How much weight are you putting behind your branding? Is it the core of your marketing, or are you hoping that your product speaks for itself? Branding is a time-consuming process, and many companies don’t have the budgets or teams to successfully manage branding efforts. However, that doesn’t change the fact that branding is an investment into your product’s effectiveness in the global market. 

Today, we speak to Lauren Lynch, the Director of Marketing at Set Solutions, a Houston-based cybersecurity consulting company, on her approach to branding and building awareness, and thriving within the parameters of small teams. 

Are her strategies replicable? Can Lauren’s tactics apply to your business?

Let’s get started!

MINDSETS:

• The DIY Approach - When Lauren first started with Set Solutions, there was a clear, established goal to build a podcast, but it wasn't “all engines go” from the start. During the 2020 lockdown, Lauren & Set Solutions turned their attention to the podcast with much more enthusiasm. Their DIY approach led to some stumbling and mistakes along the way, but they kept with it, and it evolved into the effective marketing tool they have today. DIY will always get you further than you think— just trust the process. 
• Choosing Your Format - There are many specialized podcasts, so how can yours be used effectively? First things first: you need to choose your format. For Lauren, this meant looking at the entire cybersecurity industry and recognizing that, with so many current events to be discussed, a news-style format would work best for the podcast.
• Explore Alternative Funding - Should only marketing revenues be used to fund marketing opportunities? Not when there are alternatives! Get creative with your funding efforts — crowdfunding is always an option, but for Lauren, it was co-branding and channel marketing funds (usually used for events) that worked as a catalyst for podcast development.

SKILLSETS:

• Value Propositions - Gathering channel partners to fund a podcast wasn’t easy, but it was necessary. For that reason, Lauren worked hard and came prepared to meet-ups by providing pricing sheets with dollar amounts tied to podcasts, webinars, and other forms of digital media. Establishing value (and results) played a large role in making channel partners comfortable with the venture.
• Don’t Devalue Google - Don’t know something? Look it up! This isn’t a “fake it ‘til you make it” industry. It’s important to go and learn what you don’t know ASAP — and that’ll help you gain a lot more skills than faking it.
• Podcast Distribution - Distribution can make Production feel like a walk in the park. Finding a partner in the field that can get your podcast onto the major platforms & automate the process for you is just as important as finding your next guest.

TOOLSETS:

• Podcasts & Equipment (Lighting, Cameras, Microphones, Sound Dampening Boards)
• Google
• Adobe Creative Suite
• AI Tools
• Buzzsprout (Podcast Hosting)

RESULTS:

Lauren sees the majority of her results from LinkedIn Livestreams (though not in real-time — viewership tends to grow after the podcast is complete). Effectively, these results are coming in the form of engagement, and as we all know, more engagement means more visibility, and visibility is crucial for branding. It gets trickier when it comes to trackability — after all, channel partners want & deserve tangible results. For this reason, Lauren is pivoting to include paid ads campaigns in her podcasting efforts so that Set Solutions can determine where podcast viewers are coming from, and their qualifications as leads. So long as these metrics add value, Lauren looks forward to continued success with her partners in the podcasting space.

A bit more about Lauren:

Lauren Lynch is the Director of Marketing at Set Solutions. After a 7-year stint in the restaurant industry, Lauren pivoted to IT marketing and operations with astute management and customer service skills. With Set Solutions, Lauren leads a team of dedicated marketers through key innovation, brand management, advertising, and research projects. Starting as a Sales Communication Manager in 2019, Lauren assumed her current position as a Director of Marketing in 2021.  

Connect with Lauren:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenandruslynch
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/setsolutionsinc/
• https://www.setsolutions.com/category/podcast/

Connect with Mike & Gaby @ Proofpoint Marketing:

• Mike’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikegrinberg/
• Gaby’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellaisrael/
• LinkedIn Company Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/proofpoint-marketing-llc
• Proofpoint YouTube Channel: http://bit.ly/ProofpointonYouTube

Proofpoint Marketing Website: www.proofpoint.marketing