Andy: Feeling a bit stumped on how to get the most out of your branded podcast? Sometimes we just need to let our experience do the heavy lifting. I’m Andy Le Roy.

Louise: And I’m Louise Poole, and together, we giving you the insights to elevate you as an expert in your field.

[Elevating Experts]

Andy: we’ve got lots of things available to us nowadays to help us grow our audience and our networks 

Louise: but have you thought about the fact that the easiest way to grow your network is to use your current network to support your growth strategy?

Andy: it’s exactly the principle that a site like LinkedIn works on, and something that you can work equally as well with, with your own branded podcast. 

Louise: It’s all about community building, whatever way you look at, so let’s check out how we can build word of mouth in the 21st century

Discussion

Andy: in days gone by we had the trusty corner store

Louise: you love your corner store analogy don’t you Andy!

Andy: you know I do, and there’s a really good reason why… Be cause when I was a little boy I used to live across the road from a corner shop, and everybody in the community used to gravitate there to learn all about the local news… Also known as gossip… But you get the picture 

Louise: yes, I think I do! But it’s also a really good analogy because what we are seeing now is that people want some reliable places to go to get the information and help they need, much like they used to do before Internet technology was available

Andy: that’s right, regardless of the method, we are all still human beings and we want to connect, and the things that we connect through are still the things that interest us and from a source we trust

Louise: as the 20th century drew to a close, we had grown bigger and bigger with our forms of broadcast media, but over the last 20 years that has all started to change and we are now seeing a very new media landscape

Andy: rather than a few major operators having control over what is produced and released, we now have a situation where the tools of production are much more easily available to anybody who wants to use them, and that means that the 21st century version of the corner store is now taking shape

Louise: just like the relationship used to be between shop owner and their local community of customers, podcasting is a one to one relationship.

Andy: stay with us here… dear listener… as we’re talking to you right now, chances are you’re listening in your own way and in your own time. That’s a one to one connection.

Louise: there’s also the connections we make as podcasters when we interview guests 

Andy: every one of those conversations is also one to one, and when we interview somebody that conversation is heard not only by you and the other listeners for this podcast, but that guest will also share the interview with their own network 

Louise: and that’s where the power of word of mouth comes in with this new technology. Have you ever seen those posts on LinkedIn where somebody has something to share and then people from their network join in on the conversation? 

Andy: podcasting is another way of doing that for your brand. Every time you have a guest and they share what they have done with you to their own network, that’s another strengthening factor for you, as they use the power of word of mouth to let the people who directly trust them know that you trustworthy as well

Louise: and it still holds true that people are more likely to trust something that has been referred by a friend or somebody else they know

Andy: and there’s something nice about the way podcasting can be used as well if it’s done the right way

Louise: it’s kind of a fine balancing act between running a show, and letting people know that you are available with your services as well 

Andy: the concept of infotainment started in the 1990s, and has morphed into lots of weird and wonderful things, and podcasting is no different

Louise: sure, we’ve got the option of just doing content that only is only promoting our services and trying to win customers, but we’ve all heard those podcasts where the first 15 minutes is just a sales pitch, and even the hosts will acknowledge that their regular listeners will fast forward to the point they know the actual content is going to start 

Andy: by sticking to the subject that you know about, and the ones that you are passionate about, your listeners will naturally stay, and there are any number of ways you can incorporate a sales message in there as well without becoming the overt, stereotypical salesperson 

Louise:  the best podcasts are the ones that hop straight into the content and give you exactly what you tuned in for 

Andy: and your branded podcast needn’t be any different

Louise: think of your podcast as a friendly conversation with somebody over the counter, it might be your best friend

Andy: or it might be a neighbour or family member

Louise: the important thing to remember is that you want whatever you’re talking about to be of interest to the person you’re talking about it to, and I don’t know anybody who willingly tunes into something to see or listen to a bunch of ads 

Andy: I used to love those late night infomercial spaces in the early hours of the morning!

Louise: yeah, but anybody who was watching those was really in a particular state of mind to willingly go in and watch commercials for hours at a time

Andy: you’re right… it really was more about the entertaining way those ads were presented, and the laugh they provided because of the silly things they did and the comical ways they were presented

Louise: so it’s not to say that you couldn’t construct a long ad for your brand, but it would be a very niche market that would want to listen to something like that on a regular basis

Andy: we keep telling each other that it’s not rocket science, this thing that we are doing, but we also need to acknowledge that we’ve been doing this kind of thing for quite some time as far as making content is concerned 

Louise: but that should in no way stop you from making your own podcast, ’cause now that the tools are available to everybody, you too can have a chat to people on a regular basis about something that interests you both 

Andy: let’s have a quick run over the simple points from today’s conversation about generating your own word of mouth

Recap

Louise: podcasting relationships are just a new way for us all to connect one to one. Whether you’re actively participating in the interview, or participating as a listener, this is a moment in time that you are dedicating to do this one to one activity

Andy: your existing networks can help  support you in expanding your own network even further because people trust who they know. Every interview that you do with somebody is an opportunity for you to be heard by the people in their network, and to build trust at that second level. By sharing the interview with their own network, your interviewee is basically saying “this is somebody I trust and, and you should listen to our conversation” 

Louise: and remember, the best podcasts are like a friendly conversation or piece of entertainment, not a sales pitch. When there is a genuine opportunity for you to mention that you provide the services that are being discussed in your episode, your audience, and your interviewee’s audience will know that you are there in the market ready to help them whenever they need it 

Andy: it really is the 21st century version of the corner store where you pop in to have a chat with us about something that matters to you. And just like any good shop owner, before you go we can say to you

Louise: remember that Welcome Change Media is here to help you make your podcast the very best it can be. 

Andy: We’ve left some reading material in the show notes for you to get you excited about generating word of mouth with your own awesome podcast

The importance of Word Of Mouth: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlywhitler/2014/07/17/why-word-of-mouth-marketing-is-the-most-important-social-media/?sh=1e1edcc554a8

Why you don’t want to sound like an infomercial: https://www.powerupforprofits.com/infomercial-podcasting-2-things-you-must-know-about-interviews/