Clark Buckner

Podcasts as B2B Marketing

Meet Clark Buckner, Founding Partner of Relationary Marketing. Relationary Marketing is an award-winning podcast production agency located in Nashville, Tenn., specializing in the B2B market. They serve national corporate clients and marketing/PR firms to leverage podcasting as part of their content strategy. He works with clients that span liquor brands to healthcare to technology.

What should we know about Clark?

Clark has conducted more than 7,000 lifetime podcast interviews and worked with more than 100 clients since 2014. He is the lead organizer of the Nashville Podcasters meetup, one of the largest in the country and recently won the Nashville Emerging Leader Award for Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising – given by the Nashville Chamber and Young Professionals Nashville.

What is a podcast today?

Podcasts are different than what they were when they started in 2005. Podcasting took off in 2014 with streaming smartphone, popular shows like Serial and even Saturday Night Live skits. Now some of the biggest brands want to be part of podcasting. But some things are the same  – it’s intimate and authentic. Data shows podcast listeners are loyal, affluent and educated. An average podcast listener listens to about seven podcasts. Voice first devices are playing a bigger role.

Well, with all the crime and entertainment podcasts in the world, why should we be talking about B2B podcasts?

Podcasting is a great vehicle for content marketing and can help you meet your goals. In B2B, listeners are looking for information, not entertainment, although a podcast should be entertaining in its delivery. The goals may be to grow relationships, help someone make a buying decision or move them along in some action they want to talk.

How did Clark get into the podcasting business?

Clark got into podcasting in 2012. He was interested in writers like Seth Godin. He found a podcast called the Unofficial Linchpin Podcast, based on Seth Godin’s often used term linchpin. Clark interviewed the host for a paper and eventually met him. Through this association, Clark met more people in the industry and solidified his interest in podcasting. The ability to reach out and talk to podcasters was also an intriguing, personal aspect of podcasting that continues to appeal to listeners today.

What business or person is a good prospect for a podcast?

It’s important to know what you are trying to achieve to understand if a podcast is the vehicle. What are your goals?  Is the podcast a relationship nurturing tool?  Do you need more visibility?  Do you have a built-in audience that needs information on a regular basis?  The goals need to be established first. And it is important to realize there is a time commitment and a schedule for a podcast that needs to be met on a reoccurring basis.

What are the steps for podcasting? 

  1. Content Design
  2. The Invitation of Guests
  3. Recording
  4. Post Production
  5. Publishing and Marketing

Is marketing a big part of podcasting?

Just like any content marketing, you need to do the basics. You need great show artwork and a strong brand. It’s important to create blog posts, newsletters, and social media. Make sure it is easy for guests to share information on their podcast.

What about podcasting groups like Nashville Podcasts?

In three years, the group has grown from seven or eight people to 100 now. The podcast community is growing. For each meeting, there is one presenter that covers a variety of topics like interview techniques, sound engineering, publishing, successful tips on building audience and more. There is also a Facebook group where podcasters can exchange ideas.

Resources and Links

Clark Buckner on Linked In

Relationary Marketing’s website

Relationary Marketing on Twitter