✊ The obscure marketing theory that explains why podcasts grow (& why most marketing fails)
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Hi friends, Why do people listen to podcasts? And more importantly, why do people listen to (and seek out) podcasts like yours? When it comes to marketing our shows, it can often feel like our job is to make or convince people to pay attention and listen to our shows. But look (and listen) closer, and you’ll find that there's something deeper at work beneath your listener's consumption habits. Specifically, that your listeners have a series of needs, desires, and jobs they need done in their lives that they are looking for solutions to. As it turns out, podcasts are one potential solution to those needs, desires, and jobs. Which means the real core of your podcast marketing strategy is to:
Do this, and not only will you have an easier time attracting first-time listeners, but you'll improve your retention and consumption rates of existing listeners of well. All of which adds up to more, faster growth. This process is the core idea behind Jobs to Be Done Theory a little-known marketing concept that was first conceived waaaaaay back in the 1930’s... Which was promptly ignored and forgotten about... Before, 60 years later, being picked up again by famed Harvard Business School researcher Clayton Christiansen, who developed and popularized the concept through a series of case studies that shed light on the real (often whacky) reasons people bought and used certain products that defy all conventional logic. (You’d never guess, for example, the reason why so many people buy fast food milkshakes for breakfast.) And sure, on the surface, a 100 year-old marketing concept with a bunch of academic research behind it might not sound particularly relevant, applicable, or useful (let alone interesting) to you as a solo business owner or podcaster. But take just two minutes to understand the concept, and you’ll quickly see that JTBD explains exactly why so many businesses and podcasters struggle to gain traction with their marketing… And provides the exact blueprint for how to turn things around (or accelerate a marketing strategy that’s already working). I personally think about and apply the lessons from JTBD literally dozens of times every day. From decisions about products to create and how to create them… To developing podcasts, with the concepts, episode engineering, content strategies, and more all rooted specifically in JTBD… To every newsletter I write, podcast episode I record, and social post I publish… And much, much more. When you understand JTBD, you’ll find that everything is doing a job. And the better you can recognize the jobs that need to be done—both for your business as well as for your audience—the more effectively and efficiently you can design solutions to those jobs. Which means more growth, more sales, and more fun… With less, time, less effort, and less frustration. In this episode of Podcast Marketing Trends Explained, Justin and I—two self-declared JTDB fanboys—break down the concept in depth and talk through how to apply it to your show and marketing. Plus we share a heaping dose of examples of JTBD in action, to help make it crystal clear how you can put the concept to work for you… And give your marketing a healthy boost in the process. You can add the episode to your listening queue in your favourite podcast app or watch on YouTube. After listening to the episode, hit reply and let me know how you would articulate the jobs Podcast Marketing Trends Explained, and Scrappy Podcasting do for you. In particular, I'd love to hear how the jobs of the newsletter and the podcast differ for you, despite both focusing on the same general topic. If I get enough responses, I'll do a roundup and share some of the responses—which I suspect will offer some clues about how to position your own various content offerings more effectively as well.
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