Corporate B2B podcasts: A great opportunity or another marketing fad?

[00:00:00] Surbhi Dedhia: hey Prarthana, welcome to the making of the thought leader podcast. It is absolutely my pleasure to have you on board today.

[00:00:07] Prarthana Sibal: Great. Thanks for having me. 

[00:00:10] Surbhi Dedhia: Yes, so Prarthana before we we jump into the conversation, I wanted to share something with you actually just before getting on the call today, I read something like podcasts are to a radio as much as just like how Netflix is to cable. 

[00:00:29] Prarthana Sibal: I don't know. 

[00:00:32] Surbhi Dedhia: I don't know who it was if it didn't that, uh, but it absolutely made sense to me.

[00:00:36] Surbhi Dedhia: And I'm like, oh yeah, that is very interesting analogy uh, podcast is to radio, what Netflix is to cable. 

[00:00:44] Prarthana Sibal: Yeah, that, that is true because even from a growing in Asia all my life, I have been a huge radio fan. And in, within Asia, we have a huge, huge, uh, media landscape as well. So that is one of the reasons why, uh, consumption of podcast also is like acceptable.

[00:01:05] Prarthana Sibal: It's just. Radio. They don't really say that. Oh, why? The podcast is all only an audio, right? Why not video with it? 

[00:01:12] Surbhi Dedhia: Right. True. True, true. Prarthana introduce yourself to the audience today. Who are you? Where are you from? And what you do? 

[00:01:22] Prarthana Sibal: Great. So, I'm, Prarthana Sibal, I'm the head of client services at. Pikkal & Co. Is a B2B podcast agency where we work with corporates, corporate leaders, um, on their podcast.

[00:01:36] Prarthana Sibal: Depending on the different business objectives. So, ranging from management consultancies to banks, to investment banks, especially to educational institutes, as well as government agencies. We work with all of them for their Podcasts. My role specifically is very front-end. Um, I am the first person if you want to start a podcast, I'm the first person who will be in contact with you.

[00:02:01] Prarthana Sibal: So, I am the part of the project all the way from conceptualization to the delivery and to the performance review. Um, I am based out of Singapore, uh, originally from India, but moved to Singapore about nine years back for my bachelor's. And I've been here since then. 

[00:02:19] Surbhi Dedhia: Wonderful. Wonderful. That sounds interesting. You know what you said about you are the first point of contact for anybody who wants to start the podcast that, that kind of got me thinking that, when does somebody come to you? And how does the conversation start? Can you tell us something about it?

[00:02:35] Prarthana Sibal: Yeah. So, there are different times when people can reach out to us, but the best time is that if they had an internal interest from maybe two to three sponsors saying that, yes, we need to start a podcast, but they don't really know the business objective behind it or how the podcast should look like, look for them. Um, what are the metrics they should be doing, uh, going after for what does kind of engagement should they be expecting?

[00:03:03] Prarthana Sibal: So, when they are, uh, when these sponsors are trying to build a case study internally for the rest of the management to approve that is the best time to reach out to us and I get all sorts of questions who should be the host? What should we talk about, uh, what should be the episode length, which category we should be in.

[00:03:22] Prarthana Sibal: So, because these questions are important, it's best they can. We address in the beginning itself and the first intro call, between me and, the potential client ends up being more like an educational or a knowledge sharing of 30 minutes call. 

[00:03:39] Surbhi Dedhia: Right. So, Prarthana you said B2B podcasting.

[00:03:43] Surbhi Dedhia: Can you tell us a little bit more about this industry as such what is happening in the B2B? The podcast industry. 

[00:03:50] Prarthana Sibal: Yeah. So, we, let me start by just giving a broader perspective of what is happening in the podcasting industry. And then I'll get to the B2B podcasting as well. So, um, podcasting, especially in Asia.

[00:04:05] Prarthana Sibal: Growth in podcasting is just coming to Asia. And over the next few months and years, we should see each brand building their own podcast series to own their content and creating those conversations at scale. Uh, people expected that, okay. Because of COVID the, um, the, the commute time is going to go down and because of that, people were, when will people listened to podcasts.

