Marketing Manager Alan Cassinelli (Blaze/Almanac) is sold on the value of podcasting and his boss, CEO Adam Nathan gets it!
Back in 2023 Cassinelli was going all in on marketing Almanac, a wiki and documentation tool for Remote companies, and wanted to get the word out to SaaS founders, entrepreneurs and industry leaders who supported remote work.
Instead of taking the usual route of supplying content to prestigious magazines and blogs, he focused on booking Adam on 17 podcast interviews in 3 months.
Alan shared his strategy for finding podcasts in this YouTube video, but we wanted to know more. So we sat down with him to understand how he discovered so many podcasts, and how using Rephonic could have enhanced his process.
Why was podcast guesting such an important part of Almanac's marketing strategy?
"Podcast guesting builds more trust. Adam was talking about this idea that you could tell he was really passionate about. After 20 minutes of hearing him talk, you're gonna be sold.
"Because being a guest on a podcast means the listeners get to like that person, to trust their opinion, to want to hear more information from them and believe what they say. That's so valuable.
"If you ask the average SaaS boss if he'd like to be on a podcast that has, say 500 downloads or be mentioned in a Forbes article, I think the majority of them would take the article. But I also think they'd be absolutely wrong. The podcast is ten times better. There's more value in spending 30 minutes building that trust."
Did you notice any unforeseen benefits to podcast guesting?
"One of the benefits was how being on so many podcasts helped Adam refine his story.
"By getting the reps in, and finding what people react to, what he gets emails about, what people comment on in the clips or videos, it really helped him solidify that into a really good story that he could keep refining.
"We'd get backlinks from all their websites, too and we'd created more content through those interviews."
Podcast appearances don't just magically land in your lap.
For a start, there are millions of podcasts in the world covering every topic imaginable. So, you need to find podcasts where "your people" are listening.
It takes time and effort to locate the right podcasts and persuade the hosts that your message will work for their listeners. Then, some hosts won't respond, or will reject your pitch so you need to locate and contact many more shows than you'll actually be a guest on.
So, let's get into how Alan Cassinelli found so many podcasts that he booked 17 interviews. Then, we'll see how using Rephonic could have helped him refine the process, saving time and effort.
Discover podcasts aimed at SaaS founders
Topic search
🤖 How Almanac did it
Alan planned to target podcasts in three categories: Remote work, Ops & HR and SaaS industry startup founders.
To find those shows, he used the Spotify search function, but also searched for categories in Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts and targeted keywords like 'remote work,' 'asynchronous work,' and 'entrepreneurship.'
I used keywords on Spotify and Apple podcasts. I also did Google searches for 'top remote work podcasts' to see what other blog articles had been written. There are a ton of shows that haven't published a new episode for months, so I also checked to see that the podcast was active and if they accepted guests.
📈 How Rephonic could help
It's easy to narrow down a topic search by selecting a few filters.
Here, using Alan's search parameters, I've searched the topic "remote working" and activated four filter buttons: Active has published within the past 60 days) Guests (likely to accept guests) Episodes (in this case a range of 50-1000) and Professions (Startup founders, CEO/founder, SaaS founders, Tech Startup Founder, and Entrepreneur/Start up founder.)
In seconds, I had a list of small to medium podcasts that fell into those narrow parameters. Of course, it was equally quick and easy to widen the field by removing the Professions or Episodes filters.
Competitor research
🤖 How Almanac did it
Noticing where your competitors hang out is one of those key marketing strategies, so it made sense for Alan to see which podcasts other SaaS entrepreneurs, remote-work influencers and CEOs had guested on.
I would type their name into Spotify to see all the different podcasts they'd been on and add that to my database. I searched Google podcasts to build out the list as well.
Another thing that worked was searching blog posts, Medium and sites like that. I'd also search on Reddit using keywords like 'remote work podcasts.'
So, definitely four or five different tabs open at a time.
📈 How Rephonic could help
Select the Episodes tab and type in the name you're researching. You'll get a list of all the episodes in all the different podcasts that person has guested on over the years. (Pro tip: always use quotation marks "around the search term" to keep it focused on their full name. )
Then open the podcast pages (the link's in the title) and tap the People tab to bring up a guest profile to help you understand the kinds of guests who typically appear on that podcast. Scroll down and you'll find a list of recent guests with links to their episodes.
Check audience size & demographics
🤖 How Almanac did it
Alan wanted to approach smaller podcasts first, then work up to medium and larger podcasts once they had some episodes and social proof to share. Since Spotify and other podcast apps don't publish their audience data, deciding how to rank podcasts as small, medium and large took some work.
I looked at the number of reviews. Then, I checked out the number of episodes they'd published and the professionalism of the marketing around them. Like do they just have a Spotify page or do they have a website to promote the podcast? I'd also look at the hosts Twitter account, or if the podcast had an account I'd look that up too, to see how many followers they had. If they had less than 100, that's definitely in the smaller category, whereas if they were in the thousands I considered them a medium size.
