Case Study: the Power of Video Podcasting: From Zero to 4,000 Views & 400 Followers in 3 Months

At A Glance

Challenges

  • Attaining larger audience
  • Understanding LinkedIn
  • Building a brand
  • Better leveraging content

Benefits

  • Video podcasting strategy
  • Effective video distribution
  • Digital footprint
  • Creating & amplifying brand

About

Dan Eisner is a thought-leader and 20-year veteran in the Employee Benefits Industry in Canada. As an Employee Benefits Advisor at ZLC Employee Benefits Solutions he is always thinking about differentiating and growing his business.

Challenges

Dan authors his own content and tackles issues in the employee benefits space long before the bigger firms and organizations. His email audience engages with his text-based content, but he knows there’s a larger audience and he wants to build his brand with them. He knows he should be leveraging LinkedIn to reach Human Resource and Finance Professionals, but doesn’t know where to start.

The Solution

Team Mintent met with Dan to understand his business goals and objectives which were to grow his audience beyond his email database, demonstrate his thought leadership and speed at tackling relevant issues, and do so with compelling content. 

Team Mintent compiled a Video Podcasting Strategy focused on LinkedIn aimed at establishing Dan as “the leading employee benefits subject matter expert” by building Dan Eisner as ‘the brand’.

The starting point for the overall content marketing plan was Dan’s existing inventory of content.  Three industry articles were optimized for keywords and overall digital marketing best practices. This approach fast-tracked the production of corresponding branded video podcasts hosted by Dan. 

“Working with Krista, Angela and Julia at Mintent has been awesome! They have been helping me with my social media strategy and, in particular, my venture into podcasting. I now realize how little I knew coming into this and how much more effective my strategy now is with guidance from the team at Mintent. It really isn’t good enough to have good content, you have to know how to get it out there, and I have learned a lot. I believe I have come a long way and am excited to continue to work with them as there is more exciting territory ahead. Thanks to all of you.”

Benefits

Dan Eisner, Employee Benefits Advisor

Phase #1:

Video Podcasting Strategy

  1. Create a LinkedIn Business Page.
    1. This social channel is where Dan houses his conversations and drives business growth through sharing industry relevant content.
  2. Grow LinkedIn Business Page Followers.
    1. Mintent provides the framework for Dan to grow his Follower base from 0 to 100 in Month 1 and each subsequent month.
  3. Develop Three Video Podcasts.
    1. Mintent used Dan’s previously written articles to inform the podcast scripts. Mintent’s best practice framework allowed Dan to record his videos in his office using Zoom. A special background and ring light made the podcast visual effective and presentable.

Phase #2

Distribute Videos to HR & Financial Professionals in LinkedIn

  1. Position Dan as the go-to Employee Benefits Advisor.
    1. Dan’s written articles and corresponding video podcasts were issued bi-weekly. Hashtag research was conducted and the most industry-relevant hashtags were included in the posts to enhance search discoverability.
  2. Grow Dan’s reach and drive new traffic with LinkedIn Articles and LinkedIn Sponsored Ads.
    1. LinkedIn Articles are similar to blog posts but are created through LinkedIn’s publishing platform. This point of content distribution drives traffic to Dan’s LinkedIn Business Page.
    2. LinkedIn Sponsored Ads were used to target HR and Finance Professionals to specifically increase followers, reach, and engagement ratings of Dan’s video podcasts.
  3. Growing Dan’s Content Library of Video Podcasts
    1. In Phase 1 & 2, three video podcasts were created. Phase 3 will help Dan grow his content to 13 video podcasts; 2 video podcasts distributed to LinkedIn bi-weekly. Mintent will continue to project manage the process.

Phase #2 Cont.

  1. Growing Dan’s Digital Footprint on Google Search through SEO best practices.
    1. The video podcasts are uploaded and distributed through multiple channels including: YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, SoundCloud, and more. The content is optimized with keyword-rich text including hashtags which all positively impact organic search discoverability.
    2. Dan continues to email his contact database the text-based article supplemented with a thumbnail of the video, which when clicked on, brings the view to his YouTube channel.

The Results (So Far)

In just 6 months… 

  • Dan’s LinkedIn Followers increased from 0-403.  Of those 403 followers, the top two categories are human resource and finance professionals – Dan’s target market.
  • Through Mintent’s careful project management, Dan has grown his content library from zero to 13 video podcasts. 
    • Of those 13 video podcasts, shared bi-weekly on Dan’s LinkedIn Business page:
      • Dan videos appeared 12,853 times (Impressions) over 6 months organically, and 16,417 times through Sponsored Ads. 
      • Overall Dan’s videos received 281 total engagements and were viewed 4,208 times
  • Dan’s articles were viewed 77 times. Dan’s videos were viewed 193% more than his articles were viewed proving video podcasts were well worth the investment.
  • Dan’s LinkedIn Business Page also attracted 434 visitors through Mintent’s strategic use of hashtags.  Of those unique visitors, the top two industry categories were HR & Finance professionals – Dan’s target audience. 
  • And lastly, Dan went from being undiscoverable in Google Search to appearing in the first 6 search results! 
    • Of these first six search results Dan is listed on – Apple Podcast, SoundCloud & YouTube. 

Dan is now a verifiable & discoverable brand, building his audience, reputation and brand.