What does a podcast producer do?

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We all love podcasts and have our favorite shows we regularly listen to. But have you ever wondered how much work goes into creating each episode? 

Well, behind every great podcast is a great podcast producer. Podcast producers have a very challenging job. Producers serve three main stakeholders on every show they produce: the client, the audience, and the guests. Their job is to ensure we are setting the podcast up for success by meeting the different needs of each of those three groups. Producers serve as an extension of the clients’ team to help them achieve the goals they set for themselves. For podcast guests, producers work to make sure every guest on the show has a 5-star experience. And of course, one of the podcast producer’s main goals is always to create quality content for the show’s audience.

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What are podcast production companies?

Before jumping into the ins and outs of a podcast producer’s role, let’s recap what exactly a podcast production company is. Some podcast production companies position themselves as a turn-key podcast production company. This essentially means that if you know you want a podcast, or think you might want one, you can come to us with any level of ideas. You can have a fully baked vision of what you want your company’s podcast to look and sound like, or you may have no idea what you want your podcast to be about. Either way, podcast production companies help you cultivate your idea and take it from concept to reality. The podcast production team then remain onboard to manage production, and they create strategic campaigns to help grow the audience.

This may sound strange, but a lot of times, the initial conversations podcast production companies have with their clients during onboarding often don’t focus on the actual podcast itself. We want to start by fully understanding our clients and their goals. What does their company do? What is their product? Who buys it? Who uses it? Why do they want to make a podcast? What are their goals for the show? Is it a branding play, an ABM play, a vehicle for customer stories, etc? Who is the audience persona? Who is the guest persona? Podcast production companies want to understand the ins and outs of the customers’ marketing strategy and the success metrics before diving into things like style, format, and length of each episode. Once everyone is on the same page with the goals for the show and the reason for making it, the team can begin creating the look, feel, and sound of the podcast itself (think style and format, production elements, graphics, cover art, video assets, etc.). 

Once your show launches, you’ll continue to have a dedicated team to help with production, guest booking, audio engineering, video engineering, and more. Podcast production companies also lead podcast marketing efforts, including creation of social assets and promotion of the show. We’re not just here to deliver a great podcast, we’re also here to be the experts on growing and developing the audience. That means organic growth as well as a customized strategy for paid growth campaigns that put the show directly in front of the target audience on a regular basis.

Now that you have a better understanding of what a podcast production company is, let’s jump into production.

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What makes a good podcast producer?

To be a successful podcast producer, you have to wear a lot of hats. A significant portion of the job is serving as a project manager who oversees end-to-end production of a large volume of episodes and is responsible for the deliverables of each show. Producers also coordinate guests, hosts, and all the internal team members who play significant roles in ensuring the success of the show. 

A phenomenal Customer Success Team is also key to the production process, but producing a show for a client who has business goals they’re trying to achieve means the podcast producer is often wearing the Customer Success hat as well. Podcast producers also need to be able to support, direct, and coach the host and guests, because the producer is going to be seen as the expert of how to do a good job on the show. Guests and hosts will come to the producer looking for ways to improve content quality, ask good questions, give good answers, improve their technical setup, and more. 

One more hat a podcast producer needs to wear is that of a content marketer. Producers have to create content that’s both compelling and educational for their audience, while also understanding how to utilize the best parts of that content to market it to new listeners. Wearing all these hats is not only going to allow producers to deliver on the client’s expectations, but also to create something that adds value for the audience. 

Let’s look at some of the specific skills podcast producers need to have.

What skills do you need to be a podcast producer? 

Besides wearing multiple hats and being able to juggle many responsibilities, there’s a myriad of both technical and interpersonal skills podcast producers need to have.  Some of the more technical skills include: 

• Audio editing
• Recording audio and video 
• Storytelling and writing 
• Research 
• Attention to detail 
• Understanding marketing and business

Other interpersonal skills include: 

• Being organized and able to multitask 
• Adapt quickly to change
• Time management and project management 
• Overly communicative 
• Conflict resolution 
• Learning quickly and becoming an expert in the subject matter you are producing 

Podcast production companies take all (and more) of these skills into account when hiring and developing our production team. Now, let’s talk about how exactly you can find a good podcast producer.

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How do I hire a podcast producer?

Finding a good podcast producer can seem like a daunting task. Podcast production companies generally start by looking for someone who has production experience and understands both business and marketing. Producers need to be experienced content producers who also understand business and marketing objectives, and can speak the language of our clients who are often enterprise tech companies. 

To hire podcast producers, podcast production companies post job listings on LinkedIn with specific and unique job descriptions. By including a detailed job description, people can match the specific projects they’ve worked on in the past, or take things they’re passionate about and give us better answers. However, posting your job listing on LinkedIn can be like casting a wide net sometimes, and you may receive a handful of applications from people who just aren’t the right fit. 

Another tactic you can use to hire a podcast producer is to be more industry specific. Look into industry newsletters and job boards within the podcasting niche to find people who have more direct experience. This targeted approach can be helpful to find great producers with the skills and experience you need to create a successful podcast. Podjobs and AIR Media are two excellent examples of where to find experienced people who are passionate about podcasting. 

Continue to network within the industry and keep an eye out for great talent. If you see a talented person on LinkedIn or hear an awesome podcast in the wild, take note of who is behind the production. Then you have a running list of awesome candidates who you can approach next time you have an opening.

When you work with a podcast production company like Caspian Studios, we'll do all the heavy lifting for you! We're armed with an experienced team who's ready to take your B2B podcast to the next level.

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This article was made with consultation from Jon Libbey, Chief of Production at Caspian Studios.