You’re a podcast host, which means you hit that record button to share a message with the world that you believe it needs to hear. But sometimes you need to go beyond recording and start outreach to grow your show.
When you’re ready to make this step, a media kit will be a valuable tool for winning over potential guests, other hosts for collaboration, sponsors, and journalists. At this stage, you’ll need to present your show in a simple yet convincing way to grab their attention and get them on board to work with you. That is where your media kit comes in.
In this blog, we’ll share a step-by-step guide to creating a podcast media kit.
What is a podcast media kit?
In its simplest form, a podcast media kit is a document where all the information about your podcast (such as description, stats, graphics, etc) is centralized in a format that’s easy to share and consume. It should give the person reading it a sample of what you or your show is about and offers in a quick and easy format.
The components of an effective media
When creating your media kit, put yourself in the position of the recipient. What will they want to know to convince them to take the next step with you and your podcast? Here are the ingredients for an effective podcast media kit.
What is the podcast about?
Describe your podcast clearly and explain who your audience is in as few words as possible; one or two sentences are ideal. For example, we summarize our podcast Mics to Millions,
“Mics to Millions shares exclusive, in-depth conversations with top-tier podcasters in the health and wellness industry. Each episode is full of actionable tips and advice on how to start, grow, and monetize your dream podcast.”
Who hosts the show?
Are you the only host, or are there co-hosts? Do you have valuable credentials that might strengthen your reason for hosting the show? Make the answer to these questions clear in your media kit to position yourself as an expert and increase credibility.
Example: Ali Shapiro is the host of Insatiable and shares a truthful, holistic approach to freedom from emotional eating, binging, and body image. She’s a Certified Holistic Health Counselor, creator of Truce With Food® and the ICF accredited and trauma informed Truce Coaching Certification.
How long has the show been running and why was it created?
It’s important to share the month and year of when you started the podcast and why you started it. If you haven’t launched yet, include your launch date along with guests you’ve got lined up and topics that you’ll cover in the first handful of episodes. This is particularly important if you’re using your media kit to get PR for the launch of your podcast.
For instance, As Katie Fogarty shares in her interview on Mics to Millions, she started her show in August 2020 because she saw the negative impact of ageism in society and wanted to raise awareness and tackle this stereotype.
As she put it “I wanted to talk about this notion that aging makes you irrelevant. I wanted to talk about this notion that getting older is something to be really feared and fought off and hidden.”
Therefore, in her media kit, Katie might write something like “I started the show in August 2020 with a desire to raise awareness around the topic of ageism in society, after hearing how many of my peers expressed a fear that aging makes you irrelevant.”
Do you have impressive stats for your show that you can share?
If you have stats you’d like to show off, such as significant average monthly listeners, ratings on Apple Podcast or Spotify, or listener demographics, use this opportunity to flaunt them.
Drawing back to the example with Katie Fogarty, A Certain Age is a top 1% globally ranked podcast on Listen Notes. Being able to demonstrate that your show gets more traffic than 99% of podcasts worldwide is a great example of a stat that will get noticed and demonstrate value.
What about past collaborations and media features?
If you’ve collaborated with other podcasters, guest speakers, or industry influencers, include this information. Alongside this, you can add any features in media outlets, such as interviews, articles, or publications relevant to your audience.
What’s more, big names like this are worth mentioning in your media kit and can be useful for grabbing attention while also demonstrating social proof. Let’s take a look at the description of the podcast The Shift with Sam Baker to illustrate this:
“Past guests have included Nicola Sturgeon, Marian Keyes, Guilty Feminist Deborah Frances-White, Minnie Driver, Philippa Perry, Anita Rani, Tracey Thorn, Isabel Allende, Bobbi Brown, Barbara Blake-Hannah and many more.”
Do you have graphics and headshots you can share?
Graphics and headshots are essential ingredients for any good media kit. By using a link where these images can easily be downloaded, you can make them more accessible, improving your chances of them being used by the recipient.
All graphics and headshots should be of the highest quality possible. Moreover, adding variety to your headshots, not just whether they are horizontal or vertical, but also in the theme, will give your picture more character.
For example, if you’re a personal trainer, why not have some headshots in the gym? Or if you’re a nutritionist, you can consider taking some with a kitchen as the backdrop.
How and where can people listen?
Needless to say, you’ll need to include a link that allows them to find your show on all major platforms. At Mics to Millions, we use Chartable to create one link that shares access on every available platform. Listeners who are interested in the show will want to know when they can expect the next piece of content to drop, so make it clear when they can expect new episodes to be released.
How can they reach you?
You’ve sent your media kit for a reason, you want the recipient to take the next step with you. That is why you’ll need to conclude your media kit with all the necessary information they need to reach out to you.
Where to host your podcast media kit
There are multiple options when it comes to where to host your media kit and how you choose to present it.
A PDF is a popular option for many media kits, and you can use a site like Canva to design professional-looking graphics to make it more visually appealing. However, watch out for common mistakes that podcast hosts make when designing their media kit as a PDF.
One of the most common issues is embedding your headshots and podcast graphics without an option to easily download them. Remember, those looking to share your podcast with the world, such as journalists or hosts you collaborate with, will want access to images they can share on their publication or platform. That’s why it’s better to make their job simpler by including a hyperlink to these images in a folder where they can easily download them.
Another drawback of using a PDF as a media kit is that text from these documents isn’t always easy to copy and paste. Before sending your media kit out, do a test run. Copy and paste the text from your PDF into a Google Document to see how it comes out. If it looks like a complicated mess, change the format so that it comes out more clearly.
Alternatively, you can use a site like Notion to centralize your information. Similarly, you can use a Google Doc for your media kit if you prefer a more basic approach that is to the point and less visually stimulating. These options require you to send recipients a link rather than an attachment. And the best part? Using links over attachments allows you to update links even after you send an email.
Are you a podcast host aiming to get in front of new audiences, demonstrate value, and build trust through podcast guesting? Schedule a call with us today to start your journey to success.