Guest: Dan Bond
If you’ve ever launched a podcast, you’ll know this:
you go in thinking the biggest challenge will be production…
and then you realise the real work is everything else.
Finding the right guests.
Shaping conversations.
Understanding what your listeners actually care about.
Keeping the whole thing alive long enough for it to matter.
When I sat down with Dan Bond, VP of Marketing at RevLifter and host of Browse Basket Buy, we ended up talking about all of it but through a buyer behaviour.
Dan spends his days understanding why people browse, why they buy, and why they don’t.
So it was only a matter of time before he applied that same thinking to podcasting.
Why Dan Started Browse Basket Buy
Dan has been in marketing for two decades, and like most marketers inside high-growth companies, he’s always looking for ways to get in front of the right people.
For RevLifter, that means e-commerce teams responsible for conversions, AOV, repeat purchase, promotions — all the levers that shape customer behaviour online.
Launching a podcast was a way to:
deepen authority
meet people inside the e-commerce ecosystem
share ideas around intelligent offers
and create the kind of content that invites relationships, not just clicks
But even Dan didn’t expect the type of opportunities the podcast would open.
Some came from higher-profile guests with big followings.
Others came from smaller, quieter voices with deeply engaged audiences.
All of it helped RevLifter get in front of people it might never have reached otherwise.
The Early Surprises
Dan thought the heavy lift would be production.
But the real challenge?
Finding the right guests.
Not just any guest —
the right ones.
The ones who align.
The ones who bring meaningful insight.
The ones who want to be part of the conversation, not just pass through it.
He also shared how GenAI tools have helped streamline the writing, summarising, and prep work — just not the human relationship-building part. (Naturally.)
Where Buyer Behaviour Meets Listener Behaviour
This is where the conversation got really interesting.
I asked Dan:
“Do you see any crossover between buyer behaviour and listener behaviour?”
His answer:
Absolutely.
Because whether it’s a product or a podcast, people are essentially doing the same thing:
They’re asking, “Is this worth my time?”
Just like a customer needs to understand a product’s benefit, a listener needs to understand the benefit of pressing play.
Just like a shopper continues buying because the product delivers, a listener continues listening because the podcast delivers.
Dan talked about the BBC’s long-held mission to educate and entertain.
And how that applies just as much to podcasts today as it did to radio decades ago.
People stay when a show teaches them something and feels enjoyable to listen to.
Miss either of those, and they drift.
Why Listeners Don’t Go Back to Older Episodes
Dan also touched on something I see all the time:
recency bias.
Most listeners start with the newest episode.
They rarely dive into the back catalogue — even when the earlier episodes are brilliant.
It’s not that older episodes lack value; it’s that platforms are designed to surface the latest thing.
Does that mean your back catalogue is wasted?
Not at all.
It just means podcasters need to be intentional about resurfacing older conversations through:
clips
repurposed content
seasonal tie-ins
topic-based playlists
or simply referencing old episodes in new ones
It’s all behaviour — and behaviour can be shaped.
Podcasting Is a Long Game (No Matter What People Expect)
Something Dan emphasised — and I wholeheartedly agree — is that businesses often expect podcasts to perform quickly.
But podcasting isn’t a quick-win channel.
It’s a reputation channel.
A relationship channel.
A long-game growth channel.
Brands give up too early because they treat a podcast like a campaign rather than a commitment.
Dan said he’s seen companies try two or three episodes, see low numbers, and walk away.
But what works is consistency.
Showing up long enough for:
your network to grow
your listeners to find you
your ideas to deepen
and your authority to take root
Podcasting compounds — but only if you stay in the game.
Everything Works Together
One of my favourite parts of the conversation was when Dan spoke about the danger of evaluating channels in isolation.
Podcasting doesn’t “work” on its own.
Just like email doesn’t “work” on its own.
Or social.
Or SEO.
Everything is holistic.
Everything feeds everything else.
Podcasts deepen relationships.
Relationships grow partnerships.
Partnerships fuel brand visibility.
Visibility feeds sales conversations.
Sales feed back into content.
And round it goes.
Done well, podcasting becomes a quiet engine powering everything else.
So, What Do Early Podcasters Miss?
A few things stood out:
They underestimate how much behaviour shapes listening
They give up before the compounding effects kick in
They forget that quality (and clarity) outruns cleverness
They treat marketing as isolated channels instead of a connected ecosystem
They overlook the networking power inside every interview
They focus on production before audience understanding
But the big one?
They forget that podcasting is a long-term relationship with a listener, not a short-term tactic for a funnel.