Podcast Branding And Growth

Big day for our show Marketing Against the Grain Posted our 200th episode. Passed 2 million downloads. Passed 3 million YouTube views. Nice work Kieran Flanagan Some lessons from doing a podcast for 200 episodes: 1. Cross Promotion Drives Growth - doing guest spots or promo swaps with other shows or being part of a network that promotes you on other shows increases growth significantly by 30-40 percent. 2. Audio and Video at VERY different - what works on audio RSS in terms of content and format often does work as well on YouTube and vice versa. You need a playbook that incorporates both. 3. Feedback is how you grow - Listener round tables, YouTube comments, emails, engagement data make you better. Look at it and make adjustments each week and you get 10x better as those adjustments compound. 4. Guest need time to settle in - The first 5-10 min with a guest is going to get cut as they are getting comfortable and in the flow. You have to plan for that. 5. Guest bring listeners - As someone comes on your show they do bring their audience. Our guest episodes have higher views and downloads than non guest episodes. This is why so many shows are guest driven.

The time and budget resources required to build a podcast audience are grossly underestimated by those starting them. It's why so many networks target reality stars or creators with big TikTok or IG audiences to start a podcast about their lives or areas of interest. Built in audience, low hanging fruit. [Duh. Pretty obvs Kim]. Despite podcasting being a more accessible medium with less gatekeeping than traditional media, it takes a huge level of attention to detail and commitment to make something that reaches the goal you set for the podcast - be it large audience reach, monetization, lead gen, brand uplift or otherwise. From a creator podcast perspective - it takes me around 12 hours of work for each podcast episode I create [guest sourcing, prepping, recording, editing, promoting, admin, etc] and I currently have two episodes a week. Even with all that time I'm still not getting to all the marketing activities I need to be doing to grow it. And despite seeing some huge successes, I still haven't reached my audience or monetization goals after nearly 2 years and 108 episodes. Before starting a podcast, you have to ask yourself why. Especially when you're a brand creating its own podcast. 1. Why are you doing it? 2. Do you understand enough about the medium itself to know how to thrive in it [and promote it]? 3. Will your ideal audience value it? [are you laddering your show back to a cultural insight? or are you just creating it because it sounds like a good idea?] 4. What will your measures of success be? 5. Are you passionate enough about the topic / genre / theme to be consistent? Really consistent? Because for all the hard work and doom and gloom, the engagement that podcasts provide is unparalleled. You don't rent the space like on socials, where one hack can mean game over for the hard built follower count, you own it. And you own its extraordinary potential for positive impact. When it comes to building a podcast brand, you have to go in eyes wide open to reap the benefits. #podcasting #podcaster #brandedpodcast #podcaststrategy

First month down as an independent podcaster. A quick recap of what I’ve learned + game plan to make this huge: 1. Downloads are at 70% of where they were before my 8-month hiatus. Honestly higher than I expected. Shows the value of owning the feed & the intimacy of a podcast relationship. 2. Talking to my audience is a great way to stay motivated when numbers are still relatively small. I ask my listeners to email me at the top of every episode. Hearing how much Founder’s Journal helps them with their business gives me more than enough fire to do this for a long time. 3. Working with sponsors (like Gusto) that you actually believe in & are a customer of, makes the advertising business actually fun. I don’t feel slimy & I want to go out of my way to overdeliver for them. 4. Filled closets are exceptional studios if you don’t have a professional one. I recorded today’s episode in my mom’s closet with a Shure MV7, and you’d never know I had such a janky set up. 5. Evergreen shows have a crazy long tail. 38% of my monthly downloads came from episodes not recorded this month. This means 2 things: making episodes easily discoverable is crucial since people treat the show as service content & selling the back catalog is as important as selling new episodes. 6. Like any business, the market you pick for a podcast is everything. Because my show is for startup founders, there will always be more advertiser demand than quality supply. That means I can monetize this show at high CPMs without needing to dilute the content in search of a massive audience. 7. Have a YouTube native version of your podcast. Given how bad discoverability in podcasts is, creating top of funnel on the largest search engine in the world is (almost) always the right move. I plan to bring Founder’s Journal to YT in the coming weeks. 8. Niche is generally better in media & podcasts are no exception. Be niche in topic (How I Write by David Perell) or niche in format (Founders by David Senra) My niche is short-form (<20 min) solo records by founders. 9. A podcast is a living breathing organism. Every media franchise has an arc of relevancy and the only way to stay relevant for a long time (>3 years) is to keep evolving the show based on what your audience wants. It’s why having 2-way conversation with your community is so important. 10. I plan to get my pod to 5x per week. Why? More surface area for discovery & word of mouth. More opportunity to create daily habit. More founder voices to highlight beyond my own. One thought is creating a “Residency,” where I get 3-4 other founders (in different industries/stages) to host one episode per week for a quarter. 11. Far more valuable then the advertising business is the lead gen that the pod creates for all of my portfolio companies, where the LTV of a customer is in the tens of thousands. This is generally true for B2B pods. Reply below if you have any questions about podcast strategy I can answer.

