Podcast press releases are an underutilized promotional tool for podcasters. The right press release can result in widespread media attention and ultimately more listeners to your show. 

If you’ve never written a press release, you might be asking yourself “what even is a press release?” To answer simply, a press release is a formal statement that is sent to targeted members of the press in hopes that they cover your work in their publication.

In this article, we’ll cover everything you’ll need to know about podcast press releases, including why you should send them, what you should include in your press release, a few press release templates, and how and where to send your press release after it’s written.

Before sending your press release, be sure to claim your podcast on Podchaser Claiming your podcast allows you to customize your podcast page, respond to listener reviews, and promote your show.  Claim your podcast today.

Table of Contents

• Why you Should Write a Press Release
• When to Write a Press Release
• What to Include in a Podcast Press Release
• Press Release Templates
• How to Send out Your Press Release
• Where to Send Your Press Release
• What to do Next

7 Steps to Write a Podcast Press Release

1) Why You Should Write a Podcast Press Release

Podcast press releases are intended to create buzz around your podcast. When a publication reads your press release and writes about your podcast, they bring potential new listeners to your show. While that’s obviously great, gaining listeners is not the only benefit.

Having your podcast written about also establishes credibility in the industry. In a world with millions of podcasts, only a few get written about, which means press releases can help your podcast stand out amongst the crowd. Once you have the credibility of being written about, this makes it more likely that other publications will write about you, creating a snowball effect of more coverage and listeners. 

2) When to Write a Podcast Press Release

As you’re pitching news organizations with your press release, you should only write them when something newsworthy happens involving your show.

While every new episode may seem exciting and newsworthy to you, publications have specific criteria for what kinds of stories they share, meaning to pick your press releases carefully and focus on the quality of updates, not quantity.

Here’s some examples of newsworthy events you can write press releases about:

• Premiere of a new season
• Announcing a new show
• Noteworthy episode
• High profile guest
• A network picked up your podcast
• You’ve reached a certain download milestone

3) What to Include in a Podcast Press Release

You’re writing a press release in hopes that the recipient will create an article from it. It is common for publications to only slightly tweak your press release and largely publish an article using direct language from your press release. With that in mind, write your press release in a way that easily translates into a news article.

This means following a few journalistic style rules

• Answer the 5 “w”s 
  • Who are you
  • What are you announcing
  • When are announcing it
  • Where are you
  • Why are you announcing it
• Avoid first-person pronouns
• Keep it short, 1-page maximum
• Include quotes from you about the news story
• Attach catchy images they could use in their article

In addition to adhering to the journalistic style or writing, be sure to include your contact information so the publication can follow up on any clarifications or even contact you for future stories.

Linking to your Podchaser podcast page serves a similar purpose. Your podcast page works as your podcasting resume, where it shows the description of your show, every episode, as well as credits for any guest you’ve had on your podcast. Giving journalists easy access to all of this information ensures the accuracy of their coverage.

4) Podcast Press Release Templates

Here are two podcast press release templates for announcing a new podcast and announcing a noteworthy guest on their show. But no matter what your announcement is, these templates are a great way to get the ball rolling when writing your podcast press release

Announcing a New Podcast – Template

CITY, DATE – [Podcaster], [1 sentence bio of podcaster] is thrilled to announce their new podcast, [podcast name] (URL to Podchaser podcast page). [podcast name] covers the wide world of [topic/theme] and is aimed to appeal to [demographics or audience type], but can be enjoyed by any podcast fan.

[podcast name] is off to a hot start with its first episode diving into [episode topic or guest] and has generated a ton of buzz with more than [x] plays in its first [timeframe]

[Host name] says, [positive quote about the experience of creating podcast or the success of the podcast]

To contact [podcast name] for an interview or other queries, email [email address]

To listen to the most recent episode of the show, check out [podcast name] on Podchaser [link to episode]

About [podcast name]: [podcast name] is a podcast dedicated to [podcast topic] with [x] amount of listeners and expert guests. You can see all their episodes on Podchaser [link to Podchaser show page] 

Announcing a Noteworthy Guest –  Template

CITY, DATE – [Podcast name], [short explanation of podcast] recently featured the thrilling [guest name], an expert in [what they are known for]

In the episode [Podcast name]’s host [podcast host] dives deep into [topic] with [guest name]. They discuss the surprising topic of [specific discussion topic from episode] which anyone in the field [description of audience, (i.e. new entrepreneurs)] will find fascinating.

[Host name] says, [positive quote about experience of interviewing the guest or the success of the podcast]

To contact [podcast name] for an interview or other queries, email [email address]

To listen to the episode featuring [guest name], check out the Podchaser episode page [link to episode]

About [podcast name]: [podcast name] is a podcast dedicated to [podcast topic] with [x] amount of listeners and expert guests. You can listen to all their episodes on Podchaser [link to Podchaser show page] 

5) How to Send Out Your Press Release

Your press release is written formally, so it should also be distributed formally. It is easy to reach out via social media, but it’s too casual. For a press release, email is the most official and easy-to-access channel of communication. 

When preparing your email, do not simply paste your press release into the email body and hit send. Be sure to attach a document containing your press release, and in the body give a 1-2 sentence summary of who you are and what you’re announcing. When writing this summary remember that publications aren’t interested in advertising your show, they’re interested in providing value to their audience. So make sure you tailor your pitch to the publication and frame it as to why it would be interesting to their audience.

Brevity is key here, as most email client inboxes cut off the body text after 5 (or so) words, so you want those first few words to pique the interest of your recipient.

6) Where to Send your Podcast Press Release

When deciding where to send your podcast press release, you want to cast a wide net. Most publications won’t write about you so you’ll need to send to several outlets at once. That being said, publications tend to have specific topics that they cover, so avoid places that will never write about your show. For example, a hockey website probably won’t write about your board game podcast.

Avoid the temptation to machine gun out press releases. Spamming is a good way to turn off a publisher who might not be interested in this press release but could be in a future one. Don’t burn a bridge by being inconsiderate and getting blocked.

Here are a few different publications that write about all sorts of topics and podcasts.

• Pop Culture Outlets: Vulture, New York Times, Slate, The Verge
• Podcast Specific News: Podnews, Discover Pods, Podcast Magazine

What To Do Next

In your press release, we recommend using your Podchaser page and creator page as your resume. Prospective journalists can quickly see who you are, what work you’ve done, and who’s guested on your podcast.

In order to customize and perfect your podcast resume on Podchaser, you need to first claim your podcast.

Claiming your podcast provides tools for growing your podcast, responding to reviews, and even selling merchandise.

Claim your podcast for free right now