Episode Summary
Audio has always been Jaclyn Schiff’s favorite way to consume information. Whether it was a book on tape or early versions of podcasts, she was right there listening — donning a cassette player or nestled up by her desktop computer.
With about 15 years of combined experience in journalism and content marketing, Jaclyn started PodReacher — a company that helps podcasters increase their brand visibility by turning each episode into engaging content for their website.
“I think any savvy marketer in 2020 understands that content today is about getting in front of audiences in the format they prefer and wherever it is they hang out,” Jaclyn says. It’s not enough to just record a podcast, hit publish, and call it a day.
In this episode, Jaclyn breaks down why every podcaster needs to transform each episode into meaningful content to post on their website and across social media.
Jaclyn also talks about what it takes to create a successful podcast, why turning podcasts into content is beneficial for SEO, plus how it fits into your overall marketing strategy and helps build a loyal customer base.
Guest Profile
- Name: Jaclyn Schiff
- What she does: As the CEO and founder of PodReacher, Jaclyn and the team help podcasters increase their brand’s visibility by turning podcast episodes into high-quality content.
- Company: Podreacher
- Noteworthy: “The trust and relationship building you get with a prospect [from podcasting] is unparalleled in any other medium … when they’re ready to make a purchase, they’re going to do it from you over anyone else.”
Key Insights
- It’s hard to track how long it takes a podcast listener to become a buyer but, based on her experience, Jaclyn knows podcasting is a worthwhile investment. “I see, over and over again, someone might listen for a few months or a few years but, again, because you have that ability to build the relationship and they feel like they’re really getting to know you as a person,” Jaclyn says. “When they’re ready to make a purchase, they’re going to do it from you over anyone else and I know, as a business owner, that’s a valuable, worthwhile time commitment.”
- Leverage every podcast episode into as much additional content as possible. Don’t create an episode, promote it once, and move on. Jaclyn cites Dave Gerhardt, the Chief Marketing Officer at Privy, as an example of how marketers can maximize repurposing. “Essentially, he talks about a podcast being the centerpiece of content development then doing social, blog posts, LinkedIn updates, all based on a single podcast episode,” Jacyln says. Sometimes he gets 25 pieces of content from a single recording!
- More content equals more conversation. However people are consuming your content, whether it’s listening to a podcast, reading a blog article, or scrolling by your post on social media, they’re absorbing it and having their own response to it. “Isn’t that what we ultimately want? We want to be generating conversations with our ideal customer,” Jaclyn says. This is where she sees the value in doing more with the content you have — “it sparks that additional conversation.”
Episode Highlights
- Let your customers take the lead
“If you’re genuinely learning on the podcast — I actually have a theory about this — I find that the podcasts I tend to enjoy more are when I feel like the host is legitimately learning something new. Learning is obviously a bit subjective — what might be new to me isn’t new to you — but I think when you have content where at least one party’s genuinely learning, there’s something really magical that happens there.”
- Personalize messaging even if customers have the same end goal
“The best way to double down on [creating content from podcasts] as part of your SEO strategy is to do keyword research before you even create the content. That’s the way to ensure that it really works. My philosophy is always to write first for the reader — make sure it’s really valuable for them — so we would never keyword stuff or anything like that, that’s just a silly thing to do in 2020.”
- Rethink your editorial calendar approach - it's not all about SEO
“We’re also thinking about what I like to call positioning and that’s thinking about the ultimate reader … so we create a lot [of different headlines] and present the client with usually four to six options that would resonate well with that target reader and/or listener. Something that’s going to grab people’s attention — that’s really what I mean when I say positioning — and this is also the step where we link back to that podcast episode … we’ll also include a call to action at the end [of the article] to subscribe to the podcast. This makes it clear that the content you’re reading is part of a broader content ecosystem and we’re providing multiple opportunities to capture the reader in that ecosystem in the formats they prefer.”
- Great content gets straight to the point
“I see more companies doing [episodes of] 15 minutes or under, and I think listeners are appreciating having shorter content to consume. That might initially sound great — [you] don’t have to create as long a podcast, so it’ll be easier to do — but, I can assure you, it’s actually a lot more difficult … so probably not as easy as it sounds but I think there’s a hunger for that and certainly a gap to be creating shorter content.”
- Humanize the sales experience
“I’ve been seeing a trend towards shorter episodes. I think the 30 to 45-minute interview kind of thing is a bit saturated. That’s not to say you shouldn’t do that — if you are, I think the bar is just a little higher and you have to think harder about how to differentiate your interview and just be really clear on who you’re trying to reach and the value that they’ll get out of it.”
