During the past several years, many PR professionals have recognized the value of podcast relations as a piece of their earned media strategy. Not only will clients who guest on a podcast earn a backlink from being included in the show notes, but they’ll also be creating long-form content that can and should be repurposed in many ways.
And, not for nothing, in a digital, noisy world, the value of having conversations with other thought leaders in your or complementary industries can’t be underscored enough. Whether the relationship between the host and guest evolves into a networking relationship, a referral relationship, or some other type of collaboration, these opportunities deliver on many clients’ desires to bring a bit of humanity back to their brands.
For firms that decide to embrace this newer PR medium for their clients, there are two options for landing those interviews: outsource the pitching to a dedicated podcast interview booking agency or use the same types of pitches you send to media outlets to podcast hosts.
Neither is ideal.
Outsourcing this strategy can be expensive and sometimes leads to your client being pitched for podcasts and topics that don’t match their PR goals. Because the outsourced team often isn’t closely connected to your client, they sometimes lack the nuanced understanding of their brand and perspective that can make all the difference in crafting stand-out, well-aligned pitches.
On the other hand, trying to navigate a new medium alone often leads firms to send their already developed and sometimes high-performing traditional media pitches to podcast hosts and producers.
This approach rarely works.
Podcast Pitching Is a Different Beast
Podcast pitching is a different beast than traditional media pitching, mainly because it’s more personal. You’re not just pitching a story; you’re proposing that your client spend at least 30 minutes conversing with the host, whose interview will be shared on their owned media platform—the podcast.
So, how can you turn an effective media pitch into one that grabs a podcast host’s attention and lands interviews? Here are five quick fixes:
- Email like a human.
- Ditch the multi-paragraph client bio.
- Don’t bury the topic.
- Give the host everything they need and nothing more.
- Use formatting to your advantage.
Email Like a Human
When pitching to podcast hosts, skip the flashy stats or stories that might catch an editor’s eye. Like you and me, podcast hosts expect genuine and conversational emails.
Here are some suggestions that might go against what you’re used to in traditional media pitching:
- Greet the host: Address them like you would a colleague. Include their name and the name of their podcast. You’d be surprised how many pitches include neither.
- Avoid feigned admiration: If you’re not, there’s no need to suggest you’re a fan of the show. Dropping the title of a recent episode does nothing to convince the host that you ‘get’ their audience. Instead, share how you found their show (ex, researching on behalf of a client) and express an understanding of their audience and goals. Hosts need to know that you SEE the work they’re doing. They don’t need you to be a fan.
- Use non-assumptive, assertive language: Forget the ABCs of selling (Always Be Closing). Instead of including a scheduling link because you know your client is a perfect fit, use language that gives the host an ‘out.’ This lowers their defenses when reading the pitch (remember: many hosts receive multiple pitches a day) and gives them space to consider if your client and the proposed topic are a fit. Using phrases like “might be a fit,” “could discuss,” or “what do you think?” respects the host’s role in planning the content of their show.
Using the same tone you would with a colleague or friend will ultimately lead to more responses from hosts because they know a human is on the other side of the inbox. That reply, whether a yes, no, or not now, is the starting point of building a relationship that could benefit future clients.
Ditch the Multi-Paragraph Client Bio
Does a host need your client’s three-paragraph bio to decide whether or not they’d be a good fit as a guest? No. Do they need a concise descriptor of your client’s expertise and credentials, coupled with what sets them apart from hundreds of guests with similar backgrounds? Yes.
So often, podcast hosts receive pitches that spend the majority of the time detailing the prospective guest’s biography, accomplishments, and lists of awards. While including credibility metrics is important in leveling your client’s expertise, sharing more than that only distracts from how the guest will serve the host’s audience.
For many of us, we represent clients whose entire biography seems critically important to share. If you can’t decide what to keep and what to ditch, consider using an AI tool to make the bio more concise and relevant to the podcast you’re pitching.
Don’t Bury the Topic
While it may be true that your client can speak to myriad topics, it’s not the job of the host to look at your client’s expertise and develop a topic that’s the right fit for their audience. That’s our job.
