How to Pitch a Podcast (Tips and Examples from Hundreds of Pitches)

Brands and PRs have had a more challenging time reaching journalists.

In our State of Digital PR Report, over 60% of respondents reported finding relevant journalists has been more difficult in the past 12 months.

Due to this, PRs are now including podcasts as an alternative outlet to pitch to get clients and brands more coverage.

In 2024, I took time to pitch a few podcasts. I was featured on Market Movers, Search With Candour, Optimize, We Earn Media, Marketing B2B Technology, and the Agency Growth Lab.

Lately, however, I’ve been pitching more, believing it’s a great way to build the BuzzStream brand.

(I’ve also been getting many more pitches from people wanting to be on the BuzzStream podcast.)

So, in this post, I’ll share my experience with you and show you how to craft the perfect podcast pitch.

• Podcast pitching is gaining momentum in PR.
• Generic pitches won’t cut it.
• Show the host why you’re a great guest—don’t make them dig for it.
• Pitch ideas that match the podcast audience.
• Fill a gap, continue a topic they already covered, or offer a counterpoint.

What to Include In Your Pitch Email

Lately, I’ve received an influx of pitches that feel very much like guest post pitches. They are either weirdly generic or lack the specifics to make me want to take action.

Take this example below that I received a few weeks ago:

They complement me, which is nice, though it is very generic.

We discuss personalized email outreach at length in our post. But the main takeaway is that it sounds fake if it’s too generic.

But, more importantly, it doesn’t give me enough information to act.

So, let’s break down that email, and I’ll show you what you should include.

Display Your Credibility

You always want to display your expertise or credentials in your pitch.

This will usually be your main value proposition, which will hook your prospective podcast host or producer.

As Britt Klontz of Vada Communications said, “Try to think about how you can best showcase your credibility. Do you have any credentials, such as a degree, certifications, or potentially awards that you can reference?”

In my pitches, I try to just focus on the podcasts I’ve appeared on—but I can also mention that I host a podcast with a line like this:

But not everyone has speaking experience, which is OK.

It’s sometimes not even necessary. But people do want to hear how long you’ve been in the business and what you do.

Pitch Relevant Ideas

The pitch I received (and ultimately ignored) also left it up to me to come up with a speaking topic:

And while that may feel like it’s helpful, it infers two things:

• He’s not passionate enough about a specific topic to really stand out as a guest
• Or he’s not an expert in anything (or both)

Generalists make for boring guests.

Plus, if there are no clear ideas for a pitch, I have to do work myself to come up with an idea.

This makes it less likely that I will respond, let alone ask someone to come on my podcast.

It’s easy to search a podcast’s history for ideas that have yet to be covered. You can even ask ChatGPT to do it for you.

The ideas must be relevant and interesting to the podcast’s audience, which I’ll cover next.

Pitch to the Podcast’s Audience

Much like pitching a journalist, the goal is to make your target look good. Present yourself as a compelling guest to their audience.

So, understand their audience by listening to their podcast episodes.

You can grab transcripts from Apple Podcasts or YouTube if you are short on time. Then, use ChatGPT to summarize key themes or pull out quotes and reference those directly in your pitch.

This will help align your ideas and pitch to the podcast’s target audience.

You also want to ensure your idea isn’t something they’ve already covered. (If it is, you could find a new angle—which I cover in part 2 of this post.)

ChatGPT can quickly help you determine if they have already covered topics you want to pitch.

Here, as part of some of my research for later in the post, I’m asking if a Majestic podcast covers digital PR:

The next and last point here isn’t exactly something to include in your pitch, but rather something to consider when starting to pitch.

Focus on Quality Over Quantity

Before we discuss the pitch email examples and strategies, it’s crucial to discuss your pitch strategy.

Many approach pitching a podcast in the same scaled way they approach guest posting.

Quality trumps quantity in almost every case; pitching podcasts is no different.

The “spray and pray” approach is tempting, but doesn’t yield quality results.

In our podcast episode with Doug Downs, the principal at Stories and Strategies Podcast Productions, he gave me this key advice about the pitch process:

“I know there’s a tendency to want to go at it by volume.

‘Surely, if I pump a thousand of these things out, I’ll land 10.’ 

You probably will. 

The problem is it’s probably the 10 desperately looking for guests, maybe trying to fill a hole, or they’re not well listened to.”

Ok, let’s get into some tactics.

Podcast Email Examples and Tactics

Once you have a good sense of the audience and what would make you look good as a guest, you can use different pitch strategies and email examples to stand out.

1. Direct Pitch

“I am an expert in your industry and here’s my episode idea”

I took this first example from Britt Klontz and her DigitalPR Explained podcast episode about pitching to podcasts.

