How I use the pillar content model to promote the Dallas Design Sprints podcast

Some of the best and brightest minds in the business have been on the DDS podcast. It’s been amazing.

We live in a world where it’s never been a better time to promote who you are and what you do.

The vast amount of options you have, be they tools, methods or platforms, is something unprecedented in human history. And it’s only going to get more expansive as time goes on and new tech starts to mature.

If you’re an entrepreneur, a business owner or even a regular human, you have the ability to tell your story in multiple ways. Video, audio and written word can all be conduits for your point of view.

To that effect, I’m using the Gary Vaynerchuk model of pillar content for my own business and professional brand promotion. Similar to how professional marketers capitalize digital distribution channels, pillar content allows you to use a core source of information and data to feed all social media platforms you have a presence on.

To help promote my own professional brand, my business and others I collaborate with, I usually follow a particular process to showcase content to the world. That process has matured over the course of the past year into a series of steps that work really well with video, audio and written word promotion.

To showcase this process, here’s how I typically go about leveraging the pillar content model for maximizing engagement with the Dallas Design Sprints podcast I manage and produce.

How to promote your podcast on multiple platforms

1. Save the finished podcast in both AAC and mp4 formats.
   I use Zoom or GarageBand to record my audio, and Telestream’s Screenflow for all of my podcast editing and exporting. I lean on Figma for design graphics and have a Yamaha mixer + Shure Microphones for some good sound quality.
2. Upload the mp4 version of the podcast to your YouTube channel.
   I have a Dallas Design Sprints YouTube channel where I’ve uploaded everything from instructional videos to Q&A responses. It’s also perfect for podcasts, and can also transcribe the audio as well.
3. Create foundational copy within the YouTube post and save it.
   You’ll be using the writing you do here for re-use on other platforms. In this example, the podcast is the pillar content, while the copy in YouTube you create cascades to every platform.
   
   The good news is that once you create a solid description framework (intro, link to podcast, description, other platforms, hashtags), you can re-use that for future types of content (i.e. more podcasts).
   
   One thing to note… you’ll need to keep your podcast marked as ‘Unlisted’ if you plan on releasing it on a future date. Otherwise, the normal ‘Visible’ setting is just fine.
4. Convert the AAC version of the podcast to mp3 in iTunes.
   It’s a bit of a pain, and I haven’t found an elegant solution yet (since Screenflow doesn’t export to mp3). But once you convert the AAC file to mp3, it’s ready for distribution to a podcast provider.
5. Upload to your podcast hosting provider.
   I use Anchor because of the wide variety of platforms it auto-posts to for free. You have to some manual entry for every episode, but it’s a simple cut/paste from your YouTube source material, upload the episode artwork, and you’re good to go.
6. Schedule your podcast for a future date if you plan on having regular releases.
   You’ll need to hold off the rest of the items on this list if you’re planning on releasing your episode in the future. In the meantime, you can float your YouTube URL to your guests. That way, they can preview your episode before it’s released.
   
   Personally, I prefer real-time promotions for my podcasts when they are out. I know most don’t have that kind of dedicated time, so you can always pre-load your social channels using something like Buffer.
7. Create a new pin on Pinterest
   If you have an account on Pinterest, it’s super simple to copy/paste your podcast artwork and promotional copy to that platform in a new pin. I usually feed my Anchor URL to have it auto-import the artwork.
8. Send out a new Tweet on Twitter
   Same as before. Provide short copy, hashtags and a link to iTunes or Anchor for your episode.
9. Create a new post on your Facebook Business page.
   If you have an active business that has a presence on Facebook, you’ll need to post your podcast copy/link on your page. I like to ‘pin’ the location of the podcast to the origin city/state/country of my guest.
10. Create a new post on Instagram
    Since I use a Mac, I leverage a program called Flume. It has all the tools the Instagram client does, but I do have to manually import my podcast artwork, find out if the special guest(s) are on the platform, and associate their names with the post using the ‘@’ symbol.
    
    Keep in mind that Instagram uses different formatting for imported images. I usually have to create two different versions of my podcast artwork in Figma to supplement both YouTube (one version), Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn (second version). You’ll have to do the same as well.
11. Create a new LinkedIn post
    Same as with Facebook, I have a LinkedIn Business account page I use to promote anything about the business. A simple copy/paste of the URL and promotional copy is all that’s needed, along with a bit of tagging to attach the guest with the announcement.
    
    Fair warning though… LinkedIn’s editor is a royal piece of garbage. Hashtags sometimes wipe out all manner of formatting (including paragraph returns and @ tags). If anyone from the company is reading this, you need some serious Q&A on it. It’s really rudimentary.
12. Post on the /r/designsprint Reddit sub
    I just started up and currently maintain a Design Sprint related sub on Reddit. I’ll be posting all my future content there. :)
13. Respond to each and every comment
    *** This is absolutely critical. *** Never leave a comment answered within a 24 hour time frame. If you want to be in the people and services business, you need to engage both people who praise you and those who think you’re garbage. No judgement, just listen and respond. It can be a lot of work at times, but it pays off in the long run.

Feel free to use any of the above for your own process, and be sure to share your recipe with me in the future. I enjoy optimizing the way I go about my own internal systems and would love to learn from your approach.

Thank you very much for reading!

This article is part of the 30 minute writing challenge I’m doing throughout the month of June to help others improve their writing skills. If you’d like to join me, check out this LinkedIn post for more information.

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