Podcasts: A Powerful Tool

In Oct. 2016, we launched “Destination on the Left,” a podcast focused on destination marketing that explores successful collaborations, creative marketing ideas and best practices. It provides an opportunity for professionals in the travel & tourism industry to share what they have learned and successes that they have achieved.

The podcast was born out of my desire to showcase the true business of tourism. In 2013, I co-hosted an internet radio show with Bruce Peters on WCEO Hour and invited tourism leaders on as my guests. The show was fun and informative and from that point on, I wanted a platform for continuing to showcase business leaders in the tourism industry.

Fast forward to the first quarter of 2016, when I was interviewed on Onward Nation, a podcast that focuses on how top business owners think, act and achieve. The experience inspired me to dig out that idea from 2013 and use the podcast as a platform for sharing stories of success from the tourism industry.

With the help of Predictive ROI, a marketing agency specializing in podcast production, planning for my own podcast began in June 2016. This included establishing interview questions, designing a logo and website, creating a scheduling protocol, testing technology and working on a social media strategy.

Since its launch, we have hosted and published new episodes weekly, 18 in all. Episodes are a combination of interviews with industry leaders, solo-casts and interviews with BTI team members.

The podcast is part of our business development strategy, providing:

1. Introduction to new contacts as they are invited to interview on the show
2. A body of work that includes learnings from the best of the best
3. A platform to showcase our team as experts in the travel and tourism industry

A social strategy is deployed around the promotion and distribution of the podcast. Weekly ads run through Facebook Business, promoting each episode with the objective of link clicks. Episodes are promoted natively through LinkedIn, Facebook, and shared on Twitter before being loaded into SocialOomph, a platform that rotates through the episode tweets, and sends several out daily.

The podcast is distributed on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play and is listened to in 7 countries.

I would love your feedback, here are some episodes to check out:

Episode 15: How to Build a Destination’s Brand When You Don’t Have One Massive Asset, with David Holder

Episode 14: Use Measurements and Track Conversions, with Ralph Thompson

Episode 10: How to Use #Hashtags and Instagram, with Jessica Reilly

In addition to Destination on the Left, here are a few episodes from my favorite podcasts:

Onward Nation – Episode 424: No steps backwards, with Jake Kloberdanz

Onward Nation – Episode 439: The Millennial Mindset, with Javier Montes

Agency Management Institute – Episode 73: How to Be a Master Connector, with Judy Robinett

I have also recently started listening to The Daily a podcast hosted by Michael Barbaro and powered by the New York Times, providing 15 minutes of journalism 5 days a week.

What are your favorite podcasts? Let us know in the comments!