Branded Podcasts

The Value of An Internal Communication Podcast

Last updated on: 
July 27, 2022

Why your brand should consider using an internal communication podcast to boost employee retention and engagement.

We’ve talked about this time and time again - audio is on the rise. In fact in the US alone, monthly podcast consumption is growing 16% year-over-year and over half of the population is now a podcast listener. 

Our focus is on branded podcasts. When most people think of branded podcasts they think of a series where the brand is sharing content that’s in some way related to their industry and offerings. Podcasts like Hackable?, Boost My Business, or if/else may come to mind. But what about those that maybe aren’t available to the public? 

This is where an internal communication podcast comes in. Recently, the notion of creating a podcast series that is solely made for the employees within a company has been brought forward. Many brands including PwC, Shopify, and American Airlines have recognized the value and launched their own internal shows. And for good reason. In a report done by Poppulo, it was found that 30% of internal communications professionals still struggle with what channel to use to reach specific audiences within the company.

So here is our case for why your brand should consider using podcasts as an internal comms channel.


Benefits 

In addition to audio’s natural ability to hold a listener's attention for longer than other mediums, podcasts are also: 

Convenient 

Podcasts are convenient. Listeners can download a podcast anywhere and at any time. Plus they are a screenless medium, so your employees don’t need to be watching their phones or computers while consuming your content (like they would with videos).  

Easy to Access 

Anyone with a computer or smartphone has the ability to access podcasts. This ensures that everyone within your company will be able to consume the podcast content that you put out. 

Create Connections 

Podcasts help form authentic connections. These can be with the host, guests, or even other employees within the organization. Either way, podcasting is an intimate medium and it gives your employees the opportunity to connect with one another in a scalable manner. 


Ways to Use An Internal Communication Podcast

Let’s look at the ways you can use a podcast for internal communication: 

Communication 

This one is probably the most obvious: an internal communication podcast is a channel for communicating with your employees. With 69% of managers stating that they are not comfortable communicating with their employees, podcasts offer a unique solution and platform, giving employees of all levels within the organization an opportunity to communicate with one another. Think about sharing updates to all members of your organization, details on departments, learnings from projects, and more. You can also use it as an avenue to discuss company news. In fact, 74% of employees feel as if they’re missing out on company news. Podcasts provide an easy outlet for this information. 

Culture 

Podcasts give brands the opportunity to build and foster a stronger culture. One way to do this is by featuring employees from various roles and departments in the organization, allowing everyone the ability to get to know one another and learn more about different parts of the company.

Onboarding 

Have new employees starting at the organization? No problem. Create a podcast series that every new employee can listen to during their onboarding. Some examples of topics to cover are: 

  • Company and industry background
  • Some fun facts about the brand 
  • Key things employees should know about 


Tools & Resources 

You likely won’t want your internal podcast to be open to the public, so here are some tools you can use to make your series private: 

  1. Storyboard
  2. Transistor
  3. Podbean 
  4. Libsynpro
  5. Simplecast


Have We Convinced You? 

Admittedly, an internal communication podcast isn't for EVERY brand out there, but for any organization that has a medium or large volume of employees, they can serve as an incredibly valuable tool. 

If you’re interested in chatting with us about bringing your internal comms podcast to life, connect with our team

Alison Osborne

Director of Growth Marketing

A passionate storyteller, Ali is Quill’s Director of Growth Marketing, previously the co-founder and CMO of the branded podcast agency, Origins Media Haus (acquired by Quill). She excels in merging creativity with data in order to successfully build and grow a brand.

Platform
Price
Pro’s
Con's
Anchor

Free

  • Easy to use
  • Automatically distributes your podcast to major platforms.
  • Embed media player.
  • Great if podcasting is a
    side hobby
  • Very basic editing
  • Since it’s a free tool, you don’t have full control over the monetization of your podcast.
  • Not the right platform for people taking podcasting seriously
Buzzsprout

Free for 2 hours of content per month

$12 for 3 hours per month

$18+ for 6 hours and up

  • Very user-friendly
  • Caters to both long term and beginner podcasters
  • Advanced analytics
  • Easy distribution of your episodes
  • They measure their size requirements to hours not megabytes
  • Bonus: get a free $20 Amazon gift card when you sign up for any paid hosting plan!
  • Advanced features like dynamic ad insertion need some work
Libsyn

$5/month for Monthly Storage 50mb

  • Oldest podcast hosting site.
  • Easy distribution to major platforms and great for scaling once your podcast gets bigger.
  • Hosted over 35,000 podcasts.
  • An iTunes Podcast partner.
  • Allows you to publish your podcast to specific directories.
  • Embed media player.
  • Price is based on storage
  • 50mb storage for $5 won’t be enough if you are publishing weekly so you’ll end up with a higher price point
Podbean

Unlimited audio package: $9/month

Storage space:

Unlimited

  • Great support & customer service features
  • Unlimited audio.
  • Pages are easy to customize
  • Can schedule podcast release dates.
  • Easy to use.
  • Uploads and changes to podcast titles and/or descriptions are automatic to Spotify.
  • Embed media player.
  • Simple Analytics
  • Analytics aren’t as advanced as other platforms
  • Upload and changes to podcast titles and/or descriptions take a day to change on iTunes.
  • Not an iTunes podcast partner.
  • The process to send a podcast to iTunes is more tedious. But, you will still be able to get on the platform.
Blubrry

Classic

$5/month

Monthly Storage

50mb

  • Podcast Wordpress plugin and management.
  • If you want to record a new introduction or conclusion, add in a sponsored ad or upload a new version of a podcast, it doesn't count towards your storage usage per month.
  • Blubrry allows a 25% storage overage each month
  • Prices are based on storage.
  • Usability is okay.
SimpleCast

Starting: $15/month

Recommendation: $35/month

Monthly Storage: Unlimited

  • Hosts your audio files no matter what the size!
  • Dynamic insertion for podcast ads or edits.
  • Incredibly detailed analytics including number of episodes completed and listener location tracking.
  • Embed media player.
  • Easy to use.
  • Great distribution! Easy access to all major podcast platforms.
  • Customizable podcast
    website.
  • Prices are slightly higher than other platforms, but well worth it especially if you have a branded company podcast!

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