Scroll LinkedIn for five minutes and you’ll find no shortage of marketers preaching content strategy. But here’s the challenge: the people with the insights—the real insights—don’t have time to write. In our most recent episode of Search and Revenue, Pete Larkin, Senior Director of Marketing at Sawtooth, breaks it down simply: “Podcasting is the best productivity hack for content development.” He’s using it to solve a real problem every B2B marketer faces—how to extract valuable insights from time-starved subject matter experts and turn them into scalable, high-impact content.
From Snowboarding to SaaS
Pete’s pivot from semi-pro snowboarding to SaaS marketing came with a lesson in survival: creatives are often first on the chopping block. So he retrained—becoming fluent in data storytelling and marketing analytics out of necessity. “If you want to climb in B2B,” he says, “learn to speak the language of outcomes.”
Turning Talking into Traffic
Pete didn’t start podcasting for fun, he started because written content with SMEs was a nightmare. In B2B, the people with the smartest takes—the ones clients actually want to hear from—are usually the busiest. “Trying to get them to create content… was pulling teeth,” he says. Asking them to sit down and write a blog post? You’ll be waiting a while. But get them talking for half an hour, and suddenly you’ve got more usable content than you know what to do with.
That’s where podcasting shines. One recorded conversation can become:
-
A podcast episode
-
A blog post
-
Dozens of social clips
-
Short-form video content
-
YouTube titles and descriptions
-
SEO-ready metadata
Where AI Supercharges the Workflow
Most marketers still think of content production like an assembly line: one task, one specialist. Pete’s approach flips that. Once the podcast is recorded, AI agents take over:
-
Copywriting agent turns transcripts into first drafts
-
Editor agent cleans grammar and structure
-
Brand agent aligns tone and voice
-
SEO agent optimizes for visibility
-
Marketing Manager agent gives feedback and loops back
These agents don’t replace humans. They accelerate them. What once took weeks now takes minutes. Your team shifts from typing blog posts to managing pipelines.
Podcasting as a GTM Engine
Here’s the kicker: podcasting isn’t just about content. It’s go-to-market strategy. You get to:
-
Build relationships with your ICPs
-
Elevate your brand as a knowledge center
-
Populate your SEO funnel with expert-led content
It’s not just a marketing asset. It’s a relationship engine. Especially in technical industries where buyers rarely get invited to speak, podcast invites are a Trojan Horse. You build rapport while building content.
“Rarely will they say no,” Pete says. “They finally get to tell their story somewhere others will hear it.”
Human > Machine
Could AI voices and scripts do it all? Maybe. But Pete draws the line. “When you remove real human voices, to me, it’s gone too far.” The human voice, the connection, the conversation—that’s the magic. Tools exist to eliminate admin, not authenticity. Use the time savings to go deeper on the relationships that matter.
Final Thought: Build Together or Fall Behind
Pete closes with a reminder: “When we build together, we grow together.” Marketers who isolate themselves fall behind. Whether it’s podcasting, automation, or leadership—growth happens when you build with others.