📈 How Rephonic could help
Rephonic analyzes and collates all available information on millions and presents it as a page for each podcast. We divide each page into sections: Overview, Audience, People, Sponsors, Feedback and Charts.
So, if you're selecting podcasts based on listener numbers, head to the Overview page, where you'll find our best estimates on listeners per episode and monthly listens, social media numbers, Recent Topics discussed, YouTube links and so much more.
But why not go further and see how closely the podcast listeners match your own ideal audience?
Click on the Audience tab, which presents our best estimates of audience demographics for that podcast. You'll see a description of a typical Listener Profile along with info on their likely Professions, Interests, Annual Household Income and more to help you quickly identify which shows match your needs.
Understanding podcast numbers and audience demographics together lets you run really effective campaigns targeting the people most likely to be enthusiastic about your ideas and what to follow up on them.
Create an offer
Podcast hosts have a lot on their plate, and your pitch is likely just one of many filling up their inbox. So they need to understand you'll deliver interesting stories and lessons, not a sales pitch.
Stand out from the crowd by offering an irresistible angle or hook. One that shows the host you've done your homework, you understand what the podcast covers and can contribute something useful...different...meaningful...helpful...to the discussion.
Here are just a few unique points you might offer:
- Innovative business strategies
- Customer success stories
- Tales of failure and redemption
- Personal stories
- Growth strategies
- Actionable tips
- Your radical ideas on differentiating SaaS B2B businesses in the era of AI...
Podcast hosts are audience-focused and they're looking for guests who offer their listeners something fresh and intriguing.
🤖 How Almanac did it
Almanac went above and beyond the usual guest efforts when it came to their offer.
Adam had developed some innovative pillar content: a new set of principles called The Modern Work Method. He was passionate about sharing it, and podcast guesting provided the perfect introduction to other SaaS founders while offering them value and actionable insights in return.
Rather than focusing on what Almanac does, they pitched The Modern Work Method to each podcast host.
This was my primary hook for why podcast hosts should have us on. Â A lot of people will say "I run this consultancy" or "we have this platform." Our idea was very product agnostic, which I think definitely helped our pitch so that the podcasters would understand we were selling our idea, not our product.
📈 How Rephonic could help
However, if you haven't created an awesome resource or you're stretched for time, here's how to use Rephonic to find suggestions to personalize a pitch to each podcast.
You might:
- Suggest topics they haven’t covered in an episode yet
- Mention an alternative angle on a topic they've discussed before
- Offer an experience you've learned from where the lessons are highly relevant to that podcast's audience
For example, you could search within an episode transcript that a key competitor had previously recorded, looking for keywords associated with your topic. Or search the entire episode backlist for your keyword to see what other guests said. Then pitch your talk as an alternative angle.
Alternatively, you might search across all episodes for keywords associated with your topic. What have other guests said in their interviews? What new information, stories or examples can you contribute?
Pitch podcasts
Here's how to create a successful podcast pitch:
- Find the right contact—could be an email address, social media DM or a form on the podcast website
- Craft your email—make it personable but brief (learn how to write a successful pitch email)
- Create a one-sheet—attach a one-sheet with relevant info like your bio, head shot, qualifications, topics, possible questions or interesting stories and relevant links. (Learn more about one-sheets.)
- Follow up—give it a week or so, then follow up if you haven't heard back. That second email might jog the host's memory and prompt them to respond.
🤖 How Almanac did it
During his research phase, Alan would search out contact addresses. Sometimes he found an email address on the podcast website, or a note to use a contact form for pitches. Other times, he used an email finder to find the host or publisher's email address.
Then, he created an Airtable database to keep track of all the information, including:
- topic focus
- whether they could get a warm intro to the host
- audience size
- status—where they were in the funnel
- contact information
- website links
📈 How Rephonic could help
Each podcast page includes relevant contact information above the fold, with the Contact button at top right, and the podcast's website not far below.
Keep track of all your information with our list function. Create and name your list, then add podcasts with just two clicks.
Each podcast title links to its page within our database, so you can easily review information, listen to episodes and find contact info. You can also see each podcast's categories, listener numbers, social media followers and status (whether you've reached out to, booked, followed up or lost that show.)
Final thoughts
Alan Cassinelli sums up his CEO's attitude towards podcast guesting like this:
Adam understands the value of podcasts and the shift in consumer behavior that's happened in the last 10-20 years, where people want to follow people, not brands. They want to hear what the founder and CEO believes in, so he invests that time to connect through podcast interviews.
If you're in the SaaS business, podcast guesting can be well worth the energy you put in to finding and pitching suitable podcasts. Those interviews let you reach potential customers and raise your profile in the SaaS community at the same time.
Searching for podcast guesting opportunities takes time and effort. Why not take back some time and energy by using a tool specifically designed for the job?
Rephonic is the easy way to find, research, pitch and keep track of podcasts.
Start your podcast guesting journey with our 7-day free trial.
