing Your Podcast
While producing and releasing episodes is a good start, to get your listener numbers up, you need to know how to market your podcast. Knowing how to market your podcast or having the time to do the marketing can be challenging. That is why a full-service podcast company can be so beneficial.
They not only have all the marketing materials ready, by using the graphics designed for your podcast thumbnail and other aspects, but they also have the experience and expertise to know where and when to publish content to direct to your podcast.
They might have a mix of strategies that combine to create a marketing plan that has numerous touchpoints for the target audience that draws them to your podcast. And they might be able to use snippets of your episodes to advertise what is going on in your show.
The marketing plan will be agreed with you, and because you’re using one company to help you in all areas of your podcast career, you know that as soon as an episode is released, a plan is already in place for promotion and will be acted on quickly. Therefore, you get the maximum impact of the episode during the first few days of release.
Equipment Diagnostics and Supply
Using quality audio equipment is a critical aspect of a polished, professional show. Your equipment will demonstrate the professionalism behind the show. With Produce Your Podcast, every effort is made to ensure that your equipment is fit for purpose to help you record and edit podcast episodes in high definition.
The process will start with a diagnostic consultation with an audio engineer. They will connect with you and complete some tests for your internet speed and quality. They will also analyze the existing equipment, to check you have the best quality video/audio for your podcast episodes.
Once the diagnostics have been completed, the engineer will create a list of recommendations you might need to ensure quality production. This might be a series of upgrades for the system or a brand-new setup. And they can help source all the equipment, delivering it directly to your office/home.
A launch specialist will track the shipment, to ensure it arrives promptly. Once received by you, the audio engineer will have another consultation where they can advise on installation, test the equipment, and ensure that you are ready to go.
Show Notes Support
SEO-optimized show notes are an excellent way to improve the visibility of the show. A full-service podcast service will include show notes being written for your episodes that will target relevant keywords that will attract attention.
Produce Your Podcast has professional copywriters who can pull the best parts of your show and use timestamps and key takeaways. These elements can significantly help your podcast get discovered and allow you to display show notes that will impress potential audiences with quality writing.
Video Podcasting
Video podcasting is one of the biggest trends at the moment and there are many reasons why. Not only will you have a larger audience to connect with, but you can also promote your podcast on more platforms, have new audiences to reach, and improve your SEO features.
However, video podcasting is just as much, if not more, complicated than just audio podcasting. Not only do you have the audio tracks to adjust, but you also need to create videos for the podcast. This can be easy with a good camera, but it is more equipment.
With Produce Your Podcast, you can benefit from expertise to help you publish your show not just on YouTube, but also on audio sites like Spotify and Apple iTunes.
A Dedicated Account Manager
Another feature of a professional full-service podcast production company is that they will have a dedicated account manager for you. This is one of the biggest benefits because it allows you to speak to just one person to complete tasks and arrange elements that will help you promote your podcast.
Having a single person to contact also means you can be sure you will get through to the right person. Your account manager might not be an expert in everything, but they will know who will have the answer and be able to liaise with them to resolve any problems.
FAQs: What do we mean by full-service podcast production?
Can you use only part of a service from companies that offer full-service podcast production?
You might already have some talented people helping you with your podcast and only need a few services. In this case, you can often use only a selection of the services. However, it might be a good investment to talk through the processes with your team and ensure you’re getting the best results.
Do I need to advertise that I use a podcast production company?
You don’t need to reveal that you are using a podcast production company to help you manage your podcast. However, it can be a good way to support your podcast production team, and also build trust with your audience.
Can a podcast production company help with other marketing activities?
A full-service podcast production company will be able to offer you other marketing activities or will have contacts who can support you.
Final Word: What do we mean by full-service podcast production?
A full-service podcast production company can help you manage all aspects of your podcast, from conception to delivery and marketing. Their expertise and experience can help cut costs and improve the returns of your podcast. You might, for example, be able to get access to podcast sponsors quicker using a podcast production company.
Produce Your Podcast is a full-service podcast production, editing, and marketing agency specializing in helping brands launch, grow, and monetize successful podcasts that impact their bottom line. With 30+ years of experience in both broadcasting and business development brought to every project we work on, our team of experts is a reliable partner to help you achieve your goals with your show.
Click here to schedule a conversation with our team today and let’s bring your show to life!
