6 B2B Podcasting Mistakes Your Company Should Avoid

September 7, 2021

I have the pleasure of being a guest on lots of B2B podcasts. It might be the thing that I do best.

One topic that hosts 🧡 to talk about with me is B2B podcasting mistakes. Since my team has helped hundreds of companies start their own podcasts, I've seen a thing or two. That includes common mistakes new podcasters tend to make with their show.

I want to tell you about these mistakes so you can avoid them.

6 B2B Podcasting Mistakes Your Company Should Avoid:

Keep reading for the deets.

1. Naming Your Podcast After Your Company or Expertise

This is probably the most common B2B podcasting mistake we see companies make -- naming their show after their company or expertise.

Before you launch your B2B podcast, make sure you're not making a ginormous mistake.

Your Podcast's Goal

The whole point of your B2B podcast is to do one of five things:

Grow an audience.
Build relationships with industry influencers.
Build relationships with potential customers.
Reduce churn.
Pass on organizational information.

If your goal is 1, 2, or 3, DO NOT name your podcast after yourself. Especially if you're trying to build relationships with potential buyers. They aren't interested in listening to or guesting on a podcast about your company.

They ARE interested in...

Content that will make them better at their jobs.
Looking like an industry expert in front of their peers.
Sharing content that makes them look like a rockstar.

[READ: Just starting out with your B2B podcast? Bookmark this Ultimate B2B Podcasting Guide. Thank us later.]

Your ideal listeners are searching for podcasts that will deepen their expertise -- not force an infomercial down their throats. And it just so happens that those are the same podcasts that your ideal buyer wants to be a guest on.

So, stop making it about your company. Make it about your ideal customer.

How to Name Your B2B Podcast

Then what the heck do I name my show?

We thought you'd never ask!

Here are the four formulas we use to help B2B podcasters name their show something rad:

👉 Ideal Buyer's Industry + Ideal Buyer's Role

Examples: The Healthcare CFO; The SaaS Founder; The B2B Sales Leader

👉 The Primary Activity Your Ideal Buyer is Responsible For

Examples: Selling Homes; The Customer Experience Show; Crafting Culture

👉 The Aspirational Identity of Your Ideal Buyer

Examples: The Innovative Agency; Masters of Events; The Intelligent Marketer

👉 Vilify the Enemy of Your Ideal Buyer

Examples: Stop the Noise: The Content Marketing Show; Churn Sucks: A Podcast for Recurring Revenue Businesses; Flip My Funnel: The ABM Podcast

Land more industry experts by pitching a spot on a show that focuses on their expertise. Why would they want to talk about your company or product?

View your B2B podcast from the perspective of your ideal listeners, guests, and customers.

🐱‍💻 TL;DR: Your ideal customers don't want to be on or listen to a podcast about your company. They want to demonstrate and deepen their own expertise. Name your show after them.

2. Not Using Your Show as Part of Your ABM Strategy

Are you only interviewing authors and thought leaders on your B2B podcast? Consider integrating it with your ABM strategy.

Interview Target Accounts

You can reenergize your ABM strategy when you inject your podcast. All you need to do is start interviewing industry practitioners who match your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). If you already have a list of target accounts and primary decision-makers, you're well on your way.

Interviewing your ideal customers from target accounts allows you to establish an authentic, trusting relationship with them. You're not hucking up another sales pitch. You're asking them to share their perspective on a topic they're an expert in. And, ideally, you named your podcast after them. 😉

See, when you create content with your ideal customer, your relationship is rooted in something that benefits both of you. It's content that frames them as an expert, and that makes people feel good.

Build Relationships w/ Your Podcast

This whole process is something we like to call content-based networking. Essentially, you use your podcast as the platform to build a relationship with your ideal customers. It's a lot more appealing than another cold email.

Eventually, your guests can turn into your customers. They're more likely to when they know you value them enough to make mutually beneficial content with them.

If you're not supporting your ABM strategy with your B2B podcast, you're missing out on a ton of revenue.

🐱‍💻 TL;DR: Use your B2B podcast as a platform for building relationships with decision-makers from your target accounts.

3. Only Having One Show Host

You limit your podcast's content when you only have one show host.

There are multiple benefits of having several hosts:

Capacity to create more content
More points of view
Bigger audience
Different expertise
More interview opportunities
More content sharing

Having more than one host for your B2B podcast basically multiplies the benefits of one host. You get more content, more perspectives, more opportunities to relate to guests and listeners, and a larger audience altogether.

And, by putting out more content, you identify what resonates with your audience quicker.

Here's what you should look for in a podcast host. 👇

🐱‍💻 TL;DR: Have multiple show hosts to increase your content output and your exposure.

4. Not Uncovering Guests' Unique Points of View

Your guest has an original perspective on something that hasn't yet been shared on your show. It's your job to pull that unique take from your guest. Help them say something different from everyone else.

You should go into each podcast interview clear on your guest's unique point of view. The best way to do this is to have a pre-interview.

Pre-Interview

A pre-interview gives you and your guest a chance to get to know each other and figure out what you're going to talk about.

