7 branded podcast by mobile tech companies

In my last article, I explained why a branded podcast for a mobile tech brand is an undiscovered weapon. Once I was done editing the article, it got me wondering how many branded podcast I could find in the mobile tech space. Or at least in the tech space (I’m selfishly hoping that I’m early in this space and to not find too many :-) ). Given that there are 3 to 4 million podcasts and that by definition of branded podcast targets a niche audience, I had to do some online searching.

So in this post I’m sharing with you 7 branded podcasts in the mobile tech space. That is 7 brands that understood the value of podcasting. How podcasting positions your brand as an expert in its field. How you can build relationships with other in your space and how it creates a treasure trove of content to share online.

syntax.fm for sentry.io

I remember a few years back being contacted by sentry to create a blog post for them. Back then, I was writing on Medium and had created an article on how I don’t set up a project without sentry anymore. This was not a good fit for me at the time, so we did not move any further.

So when I started to offer branded podcasts for mobile tech companies, I thought I’d reach back to see if they were interested. They responded that indeed podcast was on their radar and that they had bought the podcast syntax.fm.

Syntax is a weekly podcast hosted by Wes Bos and Scott Tolinski. They are web developers who are passionate about sharing their knowledge and expertise.

Each episode of Syntax features a discussion between Wes and Scott on a specific topic, such as CSS Grid, React, or web performance. They have grown their podcast enough that they also answer listener questions.

Over the long existence of syntax (they published more than 600 episodes), they have covered topics which are related to sentry’s offering multiple times (and many times before sentry bought them out):

Like episode 578: Logging, which is smack in the middle of sentry’s offering. Overall, the topics covered by syntax.fm are bound to be of interest to developers who want to stay up to date on web development. See episode 158: The fundamentals - html and CSS, episode 727: How to Code: Opinionated TypeScript Stack + Tooling Choices Explained or episode 702: New + Proposed JS APIs for 2024.

This is a great approach from sentry to get their name out there in front of web developers, which is one of their core targets.

My only gripes with the approach? Sentry is there as a sponsor mainly. There are a few Sentry ads on the podcast which are read by the host. This format does not establish sentry as an authority on error monitoring, crash reporting, performance monitoring.

Reading this article by Matthew Henderson, B2B SaaS Digital Marketer at Sentry should give an idea of why they went this route. With 3rd party cookie disappearing, how do you stay top of mind to your potential customer without retargeting, you start/buy a podcast 🙂

subclub for RevenueCat.com

Subclub is a podcast that explores the world of subscription-based businesses, with a focus on mobile apps and services. The podcast is hosted by David Barnard and Jacob Eiting, a mobile app developer and entrepreneur who has experience building and growing subscription-based businesses.

Each episode of Subclub features an interview with a guest who has experience in the mobile app subscription space. Each episode contains a treasure trove of insights, strategies, and fascinating stories from the experts behind these top apps.

Overall, Subclub is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the subscription business model, and it's a must-listen for anyone looking to build or grow a subscription-based mobile app or service.

You can check this episode in the lessons learned from 121 A/B tests. You’ll get to hear about:

• why having a single ****Metric in the early days can be very powerful

• How subscription is a great way to gauge how you user perceive the value of your app

• why focusing on a single platform in the early days can simplify things a lot

All topics that founders and people who are trying to grow a mobile app will want top hear about. On top of that, the topic covered are all related to RevenueCat's offering, so every episode is a reminder that RevenueCat is a great tool to help you your app. This is a great play to position RevenueCat as an authority in its space.

RevenueCat inserted a short ad format segment at the beginning, but that is it for the brand mentions.

Mobile DevOps is a thing for Bitrise.io

Overall, "Mobile DevOps is a thing!" aims to be a comprehensive resource for mobile developers, DevOps professionals. It really targets anyone interested in streamlining the process of mobile app development through DevOps practices. It addresses a niche but growing area in the mobile tech industry.

Each episode of Bitrise features an interview with a guest who has experience in mobile app development, CI/CD, or related fields. Guests include developers, engineers, product managers, and other experts who share their insights and experiences on topics such as mobile app development best practices, CI/CD strategies, automation, and more.

The podcast ran from May 2020 to August 2022. No new episode, unfortunately, but I’m pretty sure that Bitrise is still leveraging that content.

To get a feel for the podcast, you can listen to Does mobile need its own DevOps? with Vladimir Ivanov. It really walks you through what it takes to go from code to the store and how to automate it. Reminds you of something? This is exactly what Bitrise will help you with.

Or maybe the App Performance Monitoring with Rasmus Larsson episode, where you’ll hear from App Performance Monitoring to integrating AR or App Clips into iOS app. All topics of interest to mobile developers and will keep the developers coming back and Bitrise top of mind.

