Share Your Podcast Appearance: A How-To Guide

Ok, so you’ve recorded a podcast interview and created a valuable asset for your business… 

Listeners for weeks, even years to come will be brought into your circle of influence and likely feel a connection to your brand’s story. Chances are you’ve shared the podcast on all your social media channels, sent the link in a text to your close friends and family members, and shared the highlights of the interview with your employees. But if you have yet to share your podcast appearance(s) to your email audience, you are missing out on a big opportunity.

In this article I’m going to break down how to write an email sharing your recent, soon to be released, or even archived podcast appearances to your audience.

Use this email framework to educate your prospective customers on why you and your company are the experts in your field and ensure that many of them click “add to up-next” on their preferred podcast app. If you can show increased traffic to your interview by using proven direct response copywriting techniques, you may even be able to use that data to get yourself on more podcasts with an even greater reach, and keep fueling the content marketing cycle for your brand.

Share your Podcast Appearance Email Breakdown:

The First Link (optional):

Generally I don’t advise opening an email with a link of any sort, because it detracts from your copy, and gives people an immediate reason to decide they aren’t interested in being sold to… and click away.

However, if you have a reason to believe some of your readers will be interested in giving the podcast a listen, just by telling them the thing exists, then it makes sense to provide the link up front. 

Use link text that describes your podcast in as few, but as exciting, words as possible.

Example: Listen to this interview on PODCAST and hear how BRAND almost didn’t exist!

The Lead (the opening):

The most effective way to start off this kind of email is with a story. A story lead will hook your readers instantly, and get them interested in actually reading your email. A story lead will also get the reader into a mood that’s conducive for listening to a podcast. Even if the reader isn’t in the position to listen immediately after finishing your email, they are going to associate the feelings they had reading your email with the potential experience of listening to the podcast. Because a story gives an enjoyable reading experience, your readers are going to want to listen to your podcast episode as soon as they are in their car, going for a run, or wherever they usually listen to podcasts.

You have almost unlimited options for what story to use in the opening to your email, but I’ll name a few options to get you started:

And if all else fails you can always…

• Tell a random story that relates to the main topic in your podcast interview

The point here isn’t the story you choose… the point is to use a story because stories instantly create interest and connection, two important ingredients for tapping into your prospect’s desire to listen. As long as you can relate the end of the story back to your podcast in some way, any story can work in this type of email.

The “Sales” Argument (Just for you…)

When you get to the end of your intro story, you want to as naturally as possible, set the stage to introduce the podcast episode you are promoting. This is where you transition from the story portion of the email to the “offer” portion, where you’ll actually describe what’s in the podcast.

In the transition, focus on the reasons your prospect will want to listen to the episode. Use the story you just told to highlight the biggest reason for listening.  Examples of turning from story to sales argument begin with phrases like:

• That’s a lot like…
• Regardless of what happens…
• That’s why…
• Maybe you’re wondering…
• And after…
• However…

This portion of the email should be short, a sentence or two at most. Begin with one of the phrases from above (or something similar that makes sense coming out of your story) and tease the reader with either:

• What they want (that your podcast delivers) 
• What they’ll learn (that your podcast teaches) 
• What they’ll find entertaining (that your podcast provides) 

OR

• What they can avoid (that your podcast explains)

If you can combine more than one of the desires or fears from above, do it! And if you’ve really got something special in the podcast that you know your audience will go crazy for, add an element of timeliness to your sales argument by telling them “don’t wait” or “get the BLANK now!”

The Image/Link #1 (Introducing…)

You’ve given the most gung ho listeners a link upfront (optional), hooked the rest of your readers with a story, and enticed them with your sales argument. So now they are ready to see the link with an accompanying image.

Your audience may only need a sentence to introduce the link to the podcast, or they may need a short paragraph. If this is your first time sharing a podcast, you may need to do a sentence that explains why this is special. 

If the podcast itself is obscure, or has a confusing title, then now is the time to give a brief background on the interview, the podcast, or the interviewer. If this is the first time you are addressing your email list as yourself, then take this section to give a one sentence bio of yourself. 

Now you’re ready to drop the link. Start with some version of  “Introducing” or “This week” or “I’d like to share with you” and finish the sentence with either the episode name, the podcast name, or the interviewer’s name or brand. Whichever word(s) in the sentence are the most enticing to your reader, use them as the actual link to the podcast.

