From Niche to Forbes: Getting Navigating Zero in Front of the Right Audience
Contents
Your brand podcast should always strive for one main purpose: share valuable content with your listeners. But when it comes to a niche industry, even with great core content, you need to make sure it’s reaching the right audience. That’s where a great podcast promotional team can come in.
ZeroNorth had a great podcast concept, and incredible guests to join them on the show. Lower Street helped spread their message even wider through targeted promotion and PR.
ZeroNorth provides a multi-service platform to help the global shipping industry optimize voyages, reduce carbon emissions, and improve commercial performance while leading the green transition of global trade.
In 2023 they were inspired to launch a podcast with Lower Street. Navigating Zero would be a podcast where global thought leaders could address the complexities of global trade and the maritime industry's path to zero emissions.
Launching in such a specific niche, ZeroNorth didn’t want to only speak to their clients or industry colleagues. They aimed to connect with a broader audience interested in the way the world works and the challenges our society faces in these times of climate concerns. To achieve this, they needed a team that could help them reach and resonate with listeners beyond their immediate industry circles. Lower Street was there to be that team.
“ZeroNorth has a vision to make global trade green. The world really is demanding that all industries work their way to zero emissions. That's why we decided to create Navigating Zero, as a platform to tell the story about the complexity of the global trade industries and how they must navigate to zero.”Lora Jakobsen, Chief Sustainability Officer at ZeroNorth
Hosted by Lora Jakobsen, a founding member of ZeroNorth and their Chief Sustainability Officer, Navigating Zero was their chance to share the full story of getting to zero emissions in global trade. Lora played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s vision to make global trade green.
Navigating Zero was an opportunity to explain to audiences what really goes on in the shipping industry. It shares why getting to zero emissions has its challenges, and what is being done today.
While they were ready with a concept and guest list, they trusted Lower Street to help them in the final production and, most importantly, their promotional strategy.
With Lower Street’s help Navigating Zero has since become the “show the industry needed”. It exceeded its target downloads in the first season and thanks to the Lower Street PR strategy, was featured in Forbes.
Navigating Zero: The Goals and Challenges for Growth
By launching a brand podcast, ZeroNorth aimed to establish themselves as a thought leader in the global trade industry.
“It's really about creating content of value. We want people to trust that we understand the industry. We want them to see us as thought leaders in this field. But more than that it’s also to get our vision out there and help drive change and impact for the betterment of our planet.”
Positioning yourself as a thought leader in a niche industry takes balance. A brand should speak directly to those in the industry, but also those outside of it. It should speak to those seeking to understand the niche better.
They wanted to reach end-consumers. Reach those who are curious to know more about how shipping works, and how sustainable are their own consumption habits. Essentially, they wanted to grab the attention of people who are interested in trade, and how it works.
“They are going to be the ones influencing the future. They are future voters, future consumers.”
These are the individuals whose buying patterns will influence global trade. But they could also be the solution solvers of the future. It is hoped that listeners will be inspired to take on the climate challenges in their industry or think more innovatively when faced with future climate problems. To ZeroNorth it is important that they see and understand what goes on in the shipping industry.
“Our customers are demanding a green transition, and the world is demanding a greener future. For us, it's about making sure that we're sharing what we know and helping the industry to understand this journey to zero.”
To make this happen, securing high-profile guests on the show was key to the content’s success. ZeroNorth opted to do guest outreach and preparation on their own as they were well-connected within the industry. With a clear understanding of who they wanted to speak with, ZeroNorth successfully secured interviews with notable figures such as Robert Mærsk Uggla of A.P. Møller Holding, who discussed shipping companies' actions towards decarbonization, and Lord John Browne, former CEO of BP, renowned for his transformative leadership in the energy sector.
It was important for ZeroNorth to see the impact of the podcast. They wanted to see download numbers and engagement grow, as well as be able to repurpose the podcast content. The most important impact was actively hearing the word spread, getting compliments about the content, or hearing ‘That was really interesting!’ Or ‘I learned so much about this or that’.
Working closely with ZeroNorth, Lower Street set out to help them grow a quality audience of listeners who valued their stories and insight. We worked to ensure Navigating Zero would show up on the radar for anyone interested in learning about global trade, and who wants to explore different solutions to reduce emissions.
Forming the Content of Navigating Zero
The first focus for ZeroNorth was their content strategy of quality over quantity. They opted for a seasonal format, producing 10 episodes per season, which focused on truly examining the problem and inviting experts who could bring valuable insight to the audience..
“We opted for a curated series of 10 episodes, focusing on delivering specialist knowledge and insights on global trade and decarbonization. This structured approach allowed us to secure high-level guests whose expertise added significant value, creating a cohesive and impactful narrative.”
ZeroNorth selected high-profile guests based on the series’ topics. For the first season, the goal was to introduce listeners to the shipping industry in a comprehensive yet accessible way. The guest lineup featured a diverse mix, including prominent journalists from global trade media, executives from leading shipping companies, and professionals with decades of industry experience. These conversations helped to illustrate the shipping industry’s efforts to achieve zero emissions.
