How to pitch yourself to best-of lists.

🚨 Guest post alert! I’m SUPER excited to be sharing with you an article from Tink Media and Podcast Marketing Magic. I love this advice because it’s great for the best-of lists, but it applied any time you pitch yourself! If you want more tips on how to get people to listen to the beautiful show you’re making, subscribe to Podcast Marketing Magic!​

With the end of the year nearing, apps and podcast newsletter writers are creating some version of 2023 “Best Of” podcast lists (You can check out Tink’s Audio Delicacies 2023, our delicious end-of-year list, here). Getting on these lists can be great to boost the listenership of your show!

Today, let’s look at how to pitch your podcast to get on these lists.

Curators of these lists will start making them soon, if they haven’t already begun. So get your pitching gear ready and let’s get this show on the road.

But, first…

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If you only have time for one thing

Word of advice: if you can find a podcast list and/or writer that’s more specific to your genre, pitch them. For example — if you have an audio fiction show, you’re better off pitching to be an audio fiction list than a broader podcast one.

Let’s begin!

How to pitch your podcast to a “best of” list

Begin with research

✅ Start by creating a list of what publications and journalists typically create end-of-year lists.

✅ Create a list of 10–15 publications and/or writers you want to include on your outreach.

✅ Make careful note of what they’ve called their lists in the past and what kind of podcasts and/or episodes have they included.

✅ Cast a wide net and go deeper. A simple Google search is a good place to start. However, look beyond the first page to see what comes up. Often, the first page throws lists made by bigger publications. These are not bad to include on your outreach list but they might not all be relevant to you.

Pick where your listeners might be

The very same Google search for “podcast best of list 2022” brings up lists created by bigger publications such as The Guardian or The Atlantic. Now, for independent and/or new creators in the audience, these can be daunting places to start. So while you should pitch yourself to these publications, you might be better off finding places and writers that are more specific to your genre. For example: if your podcast is about food, pitching to food publications might be more relevant than to The New Yorker.

If you’re running short on time, we recommend:

✅ Creating a general pitch to send to the bigger publications.

✅ Creating pitch templates which you can then customize for publications that are more relevant to your genre and audience.

💡 Pro-tip: prioritize pitching to podcast newsletters over generic media publications. The audiences of those newsletters are already podcast listeners and have a higher chance of tuning into your show, as compared to readers of generic media publications.

Give them your why

Every good pitch includes a clear, concise, and customized why. Be sure to include:

✅ Why did you choose them to pitch to?

✅ Why should they choose you for their list?

✅ Why should their readers/listeners know about your podcast?

Include your best episodes

Podcast “best of” lists could be either curations of complete podcasts or just single episodes. Either way, it’s always best to pitch a specific episode so that the person making the decision knows exactly what to tune into. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

✅ Include your trailer.

✅ Depending on whether your show is serialized or episodic, include your first or best episode.

💡 Pro-tip: your best episode might not mean the episode you had most fun creating. It could be the one that has the highest number of downloads or most listener engagement. When in doubt, put yourself in a new listener’s shoes and pick the episode you think they might enjoy the most.

✅ If you’re a serialized podcast with a lot of episodes on your feed (for example: a TTRPG podcast) be sure to link to a recap episode.

Pitch to relevant writers

In addition to publications, consider pitching your podcast to relevant writers in your field. Even if they have not curated a list in the past, you can pitch your and other shows to them.

➡️ You never know what might get their wheels turning! This might happen when pitching to writers/publications in your niche. Maybe a food magazine or travel blog has posted about some podcasts, but never made a best of list at the end of the year. Now’s your chance to encourage and help!

Make it about more than yourself

💛 Most folks receiving these pitches are busy. A great way to catch their attention and earn their appreciation is by suggesting more than just your show. This works especially well if you’re pitching to a list of podcasts in a specific genre. It’s also a great way to platform fellow creators.

With these tips, we hope we’ve set you on the right path to pitch your show for end-of-year lists. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments!

Thanks so much to Shreya Sharma and Lauren Passell for authoring this post — and to the entire Tink Media team for their contribution!

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