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Hello, Sidekickers. NYC’s pay transparency law went into effect last week, and some companies have found creative ways to keep their salaries a secret. Under the new law, businesses hiring workers in NYC are required to provide salary minimums and maximums for each open position. But…nobody specified how wide that gap should be. So on day one, companies like Citigroup ran job postings (which have since been updated) with salary ranges of $0–$2 million. Don’t know about y’all, but we’re asking for the $2 million.
Today’s affirmation: “What’s meant for you will always feel natural, calm, and clear, not forced, chaotic, and confusing.”—@changeurperception
In today’s edition:
- Quit your job!
- Grow your pod
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The real-life White Lotus
—Maliah West, Sabrina Sanchez
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optimize
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Whether your wallet was stolen or is just hiding under that pile of unfolded clothes, the Chipolo Card Tracker will find it. The tracker works with Apple’s Find My app, and sends you a notification if you set off without your wallet. No more frantic searching when you get home!
Sometimes the hardest part of going all in on your next big idea is coming up with a business name. The next time you find yourself stumped, use the Namelix business name generator website. Just pop in a few keywords and the site generates useable and brandable names for ya.
The hot, new trend is “loud quitting.” OK, we made that up. But in this article for The Cut, Dreamday PR agency founder Lauren Kleinman explains why she left her cushy marketing job, and offers tips on how to stay professional after you decide to peace out.
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level up
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Fabio Formaggio/Getty Images
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A head start on your hustle.
You’ve taken your mic out of the box. You’re an audio whiz and a superstar interviewer. Now what? It’s time to grow and market your podcast. To go head-to-head with the likes of You’re Wrong About and Crime Junkie, you’ll need to develop a strategic plan for audience engagement. Because if your content is amazing but it’s not reaching listeners, well, that’s a big bummer—but as always, we gotchu.
To learn more about how to build an effective podcast strategy, Sidekick spoke with global head of content strategy and publishing of owned editorial at Spotify, Scott Henkenmeyer; founder of the EarBuds Pod Collective and head of community and content @squadcastfm, Arielle Nissenblatt; and chief marketing officer at Pushkin Industries, Heather Fain.
All three of our experts are, first and foremost, podcast superfans—a fact that informs many of the marketing decisions they make. “It’s a very collaborative medium,” Arielle Nissenblatt told Sidekick. “You can really build marketing strategy into every aspect of your content creation.”
Heather Fain echoed that sentiment. She said that at Pushkin Media, the studio behind Well Read Black Girl and Broken Record, the marketing department plays a crucial role. “We’re a very voice-driven, storytelling company,” she said. “We make content that we want people to hear, so the content and marketing teams are very much aligned.”
That level of involvement can also mean adjusting a show’s format. Scott Henkenmeyer told Sidekick that when Spotify first launched podcasts in 2020, the owned editorial team started with just one internal show—For the Record—which covered everything from company earnings to behind-the-scenes scoops with trending artists and more. But after looking at audience data, the team decided to split up some of the content.
“We made a more conscious decision to spin off our podcasts into three distinct brands [or] handles…that were really more tailored to the audience,” said Henkenmeyer.
Nissenblatt also looks for ways to keep the format fresh. For How to do the Pot, a show about cannabis consumption, she and host Ellen Scanlon created a recurring, prerecorded feature called “The First Time I Bought Legal Weed.” The segment gives the host downtime to report out for longer episodes and also builds relationships with the audience and other podcast creators, who can submit their recordings.
Fain and Nissenblatt agreed that this kind of cross promotion is key to marketing a podcast. “A podcast host has a more intimate relationship with listeners than they might in some other mediums,” said Fain. “So we are very intentional when interrupting with ads and promotions. We want them to be as good as the content itself.”
Here are more of their tips for growing your audience:
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What’s in the air? Pro tip: If it’s trending, talk about it. That doesn’t mean you should make a true crime show just because they’re popular, said Fain. It’s more about immersing yourself in the conversation and understanding what the audience is interested in at the moment. It also means trend forecasting to predict where those topics might lead. At Spotify, that could mean talking to a trending artist, Henkenmeyer explained.
