The “Podcast Case Study” Move That Makes Selling an Agency Way Easier
Interview: How Agencies Can Use Podcasting to Build Trust, Repurpose Content, and Close Deals
Behind the Agency Podcast with John Tyreman, Founder of Red Cedar Marketing
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Prefer the highlights? Key takeaways and summary below.
TL;DR – Key Takeaways
A podcast isn’t just a “grow a big audience” play. It can be a sales tool, a recruiting tool, or an ABM wedge.
Stop getting stuck on gear. Record a pilot episode on your phone as a prototype.
The best repurposing happens when the podcast is treated as a source asset (audio + video + text).
One of the smartest agency formats: client + account manager on the same episode = “what it’s like to work with us.”
Measure ROI in stages: content output → guest quality → topic resonance → sales enablement.
“Content resonance” isn’t just downloads. It’s qualitative feedback + engagement patterns + repeatable topics.
Agencies often struggle to market themselves (classic “cobbler’s kids” problem). Podcasting can humanize what’s otherwise an intangible service.
A podcast can lower buying friction for high-ticket services because people can “research you” in a more natural way.
Meet the Guest
John Tyreman is the founder of Red Cedar Marketing, where he helps professional services firms (including agencies) with podcast production, strategy, and marketing.
He’s been in the agency world for 10+ years, including time at Hinge Marketing (professional services branding/marketing) and Silverback Strategies (performance marketing). Along the way, he led podcast initiatives like The Visible Expert and The Digital Marketing Troop, and learned how podcasts can do way more than just “be content.”
Episode Summary
1. The origin story: podcasting as a professional services growth lever
John’s podcasting journey started inside agencies.
At Hinge Marketing, he launched The Visible Expert, a show profiling subject matter experts in industries like accounting, architecture, and engineering—basically documenting how people became “known” in their niche.
Then at Silverback Strategies, he helped launch The Digital Marketing Troop, originally to humanize the brand during the pandemic and spotlight internal experts.
The big lesson: the same “podcast” label can mean wildly different strategies depending on the goal.
2. The core tension: agencies sell trust, but trust is hard to “show”
Service businesses have a tough problem:
You’re basically asking a buyer to believe: “Trust us. We’ll deliver. You can’t really see it yet.”
That’s why John and you both kept coming back to the idea that podcasts can make the intangible feel tangible.
And it also explains why agencies often struggle to market themselves:
It’s the “cobbler’s son has no shoes” problem.
Agencies do great marketing for clients… then freeze when it’s their own turn.
3. The “podcast case study” format that actually helps sales
John shared a format evolution from Silverback that’s super underrated:
They tried:
internal expert interviews
then external expert interviews
But the breakthrough came when they paired:
the client point of contact + their account manager on the same episode
That episode does two things at once:
shares results and stories
shows the working relationship in real time
And then the sales team could say:
“You want to know what it’s like to work with us? Here’s a podcast conversation between a client and their account manager.”
That’s not “content.” That’s a trust shortcut.
4. A simple framework for podcast ROI (without lying to yourself)
John joked about “no sponsors in month one = failure” (lol), then gave a way more realistic model: measure in stages.
Stage 1: Are we turning episodes into useful assets?
How many clips, posts, emails, blog drafts come from each episode?
Stage 2: Are we attracting the right guests?
Are ideal buyers (or ideal partners) saying yes?
Stage 3: What topics resonate?
Look at a blend of signals (not just downloads).
Stage 4: Is it enabling sales / recruiting / ABM?
Can you point prospects and candidates to episodes that do the “explaining” for you?
5. The “content resonance” misconception (and the fix)
A lot of people try to measure resonance in a vacuum:
“Did this clip do better than the last clip?”
John’s take: that’s messy because your audience changes over time, and platforms are inconsistent.
His fix: build a small listener focus group (3–4 trusted listeners) and ask:
“Which episodes stood out?”
“What should we do more of?”
“What bored you?”
That qualitative input gives context to the metrics.
6. Practical steps an agency can do today (without buying anything)
John’s advice for founders who are stuck on “what mic should I buy?”:
Record a pilot episode as a prototype.
Use your phone
Sit in a conference room with a colleague
Hit record
Export an MP3
Treat it like a “proof of concept,” not a launch
He also mentioned free/accessible tools like:
GarageBand (Mac)
Audacity (free audio editor)
The point isn’t perfection. It’s bringing the idea to life so leadership (or your team) can react to something real.
7. Repurposing: why podcasts are a content multiplier
John’s repurposing argument is basically:
Different people prefer different formats (video, blog, podcast). A podcast can produce all three from one recording.
He outlined a practical workflow (his version):
Record in Riverside
Edit in Descript
Create a “highlight video” for YouTube
Pull 3 clips per episode
Use transcription (he mentioned Whisper) to generate a blog draft
Turn the blog into a “destination” with embedded player + highlight video + quotes
Big upside: one conversation becomes a content stack.
Notable Quotes
“A podcast isn’t just a visibility play.”
“Record a pilot episode… the purpose is to bring the idea to life.”
“You want to know what it’s like to work with us? Here is a podcast conversation between a client and their account manager.”
“Professional services tend to be laggards… it’s more wait-and-see.”
Learn More / Get in Touch
Visit → https://redcedarmarketing.com
Find John on LinkedIn (that’s where he hangs out)
Podcasts:
Breaking BizDev
Podcasting in Professional Services
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