In this episode, we chat with Julie Douglas, Senior Manager of Mailchimp Studios, about their on-demand audio and video platform for entrepreneurs, Mailchimp Presents.

You’ll learn how they got started and the philosophy and belief in brand that drove the creation of Mailchimp Presents, how they think about the success of their content, how they develop concepts for the platform, their podcasting goals, and so much more.

Guest-at-a-Glance

Name: Julie Douglas

What she does: Senior Manager of Mailchimp Studios

Connect with her: LinkedIn

Key Takeaways

Podcasts give you a way to bring people into your brand’s ecosystem without directly marketing to them.

Mailchimp creates content that truly addresses current and potential customers in a very holistic way. They think about all the different aspects of being an entrepreneur, from the emotional to the tactical journey, and create podcasts that speak to those experiences. This helps their listeners connect with the brand on a deeper level without feeling like they’re being sold to.

Research and speak to your customers to understand how to position your podcast in a way that brings value to them.

Run focus groups, get on the phone with customers, and collect survey responses. Do whatever you can to hear from your target market directly so you can understand them on an emotional level. By doing so, you’ll know exactly how to position your podcast in a way that inspires them and helps them through any challenges they face.

The purpose of a podcast isn’t to Trojan Horse your company out there.

The purpose is to create content that is meaningful and sincere. Your audience can see right through any marketing play you might throw at them by creating a branded podcast. In order to create a meaningful and emotional connection with the audience, think about how your content helps them. How does it inspire them? How does it make them feel?

Make sure your host is a stakeholder in the topic you want to cover.

Don’t just hire a host for the sake of hiring someone that is talented on the mic. They need to be a stakeholder, an expert, or a guide in the topic your podcast will cover. The show needs to reflect the host's own world in order for it to feel authentic to the listeners. This also helps the host know how and when to dive deeper into certain topics. 

When creating a podcast, think about whether it can stand for the long haul.

Your podcast should be centered around a topic or concept you can execute for a long time. The reason being is it takes a while to build an audience. When you think about starting a podcast, think about what it looks like 10 years from now versus just 1 year from now. This will help you determine if you really have what it takes to grow it into a cornerstone piece of content.

If you’re considering running ads on your podcast, think about how it benefits your audience and customers.

Rather than running ads as an opportunity to open up a revenue stream, think about how the content in those ads is going to help the listeners and potential customers. Take a page from Mailchimp and be “customer-obsessed.” When you put your listeners first, you create the trust needed to build a loyal audience and customer base.

Mailchimp measures the success of the Mailchimp Presents platform by how it supports their spirit of generosity and support.

Yes, they measure the analytics behind the platform. How many people visit the site, how many people consume their content, and how many of them convert to customers. But they also look at it from a holistic perspective of how is this platform helping or supporting its audience and creators.

Approach podcasting from a sincere angle.

Try to get to the why of what you’re doing with your podcast and identity what can be useful for the audience. At the end of the day, you want it to be a two-way conversation between you as a host (and brand) and the audience.

Mentions

• Mailchimp’s ad on Serial
• The Jump
• Bloom Season
• Hands on a Hardbody
• Going Through It
• Pineapple Street Media
• Little Everywhere
• Call Paul
• All in a Day’s Work