Beyond interviews, it was important for Lora and ZeroNorth to have a clear narrative. This would carry the stories of the industry, engaging listeners for deeper understanding of the industry’s transformation journey.
“There’s a growing focus on meaningful conversations because it’s these discussions that help drive the industry forward. There’s been plenty of talk about what needs to be done, but Navigating Zero is about showcasing actions as well. Having companies like Cargill share their experiences in leading the shift towards greener practices is invaluable. As first movers, they pave the way, and others in the industry will follow. Getting those stories out is important.”
Once the content was ready, the next step was ensuring that this valuable information reached the right audience.
Lower Street’s Promotional Approach
“This was our first company podcast, and we wanted experts to help guide us in the production and promotion. I had seen the quality of work done by Lower Street’s team, so that is why we chose them. We trusted their recommendations for growing reach. It performed exceptionally well, thanks to programmatic ads, episode promotion, and targeted PR efforts.”
As a promotional foundation, Lower Street used an engaging trailer that was then used for several campaigns with great success.
Trailers shouldn't be overlooked while launching your podcast. A great description can get audiences to click, but a sneak peek gets them hooked. Trailers are typically short, only 1-2 minutes long, introducing the topic of the podcast, and the host, and giving some enticing clips to reel in listeners.
This high-quality trailer significantly boosted impressions and downloads. To amplify its reach, we ran programmatic ad campaigns, which led to noticeable spikes in activity every time the trailer was pushed.
While producers worked on the trailer, our Audience Development team worked on Podcast SEO. This involved creating an engaging and effective show description and show notes. We set up all SEO pre-launch to start the podcast off on the right foot.
The Lower Street Audience Development team first identified the keywords ZeroNorth should target. We had established they didn’t only want to reach clients, but also a larger audience interested in understanding more about the shipping industry, and steps toward a sustainable future.
For this reason, we chose a blend of broad and niche keywords. These included “zero emissions” “climate” and “decarbonization” as broader interest topics, and “global trade” “maritime shipping” and “maritime trade” as more industry-specific.
When choosing our keywords for Navigating Zero, we also looked for a blend of search volume, targeting large searches and slightly more niche. But why focus on SEO?
Podcast platforms now analyze a variety of data to understand what each show is about, including titles, descriptions, show notes, and even transcripts. Optimizing these means we can position the show in front of those seeking the content we are providing.
At Lower Street, we focused on getting Navigating Zero into the press. This would get ZeroNorth’s mission in front of more potential listeners. By focusing on their great podcast content and what it was able to do for the brand, we were able to get them featured in Forbes twice, The Great British Podcasts, and industry newsletters.
Forbes highlighted both ZeroNorth’s mission in the shipping industry, and their success in podcasting.
ZeroNorth also promoted their podcast through a podcast centric LinkedIn newsletter. They further promoted the podcast internally to their 600 employees, who were able to spread the word organically. But one of the best drivers for organic promotion came from enthusiastic guests.
“One guest was so excited about their interview that they shared it on LinkedIn before the episode even aired. They felt relaxed during the conversation, and it was something they were proud to share. That authenticity and eagerness really helped spread the message she wanted to convey.”
Creating a positive guest experience is key, and it translates directly into the quality of the show as well as audience growth.
So, how did all this promotion turn out?
The Outcome
Navigating Zero was featured in Forbes twice as a result of Lower Street’s PR campaign
Episodes had a 76.5% consumption rate.
Over 10,000 subscribers
Looking at the data, Navigating Zero has had incredible success. Since January 2024, the second half of the first season saw a 9,932% increase in listens.
It’s not just that Navigating Zero is reaching more listeners, but the retention rate and stellar reviews prove that it’s reaching the right niche audience. The show received 5-star reviews across all podcast platforms, with listeners even praising it as “the show that the industry needed.”
The show boasts an impressive 76% listener retention rate, well above the industry standard of 66%. This increase in listening time shows that the audience is genuinely tuned in. The podcast not only attracted industry professionals but also captured the interest of a broader audience eager to learn about the shipping industry and its path to zero emissions.
The podcast further cemented ZeroNorth’s and host Lora Jakobsen’s reputations as industry experts. Lora, who spearheads and contributes to industry-wide transformations through working groups and collaborations aimed at zero emissions, found that the podcast has given her deeper insights into the market and helps position ZeroNorth to drive impactful change.
The show content was able to be repurposed into further content across Youtube and LinkedIn to connect with other professionals in the industry and share the great insights from the podcast with a wider audience.
ZeroNorth has a LinkedIn Newsletter that repurposes podcast content, this reaches nearly over 7,700 individuals regularly.
Navigating Zero’s Success
Since its launch and now into its second season, Navigating Zero has proven to be exactly what their target audience was looking for. They set out to be thought leaders, speaking not only to those well-versed in the shipping industry but also to those affected by it who may not fully understand its complexities. Through a compelling, narrative-driven podcast, they successfully bridged that gap. Tune into Navigating Zero and see how Zero North shares the journey to zero emissions in the shipping industry.
Author
Steven Bonnard
Head of Marketing
Hi, I'm Steven. I'm a globe-trotter who loves running long distances and listening to podcasts, especially from the news, politics and fantasy categories.