[READ: Here's how to have a productive pre-interview every time.]

It doesn't have to be a long call -- about 15 minutes. As long as you lock down your main talking points around your guest's unique Point of View (POV).

Uncovering your guest's unique POV means asking them some special questions.

POV Discovery

There are sub-categories of your show's overall theme. You need to figure out each guests' niche and how their experiences are distinctive.

There are three questions our team uses all the time to draw out unique POVs:

What should everyone in your industry start doing?
What should everyone in your industry stop doing?
What's a commonly held belief in your industry that you passionately disagree with?

It's seldom that these questions don't reveal some kind of unique perspective from the guest. And, since you discovered it in a pre-interview, you have a clearer idea of what the actual interview is going to focus on.

This makes for way more relevant and valuable content for your listeners.

🐱‍💻 TL;DR: Original points of view make for better content. Use the three POV discovery questions to reveal your guest's unique perspective.

5. Not Doing Original Research Through Your Podcast

Your B2B podcast gives you the chance to talk with industry practitioners including your ideal customers. Why not get all that you can from it?

Why Do Original Research

With B2B Growth, we ask guests the same 10 questions either before or after the interview. These questions are meant to generate original research for a variety of uses.

When you get up to 100 answers for each question, the qualitative data can be used for...

Top-of-funnel content
Ad copy
Blog posts
LinkedIn statuses
LinkedIn carousels
Social media graphics
Email copy
Videos

Not only can you create a bunch of share-worthy content from original research -- just by doing it, you're positioning yourself as a thought leader.

How to Do Original Research

To start doing original research via your B2B podcast, think of 8-12 questions you'd like to ask your ideal buyer.

Questions like...

What’s the social media platform you spend most of your time on?
What makes a compelling cold email headline?
What do you search for when you’re looking for marketing trends?
What’s one way your team has successfully repurposed content?
About how many podcasts are you subscribed to?
What’s your favorite way to consume industry-focused content?
What’s your least favorite industry buzzword?

Once you decide on the questions you want to ask, start asking each of your podcast guests before or after your interview.

Collect all of the answers in a spreadsheet to keep them organized. Then, when you have enough, sort the data to make it useful. You could come up with stats like...

6/7 real estate agents say they'd open a cold email with their name in the subject line.
65% of marketers hate the word "innovation."
1/2 hospital administrators are subscribed to five podcasts or more.

** These are all examples of statistics. NOT REAL. **

You get the idea, right?

You can even monetize the research you're developing. Make a quarterly or annual report, outlining all of the insights you've collected from your podcast guests (AKA, ideal customers).

🐱‍💻 TL;DR: Start asking your podcast guests the same 8-12 questions before or after the interview. Collect their answers in a spreadsheet to analyze patterns and anomalies.

6. Not Organizing Mastermind Groups w/ Former Guests

Sure, you can interview ideal customers on your podcast, but what about after?

Why Organize Mastermind Groups

A great way to nurture relationships with past guests is to organize small mastermind groups. The keyword here is small. Ideally, no more than five people per group.

The benefits of organizing small mastermind groups include...

More intimacy
More meaningful human interactions
More diverse and unique POVs
More connection opportunities

Facilitating mastermind groups for past guests is an opportunity to deepen your relationships with them. You do, however, have to make sure that you're offering enough value through the groups to attract people.

How to Organize Mastermind Groups

Here's how our team facilitates mastermind groups with former guests:

The mastermind groups meet for one hour each month.

In the first meeting, we’re just getting to know each other. The facilitator asks some thought-provoking questions, like…

What does your perfect day outside of work look like?
What did you dream of being as a Senior in high school?
What are you celebrating or mourning in life right now?

The next five meet-ups consist of three 20-minute segments. They include…

Lessons learned: Someone shares a lesson they’ve learned over the course of their career.
An experiment: Someone shares an experiment they’ve tried relating to their job and what the results were if it’s completed.
Deep dive: Someone shares a challenge they’re going through and the group brainstorms possible solutions.

Each member knows when they’re scheduled to share something so they can prepare.

Then, after six months of meeting, the mastermind groups rotate. This way, people can get value from other perspectives and experiences.

People join the groups because...

They feel more comfortable sharing ideas with a small group.
They get to network with industry experts.
They want to build genuine relationships.
They enjoy learning from other perspectives.

And they stay because...

They’ve built lasting relationships with their peers.
There are no product pitches from the facilitator.
It’s advanced their career.
It’s expanded their network in a meaningful way.
They’re responsible for sharing a lesson, experiment, or challenge.

🐱‍💻 TL;DR: Organize small mastermind groups with your past guests to nurture and deepen relationships.

B2B Podcasting Mistakes

Avoid them. Other people (including me) have made these B2B podcasting mistakes so you don't have to.

Just remember:

Keep your show about your ideal customers.
Use your podcast to support your ABM strategy.
Have more than one host.
Ask questions to uncover your guests' unique POVs.
Do original research via your podcast.
Organize small mastermind groups with past guests.

You got this!

For more B2B podcasting knowledge nuggets, subscribe to B2B Growth on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.