B2B PodPros

B2B PodPros helps SaaS scale-ups drive high quality leads through host read podcast ads. We are a network of B2B podcasters and our audience consists of founders, sales professionals, eCommerce professionals and B2B marketers. Combined we have more than 30,000 listeners across Europe, Australia and the US. Brands that work with us include Dealfront, Planable, & Sessions.us.

How are we different than other ad networks?

- Our podcasts have some of the most highly engaged following in the B2B space including shows like BreakingB2B, Grow Your B2B SaaS, and Content Marketing Commute

- One group sponsorship of 7-10 podcasts can give more exposure to ideal clients compared to a trade booth stand or in-person speaking slot

- To prevent ad fatigue, we limit sponsorships to 2 sponsors at the same time to provide maximum exposure + results for your brand

- Unlike large ad networks, out ads are evergreen, meaning they will be there for years to come.

- We craft an ad script for you for free

- We provide custom tracking UTM links for performance measurement

Learn more at B2BPodPros.com

Founder

Innovators Can Laugh

Drive demand & scale your business with insightful lessons & light-hearted conversations with Europe's greatest Marketers & Founders

(previously Innovators Can Laugh).


Innovators Can Laugh is your essential source for SaaS insights, with a touch of wit. Host Eric Melchor sits down with Europe's seasoned Marketers & Founders to uncover the strategies and lessons that fuel startup growth. Expect laughter, but more importantly, expect valuable insights to drive demand and scale your business. 


Solo episodes with specific podcast marketing and podcast advertising tips you can use today. 

Topics covered: B2B marketing, podcast marketing, demand generation, B2B growth, podcast advertising, go to market strategy (GTM).


New show drops every Thursday. 

Get the Innovators Can Laugh newsletter at InnovatorsCanLaugh (dot) substack (dot) com

Catch the show on your favorite player by searching "Innovators Can Laugh"

Podcast Host

Liftoff SRL

I contract as a marketing advisor and roll up my sleeves if necessary. I enjoy showing companies and Founders everything I know about:

- growth marketing
- website optimization
- event/field marketing
- partnership marketing
- social selling
- podcast as a growth channel
- lead generation

....so they don't have to learn the hard way.

Clients:
OptiMonk
Bonjoro
Restart Energy
Cartloop
Enerwisely
RoninSport.io

Fractional (freelance) Marketing Professional for Startups

OptiMonk

OptiMonk is a leading CRO & Personalization platform used by more than 30,000 brands.

Activities include:
- Discovery and engagement with prospective clients through social and networking
- Presentations of the platform's capabilities that are convincing and compelling
- Clear articulation of OptiMonk's capabilities as a guest on 30+ different podcasts
- Act as a liaison between high valued customers and partners and internal teams

Partnerships & Evangelism

Bonjoro

Bonjoro is the app that is changing the way businesses communicate with customers. Send highly personal video messages to better convert, onboard and support your customers. 

Primary responsibilities are to inspire and educate prospects on the value of Bonjoro through demos and webinars, project manage tech integrations, oversee affiliate program, and support GTM strategy.

Bonjoro Partnership Ambassador

Sunnova Energy Corp.

Massive growth in a short period of time allowed me to enhance digital marketing capabilities, develop customer experience programs, and enhance the customer journey. This was an amazing dual role that I was very proud to fulfill as I worked to generate a company culture focused on team, partner and customer success. Some responsibilities include:

•	Owning and driving the planning, development, testing, and optimization of customer engagement programs across web, email, sms, and customer portal experiences.

•	Establishing and tracking KPIs and metrics for both the customer journey and for marketing investments to provide visibility into the effectiveness and efficiency associated with marketing efforts

•	Managing reporting of campaign activities including status of marketing initiatives, lead activity, referral rate, account creation and login rate, email performance

•	Overseeing the successful deployment of hundreds of automated and manual sms and email campaigns

•	Auditing and developing an interactive customer journey visual using Lucent charts that ensured all customer facing and dealer training teams had a clear understanding of the customer journey including critical touchpoints

Customer Experience and Digital Marketing Director

Kids Health Program I www.FlyMovement.org

Fly Movement is the first kids’ health program that provides students an opportunity to reach a fitness goal through fun, rewarding team competition. As a result, their fitness activity increases, which leads to many benefits that include longer attention spans, better cognitive function, better social skills, and an affinity towards physical activity.