[00:04:28] Prarthana Sibal: Right. But it is completely the opposite that. Oh, like we have some great report, uh, coming from PWC. So according to PWC's global entertainment and media outlook. 2020 report India has become the third largest consumer of podcast after the U S and China. And it has 57.6 million monthly listeners.

[00:04:51] Prarthana Sibal: So, you can imagine that all this happened during the COVID time and what kind of, an engagement and consumption that has started within Asia. We also have, I'm sure listeners from, India, they are aware of HD smart cast. This is a podcasting wing of the, um, HT media, which is the Hindustan times.

[00:05:12] Prarthana Sibal: they saw its, listenership jumped to over 1 million monthly listeners in March, 2020. And by March, 2021, that number had already grown to 6 million monthly listeners for only their podcast. So, this is giving us a very good indication of how podcast has been accepted in the Asia market and what kind of growth it's it looks like.

[00:05:35] Prarthana Sibal: The other thing is also the COVID has accelerated the consumption of podcasts., This is just the beginning. So, we'll be seeing a lot of growth and sort of be to your point about B2B podcasting, where that fits in. So, before Covid let's say, what was the scenario?

[00:05:51] Prarthana Sibal: Right. There were a lot of in-person meetings, the CEOs meeting each other for the breakfast meetings as they call them. So, on the meetings were happening behind closed doors. Um, there were a lot of media engagements as well. But during Covid when all these meetings were not happening the client, uh, the face-to-face conversations were not happening.

[00:06:13] Prarthana Sibal: The idea of that, how can we convert these a behind the door conversations at scale such that it is reaching out the right people and what is the right medium for this? And that is where I, I won't say the birth of B2B podcasting came in, but at least the urgency of starting a B2B podcast came in. During the COVID time, the audience, the listeners we're expecting these, corporates to, my talk about mental health. Talk about climate risk. Talk about the COVID situation, because there was so much of uncertainty going on. So, their podcast became like a platform for all the leaders to step up.

[00:06:52] Surbhi Dedhia: True. And in terms of thought leadership, right on this podcast, we talk a lot about thought leadership and, encouraging, business owners and entrepreneurs to come out and even executives to build their thought leadership. So, in terms of building thought leadership, how do you see. podcasts coming to the front. 

[00:07:12] Prarthana Sibal: Yeah. So, I think we are past the time when thought leadership was only on the basis of the white paper. So, the articles that were taking months to be produced and then being released. Now we are in an era of authentic format and engaging formats.

[00:07:31] Prarthana Sibal: And because of that, the audiences, again, either as I said, they are expecting the leaders to step up to Mike and share their thoughts about the big themes in their own words. That's the whole point, the not in a scripted way, but in a very authentic with it. And. We all know that people buy from people and not brand.

[00:07:52] Prarthana Sibal: So, if we go with all those different kinds of scenarios that are happening within marketing and comms industry, then it is essential that the leaders become the voice of the brand. So, when somebody also asked me, okay, who should host my podcast, that is, I have a very straightforward answer. It is your leader who has the relationship, with customers, with partners, with the management, they should be the one who should be stepping up and being the host, right.

[00:08:22] Prarthana Sibal: Rather than hiring someone external for it. It's not wrong in hiring an external voice, but is that external was really representing your brand or not? That is, that is an important point. 

[00:08:35] Surbhi Dedhia: All right. Sound sounds interesting. You said about companies, having these executives doing a closed-door meeting before.

[00:08:42] Surbhi Dedhia: What do you see, uh, as a role of podcasts for startups, like really those companies. And I'm asking this specifically, because now with COVID a lot of, uh, you know, uh, senior executives have jumped on the startup boat after uh COVID. So, yeah, what's, what's happening. 

[00:09:01] Prarthana Sibal: So, startup founders can use our startups themselves can use podcasts for several reasons, right.