Then drop in an image below the link. You can use the image from the episode page, the podcast image, a custom graphic or even (if appropriate for your audience) a fun gif. Make sure the image or gif is also an active link to the podcast episode page.

The Offer (here’s what you’ll get)

In this next section you’re going to include bullet points with details from the podcast episode. Introduce the list of bullets simply, “In this episode you’ll find out…” and jump right into a list of highlights.  

However, this section is not simply a synopsis of the episode. You should not list everything you talked about during the interview. Be strategic and choose details that are specific to your audience. Ask yourself, what does my audience care most about? What relates back to the problem my product solves? What relates to the pain points, hopes and dreams of my audience. Then pick out those elements from your interview that relate most directly to your audience, and craft those into bullet points. There is no magic number of bullet points, but don’t be afraid to list a bunch of them! If your topics are relatable and exciting to your audience, the more the better.

A Quote (Optional)

If you’ve had any press or commentary on your podcast (this includes comments on social media when you’ve shared the podcast) include these here for sure! This is what we in the copywriting business call “social proof” and it’s incredibly effective for giving credibility to what you’re sharing as well as triggering FOMO.

Alternatively you can use a direct quote from the podcast interview and drop it in bold on its own line. This serves as a transition from the bullets to the close, but it also just breaks up the copy for the reader by offering something familiar and easy to digest.

The Close (Call them to Action)

You’re almost done with the email! All you have to do is include a final link embedded in a Call To Action. Most likely you are going to simply say “Listen to the full episode” and link that whole sentence to your podcast episode page. Or you can summarize your main sales argument and re-iterate the information they definitely want access to and craft a more specific call-to-action such as “Hear about BRAND/PERSON’s secret weapon now!”

Make this link stand alone, and make the entire sentence the link.  By now you’ve given your reader every reason to devour the episode, and you definitely don’t want them to miss the link!

After you’ve dropped the link this final time, you can finish off the email naturally and sign off as you would any other email. 

The P.S.

I am a firm believer that every marketing email should include a P.S. It’s a natural way to catch skimmers of your email and either deliver them your sales message directly… or give them a reason to go back and read the entire email. 

You can use the P.S to summarize your most enticing offer in the email. If you do this, leave it confusing enough that people will want to go back through the entire email in order to understand what you’re offering.

Alternatively, you can use the P.S. to promote your other offers like a demo for SaaS, product page if you’re an e-com brand or your lead magnet if you’re an agency.

The Subject Line (You won’t want to miss this)

Now that you’ve written the email, it’s time to figure out how to sell it to your audience with the perfect subject line. You want to choose a subject line that grabs your readers attention, but also that gives them a reason to open your email, and you need to deliver on whatever you suggest in the subject line. Start with what you’ve figured out your audience is going to get the most excited about from what you’ve included in the email so far, and use that idea to craft your subject line.

Here are a few options to try:

• Promise  – ex. “Learn the secret to selling more for less”
• Open Loop – ex. “I never do this…”
• Pain Point – ex. “Tired of being tired?”
• Question – ex. “What’s your favorite BLANK?”
• Quote – “Wow, that was some crazy s(*& you pulled”
• Story – ex “About that time I nearly gave up”

And if you know you’re audience is going to devour this podcast episode as soon as they know it exists, go direct:

• Direct offer – ex. “Check out BRAND featured on PODCAST”

Conclusion

Now you’ve crafted an email using direct response copywriting techniques that are sure to grab your readers and get them excited to listen to your podcast. The great thing about using email to promote your podcast, is that you’re writing to a very aware audience of people who’ve opted in to hear from YOU (unlike social media or relying on the podcast’s own marketing). This means a large number of your readers are going to click through to the podcast and save it to listen to. That’s going to put you in line to be at the top of their list when they are “in the mood” to not only listen… but also to engage with your content, and that’s going to make them more likely to become your customer (or stay your customer if you offer a subscription model). 

Promoting podcast appearances through email list is an easy way to get more traffic to your brand. And since I’ve given you a step-by-step guide of how to do it… It’s time to start sharing your podcast now!

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Hi! I’m Annie Aaroe, a b2b email marketing strategist. To find out more about story-driven, conversion email copy and strategy that’s tailored for e-com apps and SaaS brands, visit my website, aaroewriting.com, or shoot me an email at annie@aaroewriting.com.

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