88% of consumers trust online testimonials and reviews as much as recommendations from friends or family, which is why brand advocacy and customers telling their own stories can be so powerful. One of my favorite projects at IdeaScale was launching a monthly podcast series that became a way not just to talk about our features and capabilities, but for our customers to build up their own careers and highlight the strategies that had made them successful. For anyone looking to launch their own customer interview podcast, here are some of the best practices that I followed to create a constant stream of customer-generated podcast stories.
I monitored our customer health index, NPS feedback and account management conversations to identify podcast candidates. Then I’d draft an email to that contact giving them a little bit of information about the podcast and what they could expect.
Hi there FIRSTNAME,
I’m NAME and I work with IdeaScale’s customer success team.
I was thinking about you the other day though when I was talking to my communications team about our best customers. We're looking for some new guests to interview on our IdeaScale Nation podcast and I thought it might be really interesting for our listeners to hear about your SUCCESSPOINT. It's just a short 30-minute interview segment and we send you the questions in advance so that you can prepare. We’ve featured tons of other great brands like Clorox, NASA, JR Simplot and others.
Is that something you or someone on your team would be interested in? If so, let me know and I'll loop you into the scheduling process with our communications team. If not, no worries, but I'd still love to hear any updates to your story!
Thanks,
NAME
2. If the contact agreed, I would send a follow-up email asking them to send some dates and times (or just put 60 minutes directly on my calendar using calendly), as well as some audio best practices.
Try to find as high-quality an audio recording as you can - this could be your iPhone, but oftentimes offices will have access to a Snowball mic or some other piece of equipment. If you're not sure, feel free to email. Don't use a speakerphone
Stay 4–6 inches (10–15 cm) from your microphone.
Wear headphones.
Go somewhere quiet. If you hear something, the microphone probably can, too.
Turn off notification sounds or set to DND.
Try to stay still
When you're not speaking, try to use your mute button.
Don’t worry if something goes wrong - we can pause and edit out mistakes/background noise so long as it doesn't occur too close together. This is not a live broadcast.
3. Then I’d get to work researching! I’d look up information about the company (particularly as it related to my podcast or industry), I’d look up information about the interview subject (their LinkedIn at the very least, but I’d also read past interviews, blog posts, listen to other podcast guest spots). I’d also look for information in my existing systems about the contact and their use case: Salesforce data, product feedback and then I’d take all of that information to craft a series of at least ten questions that were unique to their story and the insights that they might have to share. Often I’d borrow from our baseline case study questions:
Why did you originally decide to use this solution? What were you doing before?
What did you do to make your implementation succeed?
Are there any metrics/measurable results associated with this initiative?
Did you learn anything surprising or interesting as a result of your program?
Was there any other benefit to the initiative?
What was your favorite thing about this initiative?
I found it really important to do this work, because it made me feel more comfortable with the interview subject so that I could follow-up and ask more probing questions when necessary, but I also found that many of my subjects were first-time interviewees and they were a little nervous themselves. To help them relax and prepare, I would send them the information I was planning to use in the introduction to their episode and the questions I intended to ask them in advance so that they could think meaningfully about them before we chatted. I advised them not to read their answers from the page even if they wrote them down, as interviewees often sound “wooden” or insincere when they do this. I’d also ask if they had any feedback or edits to help smooth the way for approvals later. A final prep sheet looked something like this.
4. I always scheduled an hour with my subjects even though our podcast was a half hour. I found there was usually enough introducing and audio fixing that it was best to have some cushion. I’d host the conversation on Zoom (on the floor of my bedroom closet where the acoustics are best) and start off the conversation by asking about the pronunciation of any names I was unsure of, reminding them to silence notifications on their devices and to use mute when they weren’t speaking, coached them on how to pause before correcting a sentence, and when they were ready, I hit record.
As we chatted, I would make note of any specific word or sentence that I thought might not be right for the final cut so that I could change it or update it in the editing stage later. I would also highlight specific words, sentences or takeaways during the conversation, because this would help me find gems that I wanted to bring attention to and write up the podcast description later.
When the conversation was over and I’d stopped recording, I’d tell my contact what they could expect (two rounds of edit and the date that I expected it to publish). If they asked if they could approve the final recording, I would always let them and make a note of it.
5. After downloading the audio recording of the podcast, I’d open up Descript (a great video and audio editing tool that uses a typing interface to make changes to the audio or video file). After giving my project a name and uploading it for transcription, the first thing that I’d do is right click on “uh” or “um” and select “remove all filler words.” Descript then easily removes all of those unsightly verbal hiccups and you start with a clean copy. Then I’d take all those notes that I’d made throughout the recording to pare down the audio for content. I could search for any word that I’d note and then find that section and edit it. I’d want to make sure that I was happy with the actual order, sound, and messaging before I’d send it on to a professional audio editor.
6. Once I was happy with the basic content, then I’d send my audio to Daniel. Daniel has a keen ear for good sound and much better equipment than me. I’d tell him what I’d want to use as my intro and where to add any music or sound effects and tell him if I was facing a deadline. Daniel would send me the grainiest recordings and make them feel smooth and professional.
7. Once Daniel sent back the final edit, I’d save it to our internal drive and then upload it to Buzzsprout (a podcast syndicator which makes sure that my podcast is listed in the major podcast libraries) where I used the intro and notes that I’d written previously to write a description of the episode contents and make sure that it was the correct season and episode numbers. After the episode was uploaded, I’d make sure to transcribe it to enhance findability (if I had more time or resources it would be even better to correct the auto-translation). I’d schedule the episode for the appropriate date and copy the link to where listen could find the episode when it was live.
8. Lastly, I’d want to make sure that my interview subject felt celebrated and could share the content themselves so I’d use the Loop & Tie Salesforce integration to schedule an appropriate gift to go to the contact on the day that the episode went live. I’d use the subject line “Your Podcast Aired Today!” and send some copy thanking them with a link to the final episode so that they’d know where to find it. I’d use the custom imagery that Loop & Tie let me upload so that the communication appears official. Then, weeks or months later, when I’ve forgotten about the podcast, Loop & Tie automatically sends out the email on the day I scheduled it and my subject would feel appreciated for their contribution.
As I’ve often said: the four components of successful brand advocacy are learning how to identify brand advocates (Step 1), activating brand advocates (Step 2-4), rewarding brand advocates (Step 8), and tracking brand advocacy. Read future blog posts on how to track brand advocacy.
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