[00:09:08] Prarthana Sibal: Let's say if they're looking at hiring talent. So, if you have a podcast in which you showcase the employees or the people who are part of your team, you will get very aligned conversation. The people who are reaching out to you, would want to be very aligned. Um, the expectations are going to be set and, you know, hiring that expectations need to be set from day one.

[00:09:30] Prarthana Sibal: Otherwise, it will, uh, it will be very difficult to retain that employee. Right. Um, the second is for fundraising as well. So, uh, hiring this important, but at the same time, it is important to ensure that there's cash in the bank to pay these people. So, whenever there's fundraising involved, and especially if you're an early-stage startup, you're looking for angel investors who you don't have a lot of sales in the bank what you should be telling is why they buy into the idea of you. Your business is going to be your story. They'll be betting on the problem that you're solving. They'll be betting on the total addressable market. Now what was happening pre COVID was that startup founders. We saw a lot of these are, uh, demo days in which they were getting like five minutes to pitch. Just imagine people were spent months and years on building this business, how can they just pitch within five minutes? Right. So, podcast becomes a great platform for the startup founders to tell the story in a long from format and keep the investors also informed.

[00:10:36] Prarthana Sibal: It's not necessarily there's no, there's no guarantee that you will get an investor right out on the first episode or the second episode, third episode. But you are bringing them on a journey. And whenever these investors are ready, they're going to reach out to you. 

[00:10:52] Surbhi Dedhia: Hear your voice, right. It's more authentic. 

[00:10:55] Prarthana Sibal: Exactly. It's not scripted, like on a demo day.

[00:10:58] Prarthana Sibal: It's not like one minute you talk about your, who is in your team. One minute. Talk about the total addressable market. It's not like that. And if you are getting an investor or even an employee within your team, uh, you need them to buy into your vision. Uh, again, expectations need not just need not be set from the hiring perspective, but also from the investing perspective.

[00:11:23] Surbhi Dedhia: Right. Right. Makes sense. So, from, from a startup perspective, again, what should they really think about in terms of podcasts? Right? Like when you say press release or a white paper, it's a one-time. And when you, when you can share all that, you think about, about your product, about your journey, about everything, and it's one shot it's done and dealt with.

[00:11:43] Surbhi Dedhia: Right. Um, but what happens when, when it comes to podcasts is people think, oh, it's I have to, I have to be invested long-term in it. 

[00:11:52] Prarthana Sibal: Yeah. So, Surbhi that, is the point podcast anyone who's listening to it should know that podcast is a long-term investment. You can't expect a podcast to go out and to create it creates millions of listeners for you when you'll get great traction.

[00:12:09] Prarthana Sibal: Podcast is, it's a channel for you to start building your audience. And even building your fans over a period of time, right? So, with white papers, as you said, firstly months, roll around in just writing, getting all the information together and then. Once it does release.

[00:12:27] Prarthana Sibal: There's a lot of promotion behind it, but again, for the niche, right. People you need to start from scratch, right? So, you need to start from zero again, to start promoting the next white paper. Now that does not the case with the podcast, especially if you're doing it consistently. And nobody's saying that the podcast should only be about your journey, but a great part of your journey should be reflected.

[00:12:50] Prarthana Sibal: Trust and the whole point about doing it consistently is that you are building your network. You're building your listeners, beyond your initial LinkedIn connections as an example, right. You're getting traction now, specially we know you are in Dubai right now. Surbhi, I am in Singapore and this meeting, or this call could happen just because of the beauty of podcast.

[00:13:14] Prarthana Sibal: Right. And this can be done online as well. So, podcast also gives you that global perspective that made me though white paper promotion, uh, has still a bit of a limit there. 

[00:13:26] Surbhi Dedhia: Yeah. Exactly. And I think it's just the scalability of conversations, when it comes to your own journey description podcasts, what happens is you are, it's a one one-way street where you are only talking about it, but also what podcasts does and people often overlook it or do not see it is the doors that it opens to conversation.

