Podcasts Provide Unique Lead Generation Opportunity for Industrial and Manufacturing Firms
Written by Dan Konstantinovsky
Strategic Marketing, RH Blake
The more effective you are at helping customers define their challenges, navigate different approaches and offer distinct insight, the more likely customers are to choose you as the partner to help move their business forward.
But finding opportunities where ideal-fit prospects are early in their decision-making process is a significant challenge for many manufacturing marketers. And then meaningfully engaging with them is always easier said than done.
Enter podcasting. But not just as any podcasting, a strategic approach that leverages podcasting as a vehicle to help you engage with target prospects and position yourself as an expert, while creating meaningful relationships (and leads).
Why Strategic Podcasting for Industrial and Manufacturing Firms?
Podcasts have exploded in popularity in recent years and are now a common way to connect with target audiences. RH Blake’s Voice of the Customer research component of the RH Blake Growth Roadmap™ indicates that approximately 62% of engineers under 40 listen to podcasts on a regular basis. Edison Research just announced that the majority of adults in the U.S. have listened to a podcast. In fact, over 90 million have listened in the last month. Edison’s Infinite Dial report also indicates that online listeners spend nearly 17 hours a week soaking up information.
Free Download: 5 Key Steps to Developing a Digital Marketing Roadmap
A Must Have Digital Marketing Guide for Manufacturers
Podcasts Provide Unique Lead Generation Opportunity for Industrial and Manufacturing Firms
Written by Dan Konstantinovsky
Strategic Marketing, RH Blake
The more effective you are at helping customers define their challenges, navigate different approaches and offer distinct insight, the more likely customers are to choose you as the partner to help move their business forward.
But finding opportunities where ideal-fit prospects are early in their decision-making process is a significant challenge for many manufacturing marketers. And then meaningfully engaging with them is always easier said than done.
Enter podcasting. But not just as any podcasting, a strategic approach that leverages podcasting as a vehicle to help you engage with target prospects and position yourself as an expert, while creating meaningful relationships (and leads).
Why Strategic Podcasting for Industrial and Manufacturing Firms?
Podcasts have exploded in popularity in recent years and are now a common way to connect with target audiences. RH Blake’s Voice of the Customer research component of the RH Blake Growth Roadmap™ indicates that approximately 62% of engineers under 40 listen to podcasts on a regular basis. Edison Research just announced that the majority of adults in the U.S. have listened to a podcast. In fact, over 90 million have listened in the last month. Edison’s Infinite Dial report also indicates that online listeners spend nearly 17 hours a week soaking up information.
Free Download: 5 Key Steps to Developing a Digital Marketing Roadmap
A Must Have Digital Marketing Guide for Manufacturers
One model, and the one you most likely thought of when you read the title of this article, revolves around building an audience where the main objective is to maximize the number of listeners. And although this model can be an excellent approach to helping drive marketing opportunities, this article focuses on a different method. Our method focuses less on the quantity of listeners then on driving meaningful conversations with high-value prospects.
We call this model Targeted Podcasting.
Targeted Podcasting enables manufacturers to get in front of ideal prospects. Rather than sending multiple pieces of content over time and crossing your fingers while you wait for the right prospect to contact you, Targeted Podcasting takes an entirely different approach: You ask the prospect to communicate their company’s expertise by interviewing them on your podcast. This approach has several advantages:
Key Benefits of Targeted Podcasting for Industrial and Manufacturing Marketing
Accelerate Establishing Trust
For marketing certain industrial and manufacturing offerings, establishing trust is critical. By having a conversation via a podcast interview, you have an opportunity to:
- ask thought-provoking questions (and follow-up questions)
- express your understanding of your customers’ business and challenges
- develop trust quicker than you could with many alternative cold outreach methods.
Relationship Cultivation
When you invite someone to be a guest on your podcast, you have an opportunity to build rapport through conversation that doesn’t exist in traditional outreach efforts and express your admiration of the interviewee which may further deepen your relationship.
Plus, podcasts may offer additional reach opportunities as your guests are also likely to share the episode with their network which many times includes similar companies and potential opportunities for you.
Enhancing Authority
One important aspect of expertise is credibility. Your interviews allow you to showcase your knowledge on topics relevant to the interviewee, demonstrating your expertise on subjects that impact their business.
Plus, potential customers can see that others in their industry respect your brand enough to be part of your program, potentially making them more willing to have an initial conversation with you.
Additional Benefits of Targeted Podcasting for Industrial and Manufacturing Marketing
As an expanded form of content, podcasts are engaging and offer value to listeners. In addition to achieving the primary goal of establishing relationships with target prospects, podcasts deliver additional benefits:
Increased Exposure
Podcasts are discoverable by people across the globe through podcasting libraries and services. Plus, once transcribed, podcasts provide SEO benefits and help drive organic traffic to your site.
Enhanced Brand Loyalty
As demonstrated by the growing number of individuals listening to podcasts, this can be a great method to build a loyal audience. Offering high-value content attracts these listeners and helps builds brand loyalty.
Efficient Content Development
Podcasts allow you to multiply your marketing efforts. For example, once you’ve recorded a podcast, you can leverage the content from your episode and share in other marketing channels, such as social media and email.
Podcasts also provide another tool for your sales team to leverage in their sales efforts. In addition to the typical static marketing assets, podcasts enable your sales team to reach out to targeted prospects with engaging, recent content by sharing the episodes that are relevant for them.
Lastly, the podcast subject matter itself can also further your growth efforts. Your podcast conversations may cover vital topics in-depth, refine your thinking and assumptions, and help make you more knowledgeable about numerous topics.
Podcasting as a lead generation tool isn’t for every manufacturer
Certain manufacturers and industrial firms could benefit more than others from this approach. To explore this idea further and see how it could fit into your Industrial or Manufacturing Marketing, feel free to contact RH Blake at 216-595-2400 or info@rhblake.com.
