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Might it be time to refresh your podcast branding?

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Here are six benefits to consider.

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Thank you for joining me for The Audacity to Podcast!

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I'm Daniel J. Lewis. Are you thinking about refreshing your podcast branding?

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Now before I discuss when you should do that, which will be in the next episode of the podcast,

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let's consider how your podcast might benefit from a branding refresh.

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If you'd like to follow along in the notes or share this episode with other podcasters

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who would benefit from it, that's a simple tap or swipe away inside of your app or go

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to theaudacitytopodcast.com/refreshbenefits.

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Before I get into the six benefits, you might be wondering what is podcast branding?

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Your podcast branding is one or more features that uniquely identify your podcast.

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It's the first impression for new audiences and it's how your loyal audience recognizes

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your podcast distinctly from others, even beyond the name of your podcast.

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And you might be thinking, "Oh, it's my cover art!" No, it's so much more than that.

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Yes, your cover art is part of your branding, but your podcast branding is so much more.

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It could be the logo inside your cover art.

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And the logo and cover art are different things.

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The logo can be used for many different kinds of things, and your cover art might contain

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a logo inside of it. Or your cover art could simply be words styled in a unique way.

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So the logo is actually different from cover art and a logo is much more valuable and thus

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more expensive to get. But if you want to learn more about what is really different between a logo and cover

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art, I've got a link in the notes for this episode at theaudacitytopodcast.com/refreshbenefits

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for an article written by my friend Mark Des Cotes from Podcast Branding.

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I'll talk more about him in a moment because he's got some great stuff that I think is

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very relevant for this episode. But he wrote an article explaining the differences between a logo and a cover art.

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So if you want to learn more about that, definitely read the article in the notes for this episode.

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But going back to your podcast branding, it can also be those things and it can be the

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audio and video elements you use throughout your episodes like your bumpers, your transitions,

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audio branding, your intro, your outro, the music, the tone of music you use, all of that.

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It's also your podcast description and I've done an episode previously on ways to improve

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your podcast description, that's in the notes as well. It's in your repeated phrases,

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like in the Audacity podcast I say "giving you the guts" and "teaching you the tools".

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That's one of my phrases I've been using since the very beginning of the podcast in

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2010. That is a big part of my branding. And it's also in how you communicate and host

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your podcast. Kind of the format of the show, the tone, the personality, the way you approach

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your podcast and the feelings that people get from your podcast and that's your podcast

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as a whole package. Not only the cover art, not only the content, not only any one thing,

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it's all of these things together. So a branding refresh would then be updating any or all

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of these elements but keeping the core of your podcast the same. That's different from

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a rebrand which would be if you change much more of your podcast, including what you talk

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about and whom you try to reach. Like if I turned the Audacity podcast into the Daniel

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J Lewis show, that's a rebrand. I've talked about when you should rebrand your podcast

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in a previous episode too. Link in the notes for that.

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So now let's get into the 6 benefits of a podcast branding refresh.

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Number 1. Attract a new audience. Refreshing your podcast branding might help

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you capture the attention of more people by standing out or appearing more relevant to

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them. This might help you appeal to new demographics or even recapture the interest of people who

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have previously scrolled past your podcast, for whatever reason that was. For example,

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if your podcast focuses on helping, let's say, Asian entrepreneurs, then you will probably

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be more likely to attract that ideal audience by showing an Asian in your cover art. And

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That might be your pretty or handsome face.

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And I've done an episode also about should your face be on your cover art.

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And this might be a very good case for putting your face on your cover art.

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Because it can be a very powerful thing when your potential audience can see themselves,

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so to speak, in your branding and your messaging.

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Or maybe the description of your podcast isn't communicating your content and your purpose

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very well. A refresh of this aspect of your podcast branding can better convince people to listen after

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they've already been attracted by the title and cover art.

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Because that's usually what people see first, the title and cover art.

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Then they might see the description next, then the list of episodes.

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All that before they actually listen or watch your podcast.

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So that's number one, attract a new audience.

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Number 2, increase your perceived quality.

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I've come to loathe the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover". I think that

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really only applies to people whose character can be completely different from their unchangeable

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appearance but will be reflected in their willful, changeable appearances. But we can,

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do and I really think should judge other things by their covers. Because if the cover isn't

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good, how can you trust that the contents will be better? As again my friend Mark Des Cotes

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says, "If your podcast cover art looks cheap and amateurish, people will assume your podcast

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is cheap and amateurish and will choose a different show to listen to." I really agree

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with Mark on that. You are setting a first impression, and that's the perceived quality

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of your podcast based on the cover. Yes, people judge podcasts by their cover art, and we

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We need to keep that in mind. We do the same thing.