[00:13:52] Surbhi Dedhia: Podcasting community as such as pretty open and welcoming to have different types of conversations. So, from a startup perspective, it could be really to bring in, people who are doing similar things or solving similar challenges, problems in different continents or within that industry.

[00:14:10] Surbhi Dedhia: So there, there could be many options in that sense.

[00:14:12] Prarthana Sibal: Yeah. And even if you look at, okay, let's forget about, let's say a startup is not hiring right now or is not raising funds. Right. They can also use podcasts to spread awareness. As we all know, there are 1 billion, weekly podcast listeners around the globe, and you can get a whole chunk of this.

[00:14:35] Prarthana Sibal: Um, if you are just out there, if you just have a podcast, right. Um, they didn't also use it for acquisition. So, let's say that if, if you want to reach out to a potential client, but within your industry, but it is slightly difficult to get hold of them. Then podcast is a great way to start to start building that relationship.

[00:14:56] Prarthana Sibal: Right. And just imagine 45 minutes of intimate conversation definitely leads to a follow-up conversation. And you can showcase your connections with these thought leaders. And that can further help you get the right people who you want to who otherwise it was difficult to approach.

[00:15:12] Surbhi Dedhia: Absolutely. That's a very valid point. You said about, the companies, using podcasts as, a part of the marketing mix now. So, we spoke about startups, where, what are the different areas that people can think about, uh, in terms of starting a podcast. In terms of larger companies, a larger setup, where that is like, much more resource available on hand, much more content probably they've been in the business for long.

[00:15:39] Surbhi Dedhia: So, I see, the kind of work that you guys do is. Corporates who are, you know, out there talking about, different areas and podcasts being one of their key marketing mix elements. What has been like the ROI for these companies or what has been a good use case study that you can share with us?

[00:16:00] Prarthana Sibal: Yeah. So, when I'm speaking to people within, corporates, I am not speaking to the marketing professionals within them. I'm speaking to communications professional within them, but was that as an immediate change of mindset when we move. Between these functions, right? Let's say, um, as you truly said, if I was reaching out to marketing person, they'll talk about running a campaign.

[00:16:25] Prarthana Sibal: Let's say a four-part series and seeing the, uh, senior feed feedback on that and the ROI and the, all the performance. Um, and then at the end there's a stop right there. And then things start thinking about the second campaign. That is one of the reasons we don't reach out to marketing professionals.

[00:16:43] Prarthana Sibal: We reach out to communications professional because their mindset is the top level. It is about thought leadership is about brand authority. It's about the reputation. It's about building those, uh, top level connections and. Is showcasing those connections between the CEOs and between the different companies.

[00:17:02] Prarthana Sibal: So, uh, when it comes to, B2B podcasting, and especially enterprise podcasting, then thought leadership and brand authority is the core to why they want to start a podcast. 

[00:17:15] Surbhi Dedhia: Right. And what are the kind of successes that you've seen in that? 

[00:17:19] Prarthana Sibal: Yeah. So, the kind of successes, obviously there are audience numbers, for any episode of, for, uh, maybe a year, year and a half running podcast can be anywhere between 5,000 to 10,000 downloads per episode.

[00:17:33] Prarthana Sibal: That is only on the podcast itself. And obviously there's a lot of different collateral that come from podcast, the articles and, uh, the social media collaterals and. They have some different engagement. The other is the organic, organic audience that we are able to build for them, because let's say that they are in a technology category, right on apple podcast store.

[00:17:57] Prarthana Sibal: The whole point is that in the beginning of starting a podcast. We just need to start getting them on top within their category. Once they're in top five of technology category that is when apple will start recommending other listeners to your podcast. And that is where we have seen, uh, such successes in which the enterprises have been in those top five categories for a very long time. And they're getting that organic traffic. The other kind of successes is that if let's say a CEO of a big company, and I can't mention the names here, but, uh, the CEO of a big company reaches or president of a big company reaches out to the podcast host who is a CEO again, uh, saying that let's do a podcast together.

