Marketers are badasses.
There, we said it. We get to work with marketers all over the country, and time and time again we see it—the creativity, grit, resilience, brilliance, and well, overall badassery of people who work in marketing.
But sometimes as marketers, I think we forget there are rockstars in other departments, too. Other people with their own gifts, talents, and unique flavor of badass to bring to the table.
And when it comes to producing brand podcasts, which you know we are obsessed with, linking arms with other teams can take your show to the next level. (And it can be fun, too!)
Working cross-departmentally can be tricky. We get it. Sometimes it feels like different departments are on different planets. Other times there are clashing agendas, competing ideas, or discordant personalities.
But working together can pay off bigtime, especially when it comes to a significant initiative like a podcast. Bringing in different perspectives, ideas, voices, and energies can create something that marketing on its own simply can’t pull off. (I know, I know, we think we can do anything! And often we can. But hear us out here.)
When we shared the mic with our good friend Holly Enneking, Vice President of Marketing and Alliances at Lev, one thing became clear: working with multiple teams on a brand podcast is not only possible, it’s powerful.
Holly shared with us how Lev’s show, In the Clouds, came together and how the different teams partner up to make it happen. Here are just a few of the wisdom nuggets we walked away with when it comes to creating a killer cross-department podcast.
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Let passionate people tell stories
Remember doing everything you could to keep your eyes open in college while a snore of a professor droned on? The worst.
Sometimes even the most wise and experience-saturated experts are painful to listen to. Maybe it’s just that monotone voice. Other times it’s a complete lack of energy and passion. (And maybe someone just needs another shot of espresso?)
All that to say: passion matters. Listening to someone who is fired up about a topic fires you up, too. Passion is contagious, and it’s a great way to spark interest and action in listeners.
Putting energetic, excited people who are passionate about the topic at hand behind the mic just makes sense. And sometimes those folks work in marketing; other times they don’t.
At Lev, their podcast rockstars began with the sales team—specifically Bobby Tichy and Cole Fisher. These guys were on fire about the Salesforce Marketing Cloud (both former Salesforce employees) and brought not just experience, but massive amounts of fun, energy, and enthusiasm to the table, too. And they had great stories to tell from working so directly with prospects and customers.
Lev would be crazy to not let these two fired up experts drive the show. But doing it all on their own wasn’t terribly smart of feasible either. That’s why the two departments started teaming up to make even more magic happen. -
Provide freedom and framework
When Holly came on board at Lev in 2019, Bobby and Cole had already released a few episodes and were gaining traction. It would have been easy for her to show up and say, “Hey, this is something marketing should be housing. We’re taking this over.”
But she didn’t. She knew the value of going into things with an open mind and giving freedom and a voice to passionate people. So instead of taking over, she focused on how marketing could come alongside Bobby and Cole and make the show even better by providing structure and support.
As they looked ahead to 2020, sales and marketing came together to talk about how the podcast fit into the overall content strategy, goal alignment, fresh ideas, and what kind of framework might help the show succeed.
“Marketing knew that we needed to be supporting sales in order to help support the business,” Holly shares. “We were able to demonstrate to the sales team that we heard them, that we were going to move quickly to get them what they needed and really build trust with them.”
Together the teams worked to develop a content calendar, consistent publishing schedule, and leaned into metrics (through our very own Casted platform!) to stay on track.
“We were able to come back to [Bobby and Cole] and show them, ‘Hey look! All of this effort that you’re putting into [the show], it is actually paying off. We have metrics we can show you. We have listener data we can show you. We can show you which episodes are popular and what sort of topics are getting more attention,’” Holly says.
The synergy and alignment sparked new ideas and a framework for keeping the show on track. Not only that, but collaboration has enabled marketing to create all kinds of ancillary content from each episode. Holly and her team are able to take all the effort and energy Bobby and Cole pour into the show to spin off all kinds of useful content like blogs, audiograms, social posts, and more. They aren’t letting a single bite of content go to waste, continually maximizing ROI and dishing up great stuff for their audience. -
Allow diverse voices to shine
I know we hate to admit it sometimes, but often some of the most brilliant minds in our companies fall outside of the marketing department. There is so much value in putting others behind the mic so they can share firsthand expertise and a unique perspective. Taken together, these diverse voices make up the fabric of who your company really is.
“I love that it [the podcast] gives us an opportunity to shine a light on Lev and who we are. We are our people. That’s everything that we’re bringing to the table,” Holly shares.
Undoubtedly there are shining stars in every department just waiting to be given a stage. Sometimes all it takes is a little brainstorming and prep to put someone new and powerful behind the mic. -
Create buy-in
Nobody wants to feel left out. Creating a podcast in a marketing vacuum might feel like the easiest way to go, but you lose the opportunity to get others invested from the get-go.
Inviting people from other departments to collaborate not only brings in fresh perspectives, new energy, and diversity, but it forms a wider network of support and champions from the start.
When team members feel like they’re being heard and are invited to be part of something, they are far more likely to be excited and invested. Our advice? Start involving others early and often to make your podcast the best it can possibly be.
Are the wheels turning on how you might involve others in your podcast master plan? We hope so! And if you want to go deeper, you can check out the entire episode with Holly Enneking, including key takeaways and more.
Two big brains are better than one. That’s why we love partnering up with big-brained companies like yours to unlock the power of brand podcasts. We equip B2B marketers with a centralized podcast platform so they can collaborate across teams, amplify strategy, and define ROI. Want to learn more? Request a demo now.