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So instead, a well-executed brand refresh can make your podcast look or even sound more

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professional, which is great even for a hobby podcast.

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Please don't think that this term "professional" is a negative thing for hobbyists.

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I've done an episode about labeling podcasters "amateur" vs. "skilled".

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I think "professional" usually implies that you're earning money, but that doesn't

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that we as independent podcasters who are doing this as a hobby, it doesn't mean that

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we can't have professional level quality. That's why we often buy the really nice stuff

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for our hobbies because we want to pursue excellence. And I love that. I think excellence

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is something we should all strive after. So if you want to listen to that previous episode

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about amateur versus skilled, I did a little mini-series on labeling podcasters. I did

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one on hobbyists vs professionals and such, I have a link to that episode in the notes

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for this episode as well at theaudacitytopodcast.com/refreshbenefits.

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So when you have this well-executed brand refresh, it can also improve your potential

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audience's first impression and entice them to continue exploring your podcast.

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Because going back to that idea of it's your cover art and title that appear first

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for almost everyone out there in their apps, if they see your podcast and it has a horrible

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looking cover art, they're not going to even click into or tap into seeing your description.

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They might just pass it right by because it looks cheap and amateurish, so they won't

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go any further. And some people or places, including Apple Podcasts, may be more interested to feature

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your podcast when it has better branding and less interested when your cover art is ugly

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or the rest of your branding experience is negative.

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So make sure your "cover", the whole thing, the whole packaging, everything on the outside

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of your podcast properly reflects the quality that's on the inside.

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Because you do have a high quality content, presentation, production, promotion, and profit

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inside your podcast for your audience, right? I sure hope so. That's what I'm

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helping you to do with The Audacity to Podcast. So make the outside look as good

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as what you're putting on the inside. Number 3 benefit of a podcast

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branding refresh, adapt to the latest trends. Industries change all the time.

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What's hot or standard now might be radically different in a few years. For

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example, look at the rise and fall of designing apps and websites to look like

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objects from the physical world. This design principle is called skeuomorphism. Apple very

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publicly moved away from skeuomorphism in 2013 with the release of iOS 7. And I've

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got some screenshots in the notes for this episode where you can see what iOS 6 looked

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like which seems like so long ago where all the buttons looked like they were made out

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of glass or jelly or something like that. They all had these drop shadows and depth

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to them and looked like physical objects with light reflecting. And I remember even in my

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design days of designing stuff in the same way, making it look like you could touch the

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buttons. I remember my boss at that time said, "Design the buttons so they look so good you

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want to taste them." And that was this idea of skeuomorphism that then Apple moved away

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from in iOS 7 where everything is much flatter. And we've seen that improve and change over

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the years as well, and some elements are coming back a little bit. Like drop shadows had their

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big heyday where we used to consider them in the design world as the federally mandated

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drop shadow that everything had to have drop shadows on it. Then that kind of disappeared

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and now it seems that drop shadows are coming back to a slight degree, but not as prominent

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everywhere as it used to be in the past. Or look at how much wider the selection is for

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affordable audio branding elements now compared to how it was back in 2005 when iTunes 4.9

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released with the most popular support for podcasts.

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Updating your branding can help your podcast catch up with these trends and more so you're

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not yet another podcast using music from GarageBand or you're using the picture of headphones

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around the RSS icon that we've all probably seen that or you're using anything else cliche

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Or you have these glossy, glassy, candy looking buttons or elements to your design and you

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want something more modern and a nice little refresh that just doesn't feel as dated.

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And maybe at some point that refresh will also feel dated.