[00:18:41] Prarthana Sibal: Right? So just imagine the value that creates and a business relation potential business relationship, uh, that creates for that one particular meeting. So, when it comes to B2B, podcasting metrics, audiences, just a starting point because you are not looking at selling advertising slots. 

[00:19:01] Prarthana Sibal: This is going to be your own content So, that you own and control. So, audience is the starting point, podcast ranking is the second metric. And the third being the actual conversations that it is bringing to you. 

[00:19:16] Surbhi Dedhia: Right. Okay. what you say it makes a lot of sense. When all these, uh, senior leadership from enterprises do such conversations, uh, is it for consumption internally or externally?

[00:19:31] Surbhi Dedhia: And when they do externally then, is there like for every episode, as you said that, you know, that. enough promotion to promote it. I mean, I'm just thinking what causes the 5,000 downloads, right? 

[00:19:42] Prarthana Sibal: Yeah. So, uh, the beginning of this is obviously external, unless, and until some enterprise comes to us and says a specifically that we want.

[00:19:53] Prarthana Sibal: And an internal podcast. So, during the COVID time, we saw a lot of internal podcasts growing in because we, uh, again, as I mentioned, there was a lot of uncertainty and, the employers were expecting the, and the partners were expecting the CEOs and the presidents and the senior executives to speak up on what is the future of the company.

[00:20:12] Prarthana Sibal: How is it going to be, will there be retention? Will there be any, salary cuts and so on? And just, everything went to work from home mode, right? So, people were also expecting some kind of support on that front. So, we saw a lot of internal podcasts coming up, talking about mental health, work from home set up, a transformation, keeping safe, balancing the work and a work and home life.

[00:20:38] Prarthana Sibal: And all of those kinds of themes started coming in. We even saw a podcast in which, there were, people who had recovered from COVID. They were sharing their perspectives and stories as well. And especially if they had kids, how they were managing that. So just, just imagine that impact because in the beginning, not everyone was getting COVID.

[00:20:58] Prarthana Sibal: And because of that, there was uncertainty that if I do get COVID, what should I expect then? So, these kind if stories really resonated with the listeners and internal podcast worked pretty well for them. Uh, the main use of B2B podcasts is definitely not to have the conversations only for internal, but on public platform.

[00:21:21] Prarthana Sibal: So, the 95% of the projects that we work with are external B2B podcasts. And the whole point about those podcasts is that, once you have a channel with you, then it's just a matter of optimizing the promotion cycle. These enterprises already have different channels. They have LinkedIn, they have newsletters.

[00:21:45] Prarthana Sibal: They have a huge list. They have EDM, they have, even ads for that matter. Right? All the capabilities for that. Now it was just a matter of how can we create a flywheel around. Uh, around a podcast, where does podcast come in the mix with the social channel, with the website, et cetera.

[00:22:03] Prarthana Sibal: And how can we optimize it over a period of time? So, to your point, about how can we grow from let's say even a hundred listeners to 5,000 listeners is hundred listeners. You can just get it with your first connection. That is fine. Next, 500 listeners you will by spreading it within your organization.

[00:22:22] Prarthana Sibal: And once it is out in public, the podcast that's where you just need to keep on optimizing the connection between the podcast, social channels and website, and you're going to easily reach the 5,000 business. 

[00:22:33] Surbhi Dedhia: All right. Okay. And when this new requirement for podcast comes, the content is original on the podcast and then it spreads to the other collaterals or is there a running campaign, a theme. And then it, the requirement for podcasts comes like it's the chicken and egg, right. you know, which comes first?

[00:22:52] Prarthana Sibal: So, the starting point for all, this is the podcast. So, we say podcasts become the parent content. And then through that, there are transcripts that go on the website, which is great for SEO purposes and for long-term discovery. And then we have the social collaterals that go out on, um, obviously the different social channels.

