Podcast
Q&A: What Types of Shows Can Your Company Launch?
Most B2B brands are only creating long-form, interview style podcasts. But there are so many more styles of show you can launch. In this episode, we’ll walk you through them.
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Most B2B brands are only creating long-form, interview style podcasts. But there are so many more styles of show you can launch. In this episode, we’ll walk you through them.
Podcasts aren’t new –– but they’re exploding in popularity at this moment. More shows are created every single month than any preceding month ever before. 125,000 new podcasts were created in July 2020, up from 100,000 podcasts in June.
But the field is increasingly competitive, too, even as more listeners are getting hooked on the medium.
How can you break through all the noise? Whether there are two, 200 or 2,000 other shows attempting to attract that same listenership as you, it’s crucial to do something different.
In this episode, Jeremiah and Erik break down creative ways to become the show that’s in the top five or 10 rotation of podcasts for your ideal audience –– and become top of mind when they need your product or service.
Step one is to identify that audience. In the B2B space, it could be a particular kind of role, such as marketing executives. Or perhaps it’s a niche industry.
Next, learn what pains your audience has and what kind of help (or entertainment) they want, “and then deliver that in audio form better than anyone and more generously than anyone,” says Jeremiah.
People tend to lean towards the 30- to 60-minute interviews that drop at once a week. “That's what most podcasters have done to this point, because it’s been harder to execute more robust production styles,” says Erik.
But that doesn’t mean you should box yourself in. Jeremiah and Erik have a boatload of ideas on how to think outside the canned Q&A sesh. And you don’t even have to produce a podcast that directly relates to your company’s product. The only real requirement is that it covers what your ideal audience is interested in.
For example, you could produce a pod focused on career guidance for professionals who want to level up in any given business, featuring advice from HR directors, hiring managers or even CEOs of big companies.
Whatever you do, Erik and Jeremiah advise weekly or daily consistency rather than a limited series. Take advantage of the close relationship you’ll forge with dedicated listeners.
“Audio lets you do that the written word doesn't,” Jeremiah notes. “It's just different … I think it builds trust in the brand unlike any other thing.”
Don’t be boxed in by the classic podcast format 👉 The ROI of a podcast is to build trust in your brand and show off your expertise, and you need listeners’ attention to do that. Often, new podcasters reverse-engineer the typical interview 45-minute format to make it work for their audience. But you don’t need to do any interviews at all. Your audience might prefer a quick 10-minute episode.
The topic of your show doesn't need to be directly related to what you/your company does 👉 Your podcast should be about a topic that your ideal audience is interested in. Think about what could add value. What would help your audience grow in their careers? What would make them better at what they do? What would make their lives easier? What would entertain them?
There are more ways than ever to produce podcasts 👉 The explosion of podcasts in the marketplace means that there’s a nearly endless amount of tools, resources and formats to work with. What once was overly cumbersome to create can now be achieved with relative ease.
Transcript excerpts from the conversation
Consider scope – “how narrow to make your podcast, to address one particular segment of your audience, or take it broad with a zoomed-out perspective. Do you want to talk about your expertise, or do you want to talk about the problems, challenges, ideas and concepts that your audience has? It’s going to be very dependent on what your offer is and who your customer is.”
“We know we're not going to be the only show in a CMO or VP of Marketing’s [podcast] rotation — or a marketing manager’s rotation — and we don't really need to be. What we really want to be is a brand that is known for offering great advice and helping them. And if we can be the brand that continually provides value to their life, then that's our end goal and things will go well from there.”
“Whoever's hosting is really important. It’s ideal if it could be one of the top subject-matter experts at your company. They can use the podcast to build up their own profiles on other mediums as well. You can grow listenership in the audio feed on Apple and Spotify and everywhere else, but you can also repurpose the podcast to create new content every week or every day for LinkedIn, Twitter ... content [tailored] for that medium.”
“Ideally, come up with a framework for the show, such that you don't create eight episodes and stop. I mean, you could create a 10- or 15-episode series, get as much awareness as possible for it and have that be an evergreen piece of content. But we do think that ultimately, the highest value of this is being top of mind every single week. Your listeners may consume the series and always remember it because it was so impactful, but eventually, over time, that mindshare, will naturally diminish a little bit.”
Jeremiah:
[21:53] “If you track with any of Gary Vee’s stuff, he always talks about how you're a content publication first, and then you sell what you sell.”
[25:36] “The main thing is to say: We want to be in your ear every week, so that when there comes a need, we're top of mind.”
Erik:
[38:50] “Would you rather get an email newsletter about what's going on at SpaceX or would you rather listen to Elon Musk talk about what's on his mind for five minutes every single day?”