Podcasting for Logistics: Who is the ‘Driving’ Force?

By Jennifer Karpus-Romain, Director of Marketing for Intelestream, a Chicago-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) product development and consulting firm that offers solutions related to business processes and CRM technology. 

During the recent TMSA Digital Transformation Conference in Chicago, there were a lot of digital marketing and sales strategies discussed among the attendees. One conversation that stuck with me happened during the lunch brainstorming session at the killer content table. 

The innovative chat centered around different content ideas and how they could fit into the transportation and logistics industry. One of the questions on the table was whether podcasts had a place in transportation.

The answer: YES.

Why? Drivers. 

Without drivers, our businesses would stop, literally. They spend their time, well, driving, giving way to ample listening time. And beyond that, there is a lot of legislation and safety regulations that affect many people in the industry. Where are they gaining this information? People want to consume knowledge in the way they like to learn. 

For marketers, that means we need to produce content in the mediums our audience prefers.

Podcasts are on the rise. According to Edison Research and Triton Digital survey data, 44 percent of Americans aged 12 and older have listened to a podcast, with 26 percent listening within the past month. This was a significant increase from 2008, where only 9 percent had listened in the past month. 

You could choose to do a driver-specific podcast or make it more widespread for the transportation and logistics industry as a whole. 

Here are a few podcast formats:

• Interviews: This is a pretty popular style for podcasting. It has a host who interviews a new guest each episode. If you have access to industry thought leaders, this might be a good fit. Or if you are considering an internal podcast, you may interview different people within the organization to increase transparency within departments. 
• Conversational: This is more like a roundtable-esque format where there are typically at least two regular hosts with guest hosts added in when applicable. 
• Educational: This might be a great fit if you are focusing specifically on drivers. Each episode covers a specific topic that listeners want more information on. 
• Solo-cast: A monologue style of podcasting where one person just shares their personal experiences on a particular topic.

Just remember, since this is a transportation and logistics podcast, your guests need to be industry-related.