Episode Summary
Podcasting is all about making connections. It’s a great way to take your customer relationships to another level and have genuine, meaningful conversations with other experts in the industry.
“The depth of the relationship you’re creating with a podcast listener is so much greater than what you’re getting from somebody who’s watching your TikTok videos or multiple YouTube videos. All of the podcast listeners, they’re just way more connected to you,” says Alban Brooke, the Head of Marketing at Buzzsprout.
And that’s why Buzzsprout produces not only one, but three podcasts: 1) Buzzcast, 2) Podcasting Q&A and 3) How to start a podcast.
In this episode of Recorded Content, our host Tristan Pelligrino gets a deeper understanding of how Buzzsprout uses different types of podcasts to build trust along the customer journey. The two also discuss how podcasts differ from other marketing channels and pinpoint the right time to invest in a podcast at your own organization.
Guest Profile
- Name: Alban Brooke
- What he does: Alban is the Head of Marketing at Buzzsprout, a company providing podcast hosting.
- Company: Buzzsprout
- Noteworthy: Prior to becoming a head of marketing, Alban was a teacher and a paralegal for a few years. In 2014, he landed a job at Buzzsprout that, according to him, suits him much better than any other job before.
Key Insights
- How are podcasts different from other marketing channels? As opposed to social media, where brands get massive exposure, podcasts are about making and nurturing connections. No algorithm will push podcasts forward and help them get viral. With that said, everyone who listens to a podcast is there because they want to be there. Alban explains, "What that means is that in podcasting, almost everyone who listens to you has a reason to be there. There probably was a personal recommendation. They have a much more invested interest in the podcast than if somebody was on YouTube and they're bored for the afternoon that they are watching video after video. Podcasting is much more deliberate."
- Trust is the key to getting and keeping customers. Alban and Tristan discuss podcasting as a powerful marketing tool to gain new leads and customers. So when is the time to invest in a podcast for your business? According to Alban, if you want to get exposure, podcasting will probably not help you. But if you need a way to build trust and position yourself as a thought leader in the industry, podcasting is the way to go. "If you're trying to sell someone on something, the best thing that you could do is build a relationship with them first, and then they trust you, and then you don't have to haggle over price or prove that you're better than a competitor."
- Marketing is about experimenting. According to Alban, there are no universal strategies in content marketing. It's all about listening closely to your audience and catering to their needs. Buzzsprout is focused more on doing things rather than thinking about them. "Don't spend so much time in the clouds thinking about how this show is all gonna work out. Instead, start doing it. In a conversation with your customer or your listener, you are going to learn so much more. One of the quotes I love is from one of the co-founders at Buzzsprout, Tom Rossi. He often says we never will know less than we know right now. "
“Podcasts don’t have an algorithm. Podcasts don’t go viral.”
Alban Brooke
Head of Marketing
Buzzsprout
Episode Highlights
The importance of starting at the ground floor in business
“Everybody wants to do this cool strategy work. Everybody wants to be the big idea behind all of the work. And the only way that you can do that is by executing at the lowest levels for quite a while to understand, ‘Here’s the actual terrain, here’s what people are asking, here are the actual problems.’
Eventually, you continue to step up into higher and higher strategy stuff. Even though everybody likes to imagine that if you were brought in as the CEO, GE, or something, you’d be able to implement a great plan on day one, you need to start at the ground floor.
So I know one of the things we pride ourselves on at Buzzsprout is we try to get everybody regardless of jobs into support.”
Podcasting marketing is all about creating a deep connection with your audience
“That takes me back to, ‘Where does this fit into my marketing strategy?’ Well, it’s going to fit into my marketing strategy when it makes sense for me to create a very deep connection with a few sets of people rather than a very light connection with any number of millions of people.
And so there are times for both. Both of those have their place in marketing, but podcasting needs to be when you know who these people are and you want to connect deeply with them.”
The “get real” mindset
“That’s very much central to our entire culture. And that’s because our culture was developed by a bunch of developers and designers who know better than anyone. You have no clue what you’re building. […] A principle we adopted from a company called Base Camp, which is getting real. Don’t spend so much time in the clouds, thinking about how this show is gonna work out. Instead, start doing it. In a conversation with your customer or your listener, you are going to learn so much more.”
Starting a podcast is a great way to connect with the influencers in your space
”It’s weird to reach out to someone on Twitter and say, ‘Hey, would you ever want to get on an hour-long phone call and just chat?’ But podcasting, you get to ask the people you find most interesting, ‘Hey, would you come on and have a conversation?’ Many of those have turned into friendships.
That’s an underrated value of podcasting. If you’re trying to break into space and connect with the influencers in your space, starting a podcast is a great way to do it. Especially if you’re putting in the deep work to research them and understand your guests, they’re going to be impressed by that, and you are going to build a connection.”