[00:23:11] Prarthana Sibal: So, like court guides and audio straps, which are like the audio snippets. And obviously we have the MP3 file, which is the audio file that goes out on apple and Spotify, Google podcasts, and all those channels. So, the starting point of the content is still podcast itself. 

[00:23:28] Prarthana Sibal: It's possible to do the other way round. That is fine. But if you were, let's say converting a white paper or an article into a podcast, firstly, the white paper needs to be approved. It needs to be ready. Right. It's a long process. Podcast turnaround time is as good as all approved, it can be as early as 10 days within an enterprise.

[00:23:51] Prarthana Sibal: And for 10 days for an enterprise, 10 days is a very quick turnaround time because, uh, just imagine the legal reviews and all approvals they need to go through. So that's why we do recommend podcasts to be the primary content, but at the same time, we understand there are some other materials that is being created by, uh, the company in the background so we do, have podcast episodes supporting those material as well. 

[00:24:21] Prarthana Sibal: Right, when you start a podcast, with a theme in mind, right? Like, so there's obviously like. plan in hand that okay this is for like the next 50 episodes or 25 episodes, you know? And that is like the overarching theme then on, along the way, I'm really thinking, taking you down the like evolution part of, uh, the podcast, right? Like how does it sustain and then how does it match to the campaigns existing campaigns 

[00:24:50] Prarthana Sibal: yeah. So, nobody is asking. The podcast team to create content plan for 25 episodes, right away., How it happens is in batches. So, let's say we start with six episodes and especially if someone is, if a company starting a podcast, it should start with a proof of concept of six episodes. Um, then we have six buckets, right with us.

[00:25:16] Prarthana Sibal: Uh, we talk about, okay, what are the teams that are coming from the organization, some of the brand messaging, what. What is the audience, they want to reach out to, uh, using these six episodes, keeping that in mind, we'd recommend the content to them? Right. And another part of having it in batches format is that you would want, not just the listener to coming to your podcast only for one.

[00:25:42] Prarthana Sibal: They're a fan of one of the guests, right? It was in that case, they won't listen to another episode, like second or third episode, you would want them to come coming to you irrespective of the guest, or the host coming to you for the content itself. So that's why having in batch format, we can create a content narrative across these six episodes so that somebody who's listened to episode three, they would also like to listen to episode four, five, and six.

[00:26:08] Prarthana Sibal: So, uh, that is why a while 25 episodes is good. And that should be our goal, but still when planning the content, it should be in the batches of six each. Um, and always keeping, the audience in mind, because this is another mistake that happen. It's a very frequent mistake. Um, the kind of conversations I hear it is that for me, as an example, for me, I'd only listened to a 30-minute podcast.

[00:26:37] Prarthana Sibal: Okay. So, you would only listen to a 30-minute spot guys, but let's say what the market really wants. Right? Accordingly, a podcast design gets created. That's the same scenario, that holds for the content as well, that this month we are talking about this. Okay. But let's say, is this relevant for that month with, within the market or not?

[00:26:58] Prarthana Sibal: So. There has to be a lot of, uh, coordination in these years. We also leave one or two episodes out of the six for any of the urgent matters or any of the. Teams coming up like, um, 8th of March, we have international women's day. So, a lot of corporates are dedicating, an episode to that. 

[00:27:18] Surbhi Dedhia: Okay. This was a really a good, understanding of how, corporate podcasting works um, what I want to ask you next is there some, some kind of best practices that you are seeing that are emerging from your work with the corporates and, you know, specifically in the B2B, like you, you are so niche into the B2B space.

[00:27:37] Surbhi Dedhia: So, do you see any best practices that are evolving? 

[00:27:42] Prarthana Sibal: Yeah. So, one is having an omni-channel approach. If you are just creating a podcast, publishing it on apple and expecting a lot of listeners through it, that won't be the case. It is very similar to writing a book. After writing the book, you still need to promote it. So having an only channel approach will ensure that you, that you are driving the conversation in the same direction. So, let's say if you're posting social quote cards or audio snippets, it should be taking people to the podcast itself. Similarly, if you're pushing out transcript and, um, on the website, that should also be pushing.