Responsible for overseeing the administration, programs, and strategic plan of the organization. Other key duties include fundraising, marketing, and community outreach. 

•	Led program launch into 3 Houston area elementary schools in first year 
•	Brookline Elementary – 52% lift in kids physical activity 30 days after program and 27% lift in family’s physical activity 30 days after program
•	Kipp Academy – 13,389,122 fitness moves generate; 25% increase in students physical activity (8,341 average daily moves before program, 10,404 daily moves during program)
•	Interface and engage with volunteers, teachers, principals, contractors, interns
•	Led program launch into 3 Houston area elementary schools and co-launched Houston’s only free kids’ fun run with the Houston Wellness Group
•	Provide knowledge sharing on how to create and implement program with other teachers and schools across the country

Founder of Kids Health Program I www.FlyMovement.org

Spark Energy

Spark Energy is a Publicly traded North American residential energy provider with +700k power and gas customers.	

As the Marketing Director, I manage a team responsible for growing residentials sales (excluding D2D and OTM), customer communications, user experience, website for 4+ brands, and strategic partnerships. 

•	Oversaw marketing budget (up to $2M), led vendor negotiations resulting in an 15% reduction in CTA (search agency, affiliate partners), and developed and negotiated 3rd-party partnerships to drive revenue to the company
•	Responsible for sales management of online acquisition activities, grew share from 8% to over 18% in an 18 month time span
•	Managed a team with T-shaped skillset, digital marketing and web development experience, and directed agencies/contractors (Search, Design, Social Media, PR)
•	Enhanced the business strategy and digital capabilities and strategically diversified customer acquisition channels to fit a very competitive market
•	Data-driven decision making - gathered market and customer data through surveys and research tools to set up the marketing strategy, marketing message, creative direction (copy, video, display ads) 
•	Responsible for the successful overhaul of the digital experience for residential customers across 4+ brands, and implemented several pilots, bringing 5 of those programs to scale
•	Worked closely with Portfolio Management and agency partners to forecast targets, define measurement plans, execute lead generation campaigns, and analyse campaign performance
•	Responsible for corporate community initiatives (Lemonade Day, Child Advocates)
•	Main touchpoint for media inquiries

Marketing & eCommerce Sales Director 

Frontier Utilities

Developed and managed a team to execute the strategic digital roadmap which entails digital marketing, product portfolio management, e-commerce, m-commerce, and deal sites. Responsibilities include identifying improvements for user experience, managing agencies, overseeing the marketing budget, content development, SEO, email, social media, display, paid search, and mobile. 

•	Manage product development and margin goals with accountability for delivering financial and business performance commitments; increased online sales by 200% in first year
•	Work closely with the CEO to drive strategic planning and act as a key contributor in developing and mentoring the marketing organization
•	Led online retail expansion into 5 US North markets, negotiated agreements with affiliate partnerships, revamped website’s usability and navigation which improved online conversion rate from 3-4.5%
•	Engage in sound business practices to ensure efficient tracking, monitoring and return on investment of corporate marketing dollars
•	Tripled the average number of monthly online My Account signups by changing the mobile experience to make it easier to enroll in My Account for customers
•	Lead external agencies as necessary in the development of strategies that employ multiple tactics in order to leverage marketing spending and maximize value for the brand
•	Developed Home Insights concept which helps reach a wider customer audience and provides home-related educations tips for home owners. In addition, created brand identity characters Electra and Watson which fed into all website content, advertising banners, and blog content
•	Identify and deliver improvements and opportunities in areas such as web and mobile user experience, design innovation, dashboard reporting, transitioning work to creative services, and competitive analysis. Consistently push for change that will positively impact the business and drive new acquisitions

Digital Marketing Director

Direct Energy

Responsible for digital residential electricity and gas sales management and targets in respective regions. Primary areas of responsibility and achievements include:

• Grew online Electricity residential sales 200% while also decreasing the overall cost per acquisition 20%. 

