Podcast Pitch Outreach

This drill takes a qualified podcast list and runs a personalized pitch campaign to book the founder as a guest. It handles pitch copy creation, personalization, sending, and reply management.

Input

• Enriched podcast prospect list from podcast-prospect-research drill (in Attio or Clay)
• Founder's bio, areas of expertise, and 3-5 ready pitch angles
• Founder's social proof: prior speaking, published content, podcast appearances, notable achievements
• Calendar link for booking (Cal.com or Calendly)

Steps

1. Prepare pitch angles

Before sending any emails, define 3-5 distinct pitch angles the founder can speak on. Each angle should be:

• Specific enough to be an episode topic (not "I can talk about marketing")
• Tied to a trend, contrarian take, or data point
• Relevant to the podcast's audience

Example angles:

• "Why most B2B startups waste 60% of their marketing budget on the wrong stage"
• "How we grew from $0 to $1M ARR using only founder-led sales"
• "The AI agent stack replacing traditional SDR teams"

2. Create the founder one-sheet

Build a one-page document (Google Doc or Notion page) that includes:

• Founder headshot (high-res link)
• Bio (50 words and 150 words versions)
• Company one-liner
• 3-5 episode topic ideas with bullet-point talking points
• Links to prior podcast appearances or talks
• Social media links
• Calendar booking link

Host this at a public URL. Include this link in follow-up emails when a host expresses interest.

3. Personalize each pitch

For each podcast on the list, customize the pitch using podcast-pitch-email framework:

• Listen to or read the description of a recent episode. Write one specific sentence about it.
• Match one of your pitch angles to the podcast's usual topics.
• Reference a previous guest to show you understand the show's format.

Use Clay columns to store personalization variables: recent_episode_topic, recent_guest_name, specific_observation, best_pitch_angle.

4. Send pitches

Smoke (5-10 pitches): Send manually from the founder's personal email. Higher trust, appropriate for low volume.

Baseline (15-25 pitches): Use Instantly with the instantly-campaign fundamental. Create a campaign with the 3-email sequence from podcast-pitch-email. Map Clay merge fields. Set sending schedule: Tue-Thu, 9am-11am in the host's timezone.

Scalable (50+ pitches): Use Instantly with inbox rotation across 2-3 sending accounts. Segment by podcast tier: Tier 1 gets the most personalized version, Tier 3 can use lighter personalization.

5. Handle replies

Monitor Instantly (or inbox) for replies. Classify and act:

• "Yes, let's book": Immediately reply with the founder's calendar link and one-sheet. Update Attio: status = "booked", add recording date.
• "Send more info": Reply with the one-sheet link and 2-3 specific topic ideas tailored to their show. Update Attio: status = "interested".
• "Not right now": Reply thanking them, ask if you can re-pitch in 3 months. Update Attio: status = "nurture", set reminder.
• "Fill out our guest form": Go to their form and submit. Update Attio: status = "form submitted".
• "No thanks": Reply graciously. Update Attio: status = "declined". Do not re-pitch.
• No reply after full sequence: Update Attio: status = "no response". Re-pitch in 6 months with a new angle.

6. Track conversion metrics

Log in PostHog or a tracking spreadsheet:

• Emails sent
• Open rate
• Reply rate
• Positive reply rate (interested + booked)
• Booking rate (booked / emails sent)
• Time from first pitch to recording date

Target benchmarks: 30-50% open rate, 10-20% reply rate, 5-10% booking rate.

Output

• Podcast guest bookings in the founder's calendar
• Attio list updated with pitch status for every podcast
• Conversion metrics for optimizing future pitch campaigns

Triggers

• Run once per batch of new podcast prospects
• Re-run the sequence with new angles every quarter for "no response" contacts