Podcasting cheat code

Hint: you don't have to be the expert

No matter where you go in the B2B space, it seems like every influencer, thought leader, or executive is telling you to start a podcast.

But what if you’ve never managed one before?
What if you’re marketing to a field you aren’t an expert in?
What if you’ve never hosted or been on a podcast before?

Here’s the secret: You don't have to be the subject matter expert

I host Loxo’s podcast which serves the recruiting space and guess what - I'm not a recruiter or anything close to an expert at it.

BUT, I set up the podcast to scratch my own itch in my desire to want to learn how to be a better recruiter. So I bring on people I can learn from and ask them to teach and show me what they do. And I know that our listeners are listening to our podcast for the same reason I’m hosting it - to learn from the people I bring on.

How I structured our podcast

I’m sure our structure is far from perfect, but you know what they say: “Done is better than perfect, because perfect is never done.” So with that in mind, here’s how I approached our podcast as we’re closing in on it being running for a year and have published over 100 episodes.

Episode structure

We have multiple episode types. In the show’s intro, I describe our podcast as having “shows within the show”.

Yes, we interview industry leaders, but we also do “Tactical Tuesdays”, Q&As, trending topic discussions, and “Mic Drop” episodes with our CEO. This gives us the ability to cover anything + everything we think could drive value to our listeners in the format that works best for delivering that content.

Sometimes it’s by interviewing an expert.
Sometimes it’s by breaking down a trending topic with my colleague Lex as we share our thoughts + opinions on it.
Sometimes it’s by having a short, 5-10 minute episode getting into the weeds by very specifically teaching how to do something.

Understand: you don’t have to set up your show the same way as every other podcast. Especially in the beginning, give yourself room to test + iterate what does and doesn’t work for you.

Episode frequency

Our podcast is the central part of our content strategy, so with it fueling the videos we’d be sharing, blog posts, LinkedIn posts, and more, we needed the podcast to be releasing episodes at a frequency that would pump out the content we needed when we needed it.

For the first 4 months, this meant releasing 3 episodes per week so we could frontload our content and establish the podcast with our market. After that, we tapered back to 2 episodes per week and is where we continue to run at today.

Understand: the frequency needs to meet in the middle of what’s realistic for you and what will keep your audience engaged + coming back for more. For some, that means daily. For others, that could mean monthly or on an ad hoc basis. This is something you need to determine, but the beauty is that once you start getting feedback, you can tailor as needed.

Episode production

When we launched our podcast, I was a marketing team of one. So when it came to the podcast, here were the things I knew would have to be done to get the episode produced:

• Map out episode topics, guests, and recording dates

• Record + host the actual episode

• Edit the audio

• Edit + produce long-form and short-form video clips

• Syndicate the audio + video versions to the appropriate platforms

• Get the “micro” content (blogs, short-form videos, etc.) into the appropriate places

• Distribute the “micro” content in the appropriate channels to existing subscribers/followers + to attract new subscribers

Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? Well, that’s because it is. Here’s where you have to be real with yourself by playing to your strengths and delegating/outsourcing your weaknesses.

For me, that meant outsourcing the audio editing, video editing + production, and syndication for the first 4 months. I needed to determine the show topics + host so I could learn, so those were an easy decision. Then the utilization + distribution of the content is an area I excel in + knew I could do better than most of the options I could afford, so I owned that part as well.

Understand: just because you could do all of the items, doesn’t mean you should. The podcast was one of many things I was juggling as a team of one, so although I could learn how to edit the audio, produce the videos, etc., I knew it wouldn’t be the best use of my time, so I found individuals/agencies who thrived in those areas and partnered with them.

Episode distribution

Field of Dreams is a phenomenal movie. But it gave really bad advice with the infamous line, “If you build it, they will come.” Maybe that works for baseball diamonds in the middle of cornfields, but not for marketing.

Right now, discovering new podcasts in major podcast streaming platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify leaves much to be desired. Unless you’re already a highly listened-to + reviewed podcast, good luck in having new listeners just happen to stumble across your podcast. You have to actively get it in front of them.

So how can you do this? Here are 5 quick ideas:

• Create a simple “blog post” type page for each episode you record + link to where it can be listened to

• Ask your podcast guests to share the audio and/or video with their followers/networks

• Find a way to work it into an existing email newsletter you have

• Share short-form videos or relevant images in the channels where your audience spends their time

• Early on (but after enough time where you’ve worked out the initial kinks/jitters) it might not be a bad idea to put some ad spend behind the podcast IF it’s truly a value-add to your prospects

  • When people come inbound to us and note that they heard about us through the podcast, the win rate on those are our SECOND-highest of any other channel they mention (first is word-of-mouth, unsurprisingly). Podcasts can become one of your biggest long-term growth levers if done correctly.

Understand: the single most important part of this is that the content medium matches the distribution channel(s) your listeners spend their time. Microvideos are great to run on LinkedIn if you’re targeting people like marketers, sales reps, recruiters. etc., but probably won’t get much engagement if you’re targeting people like healthcare providers or software engineers. Start with your ICP and work backwards from there, not the other way around.

Iterate + evolve

If there’s one piece of advice I can give about starting or maintaining your podcast, it’s this:

Like any good strategy + execution play, you need to be open + able to adapt as time goes on. Do not do things simply because “they’ve always been done this way”, but have your podcast evolve with your vision and what the market engages with.

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One LinkedIn post I bookmarked this week

If you aren’t already following MJ Smith, go do that now. I don’t know how she does it, but every time she posts, she drops an absolute knowledge bomb like this one.

This post couldn’t have come at a better time for me personally as well as it helped re-center us and our messaging around what we already do really well, vs. trying to sell the newest, shiniest, sexiest feature. Like MJ says, “You often get a better ROI on your time by focusing on message-market fit for “old” features that already have product market fit.”

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One podcast episode I enjoyed this week

Shout out to Max Novak for the show recommendation here. He emailed me last month saying I should check it out, and it hasn’t disappointed. I’ve only listened to a few so far, but this episode about J. Paul Getty was FASCINATING to listen to (I ordered his bio after listening to this episode, it was that good).

Was a nice change of pace getting back into some biographies of individuals from other eras + industries. You’d be surprised how many “ideas” you can get from what others have done successfully in other areas that you can translate to your own.

And for anyone interested, here’s the playlist I add to each week with some of my favorite podcast episodes:

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See you next Saturday,
Sam