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You might believe that you have to be “connected” or have the right relationships to start booking podcast interviews for yourself.
While we can’t deny that having a personal relationship with a host gets you to the front of the line, being a part of their inner circle isn’t a guarantee you’ll be invited as a guest.
Nor is being a complete stranger to the host and their team a deal-breaker!
Relationships do matter, but not in the way you think.
In this episode of Podcast Ally, account lead Sam Brake Guia joins me to talk about how we think of relationships in the podcast space, and share the concrete steps you can take to build your own without DMing hosts on social media or following them around Facebook.
Taking these steps, you can create a long-lasting impression that helps you achieve your mission.
In this episode of Podcast Ally, our founder Brigitte Lyons and account lead Sam Brake Guia take you through what it takes to be an outstanding guest.
✍️ Show your work.
Popular podcasts attract a lot of pitches, but the vast majority of those are spammy and low effort. They won’t grab the attention of busy podcast hosts who care about their audience and want to create a good show.
Each pitch should have research behind it. Take the time to understand the purpose of a podcast, looking for patterns in the topics they cover and the guests they have. And importantly, your pitch should reflect all the work you’ve done to understand it.
Tell them not only what their show is about but why you would be a perfect fit to bring value to their audience. Share specifics on what tips and strategies you would bring to an episode.
If you’re trying to get on a marketing or business podcast to talk about social media, look at past episodes to see how they’ve covered that topic before. If they have, brainstorm topics or new angles that you can bring to the show that they haven’t covered yet.
💬 Learn their language and mirror it back to them.
Mirroring is something humans do unconsciously in social situations with friends, family or coworkers to build relationships. It’s also a sales technique where you match the language and energy of the person you’re meeting with.
Language is important. Someone who runs their own business might refer to themselves as a business owner or an entrepreneur. Someone who writes might call themselves a writer or a storyteller.
Identify the language the podcast host uses for themselves, their audience and their showand include it when writing your pitch. Weaving those nuances into your pitch will make a huge difference.
🌹 Give a compliment — but only if you mean it.
It’s a nice touch to include a compliment in your pitch. Listening to episodes, reading the description and looking over their social media should be done as part of your research. While you’re researching, take note of anything you like so you can include it in your pitch.
However, if you’ve done all that and you still don’t have a genuine compliment to give, don’t give one at all.
Podcast hosts can get many, many pitches. Starting with a perfunctory, I love your podcast, may feel like an easy way to initiate the conversation, but it reeks of disengenuity – hosts can tell, and it’s offputting.
If nothing’s resonated with you, don’t force it. Stick with our other tips for a well-rounded pitch.
✅ Do as they say.
The key to connecting with a podcast host is to show them you are paying attention. The best and easiest way to do that is follow their pitch instructions.
There are as many different ways of pitching podcasts as there are podcasts. Some podcasts take email submissions, some have guest submission forms, and some want submissions through social media. Some have fewer or more flexible rules, while others have rigid, specific instructions they want you to follow.
It might seem tedious, but podcast hosts have a submission process for a reason. Many have full-time jobs outside of podcasting and need a system when sorting through submissions.
Pro-tip: Just like with Ikea furniture, read the instructions before you start. It’s heartbreaking to finish a killer pitch only to find out that most of it has to be scrapped.
To sum up, relationships do matter. By approaching every outreach email as an opportunity to starting building one, you can start building new ones now!
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