Part One: Content Marketing and Everything You Forgot To Do

Creature Preacher is the latest show from Rococo Punch . We've made a lot of podcasts as co-productions like The Turning (with iHeart), Welcome to Provincetown (with Room Tone), and Queen of Hearts (with Wondery). We also make shows for other people like The Pitchfork Review (Conde Nast), Finding Raffi (Fatherly), and more. But this is something completely different; it's what I would call an "experiment in action."

When we decided to launch this show independently, we called on our friends and colleagues in the podcasting space. We knew we needed help on many elements of the launch but we also knew we had a limited budget (ok, no budget). My pitch: we know we need you but we cannot afford you. Would you consider partnering with us and deferring payment until we are profitable? Also, we will give your company 1% of all net profits from advertising for the next 12 months.

So these folks are jumping in the deep end with us and in my opinion, transparency is the only way to make risk feel more intentional. That may seem counterintuitive but stick with me. Rococo Punch (an Audily company) is employee owned and constantly pushing boundaries. Our producers, editors, and sound designers are at monthly budget meetings and they see when things are good...and when they are challenging. They've witnessed the audio industry's ups and downs from the inside.

We also know what we're good at and when we need help. So here's where our creative partners come in. For the next week, I'll be sharing insights from these talented collaborators as well as lessons learned by working with some of the best in the business.

Up first: Lauren Passell from Tink Media .

1. Give us a brief overview of your career thus far.

I have been working in digital media for almost 20 years—print magazines, a dating app, freelancing, book publishing, and I started the social media channels at Barnes & Noble. My very first job was for Parenting magazine. I assembled strollers and held babies for photo shoots. This was early 2000s, it was very Devil Meets Prada. With Maclaren.?

2. What made you decide to start Tink???

Before I worked in podcasting I was in book publishing. The PR team would ask me to pitch their authors to podcasts because they knew I loved them and understood the space. So when I started Tink, it was only for authors to get pitched to shows for interviews. The company has evolved and pivoted to so many things since then, people ask us a question or tell us about a problem and we try to figure out a way to address it. That makes me excited about the future. Who knows what else we’ll do!

3. Why did you get involved in this experiment??

How many reasons do you want? I love Jessica, I would do anything she asked me to do. I was honored to get to work with Rococo Punch and Audily. But if you want the simplest answer, it’s that TInk gets better and better with each challenge, and this felt like something totally different than what we’ve done. Fun in every way. A total treat. Something everyone at Tink wanted to be part of. Plus, I always want to know what my cat, Monty, is trying to tell me.?

4. Why do you think people overlook marketing when it comes to content creation?

People don’t think marketing is creative or fun, but it is both. It feels like boring homework to some people. It’s hard to promote your own work and ask for “favors” from friends and people you work with. (Although I don’t consider partnerships “favors.”)? I also think that people just don’t have the bandwidth to pay attention to it. Or they don’t think they do. It’s so crucial, everyone needs to pay attention to it. If a podcast falls in the woods and is not properly marketed, does anyone hear it? The answer is…maybe?

5. What have you learned in the course of working with different clients on different types of shows?

I have learned that to be a good marketer and publicist, you need to think like a producer. I have learned that partnerships work. I have learned that feed swaps are almost never done right, but can really work when they are. I have learned it’s better to book a perfect guest, not a famous one. I have learned there are not hard and fast rules, to experiment and think outside the box, and that anyone who speaks in absolutes when it comes to podcast marketing is probably lying.?

6. Best marketing swap/promo/ad you’ve ever heard?

Roman Mars does the best feed drops on 99% Invisible. They don’t feel like feed drops, they are so organic. Also love how Midnight Burger and Lindsay Graham’s History Daily do feed drops. (Midnight Burger calls them “Midnight Friends” and Lindsay calls them “Saturday Matinee.” I love this branding.) On The Daily Zeitgeist, Jack O’Brien does a read for one of my favorite ads, for Squarespace. The premise is that he set up a square space website that he accidentally started an entire company called “Look Ma, No Hands,” teaching kids how to drive, so easily and quickly that he didn’t have time to realize what a terrible idea it was.

7. Worst marketing swap/promo/ad you’ve ever heard??

I don’t want to name names, but I don’t like it when a network blasts me with a feed drop of their newest show on every single feed they own, or when I have to hear more than a few promo swaps on a podcast, or when those promos are heard too often or don’t make sense.?

8.? What is the worst way to spend marketing dollars?

Social media advertising.?

9. Biggest mistakes you see podcasters make again and again?

Thinking that tweeting is marketing, or that being on social media is the best way to grow a show. Also making audiograms.?

10. One piece of advice for people thinking about starting their own podcasts or trying to build a bigger audience?

Find your “podcast friends,” podcasts who have audience overlap with you, and figure out how to work with them.?

Grateful to be podcast friends with Lauren (love you too, girl) and the rest of the team at Tink. If you want to learn more about their work and services, click HERE.

More on Creature Preacher HERE.