During our 2020 planning meeting with long-time client Weldcoa, we dove into a discussion about leveraging more digital channels to market their products and services to the compressed gas industry.
What were some of the motivating factors?
- Keeping their messages and channels fresh
- Providing value
- Deepening customer relationships
- Building prospective customer connections
- Adapting to external changes (technology/marketing/sales environments)
- Maintaining Weldcoa’s status as an innovator and industry leader
- Continuing to build their brand
- Controlling time and cost commitments
Our discussion quickly centered on transitioning our successful use of print and website testimonials into alternative formats, specifically podcasts. Testimonials have always been a staple of all good marketing – let your customers tell your prospects the impact your products and services have had on their businesses. And podcasts offered a fresh, more human-centered approach.
So, how could we transition from the successful series we had grown and nurtured for years to a purely audio program?
We first evaluated our current program. Over the years we’d created an expectation in the industry. Weldcoa’s case studies would include photos of the customer’s site, with Weldcoa’s products in action. We would conduct an interview with the Owner or Plant Manager. A couple of quotes would always be highlighted and details on the value the customer experienced would play out in a series of bullet points. The case studies were always well received, and Weldcoa’s customers were always anxious to participate and proud to share the results. To transition to podcasts would require us to change some expectations.
We then planned a course of action that would build excitement among Weldcoa customers and establish podcasts as the new and improved case study format.
The Making of Weldcoa Podcasts
The Premise
Of course, our initial goal was to adapt our traditional case study format to audio podcasts. But as we began the development, we quickly realized that we should also be complementing the stories told by Weldcoa’s customers with insights from Weldcoa’s experts. So, we developed two podcasts.
Podcast Naming
Weldcoa’s customers are referred to as Gas Distributors. They fill cylinders with compressed gases for many different applications, including industrial, medical, and specialty gases. We developed the title The Fill Line – A Podcast for Fillers From Fillers to clearly explain the peer-to-peer conversation tone we were capturing. The industry was already quite good at peer-to-peer sharing and interaction, so this was natural for them.
As for the second podcast with Weldcoa’s experts, we were already about 1 year into a campaign for Weldcoa titled Get More. The campaign emphasized the wide range of value that Weldcoa could bring to its customers. We also had recently evolved their overall brand to present a new level of confidence, strength, and experience. This led to the podcast title Gas Masters – Get More Out of Your Gas Business.
Cover Artwork
Artwork for both podcasts was designed to extend the brand into the medium.
Podcast Intros
We chose musical introductions that built energy and excitement for the beginning of the podcasts and would work as audio cues over time.
Interview Outlines
Customers who were chosen would offer unique perspectives in the initial round of interviews. We created scripted outlines and provided them to the interviewees prior to the interviews, so they could collect their thoughts.
Audio Quality
If you listen to podcasts you appreciate the value of high-quality audio. In order to ensure the highest quality for our podcasts, we decided to purchase microphones that we could ship to each interviewee, along with a prepaid return shipping label. We also provided branded instructions on setting up the microphone.
Interviewer
The interviewer for both podcasts is Proverb’s very own Christine Gravel.
Weldcoa felt her voice and delivery would provide the relaxed, conversational tone we desired, from an impartial, third-party interviewer.
Production
The interviews are recorded online, and then the audio is edited, the intro is recorded and they are published and registered with podcast directories.
Positive Outcomes
Podcasts offer a more “authentic” presentation of the customer stories. Actually hearing, in a customer’s own words, how Weldcoa provided value, and was an important part of their success, is much more powerful than the stories being delivered through Weldcoa’s website or in print.
What we gained
- Audio – actually ‘hearing’ the customers tell their stories
- More authentic, human-centered storytelling
- Even greater customer willingness to participate
- The first-hand endorsement of Weldcoa’s products and services
- Time – these are being produced in a much quicker timeframe
- The voice of the interviewee represents their company brand
- A sustainable program with endless opportunities
- Reduced costs (no facility visits for photography and interviews/no printing)
What can you do?
- Find new ways to deliver services and build brand.
- Focus more on providing value and less on selling.
- Prioritize the “win-win” for you and your customers.
The Pandemic Factor
The timing of the podcast series development couldn’t have been better, given the dramatic changes that have taken place since then. We thought we were creating online content to supplement what would typically be a time for attending, speaking, and exhibiting at tradeshows across the country and internationally. Instead, this content replaced the storytelling that would have taken place in person at those events.
Proverbism
It is important to keep your marketing moving forward. Take control of what you can and adapt to what you can’t.