How to use podcasts to build authority in companies

In the most recent episode of Trend Off, Skyone's marketing, technology, and innovation podcast, host Felipe Wasserman, Marketing and Growth Director at Skyone, welcomed Bruno Gimenez, creator of Marketing the Podcast, for a candid conversation about how B2B companies can, and should, use podcasts as a strategic tool. The discussion touched on brand authority, artificial intelligence, audience behavior, and the most common mistakes made by those just starting out. We've compiled the main points below.

B2B podcasting isn't about reach, it's about credibility

One of the first topics of conversation was the difference between making podcasts for a B2C audience and for a B2B audience. According to Bruno Gimenez, the B2C market is a "red ocean": extremely competitive, difficult to stand out in, and dominated by big names that were born to entertain crowds. B2B, on the other hand, works almost the opposite way; the barrier to entry is credibility, not audience size.

The idea is simple: when a podcast passes what Bruno calls the "B2B filter"—that is, when leaders and decision-makers validate the content as relevant—the competition plummets, and the content is already validated from the start. It's not about reaching millions of people; it's about reaching the right people.

Felipe Wasserman reinforced this point with a revealing statistic: the newsletter database of RD Station, one of the largest B2B marketing companies in Brazil, revolves around 300,000 contacts. In other words, even a "giant" in the sector doesn't work with numbers in the millions, and trying to compete on that metric is often a trap.

Three facets of a corporate podcast

During the conversation, Felipe proposed a way to organize the objectives of a B2B podcast into three layers:

1. Relationship building — bringing people into genuine conversation, deepening bonds, and strengthening higher-ticket business connections;
2. Authority — positioning the company and its spokespeople as market leaders;
3. Reach — content for more people, but as a consequence of the first two approaches, not as the central objective.

Bruno agreed and went further: he warned against the common mistake of "underusing" podcasts as a direct sales channel, turning episodes into disguised sales pitches. For him, the real value lies in what he calls indirect social proof, when the audience trusts what is being said and makes the referral spontaneously. Last month, his own podcast generated 10 business referrals without a single direct sale being made live.

Vanity metrics vs. numbers that matter

Another strong point of the conversation was the dismantling of the "the more followers, the better" logic. Bruno mentioned that his podcast has just over a thousand followers on Instagram, but reaches 180,000 accounts on that platform alone, not counting Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. The lesson: engagement and real reach matter more than the number displayed on the profile.

This directly relates to an observation Felipe made about the B2B universe: five thousand responses on a form can be worth far less than 300 highly qualified responses. In high-ticket markets, quality always wins over quantity.

Spotify, YouTube, and Apple: different audiences, different behaviors

A practical insight for those who produce audio and video content: each platform attracts a distinct listener profile. According to Bruno's experience analyzing his own metrics, Spotify concentrates a more mature audience (from 27-30 years old), while YouTube, driven by the Shorts format, attracts a younger audience, between 24 and 29 years old. He also revealed a curious fact: about 40% of his audience on Apple Podcasts comes from the United States, a reflection of how SEO/GEO of content can generate international reach without planning.

The (limited) role of artificial intelligence

When the topic turned to AI, the consensus between the two was clear: AI-generated voice and video clones are "flopping." Bruno reported that, in conversations with a group of CMOs, the perception is unanimous: content that is 100% AI-generated, without real human presence, generates little return and even attracts criticism from the audience.

On the other hand, there are uses of AI that work very well:

• Automated translation of episodes, while maintaining the original voice acting in other languages, is a case that Skyone itself successfully tested on Trend Off.
• Content summarization and curation, such as using tools like NotebookLM to transform articles and books into quick audio versions before deciding if it's worth delving deeper.

The conclusion of both: AI works well as a support and translation tool, but it doesn't replace the authenticity of a real conversation, and the audience feels the difference.

Transmedia: the strategy everyone talks about, but few practice

One of the central concepts championed by Bruno was that of transmedia: telling the same story in different ways across each channel, without losing its essence, but respecting the language of each platform. For him, this is the true competitive advantage; most brands talk about a "content ecosystem," but few actually build one.

The practical advice he received from experienced people in the market sums up the strategy well: don't delve too deeply into the entry formats (social media, clips, posts), use them as bait to attract the audience to the deeper content, which is the podcast itself.

What to do to promote a corporate podcast

At the end of the conversation, Bruno summarized his recipe for those who want to take a B2B podcast and break out of their bubble:

• Being present across multiple channels and actively engaging with the market, not just publishing and waiting;
• Having a public opinion and accepting opposing views—that's what generates knowledge and credibility
• Participating in events, sponsoring events, and also creating your own events as an extension of the podcast;
• Understanding that the market is still in the process of learning about the value of podcasts, and that it's up to brands and creators to teach this path, not just sell immediate results.

Conclusion

The conversation between Felipe and Bruno Gimenez sends a clear message to B2B companies that are still hesitant to invest in podcasts: the goal should not be to compete for a mass audience, but to build authority, relationships, and trust with the right audience. In a market saturated with AI-generated content, human conversation, imperfect and real, remains one of a brand's most valuable assets.

Written by Skyone