•Coordinate and lead integrated online marketing execution efforts leveraging cross-functional and business unit partners. i.e. developed mobile click-to-call ads for acquisition purposes, created qr code campaign to gather leads, implement A/B homepage test to improve online conversion.

•Developed 10 new and managed 5 existing partner relationships; including negotiations and maintaining consistent communication to review performance and identifying new sales opportunities. Also negotiate services agreement and commission structure.

•Lead online retail expansion into 25 new markets that span across multiple states for multiple brands: Direct Energy, Gateway, New Leaf, First Choice, Bounce Energy

•Monitor and understand competitive positioning within region

•Participate in co-selling business activities with other Direct Energy businesses

•Manage and direct the activities of subordinate staff and agency partners

B2B Channel and eCommerce Marketing Manager 

I'm Eric Melchor, Founder of podcast-first b2b media network B2B PodPros.

Myself and my umbrella of 30+ b2b podcasters specialize in generating awareness and high quality leads for SaaS scale-ups including Dealfront, Planable, Sessions, Landbot and more to come. 

Services:
👉 host-read ads in top rated b2b podcasts
👉 podcast group sponsorships (be featured in multiple podcasts at same time)
👉 free ad script crafted that gets past the BS* filter
👉 influencer content creation (LinkedIn)
👉 podcast ad campaign management
👉 podcast campaign tracking and data insights

Mission - to be the most recommended b2b podcast media network.

If you want to learn more, see how we're driving high quality leads for a SaaS company that is doing $35M in ARR: https://www.b2bpodpros.com/case-studies

I’ve been less active on Linkedin

Here is why 👇

I’ve been a podcast host for a while and a marketing consultant.

Apart from that, I’ve gotten to know many great people who are some of the most recognizable faces in the B2B, Startup, and Marketing world.

Each of them have built authentic and genuine audiences through their own podcast.

The kind of audiences who are decision makers and are excited to learn about new tools that can help them be more efficient and work smarter.

So I thought, why not collaborate with them and create a B2B podcast media network?

A place where B2B and SaaS companies have the opportunity to grow their brand awareness and reach high quality audiences?

And from that idea, the Innovators Can Laugh B2B podcast media network has now launched. 🚀 

I am very new to this and still learning every single day. But I am very excited to see how far we can take this!

Some more info:

✔ What do we do?

The Innovators Can Laugh B2B Podcast Media Network offers group-sell sponsorships for B2B/Tech companies who want to reach B2B Marketers, SaaS Professionals, Founders, HR & Cyber Security professionals, and other industries via podcasts, YouTube and newsletters.

✔ Who are we a great fit for?

Growth marketing managers and anyone wanting to find new channels to reach their target audience and drive growth.

✔ What is our reach and audience demographics?

▶  more than 20,000 combined podcast monthly downloads
▶   more than 40,000 combined newsletter subscribers
▶   audience primarily split between North America and Europe
▶ audience consisting of B2B marketers, founders, CEOs, HR & Cybersecurity

I’ll continue sharing the progress and everything I’ve learned. Thanks for your support!

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👋  Hi, I'm Eric Melchor and I help visionary SaaS marketers grow their brand through innovative b2b podcast sponsorships. See the Omnichannel campaign that drove traffic and brand awareness for Landbot at: https://lnkd.in/gepe8zSv

Eric Melchor

"Have the host read the ad himself!"

This is something I stress over and over to brands who are thinking about doing a podcast sponsorship.

What to know the difference between a Good vs Bad Podcast Advertising Strategy?

👉  See video below

#saasmarketing #b2binfluencers #b2bpodcast

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👋  Hi, I'm Eric Melchor and I help visionary SaaS marketers grow their brand through innovative b2b podcast sponsorships. See the Omnichannel campaign that drove traffic and brand awareness for Landbot at: https://lnkd.in/gepe8zSv

"What SEO mistakes do tech companies make?"

