As with most aspects of branding, it’s really hard to measure the impact that the look of your podcast has on whether people are more likely to listen or not, but given what we know about ourselves as consumers, we know that we are absolutely impacted by how something looks.
The power that branding has is to communicate the feel and values of a business or in this instance a podcast in seconds.
Now when it comes to branding your podcast it’s not exactly the same as branding a business but a lot of the same principles apply.
As a brand and graphic designer, as well as the host of Building your Brand a podcast for creative small business owners – I know more than a thing or two about creating effective, impactful podcast branding. So, here are my top tips for creating branding for your podcast that is going to stand out and attract your audience.
Before you start branding your podcast…
I always like to start by asking the questions “How to you want people to feel” when they interact with and listen to your podcast.
You want to make sure that the look and feel of the graphics (the outside) reflect accurately what’s going on inside (when people listen).
You want to give visual clues as to what people can expect but also create something that is going to pique their interest and draw them in.
As a podcast host you will probably have your ride or die fans who are going to listen to your podcast whatever it looks like, because they already love what you do and know they are going to love it.
But, there is also a whole swathe of people who will have never heard of you, but as they are scrolling their podcast app of choice looking for something to listen to, might stumble across yours.
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What do you actually need to create for your podcast branding
First up, what do you actually need to create? The main thing you need is your podcast cover. This should be square and around 3000 x 3000 px and this will appear on all of the podcast apps you choose to share your podcast with.
One decision you need to consider is whether you then also want to have a different design for each episode.
So this is common when a podcast has guests and so each episode will have its own artwork that features the guest and that matches the branding of the cover. You might also want to consider creating templates for carousel posts, reel covers or video overlays to keep the branding consistent and visible through all of your marketing materials.
When you are creating all of the marketing assets beyond the cover I would definitely consider making templates, and create them in a tool that means that in the future you can outsource creating them, if it’s not something you want to do anymore.
Even if you don’t outsource though, creating templates for all your promotional graphics will keep everything consistent and save you so much time.
Do your research (how is your podcast cover going to stand out next to others)
Next up it would be worth researching other podcasts in your niche or who are tackling a similar topic and targeting a similar audience to you. Scroll through a podcast app and have a look at how their covers are designed.
Be critical about them, what elements do you think work and what isn’t working. Imagine how you want your podcast to look amongst these covers when people search your topic.
Quite often a visual look and style starts to form and the temptation can be to do something very similar to what others in your industry are doing, but can you put a different spin on the look and feel of your cover so that when people are scrolling it stands out?
A really great example of this is what Katy Cowan has done with the Creative Boom podcast. Her podcast sits amongst lots of other creative and design podcasts that often have very busy and brightly covered covers.
To make her podcast cover stand out in that arena she stripped it back and kept the design super simple and monochrome with a white background and it really works. It is so noticeable and really stands out when you are looking at a podcast app.
Design strategically for a small canvas and accessibility
When you are creating a design for a podcast cover you need to remember that most people are going to see it at a very small scale.
This needs to be factored in when you decide how much text to include. It’s common to just have the title or maybe the title and a tagline. Make sure that the design is accessible and that you use plenty of colour contrast.
You could use a tool like coolers.co to double check, and consider people who are colour blind when choosing the colour palette. Also think about how the elements from the cover design might be used elsewhere as your podcast grows and you want to market it.
If you have created a distinct logo for your podcast for example, this could be used on t-shirts and other merchandise. You might have illustrated elements or a photograph that could also be used consistently elsewhere.
This is where you can actually start to have a lot of fun with the design you have created and create a whole range of ways you can use the podcast branding. Another example could be a set of animated GIFS that match the branding of the podcast that you can then use on instagram stories when promoting new episodes.
Honestly the potential is endless (but probably limited by your budget!)
Should your podcast branding match your business branding
Now one question you might be asking yourself if you run your own business is whether you want the podcast to match your business branding or whether it should look completely different and independent.
Now there isn’t a one size fits all of this and I think you will need to come back to what your goals are for your business. Is your podcast linked to what you do in your business? Or is it a totally separate topic.
Are you hoping to use it to lead other people to your services or products? I think probably for most people somewhere in the middle will be the right fit.
I think if the podcast has any connection to your business you ideally want it to fit in visually with the rest of your business branding so when you are promoting it on your business social media profiles or website it doesn’t look jarring and out of place, but I think it also helps if there are certain visual elements or colours that are unique to the podcast.
All of this is a lot to consider but just remember to be really clear on how you want people to feel when they come across your podcast, make sure your podcast branding accurately reflects what the podcast is like, and know your target audience and who it is you are trying to reach! Easy 😉
And have fun! Podcasting is a brilliant form of content creation and such a great way to reach a new audience and encourage, inspire and entertain people.
If you would like to find out more about branding and marketing your small business then I would love for you to check out my podcast called Building your Brand!
PS. Oh, and if you wanna keep reading, check out my interview with Studio Cotton on the joy of podcasting and long term sponsorships.
