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Are you feeling like your podcast name no longer reflects your brand or message?
Changing your podcast name can be a big decision, but it’s important to ensure that any changes that you make align with your vision and goals. In this post, we’ll explore some tips and strategies for selecting a new name that accurately represents your podcast, plus I’ll share my personal experience of rebranding and changing the name of my first podcast.
My experience with rebranding my podcast
Let’s start off with my experience to rebrand my podcast. There are so many reasons why you might want to rebrand your podcast. And for me, I rebranded after I felt that my podcast’s name and artwork just didn’t match the content that I was producing anymore.
Back in April 2022, Bloggers Creating Courses was born. It was a podcast with the aim of teaching bloggers how to create an online course, with a mixture of solo episodes from me and interviews with experts in the course creation field.
I loved producing these episodes, however, the more content I created for the podcast, the more I realised that the conversation wasn’t just around creating an online course, but around wider business conversation in general.
I then did a deep dive and came to realise that my primary audience was female entrepreneurs in their first couple of years of business.
I also realised that the business topics that I was covering on the podcast weren’t really being covered elsewhere. I could find plenty of business podcasts covering how to build your email list and how to implement a Pinterest strategy, but I wasn’t finding much about creating and achieving aligned business goals, or how to have an authentic presence on social media.
So, I took this information and sat down with it, and really got tough on myself about what I actually wanted to achieve with the podcast. And I realised two things:
- I wanted to give more to the business conversations that I didn’t think were being talked about enough in the female entrepreneur space;
- I wanted to serve the female entrepreneur community in a slightly different way from what I was seeing other podcasts in the space do.
So, I rebranded.
It started with the artwork
There was nothing wrong with the original artwork other than it felt more corporate than I think it needed to be. So, I changed it to bright pink. What happened? Someone messaged me on LinkedIn saying how they loved how brave I was using pink in my branding because it isn’t done enough and made my podcast stand out to them.
That was NOT something that I had been expecting to hear, but it was reassuring because that individual was in my target listening group.
What did I learn from this? Your podcast is yours. Run with the artwork that you like and think best represents your branding and your podcast. Don’t overthink it and don’t feel that you have to match a certain theme or pre-requisite just because of the genre that your podcast sits in.
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Renaming the podcast
I took a bit longer with the name.
I didn’t want to switch to a name that I’d regret, or end up wanting to change again later.
So I continued to sit on ‘Bloggers Creating Courses’ for some time, even though the conversation was changing. I would say that the conversation was shifting as early as episode 15 towards the more general business information and action points.
But, I was worried about confusing my relatively new audience with a sudden name change.
How did I come up with the new name?
The truth? I didn’t!
I was in a 1:1 call with a marketing guru and it was her who gave me the idea. We were talking through my aims and goals for the business and she said that it sounded as though my mission was to help female CEOs build their confidence.
It was like a lightbulb had switched on and ‘The Confident CEO’ was instantly the new name.
I did a quick search on Apple Podcasts; there was already a podcast called ‘The Confident CEO,’ BUT, it had only a few episodes on it and hadn’t been updated in a few years. So I decided that there wasn’t going to be any confusion there.
Rebrand announcement episode
In episode 29, I revealed the new branding, announcing the new name and direction of the content that listeners could expect. You can hear that episode here. It was almost like creating a new trailer for the podcast.
But, it was an episode that I felt was important, because:
- It showed a definite line in the sand and shift for the podcast;
- Listeners weren’t suddenly wondering what the heck was going on with a new podcast name;
- Listeners could choose if they liked the sound of the rebrand and new content strategy, or if they wanted to stop listening and move on.
Looking to rebrand your own podcast? Here are my top tips based on my own experience:
Evaluate your current brand and audience
Before choosing a new name for your podcast, or in fact, do any sort of rebranding at all, it’s important to evaluate your current brand and audience.
Really consider what your podcast is about, who your target audience is, and what message you want to convey.
Look at your current branding, including your logo, colours, and overall aesthetic, and determine if it still aligns with your vision and goals.
Additionally, consider your audience’s feedback and preferences. Are they responding positively to your current name, or do they feel it’s confusing or misleading?
Take these factors into account so that you can choose a new name that resonates with your audience and accurately represents your brand.
Brainstorm potential new names
Once you’ve evaluated your current brand and audience, it’s time to start brainstorming potential new names for your podcast.
Consider using a name that is descriptive of your content or niche, but also catchy and memorable. You can also try using puns or wordplay to make your name stand out. However, remember that one of the aims of your podcast title is to help you reach a wider audience. So don’t go to far with a pun or wordplay that needs a lot of explanation and is confusing for potential new listeners.
Make sure to research potential names to ensure they are not already in use by another podcast or brand. Once you have a list of potential names, gather listener feedback from your audience to help narrow down your options.
And if you’re really stuck with a name for your podcast, ChatGPT might be able to help. Simply log into ChatGPT, tell it the concept of your show and your audience and ask for podcast name ideas.
Consider the availability and uniqueness of the name
When choosing a new name for your podcast, it’s important to consider the availability and uniqueness of the name.
You don’t want to choose a name that is already in use by another podcast or brand, as this can lead to confusion and legal issues.
Do your research and check for the availability of the name on social media platforms, domain names, and trademark databases.
Additionally, you want to choose a name that is unique and memorable, so that it stands out in a crowded podcast market.
Brainstorm different variations and combinations of words to find a name that is both available and unique.
Test the name with a focus group or survey
Once you have a few potential names in mind, it’s a good idea to test them with your audience.
This can help you gauge how well the name resonates with your target audience and whether it accurately reflects the content and tone of your podcast.
You can go down the more formal route and use online survey tools like JotForm or Google Forms to gather feedback from your listeners or social media followers. Or, you could go for the less formal way of collecting feedback via Instagram stories or in your social media feeds.
Alternatively, you can reach out to a small group of trusted friends or listeners from your current community to get their opinions. Use the feedback you receive to refine your list of potential names and choose the one that best aligns with your vision and goals for your podcast.
Plan a smooth transition for your listeners
Changing your podcast name can be a big adjustment for your listeners, so it’s important to plan a smooth transition.
Make sure to announce the name change well in advance and explain the reasons behind it. You can do this through social media, email newsletters, or even a special episode dedicated to the rebranding (remember how I mentioned that I did this?).
Once you’ve renamed your podcast, remember to update your cover art (if you haven’t already) and also update your website and social media profiles to reflect your podcast’s new name.
You might want to put a line in your podcast description for a few weeks bracketing the show’s previous name so that listeners don’t get confused and make the connection. But, with careful planning, your listeners will get on board with the new name quite quickly.
And the result?
For me, The Confident CEO has continued to scale to new heights. We reached the top 50 in the Entrepreneurship Business Podcast charts in Apple Podcasts in both the UK and Ireland, and consistently rank in multiple countries in the top 250 (at the time of writing anyway!).
So for us, changing the name of the podcast and going through a rebrand has been 100% worth it.
There has been less confusion over what we discuss on the podcast, the title is more search-friendly from an SEO point of view, and our listenership has just continued to grow.
What do you think? Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments!