React Native Radio from Infinite Red

"React Native Radio" is a podcast dedicated to exploring React Native, the open-source mobile application framework created by Facebook that enables developers to use React along with native platform capabilities to build mobile apps. The podcast is designed for developers of all skill levels, from beginners to seasoned professionals who are interested in React Native technology, its ecosystem, and its community.

Some key aspects the podcast usually covers: React Native updates, best practices, industry Interviews, community and ecosystem, case studies and experiences, technical deep dives.

The show has about 290 episodes as I write this and has been on air since 2015, the early days of React Native.

Infinite red is a developer shop that focuses exclusively on React Native. Looking at their website, their clients include large brands. I’m assuming that the goal of the podcast is to get to the ears of the tech people in those large companies. Any time they have a need for React Native reinforcement or a project that needs to be outsourced, Infinite Red is top of mind. They certainly have a large audience in the React Native ecosystem and are a known brand out there.

What is different to me here, is that Infinite Red is not a SaaS or a tool sold to the developer community. They most likely sell large projects, and I would have thought that developer was not necessarily the most important target. I’d love to interview them to learn more 🙂.

Five minutes with Five Pack from Five Pack

This podcast is the most recent, as it started in August 2023 and has a slightly different format.

It focuses on delivering concise (it’s not 5 minutes, usually about 13 minutes) yet rich insights into the technology and software development world.

But the guests are all from Five Pack, I’d love to see them branch out and bring some fresh perspective.

The first episode focuses on how the Five Pack company builds Fortune 500 partnerships, and another episode talks about the #1 mistake they’ve seen their client make when building software.

This podcast makes a good job of introducing the founders of Five Pack and sharing their experience to position them as experts in their field. Unfortunately, they are not capitalizing on all of podcasting superpowers yet. Right now, they are not leveraging the network of their guest in sharing their content, allowing to reach other networks.

They’re also not building relationships in the industry by having guest from outside Five Pack.

I’m wondering how it will work in the long run, as it is hard to keep people interested if you don’t have fresh guests perspectives. It will be interesting to see the next episode and where they take this.

The mobile user acquisition show by Rocketship HQ

Mobile user acquisition is a hot topic in the mobile space. After all, if you don’t acquire users and retain them, you don’t have a business. This podcast does a great job of inviting new guests, experts in the field. They also have some episodes that are more webinar style where the host makes a presentation about a user acquisition related topic.

RocketshipHQ being an agency offering user acquisition services has a great play here. In its podcast, it provides content that its target customers will devour. A lot of them will most likely never get in touch with RocketShip HQ. I’m willing to bet that enough of them eventually get stuck or decide they’d rather outsource user acquisition. At that point, RocketShip HQ has a huge advantage over the other agencies out there. The customer already knows them well.

What I’m curious to learn though is how the webinar performs vs the interview format and whether those are as effective. Another person to interview 🙂

You can take a listen to the episode on how to talk to your customers to make winning ads with Hannah Parvaz (she’s a great guest and knows her stuff).

For an example of the webinar format, you can listen to this episode explaining why a small number of ads get most of the spend on meta.

The Subscription League by Purchasely

Last but not least is the subscription league by Purchasely that I produce and co-host.

It delivers essential insights into the app subscription business. The podcast draws from the industry experience of Purchasely’s founders and features discussions with CEOs, innovators, and experts in the field. It offers hands-on experiences, common pitfalls, and actionable strategies for success in subscription-based app businesses.

We’ve covered a lot of topics that growth experts within companies will be interested in and will keep them coming back. Eventually they’ll check out Purchasely.

One big benefit for Purchasely has been the networking opportunity. We’ve featured in-depth conversations with various experts, including CEOs and product managers, who share their personal experiences and insights into running successful subscription services. Creating a relationship with them that can blossom in partnerships, business relationships or simply becoming a client.

And best of all, I have a blast producing it 🙂

You can check Unlocking growth and diversification: the power of web and in-app subscriptions with Yeva Koldovska, one of the most popular interviews we did and How to grow a subscription app business and its user base globally by Olivier Lemarié to get a feel for the show.

What I’m really happy with is that from the get go, the podcast was not supposed to be an ad for Purchasely, but rather a way to build brand awareness and authority, and I think we’ve done a great job if I can say so myself 🙂

Conclusion

So that’s it, those were the 7 branded podcasts that I wanted to share with you. Now that I mentioned them all, I’m realizing that I’d love to interview the people behind those podcasts to exchange about their original goals and whether it was a success or not. How the podcast changed over time. How it impacted their business.

Listening to all those podcasts showed me the different formats and approaches that are used in the tech industry. So having a clear goal when you start is crucial to picking the right format.

Another thing I noticed while listening is that the sound quality varies greatly between those podcasts. If you start a podcast, take the time to invest in a reasonable mic, they’re not that expensive 🙂