Listen to this articleAlice Draper
- Alice Draper is a publicist who cold-pitches her teaching purchasers to podcasts for publicity.
- Her purchasers have been on “WorkLife With Adam Grant” and Kara Loewentheil’s “Unf*ck Your Brain.”
- She suggests getting private, utilizing a story hook, and outlining your credibility in your pitch.
A number of years in the past, I transitioned from freelance journalism to working my own public-relations enterprise. An enormous a part of my work now contains cold-pitching my purchasers who work in the teaching trade as visitor audio system on podcasts.
Clients search podcast interviews for model consciousness, constructing authority, and boosting gross sales. Last year, one in all my purchasers told me she made more than $6,000 in gross sales on account of visitor appearances on podcasts. While most of my purchasers are in the teaching realm, podcasts can increase people in a number of industries.
The advantages of a visitor look
I lately had a advertising and marketing executive from an internet publication ask me to pitch their editor to podcasts for backlinks to enhance the positioning’s search-engine-optimization rating. If you run a product-based enterprise, showing on podcasts as a visitor can complement your advertising and marketing campaign.
An NPR survey discovered that 76% of its podcast listeners had taken motion on account of podcast sponsorship, and visitor appearances on podcasts can wield the same power. A podcast look also results in networking alternatives, new thought management, which might be shared in your web site and social-media pages, and better attain to share concepts.
My purchasers have spoken on podcasts like “WorkLife With Adam Grant,” “Unf*ck Your Brain” with Kara Loewentheil, and “Negotiate Anything” with Kwame Christian.
While some podcasts function on a “pay-to-play” foundation — they ask friends to pay them to look on the show — I select to keep away from these as a result of I do not belief the integrity and high quality of podcasts that do that. I’ve discovered that podcast hosts with an engaged and dependable listenership select friends based mostly on the value they provide to the podcast viewers, fairly than the short-term monetary features they might obtain.
Developing a technique
Over time, I’ve realized that pitching a particular angle is a greater technique than pitching generic speaking factors. The most important differentiating issue between pitches that carry out effectively and pitches that do not is the standard and distinctiveness of the story we’re pitching.
To discover podcasts it’s best to pitch, establish your target market and the sorts of podcasts they hearken to. You may even ballot them instantly. For instance, for those who’re making an attempt to get in entrance of company leaders, you may discover that your target market is listening to shows like “Coaching for Leaders” or “Hello Monday.”
From right here, establish the highest themes in the podcasts they’re listening to, like management, private improvement, or health and wellness, and the thought leaders in these areas. Search these thought leaders’ names in Apple Podcasts to discover a record of acceptable shows to pitch.
Here are 5 issues to deal with in a podcast pitch
1. Make it private
The first way to do that is addressing the host by their identify.
I also open the pitch with a particular element concerning the host or the show: “I appreciate that you highlighted the dangers of weight-loss products in your recent episode. It was informative and highlighted so many of my icky feelings about the weight-loss industry.”
I also like to think about artistic methods to personalize a pitch. Do you recognize an old visitor? Mention this. Did you attend the host’s webinar a couple of years in the past? Tell them this, and if potential, point out one thing particular that you just keep in mind.
2. Use a story hook
We’re living in an consideration economy. Simply pitching your experience would not cut it anymore. One of my favourite methods is to agitate the reader with a brief however surprising scene.
An instance is: “Two weeks after reporting an instance of sexual harassment at work, the HR rep informed me that I was fired.”
This hook is surprising and alludes to an important matter that is more likely to comply with.
3. Make it well timed
If you are pitching a top-performing podcast, the host’s inbox is full of compelling pitches, and so they have sufficient leverage to be choosy about whom they have on as friends. When you add a component of timeliness to your pitch, it provides relevancy. You can tie the pitch to dates and observance months, reminiscent of Mental Health Awareness Month for May, or to present affairs, like the banking disaster.
4. List value-driven speaking factors
An important query that is on virtually each podcast host’s thoughts is: What value will my listeners get from this visitor interview?
Make this straightforward for them and record the value-driven speaking factors you will talk about in the episode. One instance is an actionable framework on the right way to get better from a poisonous job. The goal right here is to keep this record as concise as potential whereas indicating to the host that you’ll share actionable recommendation with their listeners.
5. Outline your credibility
If a podcast host is in your pitch, they will wish to discover out more about you and whether or not you interview effectively. Make this as straightforward as potential by together with a complete bio and hyperlinks to your web site, your social-media pages, and any podcast interviews you could have performed.
While I’ve discovered that some podcast hosts have an interest in social-media metrics — and in my experience, smaller podcasts are more in metrics than greater podcasts — my purchasers who have had the best acceptance charges did not have high followings however did have a particularly distinctive and compelling story.
If you have not spoken on a podcast before, it is nonetheless price pitching hosts and specializing in the standard of your story angle and speaking factors. If you’ll be able to hyperlink to any talking materials you have, even an Instagram livestream, that is useful to incorporate. Many are comfortable to tackle inexperienced audio system who have a compelling story or hook.
Here’s the email template I exploit for all of my purchasers when pitching them to podcasts:
Guest Pitch: [Insert title example]
Hi [host’s name],
I used to be listening to your podcast episode about [insert topic] and I could not resist reaching out. [Personalized line or two about why the podcast was interesting.]
Are you in an episode about [insert topic]?
[Story hook.]
In this episode, I’ll speak about:
- [Topic one: Insert details.]
- [Topic two: Insert details.]
- [Topic three: Insert details.]
- [Topic four: Insert details.]
About me: [Provide a professional and relevant bio here. Include any credible links, such as your website, LinkedIn profile, Instagram page, or podcast.]
Are you in connecting for an episode?
Thanks, [first name]. I look ahead to listening to from you!
[Insert your name.]
