Podcast Promotion Strategy: Using Trade Publication Syndication

The goal of every B2B podcast is to generate value for your business. Depending on your metrics, growing your listenership is part of that goal. But more important is ensuring that your podcast is in front of the specific buyers that you’re looking for.

So, how do you ensure that your podcast reaches the specific buyers your business wants? 

If you’re looking to get started with B2B podcast promotion, here’s a quick guide.

Looking to find a quality promotion agency. Check out this list of podcast promotion services.

Quality over Quantity

When growing a B2B podcast, you need to prioritize quality over quantity. So, while getting more listeners is important, you need to get the right listeners. Having 50 of your potential customers listen to your podcast is more rewarding than 5,000 listeners from the general public.

As a B2B podcast agency, one of the biggest mistakes we see businesses make is using B2C tactics to promote a B2B podcast. The problem with this approach is that it prioritizes quantity over quality. As an example, let’s consider investing in Spotify, Facebook or Google ads. If your goal is brand awareness, this could work, because a platform like Spotify targets people interested in “business,” and you could reach more people. 

But if your goal is to target chief financial officers or leaders in the hospitality sector, you’re better off putting your promotion dollars into trade publication syndication.

Trade Publication Syndication

What is trade publication syndication?

This is an advanced form of podcast promotion where you partner with the major trade publications in your industry. These trade publications typically need a steady stream of industry-specific content to share with their audience, which looks to them to provide thought leadership and trending topics, while you connect with your target audience.

It’s a lot like platform syndication, where you promote your podcasts on platforms like Apple, Google Podcasts and Spotify to ensure you’re discoverable. However, syndicating your podcast with a trade publication doesn't just make sure you’re discoverable, it ensures you’re discovered by the right audience, thereby pushing you closer to your podcast goals and, ultimately, your business goals.

Getting Started

Here’s how it works: Let’s say you have a finance product and your target audience is CFOs at the enterprise level. You want to get your product solution in front of them through your podcast, so you go to leading finance publications and seek to partner with them to co-present the podcast together. 

This partnership will provide them with industry-specific content, while simultaneously putting your podcast in front of their audience, which is mostly finance professionals that are your target audience —  CFOs. 

If you want more information on how we’ve helped our clients partner with trade publications, reach out to hello@contentallies.com.

Trade publications are a great places to put your B2B podcast promotion dollars

Getting your podcast syndicated through a trade publication in your industry is one of the best things you can ever do. Going back to the example with CFOs, can you imagine how much traction your show will get from a steady stream of email blasts from a leading finance trade publication.

Negotiation

How do you structure the partnership? This is where things are a little different from running regular ads. Because you’re dealing directly with people, there is no off-the-shelf approach. Depending on the type of industry and audience, your costs will differ. A trade publication might charge you $50,000 per month to syndicate your podcast. If you can afford that, great! If you can’t, this is where you consider your overall budget and negotiate. 

Critically consider your goals in relation to where you’re at and where you want to be, and align with all relevant stakeholders. While it may be difficult to start with the major trade publications, we recommend starting with smaller publications, then growing from there. 

The goal is for a mutually beneficial relationship that you can leverage. 

Downsides

As with all methods, there are some downsides to look out for when considering syndicating your B2B podcast. It’s not a plug-and-play method. Negotiating the deal can be a lot of work and it can be expensive, too. However, so is spending $60,000 on Spotify ads or $75,000 on Google ads that don’t convert, as we’ve seen some companies do.

All in all, this is a very interesting and different model with unique opportunities for growth. Getting your podcast to your specific target audience is far more beneficial than just promoting it to the general public, and this is one way to achieve that goal.

Want to discuss podcasting for your B2B company?

Content Allies helps B2B companies launch revenue-generating podcasts. From startups to Fortune 500s, we have helped some of the world's leading companies build and run profitable podcasts. Contact us for your free podcast consultation at ContentAllies.com