This was a question I asked Sam Dunning, founder of SEO agency Breaking B2B.

According to Sam, B2B tech companies often make the mistake of approaching SEO as a checklist activity.

Instead of focusing on revenue-driven SEO keywords, they are too busy spending time on top-of-the-funnel keywords.

Catch this episode to learn:

- how websites can function as a 24/7 sales rep 
- how Sam's 'Ask the Public' series on LinkedIn has helped build his personal brand and differentiate him from others in the industry
- how creating YouTube videos related to targeted keywords can help dominate search results and increase click-through rates

👉  Listen or watch at: https://lnkd.in/gz8Ep8g9

 #seo #saasmarketing

Podcast marketing for most brands is:

→ let’s launch our own podcast and promote it like hell

Little do they know that it takes 2-3 years on average to build an audience.

In the 2nd half of 2024, make a change:

→ partner with b2b podcasters who have product-audience fit
→ launch a 4-week minimum campaign across 5 different podcasts minimum
→ track and measure which podcasts are driving high quality leads to your website

That’s how you’ll build trust, increase awareness and grow revenue.

#b2bpodcast #influencermarketing #podcastadvertising

The time I got punched in the face


I’ve been rejected before

(we all have)

But not 26X in a row!

I had recently launched a one-of-a-kind kids’ fitness program. It was a crazy idea that would help combat childhood obesity.

You know those fitness trackers that people wear to count steps?

Well, the idea was simple:

1/ give them to 3rd grade classrooms
2/ have two classrooms compete against each other
3/ whichever team had the most moves combined over a span of 4 weeks won

Prizes were things like frisbees, basketballs, soccer balls ( ⚽  futbol for my Euro friends), hoola-hoops, etc.

And because of the data, we could track the data to see what kind of lift the program had on the kids compared to the baseline (before challenge) – always testing, the marketer in me.

So, I met with three school Principals. All three wanted the program in their school.

Now, I would just need help in funding the program as it was going to cost around $4k per school to execute.

I went to work and began filling out grant applications to 26 different foundations requesting funding.

Then I waited for the cash to come in. 🕰 

And waited.

And waited.

Crickets.

But then I started getting replies.

Rejection. Thank you but not at this time. Rejection. Thank you but not at this time. Rejection. Thank you but not at this time. Rejection. Thank you but not at this time. Rejection. Thank you but not at this time. Rejection.

And that’s one of the times I got punched in the face. 🥊 

I had promised the principals, the schools, the volunteers, parents that we would be launching our program in the Fall and August was approaching.

So as a Hail Mary, I launched a crowdfunding campaign.

I was able to generate a couple of thousand dollars. And with the help of family members and money from my savings, I was able to pull enough money together to fund the program.

Launching and running this program for the span of four years was the most fulfilling project I’ve ever worked on.

It allowed me to use my imagination, talent, and ambition in ways that no job could ever do.

When looking back, in my opinion, getting punched is a small price to pay for living a life worthwhile.

What do you think?

Some podcast hosts are like a super drug

I don't read Tom Clancy, John Grisham, or any popular military-thriller books.

But when one of my favorite podcast hosts, Sam Parr from the My First Million podcast, recommended author Jack Carr..

I was intrigued. 

So not only did I order the book, I've told others how great it is (and I'm only halfway through)

This is the super power of a podcast host - able to nudge members of their audience to try or purchase a product or service they never considered before.

Looking back, I've bought many things that were recommended by podcast hosts I listened to.

Like the time I bought frozen crickets 🦗 to put in my protein shakes because Tim Ferris raved about how much better they were compared to tradition whey protein.

How about you? Ever bought anything that a podcast host recommended?

-----
👋 Hi, I'm Eric Melchor. I help visionary SaaS marketers grow their brand through innovative b2b podcast sponsorships.

"It was nice to see the Bitly clicks and the locations where clicks were coming every week"

This was some of the feedback I received from my client at Landbot about our podcast + omnichannel campaign we executed for them.

