Hosting a podcast is a great way to share your company’s message and connect with potential customers. But when you appear as a guest on someone else’s podcast, you get access to a brand new highly-engaged audience.
As a marketer, it’s important to get your company’s leadership involved with podcast guest appearances. By securing your company’s leaders as a guest on another show, your company gets the spotlight. And rather than having your company’s ad thrown in front of the audience, your company’s reps have a genuine conversation. The leaders of your company get the opportunity to provide your unique perspective on the industry.
But most companies don’t know how to get on their industry’s best podcasts. Even when you build a list of podcasts aligning with your company’s target audience, it’s hard to actually book the podcast appearances.
“Podcasts offer that one-on-one connection with the host and the listener that cannot be said for other mediums out there.”
Heather Osgood
Founder @ True Native Media
In this blog post, we help you craft the perfect pitch to get on relevant podcasts in your industry. Here’s a breakdown of what we cover so you can get the most from your podcast guesting efforts:
- Why your company’s leaders should appear as a guest on a podcast
- How to craft a winning guest pitch strategy
- Podcast pitch templates: the key components to securing your dream podcast guest appearance
By using the tips and podcast guest pitch templates, you’ll be able to get your leadership more podcast guest appearances and connect with engaged podcast listeners.
“The content you can repurpose from a 30-minute interview is endless.”
Mark Colgan
CRO
Speak on Podcasts
Why your company's leaders should appear as a guest on a podcast
Being a podcast guest can be an incredibly rewarding experience that offers a range of benefits to the guest and your company. But, before we dive into the podcast email template, let’s list some of the reasons you should have individuals from your company appear as a guest on another podcast.
You don’t have to spend hours making a video or recording audio
The most obvious benefit is that you can put in maybe 10% of the effort you would have used making your own podcast episode. When you appear as a guest, all you need to do is show up to the recording session and have a genuine conversation.
The rest is for the podcast host to deal with.
When someone appears as a guest on our show, Recorded Content, this is a list of everything we include as the podcast producer:
- Full video episode
- Full audio episode
- Social media images
- Show notes
- Social posts
- Full white-glove transcript
- Episode trailer
- Video clips
Podcasts are better than live video because you can cut out mistakes in the edit
When you appear on a live webinar or virtual event, you don’t get a “take two” when you make a mistake.
But when you appear as a guest on a podcast, you can overcome any missteps by asking for a redo.
So while it may not feel like you have any control over the episode, you can still ask for edits to remove mistakes or parts of the conversation you don’t like.
Guests get free promotion for their brand
By serving as a guest on someone else’s podcast, you’re guaranteed to get your brand name in the ears of new listeners. And rather than interrupting someone’s feed or appearing in a YouTube pre-roll ad, you’re able to naturally talk about your company during the flow of a conversation.
In addition to the conversation itself, your company’s brand name is often included in other materials when the podcast gets distributed. The company’s name or logo appears in video clips, trailers, and gets referenced on the podcast episode page.
And the best part?
The promotion is led by the podcast host (and their company).
Guest appearances double as media appearances and guest posts
As a marketer, you probably have a guest posting strategy. Guest posts are still a highly effective way to get in front of a wider audience. They also provide natural backlinks to your company’s website.
But when you appear as a guest on a podcast, you get a 2-for-1 special.
- Your company’s representative gets a highly qualified media appearance in front of an engaged podcast audience
- Your company gets a natural post (and backlink) featuring highlights of the conversation
“My general thought is guest podcasting on the right shows is more effective than guest blogging, but guest blogging isn’t dead. We still spend some effort guest posting for hyper-niche sites.”
Camille Trent
Head of Content @ Dooly
Guests can talk about their brand, products, and services in their own words
As a podcast guest, you get to control the narrative. Your company’s representative gets an opportunity to share the unique point of view of your company and highlight how the company helps specific customers.
And when you conduct podcast interviews, you use your own words. You get a chance to expand upon ideas and share more context with a podcast audience.
You get social proof by appearing on other podcasts
If you want your company’s leaders to become thought leaders among industry peers, you need to establish credibility and build authority over time. You can’t just turn on a switch and make it happen overnight.
Podcast guesting efforts provide social proof for the leaders of your organization. Your company’s leaders align themselves with other industry-leading podcasts and get an opportunity to build relationships with potential customers.
According to Jeff Coyle from MarketMuse, podcast guesting has provided a very obvious return on investment, “For us, if you think about the return on investment on a software provider who has an average deal size north of $18,000 a year. It becomes very easy to make a return from podcast guest appearances.”
“If you think about the ROI on a software provider who has an average deal size north of $18,000 a year…it becomes very easy to make a return from podcast guest appearances.”