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Get obsessed. Nissenblatt told Sidekick she often listens to 10 podcasts a day. “I think a huge part of being good at podcast marketing is being aware of the ecosystem,” she said. Fain confessed to being obsessed with Story of the Week hosted by Joel Stein, but stressed that all the shows she works on are her “babies.” “We ask [ourselves] ‘Do we have an audience for this already?’” said Fain. “But we also look for shows that resonate with new markets.”
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Partnerships are crucial. Fain stressed that working with a variety of podcast apps is a must. “We have great relationships with Spotify and Apple,” she said. “But we also work closely with apps like Overcast and Pocket Casts because that’s where you find your influencers.” And those diehard listeners can even inform your content. At Spotify, the editorial team is always prepared to pivot. “We really go into each episode thinking about what the audience is going to find the most exciting,” said Henkenmeyer.
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Cross promote. Spotify uses company blogs, public relations, social media, and other channels to promote their podcasts and redirect the audience to other Spotify-branded materials. At Pushkin, podcasts that already have a large following can do this through shout-outs to newer shows. It gives these emerging shows a shot at widening their reach and also showcases the platform’s content. It’s a win-win for everyone, and most importantly, it promotes the content that creators have worked so hard to bring into the world. So, plug yourself…a lot!
Finally, stay curious. Look for new content, read stories, and listen to and watch things that bring you inspiration, Henkenmeyer said. “Innovate and be creative,” and eventually your audience will be attracted to your work.—SS
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Network with marketing pros in NYC next week!
Have you been wondering how HBO is crushing the modern marketing game (any House of the Dragon stans)? Or how Duolingo’s Duo the owl became a storytelling sensation on TikTok? And really, how the heck has Vans managed to transcend the generations and stay part of the cool crowd, even as our beloved skinny jeans get dunked on day after day?
Well, you’ll find the answer to all these questions and more (yes, much more) at the biggest Marketing Brew event yet: The Brief on Nov. 15. This jam-packed day of panels, presentations, and networking will give you strategies to implement immediately, plus the chance to interact personally with some of the best in the industry (not to mention your fellow marketing rock stars). Quick: grab your ticket here before they sell out!
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lifehack
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Tech tips and tricks.
Doing research for a project at work or school and need to extract data or fact-check your stats? *Cracks knuckles.* Let me let you into my world. You’ll wanna bookmark these tools and keep them handy because you’ll need ’em: Google Public Data Directory, Google Dataset Search, and Google Fact Check Explorer. But if you need to scan information, combine several data points, or extract stats, your best friend will be the =IMPORT formula on Google Sheets.
For our purposes today, we’ll focus on using =IMPORTHTML, which allows you to import data from a table or list within an HTML page (aka a website).
First, visit the site containing your desired dataset and copy the URL. (For this exercise, I’m using this table on the employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age.) Type the formula into your sheet and drop in the link in quotation marks. Then add your query, index, and locale (language) in quotation marks, and close the parentheses. My formula looks like this:
=IMPORTHTML(“https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t03.htm”, “table”,1)
Press enter and watch your data magically transfer. Now you’re ready to do some filtering and sleuthing! You’re getting an A+ (or a promotion) for sure.—SS
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off hours
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sinkinginboiledbrains/Tumblr via Giphy
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Your punch list for when you punch out.
Read: It turns out that the White Lotus limited series about dysfunctional rich people vacationing in paradise isn’t far from reality. The WaPo spoke with several travel industry workers who shared stories of mermaid requests, furious guests, and yes, cross-country affairs.
Watch: If Netflix’s current movie lineup has failed to impress you, try Mubi. The site is like a streaming service meets cafe, where you can find a treasure trove of old and new indie films from across the world. Subscriptions start at $9.99/month, but true cinephiles know you can’t put a price on art.
Follow: To peek into the daily life of an aspiring sommelier, check out @ehkwn on TikTok. The wine expert recently quit her design job to become a sommelier full time, and she regularly shares her journey (and wine suggestions!).
Energize your AM routine: This female-founded brand’s new energy booster helps enhance your mood and improve focus, sans caffeine . Revitalize your mind + body today—get 20% off your first box.* *This is sponsored advertising content.
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share sidekick
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