Episode Summary
In this episode of Recorded Content Tristan Pelligrino the co-host of the podcast and co-founder of Motion talks about starting a podcast without launching one. Tristan explains how launching a podcast can be intimidating for a company. However, he also notes it’s unnecessary to start with a full-fledged podcast.
Instead a company can build a foundation of podcasting skills first. Tristan shares the story of a marketing team that scheduled internal interviews with experts to practice their podcasting skills. They used these interviews for creating blog posts, ads, web copy, and more which helped them to improve their research, conversation, and planning skills.
Tristan ultimately breaks down four key ways a company can build the skills of its team so it can launch a successful podcast. The excerpts featured within this solo episode stem from a podcast guest appearance Tristan had on the Modern Day Marketer podcast, a show produced by the Juice and hosted by Brett McGrath.
Guest Profile
Name: Tristan Pelligrino
What he does: He’s the Co-Founder of Motion
Company: Motion
Noteworthy: Tristan is the co-host of the Recorded Content podcast
Key Insights
- The benefits of practicing podcasting before launching a show. Tristan suggests that instead of jumping straight into a podcast launch, companies can practice their podcasting skills by conducting internal interviews and using those conversations as a foundation for content creation. This approach is low-risk and helps to build podcasting skills such as research, planning, and conducting interviews. The ultimate goal is to have a well-rounded podcast when the time comes to launch.
- Create a series that doesn’t have as many layers of complexity. A series of blog posts is less complex than a podcast but it still provides an opportunity to practice key skills like writing, researching, and storytelling. By creating a blog series, you can develop a clear understanding of your target audience, your voice and tone, and your preferred topics to discuss without the added pressure of recording video or audio content. Blogging also provides a platform for generating content ideas and feedback from readers which can then be used to inform future podcast episodes.
- 4 options for starting a podcast without launching a podcast. During the interview with Brett McGrath, Tristan covered four ways companies started a show before they came to Motion for help. In the past few years, Tristan has seen several companies launch projects before creating a show. Some examples include a blog interview series, an internal interview series, an internal podcast, and a live event series.
Episode Highlights
Start with a low-risk activity
Recently I had a prep call with an upcoming guest on Recorded Content and one of the things I uncovered was how the company’s podcast got started. The company didn’t buy a course, the company didn’t buy fancy microphones. The company didn’t spend 6 months on a strategy document.
Instead, the marketing team scheduled interviews with internal experts and specific partners. This approach allowed the marketing team to build podcasting skills without actually launching a podcast. The team got to practice with research, developing an objective for a conversation, planning and scheduling interviews, crafting interview questions, and conducting interviews with this approach. It was a low-risk activity.
Internal interviews aren’t a waste of time
Tristan talked about how a company built a rock-solid interview process by conducting a series of internal executive interviews. Even though the conversations weren’t published as podcast episodes, the company used these interviews as a foundation for blog posts, ads, web copy, and more.
It was viewed as practice but with the added benefit of learning from one another. In many ways, podcasts are published conversations and when you focus on the art of conversation first, it helps when your team is ready to launch the podcast.
Podcasts are more than just another check box
From my perspective, a podcast is more than an audio channel. And I think what a lot of marketers wrestle with is the fact they think a podcast is just another item on their list. ABM is this checkbox. Paid ads is another checkbox. It’s just another layer to what we’re doing.
But we like to flip the script there and say you know a podcast is really a forum to have conversations with people in your space. They could be solo episodes where you’re sharing your own perspective in a creative way. But a lot of times where we start with companies is building on interviews or conversations that they’re having internally.