Podcasts are still the most underused growth channel in B2B marketing (and yes, they can produce SERIOUSLY good ROI) In B2B, deals flow from relationships. Whatever stage you’re at, pre-seed or Series C, people buy from people. So here’s the Shake play: 1. Get your founder, CEO, head of sales or commercial lead to host (or co-host) a podcast 2. Build it around your category Example: if you are a sales enablement tool, we are building a podcast called Sales Therapy. 3. Then use Sales Nav, Apollo, Beauhurst, whatever you’ve got to build a list of your 20 dream customers. 4. Invite them on (DM, email, voicenote - its still sales) 5. About 50% will reply and many will accept to chat (nothing beats a podcast conversion rate from outreach to 'close') They might not take your sales call But they’ll accept a platform to share their story Sweeten the deal by offering 3–4 edited clips they can post to their own socials Now you’ve got: - Industry experts on your podcast - One-on-one time with a decision maker (on and off mic) - A long-term relationship that’ll beat a cold email any day What we have seen work and close over £100,000 for ourselves from podcast: - An easy follow-up reason weeks later“Know anyone else who’d be great for the pod?” - A reason to grab coffee in 3 months and pick up the conversation again The BIGGEST learning from running my own podcast and our clients is: ✔️ Do a research call first, qualify them as a guest and a prospect ✔️ Prep them properly: ask for stories, bring data, tailor the angle ✔️ In person smashes virtual, however, with tools like Riverside or Zencastr for online recording allows for high-quality worldwide recordings. Also...they are FUN. I love hosting a podcast and its increased my network with incredible incredible founders, entrepreneurs and people tenfold. _____________________________ I am James Farnfield, I am building Shake Content, a LinkedIn content agency that creates posts, videos, webinars and podcasts. All wrapped in a beautiful marketing strategy perfect for time-poor, resource strained B2B high-growth leaders and their teams.

This is how I've helped big brands launch podcasts that currently have 10 million+ subs without a celebrity host. Creators think they only need star power in the long run, but my framework works without it. In reality, your host needs one core trait, and it's not followers, a big budget, or virality. The best hosts aren't the most agreeable or the most knowledgeable. They're just the most curious. Look at successful business podcasts: Ranveer Allahbadia:  Questions conventional wisdom in every BeerBiceps Media World Private Limited episode. Raj Shamani:  Figuring Out on YouTube challenges guests to share their real entrepreneurship struggles. Here's the framework learned from then and used: 1. Start with the listener journey Map out their current beliefs, fears, and aspirations. Your content should bridge this gap. 2. Design your conversation arc The opening should challenge a common assumption. The middle must explore unexpected angles and then land on actionable insights. 3. Host selection strategy We didn't chase industry experts but instead found someone who: - Asks questions like a 5-year-old - Highlights all the inconsistencies - Steers away from obvious questions 4. Production Approach We recorded 3 episodes before launching only to - Get feedback from target listeners - Iterate on format and flow That's how we created a podcast that isn't about the host or the guest. It's about creating intriguing moments to keep listeners entertained. But most branded podcasts fail because They're platforms instead of solutions. Focus on serving your audience, not showing your expertise. So, what's your favorite podcast and why? #podcast #marketing #influencer #brandbuilding

