4 Audio Branding Techniques To Hook New Listeners

We’re all looking for ways to improve our podcast. 

That might be as simple as getting better at interviewing people or finding production tips. It could also be growing your audience without having to spend tens of thousands of dollars on advertising.

But sometimes getting your podcast to feel like a success is a literal grind. You create good content — content you’re proud of — and you still spend most of your time fighting for a better ranking on your go-to podcatchers.

It doesn’t help that you’re also competing against a lot of other shows.

Hooking new listeners early can make all the difference, especially for a podcast that’s still trying to find its footing in a busy marketplace. 

But with the right tricks, you can position your show to stand out from the rest. And a technique like audio branding can be just the right place to start.

Starting Strong (Every Time)

How you start your podcast matters. That’s true for every single episode.

Like a YouTube video, the first 10-15 seconds might be all the time you have to impress new listeners and convince them to keep listening. That comes down to the sound quality, your music choice, and your energy level.

You don’t have to limit yourself to those things. By looking into other techniques like audio branding, you might just be able to sneak past a new listener’s skepticism and hook them.

Of course, terms like “branding” sound very…corporate. The kind of thing that implies a high production value, a lack of originality, and a stuffy tone. But that doesn’t do it justice.

Content creators think a lot about their brand, putting in effort to craft the perfect first impression that newcomers experience. And building that into your podcast is a tried-and-true method to making sure you have a strong, consistent, and memorable start to your podcast.

Branding Your Podcast

Audio branding is inherently suited to podcasts. According to a Nielsen study, podcasts generate 4.4x better brand recall than digital ads. 

Sure, that research is targeted at advertisers and builds up the value of podcasting ads. But as a podcaster, that’s good news for you too. 

It drives home the idea that your podcasts intuitively create brand association, and the only way you can take advantage of that is to put some thought into your audio branding.

When I say “audio branding,” your thoughts might jump straight to the NBC chimes or maybe McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it.” The truth is that any commercial’s jingle would be a good example. 

The goal of audio branding is to create a sound that sticks with you. An “audio logo” is just that — a memorable sound byte that listeners instantly connect with your show. It’s something you’ve probably heard from the big-name podcast networks, but rarely individual shows.

And that is your advantage. You don’t have to compete against iTunes top 10 podcasts (unless you’ve got funding from a Secret Santa somewhere). What you want to do is build up the presentation and distinctive quality of your show without throwing your life savings at the problem.

Creating a strong brand will do that for you. And since podcasts are an audio medium, thinking about audio branding is the clearest solution to this puzzle.

That being said, let’s look at four distinct audio branding techniques that can help you hook new listeners.

1. Choose The Right Sound

Okay, that might be easier said than done. But the big takeaway is that you don’t just want to choose a song you like or a song that’s cheap to license — you need to find something that introduces the tone, energy, or topic of your show.

Branding is the idea of taking the DNA of a company or product and condensing that into a single, instantly recognizable item. So you need to think of what defines your show and find a song that supports (or even strengthens) those pieces.

A recent study showed that 74% of young adults claim to have a better grasp of a company’s personality because of that organization’s music choices. And that idea extends to content creators too. Your first impression matters, and the sound of your podcast is the only thing that new listeners have to judge you by.

2. Keep It Consistent

Brands are only as strong as their consistency. That’s true in every sense, from Nike’s logo/mantra to Apple’s distinct vibe to Google’s consistent color palette.

If the companies changed those pieces too often, they wouldn’t have the same weight in our cultural awareness. And that’s why you’ll want to include audio branding pieces in every single episode, whether they are part of your intro, segment breaks, outro, or sprinkled throughout each show.

That doesn’t mean the sound can’t change or evolve over time. But you’ll want to make sure that those adjustments never break the audio continuity you’ve worked so hard to establish.

3. Engage Your Listeners

The right audio can do a lot of things. A single sound can affect our emotions like the first note of our favorite song. An 8-bit bling sound can create nostalgia. An upbeat guitar fires us up for a workout. A resonant cello can make us introspective.

You know your listeners. As you’ve built your podcast’s audience, you’ve spent time looking at reviews and analytics. Every successful podcast is built on collecting — and implementing — listener feedback.

Creating an audio brand helps you engage with your audience in a new way. You can send out a survey to make sure your new “sonic logo” really resonates with people, or to let listeners get involved in the process. After all, their input has helped to shape your show; it makes sense that you would want to build that into the brand that they’ll associate with your show.

4. Find Some Tools

Let’s be honest here: You probably aren’t a sound designer. You’ve spent time getting familiar with recording and editing software, but that doesn’t turn you into a Grammy-winning mix engineer overnight.

And that’s fine. The internet is full of essential podcast tools to help your show reach the quality bar that you hope to achieve. So take advantage of those resources.

Finding good uncopyrighted music or sound effects can save you a lot of money and work, while still giving you a way to create a recognizable sound for your podcast. You can also get professionally designed sound effects, which makes your audio brand more…well, professional.

The study of sound (and how creators implement it into their work) has skyrocketed in recent years. Anyone who works in video wants to understand how and why our brains react to different sounds, songs, etc., and how audio steers someone’s emotions.

As a podcaster, audio is the bread and butter of your work. And that’s why understanding — and implementing — audio branding can make such a big impact. Attracting and keeping new listeners is a challenge for every podcast, and these four techniques can help you craft an audio logo that will stick with your audience.

Think of it this way: Audio branding is the kind of tool that listeners will appreciate but few of your competitors think about. And that’s why it’s something that can set your podcast apart.

---