Should I Start a Business Podcast in 2026?

As a marketing venture, podcasting might not be the natural starting point for a small business. However, in this post I would like to offer a few thoughts on why it might be the perfect fit for a small, and particularly a niche, business.

As you will no doubt have seen over the last 2-3 years, podcasting and thought-leadership video content has become a staple of small and medium sized business marketing. BISON has produced hundreds of business podcast episodes for a range of clients including designers, recruiters, divorce lawyers, financial planning firms, trade bodies, sustainability consultants and funeral directors. As you might imagine, leading my own business on this front, I've learned a few things along the way I'd like to share. In this blog post, I want to explore why a small business should consider starting a podcast, and why traditional marketing calculations of ROI may not sufficiently capture the benefit it could offer.

Unfiltered Access

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, podcasting and long-form video content offer unfiltered access to your team, often your founder or leaders. Allowing your clients, customers and business peers this kind of access provides an opportunity for them to better understand the story behind the brand, the vision for the business, and your unique positioning within the industry. It also shows that brands are real people, with experience and expertise, often striving for excellence in their field, as well as business success. Having space to explore complex issues in detail demonstrates the richness of your team's knowledge and brand story in a way which can never be achieved in a 30 second Instagram advert, no matter how high the production value. People often talk about 'thought leadership', however, I would ask you to consider it as dropping the brand mask and allowing your audience to come to understand your business as the sum of the people and experience driving it. Podcasting allows the kind of conversation that was traditionally had over coffee (or often cigarettes) in the office, and now with video it allows you to put a face, mannerisms and body language to an otherwise distant 'CTO' or 'Founder'. In my own early career as a project manager for a large UK retailer, some of the most enlightening conversations with senior leadership were those had situationally without an agenda, either sharing a smoking area or travelling to a project. Podcasting can offer this same level of access, which in the digital world of brand obfuscation, can be harder and harder to achieve authentically.

Growing Your Network

In the spirit of rekindling the interpersonal connections that enrich your business, podcasting is also a fantastic opportunity to re-engage with, and grow, your network. Asking your existing network to feature as part of your business's podcast offer shows respect, that you value their thinking and that you considered them front of mind at the time of choosing guests. It also offers an opportunity to engage with people on a deeper level, which you may not otherwise find time to do without the structure of a podcast production. I have engineered and produced hundreds of podcasts and what often strikes me is the development in human connection that is apparent once a conversation is finished. After all, being in a quiet, calm environment and deeply listening to another person for an hour as they share their story, expertise and wisdom, it seems impossible that you would not form a connection that is longer lasting than a LinkedIn message or Google Meet. Furthermore, as your podcast becomes established and other people see that you have had 5-10 interesting guests in the same industry, some of whom they may know, they will be more likely to accept your invitation to be on their podcast, no matter how successful or distant they may seem. This network of guests decreases the degrees of separation in your industry, and makes you an active contributor to the development of thought in your field.

Measuring Success

Lastly, let's consider the ultimate question, the bottom line. How should I measure the 'success' of my business' podcast? Will it ultimately add real value to my business? Living in an age of metrics, streams, downloads and follows, we naturally look to the numbers to offer us an indicator of success, however, for a business podcast this becomes far less appropriate than, say, an entertainment podcast which is ultimately looking to provide evidence of marketing reach to sponsors. A holistic assessment of your business's podcast is more appropriate and will allow you to pull multiple levers at once, the aforementioned networking lever being the first. This is certainly not insignificant and I have seen many businesses in their third or fourth season of a podcast share rooms and stages with new networks of people, with their podcasting activity being the driver of those opportunities. The second lever is sales. If a client, customer or business partner is considering working with you, they will be considering you in the round. BISON has worked on consultancy podcasts where typical views for an episode would be in the region of 50-100. For an entertainment podcast with sponsors, this would be disastrous, however, for a consultancy business in a niche like sustainability for a specific business sector, if all of those 50-100 people are in their network as existing or prospective clients, it may generate a speaking opportunity, or a client lead which could pay for the cost of the podcast many hundreds of times over. A strong podcast offer can show a client a depth and breadth that may be hard to share in limited meeting time, or from a deck / website.

Share Your World

As the modern business landscape changes in the face of accelerating digital change, finding ways to connect candidly and authentically with people has repeatedly proven to be more valuable than ever before. Podcasting started as long-form audio only, has developed into video episodes filmed in studios, and with advances in AV technology has now developed into video episodes filmed wherever you like. This is a great way of giving your network 'behind the scenes' access to your business, and to the spaces only you have access to. Is your office on the top floor of a building with a great view? Film it there. Is there a factory, or research space which forms the core of your business? Perfect. You may take it for granted but allowing others into your space with on-location podcasting strengthens the story and context of your business, sharing more about your operating environment and how it shapes you.

Getting Started

In many businesses which are specialised, acquiring clients requires proof of knowledge, good judgment and testimony, all of which can be offered by a strong business podcast offering, produced to an appropriate level, with a strong plan of how to build a network and considered in the round. If you'd like to discuss this further, please get in touch and we can talk about how business podcasting can support your business to grow its network and develop new opportunities.