This is the cold email plan we'd run for a podcast agency that serves one industry. Podcast histories are public. Listen Notes and Podchaser show when a show started and when it stopped and who has been a guest.
Your market is every company in your industry that sells on trust and relationships. A podcast lets them invite the exact people they want to meet onto a show.
These are the signals worth looking for.
Listen Notes and Podchaser show the date of the last episode. A show that stopped after a dozen episodes usually ran out of time and not out of ideas.
Search their founder on Listen Notes. Someone who guests on other podcasts a lot clearly likes the format and has no show of their own.
A show that publishes full episodes and nothing else. No clips on LinkedIn and no written summaries on their site.
A rival with a regular show is meeting the same buyers week after week.
Episodes that come out whenever someone has time. Gaps of a month or more between episodes are easy to spot.
The host is usually the founder or a partner. Email them directly. At bigger companies copy in the head of marketing.
Ten episode ideas for their show with a named guest for each. Pick guests their buyers would want to hear from and ideally guests who could become clients.
It works because the guest list is the business case.
Walk through it on a 15 minute call. They'll know which guests they can reach and which ones they'd most like as clients. The next step is someone booking and producing those episodes.
Short clips cut from their latest episode with captions.
It works because they see their own show working harder than it does today.
Show the clips on a call before they go anywhere. They'll want to approve what gets posted under their name and making clips each week is part of the service.
Produce their next episode free. Book the guest and write the questions and edit and publish it. They just show up and talk.
It works because the host only spends an hour on it. They see the whole service in one episode and the next ones are the retainer.
It starts with a 20 minute call to pick the guest and the topic. Aim to publish within three weeks of that call so the guest's schedule has room.
Each segment gets its own email because a specific email gets more replies than a general one. Split each segment by sub-industry too so the examples in the email fit the reader.
Keep each email under 100 words with one reason for writing and one line of proof and one offer and one question. The proof lines are examples of the kind of result to use. Swap in real results of your own before anything goes out.
Lead with the date of the last episode and offer the free episode.
Hi {{first_name}},
The last episode of {{podcast_name}} went out in {{last_episode_month}}. The one with {{best_guest}} was worth the listen.
We produce podcasts for {{industry}} firms. Happy to produce the next episode free. You'd just show up and talk.
A firm that relaunched with us signed two of its first ten guests as clients.
Interested?
{{sender_first_name}}
Lead with their best guest appearance and offer the relaunch plan as the plan for a show of their own.
Hi {{first_name}},
Heard you on {{podcast_name}}. The part about {{topic}} could carry a whole show of your own.
Put together ten episode ideas with a guest for each and marked the guests who could become clients.
A client that launched its show with us had six sales conversations with guests from its first season.
Want me to walk you through the list?
{{sender_first_name}}
Lead with a clip you cut from their latest episode and offer the clip pack.
Hi {{first_name}},
Cut three short clips from your latest episode of {{podcast_name}}. The one about {{topic}} is strong.
Clips like these doubled weekly downloads for a client's show within a quarter.
Want me to show you all three?
{{sender_first_name}}
Lead with the rival's show and ask for a call directly.
Hi {{first_name}},
{{competitor}} has published {{episode_count}} episodes of {{competitor_show}}. Their guests are the kind of people {{company}} wants as clients.
We produce podcasts for {{industry}} firms that want to meet future clients on the show. One firm we produce for has signed five clients from its guests in the last year.
Worth 15 minutes to see what your show could look like?
{{sender_first_name}}
Send two follow ups in the same thread three to five days apart.
Each reply should end in a booked meeting that actually happens. The lead magnet and the offer get delivered on that call and never go out as a file to read later.
The replies below cover the three ways people say yes.
They asked for the relaunch plan. The call picks the guests.
Hi {{first_name}},
Happy to. You'll know which of the ten guests you can reach and which ones you'd most like as clients. Fifteen minutes is enough to go through the list and pick the first three.
Does Tuesday at 10am or Wednesday at 2pm work?
{{sender_first_name}}
They want the free episode. The call picks the guest and the topic.
Hi {{first_name}},
Great. I need 20 minutes with you to pick the guest and the topic. We handle the booking from there and publish within three weeks of that call.
Does Thursday at 11am or Friday at 3pm work?
{{sender_first_name}}
They said yes to a call. Tell them what they'll leave with so they show up.
Hi {{first_name}},
Perfect. I'll bring the guests {{competitor}} has had on and a first season plan for {{company}}. You'll leave with ten guests worth inviting.
Does Monday at 1pm or Tuesday at 9am work?
{{sender_first_name}}
Results aren't guaranteed and nobody honest can promise a number before the first emails go out. A few things decide how a campaign does.
The first few weeks show how the market responds. The list and the copy and the offer get sharper from there.
We build and run this campaign for one agency per industry.
This page is a starting point and a strategy we'd happily test ourselves. Working together gives us more context on your agency. That context lets us add better strategies and build better lists and offers and automations for you.
Thirty minutes on your market and how we'd reach it.