The example she provided is the most direct and scalable approach to pitching.

Here you are just appealing to the podcast host or producer by:

1. Addressing the host by name
2. Stating who the guest is and why they’re an expert on the topic
3. Giving some context that tells what the guest writes about and how it connects
4. Shares an idea

This approach rarely fails if you target relevant podcasts and your pitch idea doesn’t overlap with something they’ve already covered.

But if you are unsure how to proceed with your idea, the following few tactics and examples might inspire you.

2. Fill a Gap

“You haven’t spoken about X topic.”

This is one of my favorites.

First, get a sense of what they’ve covered by reading their content.

Let me walk you through an example.

Let’s pretend I was interested in pitching an SEO podcast called The Recipe for SEO Success from Kate Toon.

She came up in a search for “digital pr” podcasts on Listen Notes, though, after looking through her episode list and doing a site:search, I found one mention of PR back in 2018.

So, that would be my hook:

I also connected with her on LinkedIn, letting her know I emailed her. This is part of my double-touch outreach tactic.

Instead of pointing out a potential hole in their coverage, we can offer a counterpoint.

Let’s look at that next.

3. Offer a Counterpoint

“Your guest said X, but I disagree and here’s why.”

In this approach, you pose yourself as an alternative view.

This takes some digging and can be somewhat opportunistic. (If the podcast you want to target doesn’t have a point you can counter, you don’t want just to present a counterpoint you don’t believe in.)

In this case, I’m going to show you a real example.

I found another SEO podcast from ListenNotes called SEO in 2025 from Majestic.

I perused the recent podcast episodes to see if anything stood out.

I even asked ChatGPT for some help:

I quickly came across this episode with Ashley Segura, about content quantity vs quality.

And even though the counterpoint is pretty obvious, I felt that I could make a compelling case for an episode idea:

In this template, I’m making a specific call out to an existing episode, showing that I know the content and then connecting to the audience/listeners. I also stress that I’m using this strategy in real time for BuzzStream, which makes it more real and less theoretical.

Like I said, I actually pitched this to David (along with a quick follow-up email a few days later) and here’s the response I got:

Score!

But what happens if you already see a topic you like and don’t want to argue about it?

You can expand on it, which is next.

4. Continuation of a Topic

“Your guest mentioned X but I want to expand on it.”

You must find an underserved topic in your target podcast for this template. This is similar to tip #1 on our list, but you want to expand on the topic instead of filling a total gap.

Another example would be another SEO-based podcast, SEOLeverage, hosted by Gert Mellak.

As I scrolled through the episodes, I saw that they only spoke about link building back in 2021.

So, that’s going to be my hook.

Now, I just need to make my case for continuing that conversation:

As you can see, I’m just pitching to continue the link-building conversation.

I allude to the value I’d bring to his audience with this line: “share with your listeners what’s been working for agencies and link builders across various industries.”

But, there is sometimes more tangible value you can offer to sites…

5. Value Swap

“Would you like to do a podcast swap?”

If you’ve read my post on the C.H.A.M.P. email outreach technique, you know I’m all about helping the email target.

So, in the case of podcasts, what value (besides being an excellent guest) can I provide in return for being a guest?

For most, the value will be some sort of backlink or brand mention. 

This isn’t quite a link exchange, so I think there’s less risk.

In my case, I have the BuzzStream podcast to offer. Finding a host who can be a potential guest is a clear opportunity for both.

That’s actually how I ended up on Doug’s podcast and he on ours:

So, taking this into our post, let’s find a podcast for a swap.

I found one called The SERPs Up Podcast from Wix.com.

I crafted this email presenting the idea for a podcast swap:

Fun side note: I sent this pitch out as well, but Mordy messaged me on LinkedIn telling me that he left Wix the day I pitched it, and the podcast was no longer available.

But, now I’ve built a great connection with Mordy that may lead to other podcast opportunities for myself (and him coming on our podcast).

This business is all about the connections. 

(If you’re in the mood for more podcast pitching templates, check out our other post with email outreach templates.)

Podcasts Aren’t Just a Link Building Play

Don’t just think of podcast pitching as a way to get backlinks.

Think of it as a way to build your brand.

Therefore, make sure you align yourself with podcasts that cross over with your audience so that you can get the most out of your efforts.

Vince Nero

Vince is the Director of Content Marketing at Buzzstream. He thinks content marketers should solve for users, not just Google. He also loves finding creative content online. His previous work includes content marketing agency Siege Media for six years, Homebuyer.com, and The Grit Group. Outside of work, you can catch Vince running, playing with his 2 kids, enjoying some video games, or watching Phillies baseball.

More Posts by Vince Nero
Website: https://buzzstream.com