🎞️ Translating Movie Trailers to Podcast Trailers

What lessons can we learn from upcoming movie trailers for podcast marketing?

Hi hello, it’s Wil! This week, I’m back with a different focus than usual: looking at marketing way outside of podcasting to inform marketing within podcasting. Let’s take a look at some upcoming movie trailers and see how we can make podcast trailers better!

I’m a huge 🎥cinema person🎥 (come hang out with me on Letterboxd!). Just recently, I started up a very small film club dedicated specifically to watching and discussing capital-F Films from the last Oscars cycle. And I’ve always been a little obsessed with trends and styles in movie trailers. We’re so far past “In a world . . .” or the sad slow covers of nostalgic songs.

And for podcasts, I think we should be even further away from trailers that basically go, “Hi! Listen to our stupid podcast. We talk about whatever! We’re just a bunch of goofballs. Tee hee hee!” I promise your podcast is worth better than that.

📺Embrace a three-act structure

Note: Flashing lights warning here!

A24’s I Saw the TV Glow gets the full story circle treatment in this trailer. If your podcast has a plot, a beginning and an end — whether it’s a limited series or a season you’re about to drop — lean into that!

With this trailer, we see our protagonists first discuss what has brought them together: an old TV show called The Pink Opaque. There’s a sense of bittersweet nostalgia with the music and the VHS-style film grain (which can translate easily into some lo-fi sound design), but we know everything isn’t just happy childhood memories: “I don’t want to alarm you,” says one of the characters.

We then get another character who is seemingly swept into something intense: “Maddie, it’s a TV show,” he says, but this group of friends seems to disagree. And then, we get a twist: Maddie has disappeared with nothing left but her TV.

We finally get the skeptic character coming around: maybe he’s been wrong this whole time.

Use this trailer as an example for how to outline a plot without giving too much away, building stakes and mystery as you go. Does this require you to have audio cut from your whole season before you make your trailer? Yes. And you should see that as a good thing — an incentive to have your ducks in a row before your work goes live!

🍼Edit fast and fun

If you’re making a comedy podcast, do not be afraid to stuff your trailer full to the brim with bits. Some narrative structure will lend itself well to a frenzy of hijinks! Up your jokes per minute, please!

Comedy podcast trailers have tried this structure before, but mostly fallen flat — and I think that’s largely because everyone forgets that brevity is the soul of wit. Keep it short, keep it fast, and keep it bouncy. Try switching up the music halfway through, or cutting the music out to help a punchline land quickly.

We are in a post-Vine world (rest in peace, beloved forever). If a teenager can fit like eight jokes into six seconds with zero dollars, I am positive you can fit at least three individual bits from your podcast into a 30-second trailer, plus explanation of what your podcast is.

Exceptions here being, of course, if your comedy is derived from an unexpectedly slow pace — then, I’d say to lean into that too. But for most chat casts, funny interview shows, and other comedy podcasts, you could be doing a lot more a lot faster.

🛻Focus on tone

Maybe a hot take, but your podcast trailer does not have to sound just like your podcast sounds. Instead, focus on making it sound how your podcast feels.

What is the setting of your podcast? Chat cast creators might think their podcast doesn’t have a setting, but it does. Does your podcast about movies feel like the audience is in the theater with you or hanging out next to you on your couch? Does your podcast about pop culture feel like slumber party bedoom goss or shooting the shit at the bar? Is your podcast about the internet more Tumblr or LinkedIn?

Is your podcast fast-paced and exciting? Put that into the music and sound design — don’t be afraid of gritty textures. Is your podcast chill and collected? Make that trailer sound like a martini glass on a polished grand piano. Is your podcast goofy and off-kilter? Might I recommend “Fluffing a Duck”? (The little 🛎️ gets me every time.)

Put your listeners right into the podcast’s tone and setting before they even hit your first episode. Invite them into your podcast’s space and encourage them to kick back and stay a while.

And, of course, I am always recommending Trailer Park for where to catch some great podcast trailers. Trailers are some of the most important, and most often phoned in, parts of your marketing. Don’t let that be you. Study up on what makes trailers great and take action!

And please share your favorite podcast trailer below!

From The Desk of Tink

As a bona fide gay with pronouns, being able to work with the beautiful Making Gay History is a dream come true. Do you know the real history of Stonewall? No — the real history? Learn about it with oral histories from people who were actually there. Whether you’re part of the LGBTQ+ umbrella or wanting to learn more about the struggles, successes, joys, and horrors we’ve experienced throughout the ages, this podcast is one of your best bets. With anti-trans legislation gaining traction in the states while same-sex marriage is just being legalized in countries like Greece and Estonia, the best time to learn about gay history was years ago — but the second best time is right now.

✨ More Magic

• My old podcast newsletter was brought back from the dead by a limited series so good, I couldn’t not write about it. Come subscribe to Podcast Promise!

• Cannot say how strongly I agree with this Sound Judgment edition on the importance of journalism.

• I’m always happy for more Articles of Interest content — especially before the next Met Gala! 👠

Next week, Shreya returns with more marketing magic!

— Wil 🦇