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My own cover art is a good example of this, but I'll talk more about my changes in a

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moment. But my old cover art had bevels, it had shadows, it had all of this stuff that looked very

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physical. Not as physical as like it was made out of leather or something like that, but

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it did look like objects with physical depth to them. My new cover art is very flat. And

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I really like my new cover art. But I'll talk more about some of the intentional decisions

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I made with that. Because, going on to number 4, another benefit to a podcast branding

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refresh is you can strengthen or reset your podcast's identity and message. After you've

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been podcasting for a while, you probably have a better grasp on what makes your podcast

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unique and how you want to do things. That could mean rebranding to match your podcast's

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new direction or updating your existing branding to reinforce what you've realized your strengths

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are. For example, looking at The Audacity to Podcast, red is generally seen as a negative

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design color. But it also has powerful meanings that I realized align perfectly with an audacious

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perspective. So, when I redesigned The Audacity to Podcast visual branding, I intentionally

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chose red as a branding color because it fits so well. Then I combined that with strong

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contrasting white and black elements in the new branding and cover art and logo and such.

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So now it's a much stronger design.

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And if you look at the notes for this episode, either in your podcast app, the chapter, or

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at the website theaudacitytopodcast.com/refreshbenefits, then you can see my old cover art versus my

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new cover art. And the old cover art didn't really communicate the audacious idea that I wanted it to.

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It didn't communicate the audacity.

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It just looks like, yeah, there's a title.

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a microphone and a kind of RSS icon doesn't quite look right. And for some reason the

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microphone and RSS icon are kind of mixed together. But the new branding, I think the

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colors, the fonts just really communicate with that harsh contrast and the bold colors

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- well, right there. It's the word bold. Boldness. Courage. Audacity. I made those decisions

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because I wanted to reinforce the core that my branding has had from the beginning in

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2010 and that core is giving you the guts, the courage, the power, the audacity to podcast.

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That's why the podcast is called that. Part of my branding was also hidden in an exclamation point in my logo.

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Did you ever notice that before? But in the old design, before 2016, I think that was too hidden and many people didn't

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even really notice it because here was a microphone that looked kind of like a high-alt-pr40 floating

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above a dot that was part of kind of the RSS icon and it didn't quite look right

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and it didn't quite fit all that well. But I think my new branding makes that

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hidden design aspect much more prominent. And some people might still not quite

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catch it. It's one of those sort of hidden things, kind of like the arrow

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hidden inside the logo for FedEx. The exclamation point is kind of hidden

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there in my logo but I think it's much more prominent now than it was before.

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Plus, the old font looked much more playful, which worked great for the Ramen Noodle, which

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was the first place where I used that font.

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That was my first podcast, a clean comedy show, which is now offline.

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And it also worked really well for Noodle Mix Network, which took on this idea of noodle

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and the font kind of looks like noodles, especially with the way that I reworked it a little bit

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with some of the logo and branding work that I did.

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But the new font that I've chosen where it says "The Audacity" is much bolder,

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both in style and emotion.

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So again, it reinforces what the podcast already is and what I've realized are really the

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strengths of the podcast. All of these things combined for me to strengthen the identity and that message.

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And yet, I think I was able to keep the logo similar enough to appear as an evolution instead

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of something completely different.

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Like if you look at the two examples of my cover art next to each other, you can see

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that, yeah, okay, it's kind of the same, kind of different, very different colors, but still

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the element concepts are very similar among them.

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But the new cover art I think is so much better and communicates so many more things that

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you might not even think about, but that just fit. And that's what a good podcast branding

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should do, is it just fits. It fits every aspect of the podcast, the tone, the identity,

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the message, your approach to it. A good branding refresh can then help you visually and audibly

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reinforce what your podcast is about and who it's for, all without saying a single word.

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That's what branding should really do, especially when you refresh the branding for your podcast.

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So that's number 4, strengthen or reset your podcast identity and message.

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Number 5, infuse new energy for your audience and yourself.

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Do you know that good feeling of that new car smell, or learning a new skill, or wearing

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new clothes, or reorganizing your stuff, or repainting your room?

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Similar to these things, a fresh brand can breathe new life into your podcast, both for

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your existing audience and even for yourself.

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When I redesigned the Audacity podcast video branding, it made me much more eager to publish

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new video content because I was so proud of what I made.

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And especially, I hated the old video branding so much.

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And it just felt so cheap to me.

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Even though I'm a professional designer, it felt cheap.

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I didn't like aspects of it. It felt rushed and thrown together.

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Do you know why? Because it was.

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I really just threw it together and then didn't really get around to updating it all that

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much later. The new video branding that I use in my videos, which you can see on my YouTube channel and

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such, I really like it. I took much more of this branding approach to it and communicating the audacious attitude

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through the animations and how I made the text show up and all of that.

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I think it came out really cool and it's also much shorter than it used to be too.

