If you’re starting to build your 2026 go-to-market plan, there’s one number you can’t ignore… Did you know that 80% of GTM strategies fail? (GTM Partners). Not because of bad positioning or weak messaging, but because buyers simply don’t trust brands anymore.
In a recent LinkedIn Live, Ringmaster’s Founder, Casey Cheshire, joined Paul Jones from the Connect to Market community to explore a bold idea: podcasting isn’t just a content play. It’s a relationship and revenue play.
The GTM Challenge: It’s A Take
For the past decade, marketers have focused on the act of taking. Attention, information, inbox space, and time.
Yet, as Casey said, customers are becoming “take-resistant”. They’re straying more and more from selfish, take-focused companies that clearly aren’t interested in them. The result? Metrics are taking a hit. We’re seeing more email unsubscribes and more calls screened.
Why Podcasting Builds Trust with Potential Buyers
Well, how do you combat this? Podcasting.
Why does it work? It turns a take into a give. You’re giving them your time and attention, sharing your platform for them to showcase their knowledge and create content for their company.
The simple act of having them as a guest completely flips the script. Now, you’ve spent 45 minutes building a relationship and connecting with the guest, something that’s become rare in an AI-saturated world.
From Relationships to Revenue
When you design your podcast with GTM in mind, it does more than build brand awareness; it fuels your pipeline.
- Top of Funnel: Targeted guests (your ICPs) become part of your network and future opportunities.
- Mid Funnel: Relationships formed on the show convert into collaboration and sales conversations naturally.
- Bottom of Funnel: Episodes create thought leadership content that shortens deal cycles and nurtures leads.
As Casey put it, “It’s not magic, but it skips a lot of the old games. You don’t need to buy a thousand trade show blankets hoping someone remembers you later. You just need to give your time and attention to the right people.”
Integrating Podcasts Into Your GTM Plan
Podcasting isn’t meant to be a silo. It’s meant to weave effortlessly into a broader go-to-market motion.
Here’s how:
- Start with the end in mind: Define your goals (lead gen, thought leadership).
- Choose a micro-niche: It’s not about competing with “podcasts for everybody”. It’s about catering to a specific audience.
- Maintain consistency: Weekly episodes are the baseline for building habits with your guests and listeners. Plus, weekly episodes turn into four deep, relationship-building conversations directly with your ICP.
- Repurpose with purpose: Human-produced episodes become the foundation for AI-powered repurposing into blogs, newsletters, and social content.
Ready to make podcasting part of your 2026 GTM plan? Download the Podcast GTM Planner or reach out to our chatbox to learn more!