Jeff Coyle
Co-founder
MarketMuse
Guesting opens up new opportunities
It’s helpful to view your podcast guest placements as a chance to build a 1:1 relationship with each podcast host. After all, what other opportunities are available to have a dedicated one-hour conversation with someone in your industry?
When you start to put more effort behind podcast guest appearances, you’ll see a compounding effect. Your organization will start to appear alongside other key industry players. Your company’s leaders will gain credibility among your target audience. And over time, your company’s reps will receive more requests to appear as guest speakers.
How to craft a winning podcast guest pitch
By now, you should be more than convinced about the benefits of podcast guest appearances.
Now it’s time to learn how to secure the best podcast guest placements for your company. Let’s look at what you need to do BEFORE crafting your outreach email (and so you can avoid creating a shitty pitch email that gets flagged as spam).
Research podcasts you identify as a good fit
Most podcast pitch emails suck because the sender of the email did not do any research. And the email pitch comes across as generic and irrelevant to the specific podcast audience.
So it’s important to conduct research about each podcast you have on your list. When you do proper research, you get a better understanding of each show’s theme and you can identify where potential guests can help the audience.
The biggest question you want to answer when conducting research for your podcast guest placements is….how can I help the audience?
Here’s a list of activities involved when researching podcasts in your industry:
- Review the podcast description (appears in all common platforms for podcasts)
- Determine if the podcast has a dedicated website (or as a part of a company’s website) and review the top episodes
- See if the podcast already developed a complete media kit (gives you additional information about what they look for in potential guests)
- Listen to the latest episode and identify the story format and flow of questions
- Listen to at least 2-3 other podcast episodes from previous guests
- Identify the podcast’s ideal guests and see where your experiences overlap with previous guests
- Identify specific topic ideas already discussed by amazing guests
- Brainstorm a relevant topic that’d fit in an upcoming episode (bonus if you can pinpoint niche topics not addressed in a previous episode)
- Identify whether the show has any dedicated social media accounts or if it’s shared through the host or company’s accounts
- Review posts from the podcast’s social media profiles
- Confirm if the show has a formal way to submit an interview request
Identify your unique value proposition & share your story
In order to secure a guest spot, you need to sell yourself as a potential podcast guest.
According to Trent Anderson of Podchaser, the best way to position yourself is to have a unique point of view that you can share in the form of a story. In episode 63 of Recorded Content, Trent mentions “It’s all based on experience, right? It’s all based on what you believe is broken and what you’re trying to solve. Your [pitch] has to come wrapped around a story.”
“It’s all based on experience, right? It’s all based on what you believe is broken and what you’re trying to solve. Your [pitch] has to come wrapped around a story.”
Trent Anderson
Head of Revenue Operations @ Podchaser
So when you have a great podcast guest opportunity identified, think about how your unique point of view relates to the main audience of that particular show. Your intro email will resonate much more when it’s specific to both your experience and the audience.
Identify the contact person for the podcast
Let’s get one thing straight; if you’re sending a podcast guest pitch to a company’s general email address, it’s unlikely you’ll see a reply. As part of your research, make sure to find the right person to contact.
The first place to start is with a tool like ListenNotes or Podchaser. These platforms identify the contact information associated with podcasts.
But, don’t stop there.
If you can find the host’s email address or a producer’s email address, that might be the best place to start.
A cold email to a generic address won’t land you the best podcast guest opportunities. So take the time to research and find the best person to receive your initial pitch.
In addition to email, it helps to identify the social media profiles of the host and other individuals associated with the podcast. Depending upon the person on the receiving end, a pitch made through a social media platform like Twitter or LinkedIn can break through better than email.
Podcast guest pitch templates: Examples to help you land your next podcast appearance
As we touched upon earlier, sending out generic emails to everyone simply won’t work. Each pitch you send should stand out in the prospect’s inbox. And the best way to stand out from the rest of the spammy emails is to be super specific to the podcast’s audience.
In this section, we outline three different sample emails to use. Each one of these can be used as a podcast guest pitch template. And then you can modify it based on your unique point of view.
The templates below, when combined with the tips we have just gone through, will help you secure those crucial guest spots and get the most from your podcast guesting efforts.
Podcast guest pitch template #1: Attack the villain
With this template, the idea is to attack a major problem the target podcast audience faces. You can think of the problem as the villain. And you’re coming into the picture to provide the audience with a solution based on your unique experiences.
Subject Line
Keep this short and snappy. Just enough to get the reader’s attention and allow them to understand what the email contains. I like to put “Podcast guest pitch” into the subject line so it’s clear the email isn’t a sales email. Instead, you’re trying to secure a podcast guest appearance.