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And that kind of thing infused a new energy for me with my videos.

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And it's something that even right now while I just don't have the time to make as many

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videos as I want to. I really want to make new videos because I just love the video branding

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so much. Sometimes I just feel like, can I just stick any video out there and slap my

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video branding on it because I really like this video branding and I like showing it

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off in things. You can see that in my YouTube channel if you're interested. Or I do also

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have a video podcast of the same content available as well.

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Similarly, I'm one of those types who reads update notes or change logs. And I get excited

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when there are user interface changes in apps or called UI changes.

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It just, to me, it feels fresh and new.

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So call it whatever you want, most people get excited about new things, even if it's

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only in certain contexts. I know some people are like, "Don't change anything ever."

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But in some contexts, I'm sure they like new things in certain places.

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So refreshing your podcast branding might be just the trick you need to re-enthuse even

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yourself about your podcast.

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Because you too might be proud of the new branding and you just want to show it off

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by publishing episode after episode however you show off that new branding whether it's

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audibly or visually.

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And number 6, stand out from others.

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By refreshing your podcast branding with unique visual and audio elements, you can set your

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show apart from its "competitors". Consider, for example, if all the podcasts in your niche

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have predominantly blue cover art, we'll say. Then making your cover art anything other

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than blue will make it stand out. Or maybe the other podcasts use photos in their cover

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art so you stick with flat icons or only styled text. Or maybe it's the other way around where

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all the other podcasts in that same collection have the flat icons or styled text so you

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then have a photo. Something like that. Look at what else is out there so you can see what

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it might take to stand out. Listen to some of the other podcasts so you can learn how

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to stand out in that aspect of your branding, how you communicate your audio branding and

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those things that people will hear in your podcast beyond only the words, but also some

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of those words, like your repeated phrases and such.

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Back when the Once Upon a Time TV show was airing on ABC, there were more than a dozen

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fan podcasts at the peak about that TV show. While my own show, Once Podcast, stood out

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for being in-depth, there were some other podcasts that stood out by having a tight

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"five themes" format where each episode they would talk about only five themes that

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stood out to them, or even one that existed only to make fun of the show. And I even helped

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them a little bit with their branding and I said, "lean into that. In fact, here are

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some taglines that you could consider for your show." And I was so thrilled that he

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used one of them. I think it was "laughing at happily ever after" or one of those kinds

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of things. Another of the podcasts stood out by including a rhyming recap of each TV episode

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the beginning of their podcast episodes. So it's like that saying, "When they zig,

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you zag." Look at what others are doing in your space, whether that be in the same collection

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of podcasts, the same niche, or maybe that you're constantly battling the charts with

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these other podcasts. Whatever context that is you're looking at other podcasts, look

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for these ways that you can stand out from them. "When they zig, you zag." And you

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You can do that with a refresh of your podcast branding.

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So again, these six benefits of a podcast branding refresh are, number one, attract

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a new audience. Number two, increase your perceived quality.

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Number three, adapt to the latest trends.

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Number four, strengthen or reset your podcast identity and message.

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Number five, infuse new energy for your audience and yourself.

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And number six, stand out from others.

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If this episode has been helpful then please share it through the website or in your podcast

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app. You can go to theaudacitytopodcast.com/refreshbenefits to share this episode or review any of the

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notes, images, and links that I've mentioned.

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If you're looking to refresh your podcast branding after you've thought about these

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benefits and maybe after the next episode when I share when you should refresh your

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podcast branding, I want to give you some resources that you can start looking at or

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considering before that time.

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There are many places you can hire designers to help you with a branding refresh, or audio

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producers and such. But most of the time, it's that outside, what people see first, where we really need

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to work on. Because the inside could be a quick switch for you, like maybe just swapping your music

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and such. Or some other decisions that you make and could probably produce on your own because

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you're a skilled podcaster. So looking at the visual design aspect, the two resources I recommend most highly are

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are, first, my friend Mark Des Cotes from Podcast Branding. I have a link in the notes for this

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episode. And that's not an affiliate link, but if you will mention that you heard about

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him from me or from the Audacity podcast, I do earn a commission from referrals that

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mention me. And I'd really appreciate that if you do that. The reason I recommend him

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is not only is he a friend, and he's done some work for me too, he's a highly skilled

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designer and here's what I think is most important about his skills. He's a podcaster.