I asked the world's leading podcaster, Steven Bartlett for advice on growing my podcast. The answer was supposed to be three minutes long. But, he gave me a whole lecture with such great game that I can't gatekeep it. I have been digesting what he said and here are the lessons you can learn when it comes to innovating and developing your content strategy. I call it the 'Bartlett Big Three' 1) Swing for a Fundamental Innovation. When he launched The Diary Of A CEO six years ago, the founder/CEO podcast format remained unexplored territory. He recognised this arbitrage opportunity and seized it. Today, he sets the standard. Countless shows mirror his format, style, and thumbnails. The window has closed, he told me. The next imitation of a DOAC podcast will fail miserably. Breaking through now demands innovation in concept, content or format. He offered a provocative example: "I wouldn't watch another interview show but I would totally watch a podcast series about why someone is cheating secretly on their spouse." Imitation guarantees obscurity. Audiences will still seek the original. It's better to swing hard for something novel altogether. 2) Experiment Relentlessly But here's what separates him from most people who build an audience: he never stopped experimenting. He hired Grace Miller to help the DOAC team run fast experiments, fearlessly and often. They tested hypotheses to improve retention, engagement and click through rates. Compare his podcast today to 2021—the trailers, b-rolls, even ad-reads have been transformed dramatically. Each upgrade stems from an experiment. Most creators with his audience would coast. Steven remains relentless about treating the podcast as a product to improve. Then he said something that forced me to pause: "I am not romantic about being right, I am romantic about winning." Do you want to win or be right? The point of experimenting, I've realised, is to lock you into that focus—improving the product becomes the work itself. 3) Sweat The Small Stuff. I asked him about the Jimmy Fallon interview—the moment when Jimmy pulled out a custom scrapbook of photos and quotes, prepared live during filming. Why? "I sweat the small stuff," he said "A lot of greatness is unlocked this way." The scrapbook isn't just a generous gesture. It's representative of how he thinks about every element of the podcast. But here's the thing: the scrapbook is one of hundreds of small details he's obsessed over. Better lighting. Tighter editing. More thoughtful questions. Smoother ad transitions. Each improvement seems minor in isolation but they compound. The podcast you see today isn't the result of one breakthrough idea. It's the accumulation of relentless, incremental improvements across every dimension of the experience. Whilst competitors copy the surface-level format, they miss the infrastructure of obsession underneath. They would never go to such lengths. That's his edge.

𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 $𝟯 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 $𝟱𝟭 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁? "That’s not going to happen.” Doug C. Brown doesn’t sugarcoat it. And that’s exactly why I wanted him on Biz Bites for Thought Leaders. After generating over $600M in sales, Doug has seen every revenue fantasy imaginable. But he always brings it back to one fundamental truth: Math never changes In this 90-second clip, Doug breaks down why so many businesses fail - they’re chasing goals that are mathematically impossible. His approach? Start with your TRUTHFUL goal. Not what sounds impressive. What the actual metrics support. “Once we understand what the truthful goal is, then we can really start objectively looking at it because we can put math to that process.” Now here’s why this matters for YOUR business: Most marketing strategies are built on hope, not math. You’re told to “post consistently” or “go viral” or “build your personal brand” - but nobody shows you the actual numbers. 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 When I help business leaders launch their shows through Podcasts Done For You, we start with truthful goals: ✓ How many ideal clients do you need? ✓ What’s your conversion rate from conversation to client? ✓ How many episodes will it take to reach your revenue target? The math works. Every episode is an asset. Every guest brings their network. Every conversation positions you as the authority. This is why 1.5 billion people listen to podcasts - and why YOUR ideal clients are in that audience. 🎙️ Want to see how the math works for your business? That’s exactly what we do at Podcasts Done For You. 💭 If you could have at least a 20-minute conversation with your ideal client every week, how would that change your business? #Podcasting #ThoughtLeadership #BusinessGrowth #ContentMarketing #LeadGeneration

Podcasting wasn’t always the marketing powerhouse it is today. Remember when podcasts were mostly niche conversations, hobbyist recordings, or long-form interviews with limited reach? In fact, if you’d told someone five years ago that a podcast could drive investor interest or build a high-growth brand, they’d probably have given you a polite smile and moved on. That phase is long gone. Today, podcasts have quietly become one of the most intimate, trust-building tools in a marketer’s arsenal. The shift happened not with noise, but with consistency. Not through ads, but through authentic storytelling. A podcast today is almost like having a dedicated, 24x7 channel in someone’s ear. Take The Barbershop with Shantanu, for example. The podcast wasn’t a platform for the VC fund Barbershop but guerrilla marketing tool for the Bombay Shaving Company. A brand that was targeting youth & competing with a monopoly MNC player. The young marketing team suggested it & Shantanu Deshpande being the risk taker & visionary rolled into one, decided to go ahead. What followed was amazing success with the brand growing in online search & creating an impact. The candid, unfiltered conversations with founders, makers, and leaders soon became much more than just a podcast. It became a brand in itself with a community, a point of view, and a clear ethos. It thrives on depth and realness, qualities that are surprisingly hard to find in today’s overproduced content universe. As the podcast evolved, they introduced Raiser’s Edge, a segment within the show where early-stage founders get a chance to pitch their startups. This isn’t just for visibility or feedback. Some of these founders have received actual funding interest, mentorship offers, and meaningful traction, directly because of their feature on the podcast. So in effect, what was once a simple conversation series now doubles up as a discovery engine, an incubator, and a relationship-building platform, all rolled into one. Without sounding like a campaign. Without spending lakhs on performance marketing. Just by building value, one episode at a time. What makes it work? Consistency, because podcasts only build traction with time Intentionality, because it’s not about being everywhere, it’s about being meaningful Respect for the listener’s time, because your audience can sense when you’re just filling airspace The real power of podcasting isn’t in the metrics. It’s in the mindset. So the next time you're exploring marketing channels, don’t overlook the one that’s quiet, high-trust, and community-first. Because in an age of fleeting scrolls, the real win is being the voice people choose to listen to. Have you come across any other podcasts that became community or brand movements? I’d love to know which ones made it to your regular listening list. #podcasting #marketing #branding

