Hey friend,

How’s it going? 🌻

You've probably seen me say this before on LinkedIn, in past newsletters - but I'll say it again: A blog isn't the only thing a content marketer should care about. Not in 2025, when content formats are evolving fast and brand storytelling needs to do more than rank on Google.

If you want to truly grow as a content marketer, you need to go beyond writing. You need to:

• Explore different formats
• Get involved in content strategy
• Learn how to run research and plan editorial themes
• Think about how content flows across the funnel and across channels

That's exactly why I'm writing this issue. I recently led the launch of a podcast for my current company—our first one—and this experience prompted me to step outside the usual blog playbook. I want to take you behind the scenes of how I approached the launch, end-to-end.

Disclaimer: This is going to be a long one!

If you've been following this newsletter, you know I run a regular SME interview section—that gave me early experience in:

• Guest outreach
• Topic framing
• Structuring conversations

That experience definitely shaped how I approached podcast planning. Here's a sneak peek at my Notion SME dashboard 👇

Step 1: Naming + Branding

The host of our podcast prefers light, casual, and subtle tones. But our audience includes formal B2B leaders—HR heads, comp specialists, and CXOs who typically engage with more structured, data-heavy content. This created an interesting challenge from day one.

The challenge: Find a name and visual identity that bridges that tone gap without compromising either the host's authentic style or the audience's expectations for professional content.

Our approach:

• Brainstormed name options that felt approachable yet relevant to our domain—we generated 27 initial options before narrowing down
• Ran a poll in the general channel to get everyone's viewpoint
• Chose a name that reflects both depth and lightness
• Collaborated with designer to bring out a subtle, minimal, and professional brand identity, using:
  • A color palette that balances corporate blues with warmer accent colors
  • Typography that's clean and professional but not overly rigid
  • Visual elements that suggest conversation and connection rather than just data
• Created a flexible brand guideline that works across audio platforms, social media, and promotional materials while maintaining consistent recognition

Step 2: Guest Selection

We explored two parallel methods for shortlisting guests, each with its advantages:

1. Manual identification:
   • Reached out to known experts and industry leaders within our network and second-degree connections
   • Created a detailed spreadsheet tracking 35+ potential guests with columns for expertise areas, previous speaking experience, audience size, and alignment with our content themes
   • Understood their interests through preliminary conversations and worked around what they're excited to talk about—this was crucial for natural, energetic conversations
   • Prioritized guests who could speak to specific pain points our audience faces based on our customer research
   • Developed a tiered approach: Season 1 mixed "big names" with rising experts to create diverse perspectives
2. Podcast mining:
   • Searched for people who've already spoken on similar B2B topics across platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube (Perplexity helped)
   • Used tools like ListenNotes to find experts who appeared on HR and compensation-focused podcasts
   • Analyzed speaking styles—we specifically looked for guests who could explain complex topics conversationally
   • Chose guests who are comfortable speaking publicly and knowledgeable about our themes
   • Suggested topics in the same range—not identical, but aligned with what they're already passionate about
   • Examined audience engagement on their previous podcast appearances to gauge potential interest

This dual approach helped us create a robust guest pipeline that balanced established experts with fresh voices, crucial for maintaining both credibility and novelty in our episodes.

Step 3: Planning the Podcast Logistics

Prepping for recording:

• Scheduled episodes, managed calendars, and coordinated pre-recording meetings—this took much more time than anticipated!
• Created a detailed production calendar working backward from the launch date, accounting for editing time, approval processes, and promotional lead time
• Established a technical setup protocol for consistent audio quality, including equipment recommendations for remote guests
• Developed a pre-recording questionnaire for guests to complete that covered:
  • Their comfort level with podcasting
  • Technical setup is available to them
  • Topics they're most passionate about discussing
  • Stories or examples they might want to share
• Set clear expectations about time commitments, promotional responsibilities, and content review processes with each guest

Talk track development:

• Created a structure to guide the conversation—not a script, but a flow that followed a three-act structure:
  • Opening: Personal connection to the topic + guest introduction
  • Middle: 3-4 core discussion areas with potential follow-up questions
  • Close: Key takeaways + actionable insights for listeners
• Researched each guest deeply to prepare relevant background material—reading their articles, watching previous talks, and understanding their unique perspective
• Developed custom questions for each guest based on their specific expertise and experiences
• Identified potential discussion tangents worth exploring based on audience interests
• Created "bridge questions" to smoothly transition between topics without awkward pivots

Host enablement:

• Shared notes, prompts, and interesting angles to help the host lead confidently and naturally
• Conducted pre-calls between the host and guests to establish rapport before recording
• Created "cheat sheets" for our host with:
  • Quick facts about the guest's background
  • Industry terms or concepts that might come up
  • Potential challenging moments and how to navigate them
  • Follow-up question templates for deeper exploration
• Coordinated multiple prep sessions to ensure our co-founder felt comfortable with both the technology and conversation direction
• Developed a subtle signaling system for the producer to alert the host about timing without disrupting conversation flow

Step 4: Launch + Promotion

Launch process:

• Finalized all publishing assets (descriptions, visuals, titles) with careful attention to both SEO and emotional appeal
• Created episode titles that balanced clarity with intrigue—straightforward enough to communicate value but interesting enough to drive clicks
• Developed a comprehensive show description that positioned our unique perspective in the compensation space
• Prepared distribution across Spotify, YouTube, and other platforms—each with slightly different formatting requirements
• Created custom episode artwork for each interview that featured both the guest and key topics
• Developed a consistent intro/outro framework that reinforced our brand without feeling repetitive

Promotion strategy:

• Planned episode announcements for LinkedIn and other channels with a 6-week content calendar
• Created a multi-phase promotion approach:
  • Pre-launch teasers (2 weeks before)
  • Launch day announcements
  • Weekly episode highlights
  • Themed content series based on episode insights
• Made sure posts spoke to the value of the discussion, not just the guest name or topic
• Created guest-specific promotion kits including:
  • Pre-written social posts that they could customize
  • Custom graphics sized for different platforms
  • Key quotes and timestamps to highlight
  • Suggested hashtags and tags
• Incorporated podcast mentions naturally into our other content (blog posts, webinars)

Step 5: Repurposing the Podcast

Ongoing repurposing workflow:

• Yes, podcast shorts/clips are obvious—but there's so much more potential that most brands completely miss
• We developed a systematic content extraction process:
  • Full episode transcription and cleanup
  • Topic tagging and categorization of different segments
  • Identification of standout quotes, stories, and frameworks
  • Mapping content sections to different buyer personas and journey stages
• Set up a production schedule that prioritizes high-value repurposing based on content gaps and performance needs

Repurposing ideas we're using:

• Blog articles inspired by episode topics—not just summaries, but expanded perspectives that include:
  • Additional research to support points made
  • Practical implementation steps beyond what was discussed
  • Visual representations of concepts mentioned verbally
• Stand-alone social posts around frameworks or quotes:
  • Quote cards designed for different platforms
  • Animated text highlights with custom background designs
  • "Did you know" facts extracted from expert conversations
• Framework deep dives in articles or carousel posts:
  • Taking the mentioned frameworks and creating visual explanations
  • Step-by-step breakdowns of processes referenced casually
  • Real-world application examples gathered from our community
• Email sequences that expand on episode themes
• Internal training materials for our customer success and sales teams
• Potential for eBooks or whitepapers based on recurring themes—we're already outlining our first one
• Webinar topics that build upon podcast conversations
• Workshop materials for in-person events and customer training

The key idea: Each podcast = a content goldmine. If you plan for repurposing early, the return on investment (ROI) is massive. We're seeing 8-12 pieces of additional content from each single episode, which dramatically improves our content production efficiency and ensures message consistency across formats.

If you've been focusing only on blogs or SEO, this is your nudge to explore new formats. The skills you'll gain and the content diversity you'll create are worth the learning curve.

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P.S. Do you have any questions about the newsletter? Want to share your feedback? Feel free to reply to this email.

Onwards and upwards,

Sreyashi
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