Podcast Guest Pitch: Overcoming [major problem]
Introduce the Villain
Again, in the opening of your pitch, you want to keep it short. The pitch isn’t about you. It’s about how you can help the audience attack the villain.
Hi [contact name],
[Specific podcast audience] struggles with [major problem].
Identify how you can help them attack the villain
This is just the first part of the pitch where your research can really help you to stand out from other applicants. Try and make specific points about their show, drawing from the episodes you’ve listened to. In this part of the pitch, it’s helpful to add to a previous episode.
In episode [episode number or guest name], I loved how you and [guest name] talked about how to overcome [major problem].
In addition to that approach, I believe [your point of view on how to attack the villain].
Pitch yourself & ask for next steps
Now that you’ve presented your point of view on the problem, it’s time to drive toward the next steps. But before you do that, provide some context on how you arrived at your point of view.
As a [insert quick bio information], I struggled with [major problem] myself. But [insert short story on how you arrived at your unique point of view].
I’d love to talk about my experience on your show.
Would you be interested in having me as a guest?
Podcast guest pitch template #2: Offer a different take
Podcast hosts don’t want to present the same information in every episode. They want to offer their audiences unique viewpoints and alternative solutions.
With this template, your primary objective is to offer a different take from what a previous guest provided. By being super specific with your email, you’ll stand out and increase your chances of a guest appearance.
Subject Line
Keep this short and snappy. Just enough to get the reader’s attention and allow them to understand what the email contains. I like to put “Podcast guest pitch” into the subject line so it’s clear the email isn’t a sales email. Instead, you’re trying to secure a podcast guest appearance.
I have a different opinion than [podcast guest name]
Introduce the Specific Episode
Again, in the opening of your pitch, you want to keep it short. The pitch isn’t about you. It’s about how you can help the audience attack the villain.
Hi [contact name],
I enjoyed [episode number with guest name]. But I don’t agree with it.
Identify what you don’t agree with
This is where your research helps put a spotlight on you as a guest. In this section, you use a specific quote that stood out to you from a previous guest. And you don’t offer your different opinion in the email. Instead, you tease what you don’t agree with and why you’d be a great guest to counter the opinion.
When [guest name] mentioned, “[insert quote from guest in a previous episode]” I immediately thought about how I would take a different approach.
Pitch yourself & ask for next steps
Now that you’ve presented your angle for an episode, it’s time to make a quick ask.
I’d love to offer [specific podcast audience] a different take by serving as a guest on [podcast name].
Would you be interested in having me on your show?
Podcast guest pitch template #3: Praise & pitch
Podcasting is hard. It takes a lot of resources to consistently produce a high-quality show. So one way you can stand out is by recognizing the hard work of a podcast host.
And then once you provide specific recognition about the host and the audience, you can offer up a way to help them in the future as a potential guest.
Subject Line
Once again, the subject line should be short. But with this template, you need to be very specific with their show and identify a significant milestone.
Congrats on [significant milestone or achievement]
Here are a few examples to help provide more context.
Congrats on releasing your 145th episode!
Congrats on being featured in Inc. Magazine’s top podcasts!
Congrats on 25 months of podcasting!
Praise the recipient of the email
In this first part of the email, your objective is to highlight a very specific achievement. In addition, it helps to provide your own perspective on why it caught your attention.
Hi [contact name] –
Congrats on releasing your 145th episode! Most shows don’t make it past the 7th episode.
I’m super impressed with how you’re able to secure a guest each week. With notable guests like [guest name 1], [guest name 2], and [guest name 3]…I’m sure it takes a lot of coordination to make it all come together.
Pitch yourself, tease a few ideas, and ask for next steps
Now that you’ve praised the host (or producer…whomever you’re sending the email to), it’s time to make a quick ask.
That said, I’d love to play a small part in your show by serving as a guest. I have some thoughts on two different topics we could discuss that’d help [podcast specific audience].
Would you be interested in having me on your show?
Want to see how other B2B marketers get the most from their podcasts?
Recorded Content is a show for small, scrappy marketing teams who are looking to launch & grow a successful B2B podcast. In each episode, we provide stories on how to overcome the challenges of launching, running and growing a show. We tackle issues with technology, content marketing, distribution and more. We help you become a B2B podcasting hero with an amazing show.
Written by Tristan Pelligrino
Tristan Pelligrino is the Co-Founder of Motion. He’s a serial entrepreneur who started his career as a consultant with large IT companies such as PwC, IBM and Oracle. After getting his MBA, he started and grew one of the fastest video production companies in the country – which was listed on the Inc. 5000. Tristan now enjoys leading the content marketing strategies of some of the most innovative B2B technology companies in the country. You can find him on LinkedIn and Facebook.
