Adding Authenticity to Your Marketing with Branded Podcasts

In an article posted over Business 2 Community titled Why Podcasting For Business Needs To Be In Your Content Marketing Strategy, the writer Danielle Winski makes a number of salient points. She begins by mentioning that podcasts are just “starting to get the recognition they deserve as an effective content marketing tool, but they’re “too often overlooked for the more common options of blogging and social media.” This is beginning to change, as more organizations are realizing how effective a well-thought-out podcast can be in communicating more than “thought leadership” – podcasts are by definition more personal, even intimate, and when done right, enable an organization to communicate in a more authentic way.

 

Here are what I thought the most arresting points Ms. Winski’s article made:

1. Loyalty and Trust–The nature of a podcast’s episodic structure encourages people to anticipate and come back for the next installment. As you develop loyal listeners you begin to build trust with them. It is no wonder 65 percent of fans say they are more willing to buy services and products that they hear about on their regularly listened to podcast.

2. Emotion – hearing the enthusiasm in your voice is a powerful tool. The emotion you feel when you’re talking is projected to your audience. While you can convey feelings in social media, blogging, and other forms of content marketing, it’s more difficult to achieve and does not have the same draw as hearing the eagerness in someone’s voice.

3. Influencing – A well-liked podcast is a source of expert information for a listener. When establishing your own podcast, you give your business an opportunity to become experts as well. Listeners become loyal to podcasts that prove they know what they are talking about, and with loyalty comes trust. As you grow your audience, you increase your influence through your expertise and trust.

 

Agreed. Podcasts help to educate and connect with customers at a deeper level while building community. The challenge is in producing a regular podcast that is consistently engaging and enlightening, and if you want to include guests, making sure they’re engaged so they’re at their most natural, forthcoming, and insightful. Producing a podcast is easy, doing it consistently well and making yourself heard above the “din” – and keeping people coming back every Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday – isn’t so easy. For more on delivering a consistently engaging pod, check out our podcast marketing services page – and feel free to schedule a call to discuss how you can make podcasting a powerful extension of your company’s voice.

June 15, 2021 9:15 am | No Comments

From Workplace to Workspace: Managing the Extended Workforce

extended workforce(Excerpted from Medium)

I recently moderated/lead a panel discussion on the challenges of managing an extended workforce (it was part of the HRTA’s Collaboration Zone event). The discussion followed several presentations which addressed the mechanics of the extended workforce, and an assortment of “enabling” technologies that allow workers and organizations to match talent to task, without geographical encumbrances. But the session I was enlisted to lead primarily spoke to the “collateral” issues:

• In the podcast I co-host (Work in Progress), we often talk about company culture — whether it’s a CEO, a film director on set, or a musician leading a recording session, we speak about the importance of building an esprit de corps that produces the best work and best outcomes. Will an increasingly extended workforce, where work is mostly transactional, make company culture less important? If it is still held to be important, how is it maintained across multiple time zones and personal work zones? (A shortcoming inherent in most conventional talent assessment models is their overly narrow focus on the required skills for minimal performance on the job. This may attract people who, on the surface, would appear to be good candidates and well‐suited to the position. But how many temp or gig hires who appear well-suited “on paper” don’t pan out owing to a variety of “cultural” and work style issues even if they work remotely? As someone who’s worked with numerous companies as an “outsider,” each company does have a distinct culture, even if it’s not something they explicitly express, and you do have to make the appropriate adjustments to assure a smooth, positive relationship.)

• An extended workforce implies that you’re on a perpetual hiring footing, which can be expensive, resource-intensive, time-consuming in that you’re continually needing to onboard and train, and it doesn’t always produce reliable results. If not carefully managed, the flexibility that “just in time” hiring offers can become a source of instability and uncertainty.

• How do you promote engagement and retention when the employer-employee relationship is task-oriented and inherently transactional? How do you retain a top performer, particularly as newer, shinier, and better-paying opportunities continuously beckon, and as one of the allures of gig work is the ability to go from company to company, gig to gig?

-More-

March 27, 2021 9:31 am | No Comments

BackBone and CuriousCheck Partner to Provide Integrated Content Marketing and SEO Programs for HR Technology Vendors

Companies to provide informed content, targeted delivery, and ongoing search engine optimization to promote brand discovery and engagement for broad cross section of HR vendors.

 

Kennesaw, GA — March 3, 2021 — HR marketing specialists BackBone, Inc. and CuriousCheck today announce a partnership to provide HR technology vendors with integrated public relations, content marketing, social media and SEO services. BackBone is one of the industry’s premier HR-focused PR and marketing firms, having supported a cross section of the most innovative HR companies for over 25 years; CuriousCheck’s digital marketing expertise and proven SEO methodologies have enabled numerous HR vendors to raise their visibility on all major search engines and social media platforms. Together, they will help HR technology vendors rise above the noise in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace by creating content – articles, blog posts, tweets, white papers, podcasts, infographics, etc. – that gets noticed, shared and discussed, putting them “in the room” where purchasing decisions are made.

“As HR Technology specialists, we know the issues, trends and competitive landscape, enabling us to craft informed, timely messages that resonate and get noticed,” said Charles Epstein, BackBone’s President. “CuriousCheck knows both HR and SEO, but don’t take my word for it – their work has consistently enabled the companies they work with to achieve top ranking on all the major search engines. Together, we’ll be able to help clients send messages that make the most meaningful impression and have the greatest impact.”

According to the 11th Annual B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report, only 31% of the organizations surveyed said that their organization had been extremely/very successful with content marketing over the past 12 months. One of the top factors contributing to that success was the value of their content (83%), specifically their blog posts, short articles and website enhancements. Respondents who were asked which marketing areas they were most likely to invest in over the coming year, cited content creation (70%) and website enhancements (66%).

“Being discovered in today’s competitive online marketplace is about consistently creating content that is timely and available from multiple well-regarded sources, combined with a deep understanding of ever-changing search engine algorithms,” said Carlos Crameri, Founder and CEO of CuriousCheck. “We’re pleased to partner with BackBone, a true pioneer in HR-focused marketing and PR. Their work is on point, highly readable, and deeply informed – essential in promoting visibility, engagement and trust.”

CuriousCheck and BackBone have worked with a broad range of HR technology companies, including providers of talent acquisition, HRMS/HRIS, payroll, performance analytics, benefits administration, background screening, onboarding, employee rewards, employee engagement, time and attendance, workforce mobility, EAP and wellness solutions. For more, visit https://www.curiouscheck.com/hr-marketing-services/

 

About BackBone

Founded in 1996, BackBone, Inc. is a marketing communications, public relations, and business development firm specializing in technology, healthcare and workforce management. Combining specific industry expertise, media savvy, creative communications and advanced technology tools, BackBone gets your message to market fast, efficiently and effectively.  For more, visit www.backboneinc.com. 

 

About CuriousCheck

CuriousCheck’s team of digital marketing experts provides customized SEO services and modern digital growth hacks for the Human Resources, Background Screening and Legal fields.

CuriousCheck develops and optimizes a full complement of digital assets – websites, landing pages, interactive content, promo videos, e-commerce portals, etc. – and leverages modern SEO tactics to promote discovery on all the top search engines and social media platforms, drive website traffic, heighten engagement, and increase sales. For more, visit www.curiouscheck.com

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March 3, 2021 9:19 am | No Comments