Podcast Purpose Clarity: "If your podcast's role in your business isn't obvious to you, it won't be obvious to your listener either."

Welcome back to The Podcast Why. I'm Brett Johnson, My Podcast Guy, your trusted friend in podcasting. This show is here to help you reconnect with the real "why" behind your podcast so you can keep showing up with clarity and confidence.

We’ve been walking through the five components of a strong "why": your podcast description, your podcast purpose, how your podcast ties into your overall business and marketing strategy, the results you're looking for, and your approach to creating your show.

In this episode, we're going to zoom out a bit and talk about that third component—how your podcast fits into your overall business and marketing strategy.

This is where a lot of shows drift. The host often has a clear sense of their business, their offers, and their ideal client, but the podcast is floating next to all of that instead of being integrated with it.

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The Podcast as a Side Project

It's like a side project that sort of relates to their work but not in a way that feels intentional. Your podcast doesn't have to be a hard-sell marketing channel, but if it's connected to your business at all, it should have a defined role in your strategy—a job to do that supports your "podcast why," your listener, and your business as a whole.

Story Example: Heather's Podcast Transformation

Here's a composite story from many conversations I’ve had with my client-based podcasters. Imagine a host—we’ll call her Heather.

Heather runs a small consulting business. She started her podcast because she wanted to share value and “get her name out there”—her words. Inside her deeper podcast why was a drive to help a specific kind of client feel less stuck and more empowered.

But when we looked at her business strategy documents, the podcast was basically a vague bullet point: "content." When we examined her actual marketing ecosystem, she had a website explaining her services, an email list she used sporadically, a couple of social channels, and then the podcast off to the side. None of it was really talking to each other.

From Vague Content to Defined Role

On the podcast, she covered broad topics—sometimes connected to her offers, sometimes not. At the end of episodes, she'd say, "If you want to learn more, visit my website," but she wasn't sure what she wanted people to do when they got there. Her show had a strong heart but a fuzzy role.

So, we started with her "podcast why" and her business goals, and we asked a simple question: What job do you want this podcast to do inside your overall strategy?

Some options we explored:

Is it primarily a trust builder, where potential clients get to know how you think and what it's like to work with you?
Is it a nurture channel for people already in your world—clients, subscribers, followers—to help them go deeper?
Is it a discovery tool meant to reach people who haven't heard of you yet?
Or is it some combination, with one primary priority?

For Heather, the most honest answer was, "I want the podcast to be the bridge between someone finding me and someone feeling ready to work with me."

You can book a clarity call with me—just head over to My Podcast Guy and look for the Schedule A Call link. We’ll talk through where you’re stuck, what your real why might be, and how to build your podcast around it.

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Aligning Content and Calls to Action

That meant its primary job in her business strategy was to build trust and establish fit—showing her ideal client that she understands their world and has a grounded, realistic way of helping. Once we named that, several things clicked:

Her topics leaned more toward the kinds of issues her paying clients brought to calls, not just broad industry topics.
Her calls to action became more specific. Instead of "visit my website," she'd say, "If you're listening to this and recognizing yourself in these situations, there's a link in the show notes to book a call with me."
Her email list and podcast started working together. She'd invite listeners onto the list for deeper dives and send new subscribers to specific podcast episodes as a warm introduction.

We also made sure her podcast description and purpose matched this role. The description now hints at the connection to her work—this show exists to help a specific kind of listener with specific problems, and if they want to go further, there's a natural next step.

Making Your Podcast Coherent with Your Strategy

The key here isn’t that her podcast became a sales pitch—it didn’t. The content stayed generous and useful, but it stopped being a free-flowing content machine and started becoming a coherent part of her marketing strategy, all built around her "podcast why."

Let’s look at your podcast through this lens. If your show has any connection to your business or professional work, it deserves a defined role in that ecosystem. Your "podcast why" can guide what that role should be.

Reflection Exercise: Naming Your Podcast’s Job

Here’s a simple reflection exercise:

Step 1:

Write this question down: "What job do I want my podcast to do inside my overall business and marketing strategy?"

Then write your honest answer. It might be:

Build trust with potential clients
Deepen the relationship with my existing audience
Showcase how I think and work, so the right people self-select in
Educate my market so our conversations start at a higher level

Try to pick one primary job, even if there are secondary benefits.

Step 2:

Look at your current episodes and your description and ask: Would a stranger be able to guess this job just by listening to a few episodes and reading the description? Are my intros, outros, and calls to action supporting this role, or are they random?

If your podcast’s role in your business isn't obvious to you, it won't be obvious to your listener either.

The "Podcast Why" Reflection Question

If your podcast is one of the ways you live out your why in your business, what specific role should it play in moving someone from stranger to listener, to someone you can genuinely help—and what needs to change so it can actually do that job? You don't need to overhaul everything at once.

Start with clarity. Name the job. Align your description and intro with that job. Make sure your main call to action matches that job.

Recorded at 511 Studios - Columbus, OH (and you can too!)

Podcasting is a MARATHON, not a sprint. Be patient, take action and apply yourself.

Let’s talk about what podcasting can do for your business in the next 12-months. Whether you’re B2C or B2B, we can create a content marketing strategy that will work for you.

Connect with me if you would like to talk more about this. My calendar is available on my Circle 270 Media® Podcast Consultants business website.

Subscribe to my free Open The Mic and Speak Newsletter. It’s chock full of podcast news you may have missed, as well as social media, sales, and audio production tips, and insights on how to grow your business podcast.

Recorded in conjunction with Channel 511, in the Brewery District, downtown Columbus, OH.

Brett Johnson is the owner and lead consultant at Circle 270 Media® Podcast Consultants. With over 35+ years of experience in Marketing, Content Creation, Audio Production/Recording, and Broadcasting, the podcast consultants at Circle 270 Media® strategically bring these strengths together for their business Podcast clients.

Email us at podcasts@circle270media.com to set up a time to talk more about your new or established business podcast.

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How Your Podcast Fits Your Business & Marketing Strategy