💌 The Pre- and Pre-Pre Pitch 👋
🤸♀️Podcast marketing: let's have some fun.🌈
Bonjour,
Marketing and PR is obviously a people business, and so is podcasting. It’s obvious that if you want to grow your show, you have to know people, support people, be liked by people, and be a helpful voice of the community. Unless you are enormous, you can’t just throw down your show and walk away.
Let’s talk about two ways connect with people who you want to collaborate with. Being thoughtful and considerate in this process fosters those strong connections that can be especially helpful for indie and smaller shows.
🟡 If you only have time for ONE thing
The pitch before the pre-pitch isn’t even a pitch at all. It’s an invisible force coming from you, to them, that offers support. It’s a way of showing you want to co-market in any way you can. It comes before asking anything of them and shows that you care about providing value and support.
The pre-pitch
We talk about the pre-pitch often. That’s when you email a writer or creator before you give them a specific ask about how they like to work with people.
If they write…
What do they like to write about?
If they’re a writer, do they like to have advanced audio?
What can you provide them with?
How can you help them?
Sometimes writers will provide answers to these questions on their website or about page, so you can check there first. If they don’t, the pre-pitch becomes even more helpful more ensuring your pitch is effective and considerate.
If they podcast…
Are they interested in promo/guest swaps?
How can you help them?
With podcasts, these questions can be a bit more difficult to find the answers to without asking. Podcasts in Tink’s swap database can list the type of opportunities they’re interested in, but beyond that you’ll likely have to ask what collaborative opportunities they might be open to discussing.
The pre pre-pitch
But really, it can start even earlier. Before you even know that there will be a pre-pitch, do a pre pre-pitch, which doesn’t look like a “pitch” and isn’t even a pitch at all. It’s an invisible force coming from you, to them, that offers support.
Consume their work.
Give them ratings and reviews.
Call/write in if they ask for listener stories or voicemails.
Forward their work to friends.
Follow them on social.
Shout them out on social.
Respond to them on social.
Join their groups.
Email them and tell you that you love what they’re doing.
Connect them with someone else who can help them.
It’s sly, it’s slick, it’s how good partnerships begin. From an earnest place.
Do not:
Ask to pick their brain.
Send them an email that’s like “I have this thing, there is no ask.”
Do something similar to what they are doing without going to them first.
Ask anything of them.
They have already helped you by inspiring you, at the very least. So before you ask them to tweet about you or interview you, prove that you want to co-market in any way you can. Offer what you can, even if it’s not a direct match. It will be appreciated.
In order for indies and small-to-mid shows to survive, we need to work together. And working together actually starts before the work.
🦄 52 Weeks of Podcast Growth
Maintenance week: check to see if there’s anything about your podcast on your website that might need maintenance.
This is the time to make sure all the information about your podcast on your website is up to date and it’s easy for people to check out your show when they get there. Do you have links to various listening platforms? Have you embedded a player on the page so people can listen right there? Make it easy and make sure the description of the show is current!
For reference, here are the most recent 5 tips:
Show your pitch to a friend or share it with your podcasting community.
Send your pitch for promo swaps to ONE podcaster.
Link to your podcast in your email signature.
Send a pitch to two podcasters.
Check your website for maintenance.
New here? Start at the beginning.
📂From the desk of Tink
Welcome to Immigrantly: a boundary-pushing, border-crossing podcast that gives diverse voices and stories home. Drawing on her own experiences as a rights activist and a first-generation Asian immigrant, creator and host, Saadia Khan tackles the big questions on race, identity and the immigrant experience while challenging mainstream narratives in today's divided America. Covering everything from love and dating to food and faith, each weekly episode explores a theme with inspiring guests such as Grammy-winning singer Arooj Aftab; bestselling author of 'The Kite Runner,' Khaled Hosseini; and comedians Hari Kondabolu and Aparna Nancherla. It's a true celebration of what makes us unique – and a timely reminder of all that unites us.
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The pre pre-pitch concept - genius and spot on. Thank you for these gems!