| Four years ago, Lance Bachmann, an entrepreneur who works alongside companies to sell them to private equity firms, was looking for high-profile guests to interview on his podcast. He reached out to a bunch, including Philadelphia's District Attorney Larry Krasner – someone he'd never met. To Bachmann's surprise, Krasner said yes, and the two sat down for a nearly hour-long interview that ended up on YouTube. The episode has only generated 200 or so views. Even so, it resulted in a coveted get-together for Bachmann, one he wouldn't have been able to secure without a podcast interview as an ask, rather than a traditional meeting or Zoom chat. "It doesn't hurt to build relationships with these people," he said of politicians and other guests he's had on. "They wouldn't let me get a cup of coffee with them." Over the past couple years, some enterprising entrepreneurs have turned to podcasts as a way to introduce themselves to an otherwise impossible-to-reach client. A cold call, email or direct message on LinkedIn likely would go answered. But when asked to be on a podcast, suddenly, people are intrigued.
Harry Morton, founder at Lower Street, a branded podcast studio, said that these shows are creating "valuable content" for a specific group of listeners "but the interesting thing is the audience is almost secondary to them." "It's a business development platform where they interview ideal clients for their business and spend an hour in the room with them," he added. Jeff Umbro, founder of The Podglomerate, a podcast production and marketing firm, discovered this himself years ago when he began hosting a podcast about writers. At the time, he worked as a book publicist, and, after bringing a writer on the show, the guest asked if he could hire Umbro and the agency for publicity. "I was like, 'Oh wow this is a thing that could work here,'" he said. "I didn't optimize the show for that, it just was something I enjoyed doing and this was an added bonus." Now, Umbro makes these types of shows with his own team and also with third-party creators. Additionally, he hosts one himself about the podcast industry, Podcast Perspectives, which gives him an opportunity to talk shop and build relationships with important people in the space. At one point, his company worked with a software firm that wanted to make a podcast. A core strategy for them, he said, was to invite "top targets" on the show to build a relationship, so they could later pitch them or have additional conversations. "When you are invited onto [a podcast], that's a real thrill for a lot of folks," Morton said. "That's why people are so receptive and positive about it." The lines in the branded-podcast world can blur. While a brand might not start a show to bring in new customers, that can be an added benefit as they grow an audience. Naturally, if a company or person builds a higher profile for themselves, people might think of them first when it comes to whatever area of expertise they have. That's the whole point of advertising, especially in podcasts where people could spend hours a week listening to a person talk. To be successful in recruiting potential clients and guests, it helps if the podcast host actually wants to spend time interviewing people and if the show develops a legitimate audience to entice guests. Jordan DiPietro, CEO at Hampton, a membership club for founders, said their company's podcast MoneyWise has resulted in almost 60% of guests becoming members within its first six months. It's become one of the top three sources of member acquisitions and has over 100,000 downloads a month. Though customer acquisition wasn't the primary strategy behind the release, it's become a perk. "Whenever we can have something that's a win for the brand, and a win for Hampton from a new acquisition standpoint, and a win for existing members, we're super fortunate," he said. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment