Every week, Dennis Yu walks through a marketing concept on the whiteboard. Getting each episode from raw recording to fully published, with a blog article, updated tracker, and live episodes page, takes three stages. Here’s exactly what happens at each one.
STAGE 1: HUMAN TASKS
These are the steps you handle manually before anything goes to the AI.
1. Process the Video
Lightly process the video using Descript. This is basic cleanup only, no heavy editing. Simply cut dead space at the beginning / end of the video, apply studio sound, and export at highest quality
2. Upload the Video
Upload the video privately (not publicly) to both platforms:
- YouTube
- Spotify for Creators (SFC)
Keep it private for now. The AI will generate the title and description before it goes live.
Also make sure to upload both the raw and processed video to our shared drive, under the folder titled “Marketing Mechanic”. Follow the same naming structure as used across other files in the folder.
3. Create the Thumbnail
Find a strong frame from the video and take a screenshot. The best thumbnails come from the last third of the video, when the whiteboard is fuller and more content is visible.
Look for a moment with:
- A serious or focused facial expression
- Active or engaged hand movement
Lightly clean up the screenshot and make sure it’s cropped to 16:9. This will be your thumbnail, apply it to the video on both YouTube and Spotify.
Also make sure to upload the thumbnail to our shared drive, under the folder titled “Marketing Mechanic”. Follow the same naming structure as used across other files in the folder.
STAGE 2: AI Agent TASKS (BEFORE THE VIDEO IS OUT)
Once the video is uploaded privately and the thumbnail is ready, hand off to the AI Agent. This stage generates everything needed to schedule the episode on both platforms.
1. Generate the Title
The AI will review the existing titles from the Marketing Mechanic YouTube playlist and use them — along with the full transcript from the newly uploaded video — to write a title that’s consistent with what’s already performing well on the channel. You’ll get a few options to choose from.
2. Create the Description
The AI will pull the most recent episode description as a structural reference, then use the new episode’s transcript to write a fresh description in the same format. No copy-pasting from old episodes — just a consistent structure applied to new content.
The description should also include a line near the top (after the opening summary) as a placeholder for the article link: Read the full article: [ARTICLE LINK — add after publish]. This gets swapped out with the live URL once the article is published.
3. Upload Metadata
Once the title and description are ready, add them to both platform. On both YouTube and Spotify for Creators:
- Add the title
- Add the description
On YouTube specifically, also:
- Add end screen elements: a Subscribe button and one relevant video
- Confirm the video language is set to English
- Add the video to the Marketing Mechanic playlist
4. Schedule the Video
Schedule the episode on both platforms for:
Thursday at 8:00 AM PST / 10:00 AM CST
Do not publish it manually, use the scheduler so both platforms go live at the same time.
STAGE 3: AI TASKS (AFTER THE VIDEO IS OUT)
Once the episode is live, the AI Agent handles the remaining publishing tasks. Don’t run this stage early, the article and tracker updates should go out after the video is confirmed live.
1. Create the Article
The AI will write a blog article based directly on the video content, following the BlitzMetrics blog posting guidelines. The article will:
- Embed the YouTube video at the top
- Be based entirely on what Dennis covers in the video
- Include real examples from the video
- Include direct quotes from Dennis where they add value
- Be published under Dennis Yu as the author, in the Marketing Mechanic category
- Include strategic inter-links to related topics / entities mentioned in the video (NOT “click here to read more”)
For RankMath SEO optimization, the AI will also generate:
- A focus keyword
- An SEO-friendly URL slug
- A meta description
Publish the article after the video is confirmed live.
2. Add Article Link to YouTube Description
Once the article is published, go back to the YouTube description and replace the placeholder line with the live article URL. Do the same on Spotify for Creators if the description was mirrored there.
3. Post a Pinned Comment on YouTube
Post a comment on the YouTube video and pin it immediately so it’s the first thing viewers see. Use this format:
Thanks for watching this episode of Marketing Mechanic, where we cover the mechanics behind what actually makes marketing work. Read the full article here: [live article URL]
4. Update the Internal Tracker
Add the episode to the Marketing Mechanic Episode / Article Tracker Google Sheet. Fill in:
- Episode number
- Title
- YouTube video link
- Article link
5. Update the Public Episodes Page
Add the episode to the public-facing episodes page.
Include:
- Episode number
- Title
- YouTube video link
- Article link