Although they implemented several steps to track the success of our influencer campaign like:

- adding a "how did you hear about us?" question on their signup flow
- giving us a specific landing page to use for the ad script
- tracking fluctuations in indirect traffic
- looking at traffic from custom UTM links

they still appreciated the weekly performance update I sent them that showed the number of clicks I'm seeing from Bitly and the location of where those clicks were originating from.

Here's to going the extra mile for your clients. 👊 

#podcastsponsorships #b2binfluencermarketing

Leveraging Podcasts and Sponsorships for B2B Growth

Turn your videos into live streams with Restream https://restre.am/ANIm

I'm thrilled to announce that Eric Melchor, Founder of B2B PodPros and host of the Innovators Can Laugh podcast, will be joining me as a guest on the upcoming Funky Marketing podcast episode. With an extensive background in B2B podcast advertising and a passion for helping SaaS companies drive high-quality leads, Eric brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our discussion.

In this episode, we will delve into:

- Podcast Advertising Strategies
- Finding the Right Sponsorship Fit
- Community Building through Podcasts
- Measuring and Optimizing Podcast Campaigns

Join me for an insightful conversation with Eric Melchor, where we will uncover the strategies and techniques that can help you leverage podcasts and sponsorships to drive growth and scale your business. This is an episode you won't want to miss!

Stay tuned for more updates, and be sure to follow Funky Marketing podcast to catch this episode and more.

I respect people who were able to switch from sales to marketing.

Honestly, they are two different skillsets.

I’ve been in marketing for over 15 years and just recently started doing sales.

And I suck at it.

But you know who is great at both?

Andrei Zinkevich

Prior to working as a B2B marketing consultant for over 50 tech companies across Europe and North America, Andrei was an Area Sales Manager for Kimberly Clark.

It’s because of his vast experience that he is able to help solve sales problems for B2B companies.

Oh, and I’m also happy that he’s part of my b2b podcasters community and media network – B2B PodPros. 😀 

#b2bpodcast #SaaS #ABM

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👋 Hi, I'm Eric Melchor. I help visionary SaaS marketers grow their brand through innovative b2b podcast sponsorships.

Backed by Amy Schumer, Nas, and Odell Beckham, this brand has reached 1 Million Customers.

With podcast advertising as its primary growth channel.

Magic Spoon launched in 2019.

Since then, they have been a frequent presence on podcasts.

"Every kind of advertising we're doing in the early stages has to be directly tied to generating sales online. We went into podcasts with that view" says co-founder Gabi Lewis. 

Here are three of the Magic Spoon co-founders' tips for harnessing podcast ads to help generate growth.

1/ Find hosts who genuinely like your product

"If we just did dozens of random podcasts, the results wouldn't be very good," says Lewis. When the company started targeting hosts who had actually enjoyed the cereal--the response rates completely changed.

2/ Don't expect to pop overnight

"First-time founders always think there's going be a silver bullet," he says. "If only we get this person to talk about our brand, it's going to be a rocket ship." Instead, Lewis advises founders to focus on making a series of small wins and building brand momentum over time.

3/ When promoting new products and initiatives, timing is everything.

When Magic Spoon finally began its push into retail stores, the co-founders made sure fans learned the news the same way they first learned about the cereal brand: during a commercial on their favorite podcast.

Do you know of any B2B brands that are utilizing podcasting as a whole to help grow their brand and grow their customer base?

#PodcastAdvertising #B2BPodcastNetwork #b2bpodcast
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👋  Hi, I'm Eric Melchor and I help SaaS brands reach their target audience and generate high quality leads through b2b podcasts.

▶ Has a higher retention than other ad platforms

▶ Ad revenue is projected to be about 4 billion by end of 2024

▶ It’s a nice pillar of content that allow you to repurpose like crazy

What media am I talking about?

Ep. 116 of #InnovatorsCanLaugh 

✔ 5 reasons you should start a podcast in 2024

#b2bpodcast #saaspodcast

------
👋 By the way, did you know my mission is to drive more innovation when it comes to b2b podcast sponsorships?

