The Backcountry Marketing Podcast

In 2015 Port Side Productions was born. Like most boot-strapped creative shops with no formal training behind the wheel, we struggled to find work, earn trust, and generate consistent revenue. We understood that in order to grow, we needed relationships with people who knew us, liked us, and trusted us. The problem was how do you build those relationships in a crowded, commoditized market. We tried everything: Craigslist, Facebook ads, Instagram, trade shows, tabling, cold email, cold DMs. Nothing worked. By 2019 we were not sure the company would survive.

Deliverables

200+ podcast episodes

Hundreds of social cuts and email content

Monthly Shop Talks

Slack Communuty

Services

Content Strategy
Creative development

Pre-Production

Production

Post-Production

Maren Hamilton
Chris Burkard

The Insights and Strategy

Late in 2019, a friend suggested starting a podcast. The more we thought about it, the more it solved multiple problems at once. A podcast would allow us to:

  • Reach out to people in a way that made them feel valued
  • Provide education and value to an audience
  • Learn directly from the people we hoped to work with

The Approach

We launched five episodes under the name Brand Story. People were far more willing to be interviewed than expected. We recorded 20 more and rebranded the show as The Backcountry Marketing Podcast and haven't looked back.

The format has evolved, but the core objective has stayed the same:

  1. Provide meaningful value to the outdoor marketing community
  2. Generate relationships that turn into business

The Impact

The podcast did not just help. It transformed us. What started as a production company on the verge of closing is now a strategy-led creative studio working with leading outdoor and active-lifestyle brands to develop and produce content strategies.Specifically, the podcast has:

  • Created a consistent, organic relationship engine
  • Converted those relationships into hundreds of thousands of dollars in client work
  • Clarified our positioning and value to the market
  • Kept us top of mind through episodes, newsletters, and socials
  • Served as a multi-year masterclass in marketing strategy
  • Provided live market research from industry leaders
  • Expanded our network of collaborators and talent
  • Grown an email list in the hundreds and a social audience in the thousands
  • Given us a sandbox to test ideas, frameworks, and offers
  • Opened doors to events, panels, and community building
  • A database of ever-growing insights that now informs our own strategy practices
  • Built an engaged audience that tuned into the show hundreds of thousands of times

Credits

Host:
Cole Heilborn

Editor:
Joseph Cunningham

Producers:
Emily Holland, Angie Marie

Latest

Behind the Scenes

Screenshot of color grading software

Blog

Introducing: The Backcountry Marekting Slack Community

Man sitting in the forest

Blog

What We've Learned Interviewing 200+ Marketers

Cameraman runs with a camera

BLOG

Tune Into the Show

Be quick to listen, slow to speak

Give the audience a reason to care

Lead with empathy

Goal first, story second

Ask harder questions

Bellingham, WA
360.383.7721
cole@portsidepro.com
Proud member of The Conservation Alliance