A podcast pitch is the suggestion of a specific topic that could be the focus of a relevant and appealing conversation for the host’s audience. You know your client far better than the host, so the onus is on you to develop that topic.
Here are some ways to make it easier:
- Find the sweet spot between your client’s story and the audience’s interests. What can your client talk about that would fall under the umbrella of the overall focus of the show? You’ll need to personalize one of your client’s core topics for each show you pitch so that it’s clear it’s meant for that audience.
- Research the podcast thoroughly but efficiently. No, you don’t need to binge-listen the last 10 episodes of the show to personalize a topic for the show. Reviewing the podcast description, previous episodes, and the host’s website and social platforms will likely give you all the insight you need. If you find it hard to come up with a relevant topic, that’s your sign that the show is likely not a fit for your client.
- Pitch a specific topic for an interview. If your traditional media pitch highlights your client’s journey, research, or book, consider crafting your topic around one relevant opinion, angle, or thought leadership.
- Bridge the gap between the topic and the audience. Don’t be afraid to clearly explain, in typed words, why the topic is relevant and would likely benefit the listeners. Hosts appreciate knowing that you’ve done your research, understand the audience, and are proposing a topic that would be relevant to them.
Give the Podcast Host Everything They Need
Imagine, you’re a podcast host who is accepting guest suggestions for your show. You’re excited to interview thought leaders in your industry and share them with your listeners who value sharp, clear, expert guests.
You receive a pitch on behalf of a potential guest with a topic that is spot-on for your audience.
You think this person sounds fabulous on paper. Since you’re not familiar with them or their work, you wonder:
- What do they sound like?
- Will they show up to the interview and sound and look professional (or hip, or smart, or whatever the show’s tone is)?
- Have they ever been interviewed before?
- Can they articulate their thoughts clearly and concisely?
- Are they a walking, talking billboard for their brand, or can we have a fun conversation?
But, alas, this information isn’t shared in the pitch, and there are no links that you can use to find out more. Instead, if you’re VERY motivated in vetting this particular guest (which you likely are not), you Google their name (how do you spell it again?) and see what comes up.
How could you help this host? Include links to the following in the pitch:
- The client’s website and/or social media platform
- The client’s media page or digital one-sheet (here’s an example of one built out in Notion)
- A previous interview, video, or an edited audio sample
You never want the host to get to the end of a pitch and have a question they need answered before making a decision. If they do, they’ll likely never ask it, and the pitch will get deleted.
Use Formatting to Make the Pitch Scannable
While we have numerous formatting tools at our fingertips, using all of them without taking a step back to see how they work together is a recipe for disaster. When everything is bolded, nothing stands out. When something is bolded, underlined, and italicized, its rank, in terms of importance, is lost.
See what I did there?
Besides emphasis tools, like italics, bolding, and underlining, we can also use paragraph formatting tools like white space and bulleted lists to match our pitches more scannable and pleasant to the reader’s eye.
Here are some suggestions (written so you can SEE how they work):
Link to the client’s website or social media profile in the greeting or bio when you first introduce the host to them.
Title: and paragraph break the short client bio.
Bold the pitch topic amongst the wording that shares why it’s relevant to the audience.
- Italicize the bullet points that share what the conversation could include.
- Italicize the bullet points that share what the conversation could include.
Near the bottom of the pitch, link to the client’s website and social media account. When hyperlinked, these will appear blue and underlined, drawing the reader’s eye down the page.
See how much easier that is to read compared to the first paragraph in this section? Reduce the friction in reading the pitch by formatting it in an inviting and leading way.
While many more aspects of podcast PR can affect the success of a pitch, including podcast selection, topic development, follow-up frequency, and client success in interviews, these five tweaks can significantly enhance your pitch’s effectiveness today.
If you’re curious to see how real podcast pitches can be improved, consider joining The Flop Files newsletter. Each week, I share an anonymized pitch that didn’t quite hit the mark, share how to make it stronger, and then rewrite it for a fresh perspective on what works.