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So he understands the needs of a podcaster. If you tell him I need podcast cover art,

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he instantly knows what that is. He knows what dimensions you need. He knows what kinds

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of places that cover art will need to appear. He will know what kinds of questions to ask

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you that you might not have even thought of. Stuff like would you also like a banner image

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for your Facebook group or for your website or do you need this in any other particular

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layouts or how else are you going to be using this?

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Does it need to be circle crop friendly?

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These kinds of things are the kinds of questions that a podcaster who is also a designer would

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know to ask. So that's why I refer all design business.

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Yes, I'm a designer myself and some of my old episodes you might have heard me promoting

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my own podcast cover art design business.

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I don't do design for clients anymore.

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I send people to Mark Des Cotes.

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He's done great work for me, I've seen him do great work for many other podcasters.

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He's a good, skilled podcaster himself and someone that I trust to design your podcast

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branding effectively and ask you the right questions, help you consider all kinds of

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aspects of your podcast, even beyond only the visual.

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And the other option, though, that I do recommend but follow less frequently is a service like

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99designs. And again, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases through my link there too.

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And the links to both of these places are in the notes for this episode.

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From 99designs, you can get designers to compete for your business.

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So 99designs will give you a lot of options, potentially, depending on how much you pay,

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but a lot of different options that you consider, some radically different approaches, but maybe

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not from people who understand podcasting.

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So expect to see a lot of cover art that has microphones, headphones, RSS icons, that kind

25:04

of cliche stuff that should not be in your podcast branding unless you have a podcast

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about podcasting like I do. And that's why my cover art has kind of an RSS icon and a microphone in it because I'm

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talking about microphones and RSS and that kind of stuff.

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So I embrace the cliche.

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But if your podcast isn't about podcasting or microphones or RSS or that kind of stuff,

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then go away from the cliché. Maybe there's some other cliché kind of thing that you

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would want in your cover art. So expect that from a place like 99designs, but you'll

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have plenty of choices depending on how much you pay. So you'll get plenty of options

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from them, but maybe not the best. Whereas with podcast branding, which might cost more,

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but I think would be far more valuable, podcast branding will work with you to understand

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your whole podcast branding, including even listening to some of your podcast, to know

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does your podcast really need a bold, audacious design to it, or are you just the kind of

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laid back podcaster, "Hey everybody, I'm so glad you came here, thank you for joining

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me for this podcast, this is our moment of zen."

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And then Mark from Podcast Branding can help the podcast visual branding match your audio

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content. That's why I recommend him so highly.

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And you might be thinking, well what about Fiverr? I usually recommend against Fiverr.

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I do actually have an affiliate link with Fiverr and they come after me often to try

26:29

and promote them more frequently and they've offered me special affiliate benefits and

26:33

stuff. And I'll give you my affiliate link for Fiverr if you're interested, but I usually

26:39

recommend against Fiverr because I've seen too much low quality work and even intellectual

26:45

property theft on Fiverr. And if someone steals to make a cover art for you, you can actually

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be held liable for that. So that's why I really can't recommend Fiverr unless you're

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paying a lot more on Fiverr. But if you're going to pay a lot more, then why not just

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work with someone who actually understands the industry. That's why I recommend Mark

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so highly. And Mark did not sponsor this episode. I did let him get a preview of this episode

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beforehand, but he's a friend. He does really good work. I've hired him. I've paid him

27:15

before. And yes, I do earn commissions only if you mention that you heard about him from

27:21

me or from the Audacity podcast. And I would appreciate it if you do. But even if you don't,

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I won't earn a commission from him unless he knows that you heard about him from me.

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I recommend him because I believe in his work and his skill. I recommend these other services

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aside from Fiverr because I believe in what they offer, maybe with certain caveats.

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So if you'd like the links to that or anything else I mentioned in this episode or to share

27:46

this episode out with other podcasters, it's a simple tap or swipe away inside your app

27:50

or go to theaudacitytopodcast.com/refreshbenefits.

27:55

And now that I've given you some of the guts and taught you some of the tools, it's

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time for you to go start and grow and maybe refresh the branding of your own podcast for

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passion and profit.

28:07

I'm Daniel J. Lewis from theaudacitytopodcast.com.

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Notice how often I now say it, the audacity,

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and I really emphasize it like that because that's part of my branding,

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theaudacitytopodcast.com.

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That's where you can find me. Thanks for listening!