Inner workings of podcast launch marketing
The whens and hows and whos of a podcast (or season) launch marketing plan
Hey-lo!
If you’ll recall, we recently started an Ask Tink section. We’re welcoming reader questions on podcast marketing and PR. If you have any, you can just fill out this form. There are no stupid questions!
We received a question that we thought deserved a whole issue.
Dianni of While She’s Away podcast asks:
Hiiiii love your newsletter and resources! Big fan of everything you do! My question is: I’m going to be releasing season 3 of my podcast on October 15th! I wanted to pitch newsletters and other podcasts for marketing for the new season release, but my question is when? Do I start sending out pitches and setting up stuff for now or wait till the new season releases? Anyway thanks for your help!
So, today, we’re talking about the whens and hows and whos of a podcast (or season) launch marketing plan.
First things first…
🔭 Eyes on the prize
Be sure about your goal. Is it getting featured on other podcasts as a guest, just getting newsletters to cover your podcast or season’s release, getting your podcast’s release on other podcasts, or all of the above?
IMPORTANT: Make sure you have a trailer for the new season. It can be a combination of clips that you have, or just you…talking about what people can expect. Learn more about trailers here. You can use the trailer in your pitches.
Okay, let’s get to it.
🧑🤝🧑 Find a community
Start making podcast friends and growing your community even before the launch of the new season.
Have an ‘inner circle’ that you can keep in the loop about the season release, even before its official launch.
⭐ Send advance audio
Consider sending some newsletter writers advanced audio of the first episode in your new season. Even if it’s not 100% done.
🕰️ When and how to start marketing
The ‘when’ of a marketing campaign includes when to start the prep AND when to start the pitching. Here’s some inside tips:
Start the prep (ie. building a list of people/podcasts/newsletters to reach out to and writing the pitch letters) at least a month before your first episode will drop.
Start pitching your show just before the trailer drops or when it drops.
UNLESS you want to do promo swaps and your swaps will all be baked-in (ie. added to the episode forever, not dynamically inserted)
If you’re going to be baking in promos, you need to set those up ahead of time so you can add them to your episodes before publishing.
This means you want to be pitching your show a month before the first episode (it can take time to coordinate all the details of a swap).
Keep in mind - if you’re pitching your show a month before, people might still want to hear the trailer and/or first episode. Try to have audio that you’re comfortable sharing (even if it still needs final finishing touches).
If the main focus of your marketing campaign are places like newsletters and podcast apps, send those pitches once your trailer is out and you have early audio you could send to writers.
If your marketing campaign includes pitching yourself as a guest on other podcasts:
That can happen any time!
You’ll still need a list of podcasts and a pitch letter first.
Ideally you want to aim for those interviews to be released after your show is live, but since lots of podcasts book guests well in advanced, it doesn’t hurt to ask early.
✅ Few parting thoughts
If you are launching a new season, consider doing re-runs of previous seasons especially if there’s too much time (2+ weeks) between seasons.
Make a pitch letter and spreadsheet to track outreach. They will be of much use when you start the campaign.
Don’t overthink it! We are learning that not overthinking can make things more efficient. Who knew? Seriously though, this is why we launched Speed Pitching.
Thank you, Dianni, for your question! Wishing you so much luck and success with the new season of your show.
Got any questions for us? Fill out this form or leave a comment!
🦄 52 Weeks of Podcast Growth
Say thank you to your community and listeners! Easy as that. A little gratitude goes a long way.
If you’re new here, read the previous weeks’ tips to start implementing them at your own pace.
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In this session, we worked with Natalie to create an insightful marketing plan to grow her audience and did a successful round of speed pitching.
Before you go…
PMM will always be free for readers but, we are also always looking for sponsors. Our sponsorship packages start at $50 (and are named after wizard classes.) Write to shreya@tinkmedia.co for more info!