The World Doesn't Need Another Podcast...But...Your Company MUST Have a Podcast

There are so many podcasts out there. Probably too many. But, your company is doing itself a disservice if you don’t have one. This article is about why you MUST have a podcast and what you can do to make it effective.

If Westfield Mutual Insurance Company Has a Podcast Then Your Company Must As Well

Westfield (they purposely dropped the insurance part of their name for branding purposes…which worked wonders) was formed in 1848 in Ohio as a mutual for fed-up farmers (here is a quick 2min 27sec intro).

This is Westfield

Today Westfield is one of the largest regional insurance companies in the US. In my eyes, they stand out, mostly due to their obvious obsession when it comes to their employees and the agency system they use as their distribution force. It is the latter part that is quite striking in this day, where the value of the agency system is being called into question as more insurtechs attempt a D2C model for insurance distribution.

In June 2018, Westfield launched their podcast, “Closing The Gap”.

A podcast providing insurance agents with tips and tricks that will help their agency grow by offering input, advice and solutions. You know what they say, it takes a village – we’re part of your village. We’re Westfield and we care about your success. So let’s get started.

Designed to be a way for Westfield to communicate with their agency system. Westfield does podcasts on agency best practices, sales leadership, talent management and much much more. What is important to see is that this is NOT a marketing-puff-piece-media-channel. Westfield doesn’t do podcasts on their appetite, or direction on how to submit a commercial insurance application. Westfield’s podcast is uniquely focused on content geared towards making their agents, better agents. Making their agents, superheroes!

In fact, the podcast is so anti-self-serving, that this simple reason is why most of their competitors are NOT copying them. Content marketing is blatantly self-serving, which is why most of it doesn’t work. Large insurers with big budgets can hire skilled marketers to build campaigns and get attention in a noisy crowded world. Most of the people reading this article work at organizations that don’t have that luxury! In a noisy, crowded world, I see mutuals and farm bureaus and agencies all adding to the noise.

And then there is Westfield and their podcast. Focused and dedicated! Week after week after week, putting out content that from one marketing perspective, does little for them. Think about this, a podcast dedicated to their sales force. No call to action, no fancy tag lines, no working copy. Just people talking. And yet…it works.

It works because it brings value to someone and something other than themselves. It puts their distribution force front and center. They provide value to them that none of their competitors are doing. Providing content for hungry, ambitious, business people who are busy, but want to continuously improve as they too, strive to deliver value to their stakeholders. It becomes a virtuous circle. Anecdotally, Westfield is one of the few regional insurers I am constantly hearing about. Rave reviews. Respect. Their long-term commitment to their stakeholders shows by methodically being long-term committed to this podcast…which they don’t have to do and they definitely don’t have to do on a weekly basis. The subtle message of we will grind through this with you signals loud and clear!

This is why you need to start a podcast. Just like Westfield’s. A methodical display of commitment to a stakeholder. A way for you to show your personality and character, in a medium where your listener will and voluntarily cozy up to your message…if you do it right!

Don’t know where to start? I recommend you reach out to my friend Ben Baker. Ben is a podcast savant and can get you up and running in a little as 30 days. Ben even has a service where he will run the entire podcast for you. While the world doesn’t need just another podcast, the world does need to hear your message. Your deep, focused, consistently delivered adoration for your customers and stakeholders. If you have that adoration…then let it show! Ben was gracious enough to allow my readers and listeners to get a discount. goto: https://courses.yourbrandmarketing.com/courses/30-day-podcast-challenge and use promo code “yellow”

I will be writing a lot about podcasts in the future. Think about the turn of the century when business people were still using their yahoo and aol email addresses on their business cards. When businesses were deciding whether they should have web presence. In today’s noisy environment, if you don’t have relevant and thoughtful content, your customers and stakeholders are still going to judge you…but harshly. As self-centered and unimaginative.