An Introduction to Podcast Marketing (with Examples)

Is a podcast a form of marketing? You bet it is! Podcasts can do more than keep you company on a road trip; they're also an effective B2B marketing strategy. If you want to use podcasts as a marketing tool for your business, all you need is a decent mic, a bit of knowledge, and a good plan that is easy to execute.

Unfortunately, because podcasts are so easy to start, the airwaves get increasingly crowded every day. It seems like everyone and their mom has a podcast, and honestly, with over 5 million unique titles totaling 70 million episodes, that’s not far from the truth. However, you shouldn’t let these numbers discourage you. With the help of a good podcast marketing strategy, you can still easily reach your target audience. (A stellar podcast marketing platform helps too, but we’ll talk about that later.)

Below, we’ll give you a few basics for creating a podcast marketing plan. We’ll also cover some real examples of how companies used podcasting to jumpstart their sales and marketing efforts. Let’s get started!

What Is Podcast Marketing?

Generally speaking, podcast marketing is the strategy that centers around growing your listenership and awareness around your podcast. But when it comes to B2B podcasting, there’s another layer to podcast marketing: using your podcast to further your business goals. So, you are marketing your podcast, which markets your business.

Why are podcasts a good marketing tool for B2B? Here are just a few reasons:

• • Authentic Expression | While many brands simply use podcast ads to spit out discount codes for products we don’t need, podcasts give you the freedom to express yourself in a much more natural way. Of course, we aren’t suggesting that every episode should be a complete improv session. Still, your listeners (and hopefully, clients) will connect to your podcast more if they feel you are building a relationship with them.
    
  • Brand Voice | Podcasts allow you to share your unique voice as a business — literally and figuratively. Here, you can express ideas and perspectives that show why you are different from your competitors. You’re also able to show off the qualities that make you the best choice. Think of each episode as a chance to speak directly to your ideal clients. What exactly do you want to tell them?
  • Content Creation | Having marketable content can be a challenge and often feels like a drag if your product or service isn’t exactly “sexy.” But, if you’re able to maintain a consistent podcast, you will always have a reliable source of content — and for multiple platforms. This is another case where Casted shines bright, helping you generate even more content from your podcasts.

There are many other benefits a podcast offers. But ultimately, for a B2B podcast to be successful, it has to serve your business model. If you still feel like you’re starting it “just to start one,” that’s a sign to determine how it can truly help your bottom line. Here are some ideas to help jumpstart your thinking!

How Should a Podcast Relate to Marketing Objectives?

Depending on what your business offers, a podcast is a flexible enough medium to augment just about any marketing goals and benefit your business in unique ways. To illustrate this, here’s how a couple of Casted clients — Lev Digital and Morales Group, Inc. — used their podcasts (and our podcast platform) to full advantage.

Lev Digital: From Sales, with Love

Podcasts can do more than market your business. As Lev Digital illustrated, a podcast can help align your company’s departments. Lev’s sales and marketing departments use their podcast In the Clouds as a unifying element between their two strategies. 

What started as a passion project for two experienced salespeople in their department evolved into great content. From there, Lev’s growing marketing department developed a relationship with sales through the podcast, repurposing the compelling content sales created. 

Which, by the way, can you believe sales were the culprit for starting the podcast? It turns out, the marketing department doesn’t always have to be the one who starts the podcast; anyone in your organization with compelling ideas, and a passion for advocating for your mission, can be your podcast crew. If it does come from another team besides marketing, your business’s podcast can help further build trust and alignment across departments. 

Morales Group, Inc.: Cross-Functional, Cross-Channel

When you’re getting the most out of a podcast, it can create business relationships not just with the end product of the podcast, but throughout the entire process of making it. No Milk No Sugar is a podcast by Morales that aims to get down to the nitty-gritty of running a business. As such, the podcast wants to provide as much value as possible to their consumers; in the words of CEO Seth Morales, the goal of No Milk No Sugar was “entertainment, but also learning.”

This mindset translates into how they repurpose their podcast content, amplifying it across multiple platforms at once. Enter tools like Casted’s Amplified Marketing Platform. Using it, Morales’s podcast was able to distill down the best moments from each episode into shareable, quick bites for their audience. This is especially important because, as business owners themselves, Morales’s target audience is, well, very busy. 

Another great thing about Morales’s approach to podcasting is that they see every guest on their show as an opportunity to build relationships and possibly even get new clients. As you consider who to bring on the show, remember that they aren’t just guests: they’re connections, relationships, or at the very least, new advocates for your business (if they enjoy their time on your show).

How Do You Use Podcasts for Marketing? Casted Can Help!

In a world flooded with mediocre podcasts, the ones with the most intentional, helpful content — and the best-executed plans — are the ones that stand out. And with the help of a platform like Casted, your podcast marketing plans are much easier to execute. You’ll be able to:

• • Share your podcast on all the popular streaming platforms like Spotify or Apple
  • Auto-generate transcripts and social media content with the click of a mouse (literally)
  • Obtain granular data on how your listeners consume your podcast — including favorite moments

There’s a lot more we could say about how great Casted is, but we feel the platform best explains itself. Try it out now!