Just like strawberries n’ cream…podcast sponsorships are VERY in style right now. Why?

Because podcast listeners are very loyal.

And that leads to more awareness (and more leads) when you advertise on a podcast that has product-audience fit.

But half-baked podcast ads won’t get attention.

You have to:

-             Craft a good hook (opening)
-             Mention the pain points the product solves (clarity)
-             Include a compelling call-to-action (CTA)

 If you want to see 10 real B2B podcast ad script examples, I share actual scripts (with links to audio) in this post: https://lnkd.in/gNUYrjeY

You don’t want to do a podcast sponsorship without first knowing what makes a good podcast ad script.

#Saas #b2b #influencermarketing

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👋  Hi, I'm Eric Melchor.  I help visionary SaaS marketers grow their brand through innovative b2b podcast sponsorships.

“In the summer people stop reading newsletters, but they don’t stop listening to podcasts.”

This was something a potential SaaS client told me earlier this week as we were talking about b2b influencer campaigns.

First I was surprised to hear her say this, but then thought – maybe there is some truth to this.

For example, last week I was in Greece on vacation 🏖 . During the entire week, I resisted the urge to check email. But while on the beach, I binged about 12 different podcast episodes across 6 different podcasts.

Also, this morning I looked at the open rates of my own newsletter which has a steady open rate of around 47-48%. I noticed that my open rates for the past two weeks were lower than usual at around 41-42%.
 
I believe there is some truth to this. I wonder if the same goes for other mediums like Facebook or Google ads – does performance drop in the summer and thus, cost-per-acquisition goes up on these channels?

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

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👋  Hi, I'm Eric Melchor and I help visionary SaaS marketers grow their brand through innovative b2b podcast sponsorships. See the Omnichannel campaign that drove traffic and brand awareness for Landbot at: https://lnkd.in/gepe8zSv

How I create a podcast sponsorship strategy for visionary SaaS brands:

We usually have 3 main goals:

1/ Product Audience Fit
2/ Skip past listener’s *BS filter
3/ Generate high quality leads

Let's break down how to strategize each goal:


1/ Product audience fit

Select specific podcasts within our b2b podcaster community that have an audience that’s similar to the brand’s ICP

Pre-requirements:

-             Is a top 10% rated podcast or better
-             Podcast must have published at least 30 episodes
-             A good percentage of the audience is in the region where the brand is present
-             The host himself/herself has tried the product and would use it in his/her own business



2/ Skip past listener’s *BS filter

Meeting the requirements above is a good starting point for doing a podcast sponsorship.

BUT

It’s not enough.

To get past the listener’s *BS filter, you need to craft a solid ad script.

Most podcast ads underperform because:

- the sponsor crams way too much information and overwhelms the prospect
- the ad sounds scripted and there is no real excitement or authenticity from the podcast host reading the ad (visual language)
- the ad doesn’t have a good hook (opening)
- the ad doesn’t mention the pain points the product solves (clarity)
- the flow and pacing of the ad doesn’t seem natural
- there is no call-to-action at the end (CTA)
- it’s longer than 55 seconds (if it’s a mid-roll ad)

Put effort into crafting a good ad script, and you will be shocked at how much your sponsorship campaign improves.

3/ Generate high quality leads

A great piece of advice here:

Use multiple methods to track performance.

You don’t want to test a sponsorship campaign and see it fail the first time, do you?

Well, neither does your Sr. Leadership team.

Track and measure podcast campaigns by:

-             Have a “how did you hear about us?’ question in your signup flow
-             Create a vanity URL or specific landing page that the podcasters can mention
-             Use specific UTM codes in the URL links for each podcaster
-             Track the lift in direct and undefined website traffic
-             Have your inbound agents ask new customers where they heard about you

#b2bmarketing #saas #b2bpodcast
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👋 Hi, I'm Eric Melchor. I help visionary SaaS marketers grow their brand through innovative b2b podcast sponsorships

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