Applying the Barstool Sports strategy to B2B is a no brainer

It’s amazing to note how few B2B companies (CEOs, leadership) participate on organic social channels. Add that traditional marketing tactics of paid, webinars, social campaigns are becoming cost prohibitive and or too noisy for a message to stand out - it’s a no brainer to establish ‘personalities,’ behind the company.

When you think of Barstool Sports, you probably envision their massive, devoted audience and their ability to dominate conversations across multiple platforms - yes and the other stuff. Barstool has become a media empire by using a simple but powerful strategy: engaging content, smart branding, and a deep connection with their audience through podcast leveraged content. But what if we applied the same approach to the B2B space?

Surprisingly, adopting a similar podcast-driven strategy for B2B marketing is not only feasible—it's a no-brainer, yet - is met with so much resistence it’s honestly confusing for me even as the CEO. B2B podcasts can do much more than just produce content; they can create strong relationships with decision-makers, elevate your brand authority, and open doors to new business opportunities.

Let’s talk about how the Barstool model of content creation can be adapted to fuel B2B success.??? Podcasting as a Relationship Channel: Focus on Guests, Not Just the Audience

The secret to Barstool’s success isn’t just their massive audience—it’s the connections they build with their guests and personalities. Applying this same principle to B2B podcasting is a no brainer. While chasing huge audiences is appealing and could ultimately happen, the focus should be on relationships with guests, who often include industry leaders, potential clients, and key decision-makers.

Just like Barstool’s hosts bond with their guests to create engaging, authentic content, your B2B podcast should create meaningful conversations with industry insiders. These relationships can lead to direct sales, partnerships, or business opportunities, and they position your brand as a thought leader in your field.

Takeaway: Every department in a B2B org should have a podcast from sales, marketing to customer success, support, product, engineering.

?? Professional Podcast Production: Quality, Consistency, and Strategy

Barstool doesn’t cut corners on production, and neither should your B2B podcast. Using production quality as a reason to not do or delay a podcast is often an excuse. Let me try to dispell some of that here:I spoke with Nick at Podcast Pros who outlined his professional podcast production services, which ensure high-quality, consistent content that keeps listeners engaged. His services include guest acquisition, scheduling, and full production management, with pricing starting at $3,500/month for bi-weekly episodes.

You can also outsource to a team overseas —about $400 per episode. While this approach works on a budget, it still has to be managed internally. That $400 for a single episode can be a week or a month’s worth of social posts, multi-channel.Takeaway: High-quality, consistent production is faily easy to obtain. After all, you’re not just making content; you’re building your brand’s reputation.

?? Brand Building, Barstool Style

Barstool has built an empire by creating content that reinforces their brand, and the same can be done for B2B companies. DevHub.com has embraced podcasts as a core part of their brand-building strategy, producing multiple department-specific shows to showcase their expertise across different business sectors. This mirrors how Barstool uses podcasts to highlight different personalities and topics while keeping the overall brand consistent.

The content from these podcast episodes also gets repurposed for social media channels, blogs, newsletters and ad units. This helps amplify the reach and impact of each episode, similar to how Barstool leverages its podcast content to fuel engagement across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.

Takeaway: Just like Barstool, B2B companies can use podcasts to build a multi-faceted brand presence, turning each episode into a long-term branding asset.

?? Targeting the Right Guests and Clients at the right time

Barstool is known for featuring the right guests at the right time from (Scar girl to Hawk Tuah), and this is exactly how B2B podcasts can unlock new business opportunities (yes you read that correctly). In most B2B industries the learnings from customers and industry trends are happening daily and or weekly - pulling in the subject matter experts to discuss the hot topic or trend ‘is the headline’ of the episode example: “Head of SEO discusses Google’s latest annoucement of AI Bard”.

Takeaway: Strategic guest selection can turn your B2B podcast into a networking powerhouse, leading to meaningful business opportunities and thought leadership.

Action Items for Applying the Barstool Strategy in B2B

Focus on guest relationships. Prioritize meaningful conversations with industry leaders over audience size.

Invest in professional podcast production. High-quality production enhances your brand’s authority.

Repurpose your content. Extend the life and reach of your podcast by leveraging it across multiple platforms.

Target the right guests. Engage with decision-makers and potential clients through strategic guest selection.

Final Thoughts

Barstool Sports has shown how powerful a podcast can be for building a brand, creating deep connections with an audience, and driving growth. Applying these same principles to B2B podcasting is not just possible—it’s a no-brainer. With the right strategy and execution, your B2B podcast can become a critical tool for building relationships, boosting brand authority, and opening doors to new business opportunities.

Agree?

Blog post originally appeared on my blog at Mark Michael - Barstool and B2B Marketing.