We worked with Buffer to build a conference with a difference. Greener, more affordable and more accessible, conferences via podcasting are made for a digital future.

Making a corporate podcast can further the awareness and audience for your business. But what more can podcasts achieve?

We worked with Buffer to facilitate a new form of podcast, one that conveyed important industry information, encouraged the flow of ideas, helped develop teams and inform professionals, as well as grow the Buffer network. In other words, it was an industry conference with a difference.

Built to Last was Buffer’s response to the growing number of people expressing interest in building a brand - which had increased even more during the pandemic. This is a topic they know plenty about - and saw an opportunity. By using podcasts, we were able to help them reach a wide audience in a way that was accessible, sustainable and affordable.

After all, conferences don’t have to be stuffy, formulaic, or costly to produce. As the digital sphere becomes ever more essential to doing business, we worked to ensure that Buffer could live its values as a company, taking steps to grow their brand in a thoughtful, future-looking way.

The project was a Webby Award honouree in 2021.

The Takeaways

Conferences via podcast are more accessible for everyone

Technical know-how can ensure distance is no obstacle
A well-executed podcast conference feeds a flourishing content calendar

The Challenge

Our challenge was to create a series of podcasts that would serve as a digital conference for Buffer to share with both its existing audience and desired audience. It would have to include all the expertise of a conventional conference-style event, but in a format that was easy to follow, that could be picked up at any point and listened to as and when the audience wished to do so.

Ash Read, Buffer’s Editorial Director, had the theme in mind for the conference, namely creating sustainable brand growth, which was the birth of Built to Last. From there, it was up to us to help capture the knowledge and insights of the various speakers, produce great audio which would remain engaging and enjoyable for listeners, and flow smoothly from one topic to the next for a seamless audience experience.

The Process

For Buffer, having a clear brand purpose is essential to every growing business, including their own. With a clear vision behind their conference, it was up to us to help get the best from each speaker, define and execute the format of each episode, and ensure a quality recording, wherever our speakers were based. Information had to reflect the considered, progressive approach to brand building that Buffer itself embodies.

Our Producer Sandra Ferrari was tasked with arranging the quality recording and helping to shape each episode. On this, she says, “All sessions mimicked what might be experienced on stage, with sessions like a keynote address and a panel. It was a creative way to respond to the limitations of a pandemic.” By briefing speakers, sending them quality recording equipment, and aiding setup, Sandra was able to help ensure consistency across our recordings. Episodes were then shaped with a creative touch, ensuring sessions remained entertaining and easy to digest.

“All sessions mimicked what might be experienced on stage, with sessions like a keynote address and a panel. It was a creative way to respond to the limitations of a pandemic.”

— Sandra Ferrari, Head of Production

Insights Explained

Learning 1: Conferences via podcast are more accessible for everyone

Creating a conference that uses podcasts as the mode of storytelling had several key advantages for us, our client and their audience. In particular, no expensive transportation or venue hiring was involved to bring the conference to life or attract a physical audience. The ability to listen from your own device, even while going for a run or whenever you have time, is a huge win for accessibility.

One of the attendees described Built to Last as, “A unique conference format focusing on modern day needs, built for industry professionals and with a global cross-platform, multi-time-zone audience in mind.” The nature of a podcast conference encourages listeners from anywhere in the world to tune in, to listen and re-listen at their convenience, and continue to take away value, rather than concentrating this in a one-off event.

It also appealed to some familiar concerns we’ve seen during the pandemic, with one attendee stating, “I liked that it was portable, since I'm not looking for ways to increase my screen time right now.” Another attendee added, “I could listen to it while out climbing a mountain. The best conference venue I've ever experienced!” With podcasts, the venue is yours to create, while still getting the information and insights you’d expect from an industry conference.

The welcome message on the discussion portal for the conference. Attendees can join and discuss

Learning 2: Technical know-how can ensure distance is no obstacle

With location no longer a given, and being unable to rely on studio spaces to record, our producer Sandra worked to bring the recording studio to the speaker. She briefed the speakers on style, format, and content points, while also providing education on recording technique. On this, Ash said, “Sandra made sure all our speakers had the right tech, and we captured the right sound quality…she ensured they knew what they were doing, how to present and mic-technique. Alone, we might have ended up recording through AirPods. Message Heard pushed us to keep standards high.”

Quality was important to Buffer’s overarching goal, which was to increase the time spent with them as a brand. By creating engaging, quality audio, listeners were able to tune in at their own discretion and find a format that helped hold their interest.

Learning 3: A well-executed podcast conference feeds a flourishing content calendar

Our final takeaway from this project is all about content value: by creating a conference that is still owned by the brand, Buffer is able to take much more content away from the resulting episodes. Starting by using snippets for social media promotion, all the way through to creating spin-off blogs, Buffer have found great new ways to keep using the content we helped create.

In this way, the content created as part of the conference will now be used for Buffer’s ongoing content strategy, fueling new ideas for both their blog and social channels. In Ash’s words, “It’s a can’t-lose situation. Even if nobody signed up, [the conference] is a tool to get our team on the same page and fuel our content going forward.”

The Impact

Unable to gather a physical crowd during lockdowns worldwide, we worked alongside Buffer to facilitate a global gathering online, centred around episodes designed to be listened to as a series, or as stand-alone audio events.

It attracted 6400 sign ups and continues to be downloaded and listened to, well after the close of the event. Buffer hoped to attract particular key customer groups, and found 50% of sign ups came from small businesses, their main client base. They were also pleased about the uptake across industries, which spoke to the broad appeal of the event and the respect it garnered from audiences.

The project has also received wider recognition. It was an Honoree at the 2021 Webby Awards — a significant achievement granted to only the top 20% of the nearly 13,500 projects entered in this years awards.

For us, we achieved our goal of creating a quality audio experience alongside delivering great content for our client. Here is what some of the listeners had to say:

“I liked that it still felt like a conference - the topics were well curated and fit together - but they were cut into sizes that I am used to consuming as a podcast. I love the small touches of feet stepping to the mic, and audience clapping. Great job!”
“I like that the audio conference fit into my schedule during the workday. I also like that it was compelling and entertaining. It was put together like a regular podcast with music and sound effects which help break up the episodes.”

Ash has also shared with us that individuals were likely to share the episodes amongst teammates, creating far greater value for companies looking to Buffer for branding advice. To anyone else wondering about the potential of a podcast conference, Ash says, “Go for it… People are so fatigued with online video. Creating something flexible and on demand is the best way to deliver.”

Creating the conference of the future with Buffer