Podcasting Goes Private: An Interview with Nora Sudduth - Part 1

“There are so many benefits to using audio that will ultimately help people consume the content you want them to consume. You're spending all this time creating it, you're putting all this love and energy into creating it – why not put it in a format that makes it easy for them to consume?” -- Nora Sudduth   This episode's guest is the co-founder of Hello Audio and is a leading marketing and conversion strategist who's helped businesses sell over $500 million worth of products and services online, and she’s designed several courses, coaching, and certification programs that have generated millions more. Her name is Nora Sudduth, and if you’re looking for ways to use audio for your business – especially when it comes to private podcasts, a concept that was new to me — this is the episode for you.   As always, if you have any questions for my guest, you’re welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes.  If you have questions for me, just visit www.audiobrandingpodcast.com where you’ll find all sorts of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter (on the www.audiobrandingpodcast.com webpage) will let you know when the new podcasts are available.   An Accidental Podcaster We start with a look at Nora's early memories of sound, at the importance of family in her life, and how her dad's favorite songs helped her see him in a whole new light. “From that age on,” she reflects, “music and, just, sound, it changed everything.” The conversation turns to how her marketing work led to a focus on the advantages of audio. “For me,” Nora says, “audio was about mobility and convenience and accessibility, and being able to incorporate that into an otherwise very busy lifestyle.” As she puts it, “I'm an accidental podcaster, I guess is kind of how I thought of it.”   Love and Energy “Private podcasts enable you to be more relevant with the content you’re dropping per listener,” Nora tells us, “which is something public podcasts can’t do.” She explains the difference between traditional podcasting and private podcasts, the unique ways in which our brains and even the rest of our bodies respond to sound, and the advantages of being able to reach out to clients on a more individually tailored level. “You’re spending all this time creating it,” she says, “you’re putting all this love and energy into creating it, why not put it in a format that makes it easy for them to consume?”   Reaching Your Audience Next, we talk about how private podcasts are transforming the employment sector and reshaping everything from employee handbooks to onboarding materials. "People are putting that information into audio," she explains, "and it comes to life." We discuss how social media and modern mobility, especially after the pandemic, have created new marketing challenges and opportunities. “You have to reach your audience where they're at,” Nora says, “and they're on their phones, on their mobiles.”   A Pattern Interrupt As we come to the end of the first half of our interview, Nora tells us about how private podcasts can dramatically boost engagement numbers and overturn the traditional PDF lead magnet. “It can be an amazing piece of content,” she says about those old-fashioned marketing documents, “but it actually removes folks from the sale cycle.” We discuss how personalized audio feeds can replace or enhance other marketing strategies, and how audio’s often-overlooked role in marketing can turn into an advantage for companies willing to invest in it. “It’s kind of a pattern interrupt,” she says. “How many people do you know that are offering...