“Help, our CEO wants to increase the reach of our podcast dramatically, but nothing seems to work,” shared a frustrated CMO from a $250mil tech company. We’ve all been there. A senior exec stumbles across a podcast success story—usually one with a massive consumer audience—and suddenly expects your niche B2B show to take off like SmartLess. That’s not how this works. But don’t worry, this post isn’t a rant. It’s a roadmap. Here are 8 ways to increase the reach (and value) of your podcast—without selling your soul or sacrificing quality: [For a more complete list, visit RenegadeMarketing.com/blog] 1. Nail the Content First. This should go without saying, but far too many shows overlook the fundamentals. Prioritize clear audio, sharp editing, and relevant topics. If you don’t have something unique or genuinely helpful to say, no amplification trick will save you. 2. Define the Right Audience. Success isn’t about volume—it’s about value. My show is for B2B CMOs. Every topic, guest, and soundbite is tailored to their pain points. You don’t need 10,000 listeners if the right 500 are tuning in. 3. Find Your White Space. If your show sounds like everyone in your category, you’re toast. Take inspiration from Jeff Morgan at Elements, who built a category-leading podcast for dentists when no one else had. Specificity breeds loyalty. 4. Choose Guests Strategically. Whether it’s customers (great for relationship building) or well-known thought leaders (great for awareness), your guests should be relevant and share-worthy. Bonus: Guests with large followings often promote the episode—just make it easy for them with ready-to-go assets. 5. Consistency Is Non-Negotiable. Release episodes weekly—same time, same length. Sporadic publishing kills momentum. A reliable cadence builds habits and trust with your listeners. 6. Multiply Your Assets. Record both audio and video. Then slice your content into 90-second clips and quote cards. Share them on LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, newsletters—wherever your audience hangs out. These “micro-moments” extend your reach exponentially. 7. Be a Guest on Other Podcasts. One of the best ways to grow your show is to appear on others that reach similar audiences. Just like being a great interviewer, being a great guest takes prep. Be spontaneous, sure—but also pithy. Give your host room to respond. You’re in a conversation, not a keynote. 8 . Don’t Forget Internal Value. If your podcast builds customer love, sharpens your POV, and trains your sales team—that’s value, even if the external reach is modest. Would you be happy speaking to 800 members of your target audience every month? Most executives would be thrilled. That’s the power of a niche podcast. Final thought: Before your CEO asks about “reach,” help them understand the purpose. In niche B2B, a podcast isn’t just a megaphone. It’s a magnet, a relationship-builder, and a strategic asset. What have you done to grow your podcast’s audience?

Why podcasts are at the core of my demand gen strategy. 🎙️👇 In today’s content saturated world, breaking through the noise isn’t just about clever adverts or gated white papers. It’s about connection. For me, that connection is happening in one powerful place, podcasts. I didn’t get involved in helping to run podcasts over the past 3 years because it was trendy. I did it because I saw something deeper: 👉 A platform to build trust at scale. 👉 A space to develop thought leadership. 👉 A chance to have real conversations that people actually want to listen to. Here’s what I’ve learned. The mic forces you to find your voice. Not just your brand voice, your real voice. The long form nature creates context rich content you can slice, repurpose, and amplify everywhere. Guests? They're not just interviewees, they're relationships, amplifiers, and collaborators. And the audience? They’re not just leads. They’re listeners who become supporters and often, something even more valuable. When someone gives you 30, 45, 60 minutes of their time in their ears, unfiltered, uninterrupted, that’s not a casual scroll or a click. That’s trust. That’s attention in its purest form. If you're thinking about stepping into the medium, do it. Even if it’s messy. Even if you're not "ready". Your people aren’t waiting for perfection, they’re waiting for perspective.