[00:28:22] Prarthana Sibal: Towards the podcast. So having a very clear call to action. Okay. Where are you driving? The people that plus having an Omni channel approach has to be the number like the top of the list. If somebody is looking for best practices. The other reason I would say rather than best practices, but one of the reasons why podcasts fail is, the host commitment. You don't need to have, it's not necessary that your host needs to be the chairman or CEO or president of your company itself. It is good to have, you can even get them on as special guests, but you need to be realistic with the fact that it is there's some time for time commitment needed from their end and can they do it on a regular basis.

[00:29:10] Prarthana Sibal: If they can't then you still have people within your organizations have those connections with the, clients or partners. Now, these people can be your, let's say VPs SVPs, can be some senior partners within your organization. That is why the host commitment is probably one of the most important parts, because if the host is not able to commit the time, um, is not, has not bought into the idea of pot. That's another thing too. Do they listen to podcasts or not, or do these podcasts versus video, right? So, if they haven't bought into the idea of what does then it is very difficult for them to make that as their first priority.

[00:29:52] Surbhi Dedhia: Yeah. 

[00:29:54] Surbhi Dedhia: Great. Okay. There are different types of podcasts, like, um, internal versus external that you just spoke about or, the series and, seasonal ones. What are some of the trends that you're seeing? What is like some of the go-to 

[00:30:08] Prarthana Sibal: yeah, the best selected crossed, um, is actually irrespective of the podcast design. It doesn't matter on what kind of a format it is. It doesn't matter whether it is seasonal or episodic, how it is. The most important is whether they are being published consistently or not. So that's why someone who's looking at starting a portrait, they should go with the format or go with a cadence, which is comfortable to them and then commit to that.

[00:30:39] Prarthana Sibal: Let's say Gary Vee whose podcast is number one in entrepreneurship and management. He publishes an episode every day. Now, obviously it's unrealistic for enterprises to do so, but at the same time, even if you're committing to two episodes per month, let's stick to that because you are training your listeners to come back and listen to your podcast every month, twice.

[00:31:02] Prarthana Sibal: So that is what creates quality and that is what creates the networking effect. So, podcast design and the formats and the story telling style that does all good to have. That was fine. But what really ensures you have a sustainable podcast is the consistency. So, because of having a consistent podcast, what I suggest for that as a quick hack is, have a separate publishing and recording schedule. Don't mix it up in the sense. Let's say, if you want to release two episodes in March, that doesn't mean that they need to be recorded in February. That could have been recorded in January itself or December, right, as per the availability of guests.

[00:31:44] Prarthana Sibal: So that's where you need to have a separate recording schedule so that you can have a consistent publishing schedule. 

[00:31:50] Surbhi Dedhia: It makes sense. Makes sense. Absolutely. All right, Prarthana, this was so much of insight and a very, interesting look into what you do and in your world. So, thank you for sharing generously, is there anything else you would like to add?

[00:32:04] Prarthana Sibal: Um, I was just like to say, it's a very exciting time for B2B thought leadership and podcasting is the go-to authentic format, which even all the senior leaders are really comfortable with. It's time to create those conversations at scale rather than just hiding behind the doors and having those breakfast meetings.

[00:32:24] Prarthana Sibal: So, I'm, I'm excited to see what comes up, in the next few months. 

[00:32:28] Surbhi Dedhia: Awesome and where can the listeners find you? 

[00:32:33] Prarthana Sibal: So, I am available on LinkedIn, under Prarthana Sibal or if you want to reach out to me, um, or any member of my team, you can reach out to us via our website, there's a contact form.

[00:32:45] Prarthana Sibal: There it is. Pikkal.com P I K K a l.com. 

[00:32:50] Surbhi Dedhia: All right, wonderful. Thank you so much. This is really a pleasure having you. 

[00:32:55] Prarthana Sibal: Great Surbhi. Thanks, it was a wonderful conversation.