Podseeker is a simple tool that works as you’d expect; its price point makes it a no-brainer for PR teams with podcast outreach responsibilities
Podcasts are a good option for PR pros seeking to earn media coverage. Even as traditional media relations have become harder, podcasts are alternative outlets that have reach and credibility – often in niches.
Consider the following:
- Podcast audiences are growing. About one in five (21%) of all U.S. citizens listen to podcasts monthly according to the Infinite Dial report by Edison research.
- Podcasts listeners skew younger. Marketing Charts notes listeners skew younger – more than half (56%) of people ages 12-34 listened to one in the last month.
- Podcasts are memorable. It also reported, citing research by Nielsen, that “Host-read podcast ads outperform non-host-read ads on brand recall as well as other key marketing metrics.”
- Podcasts have influence beyond broadcast. Heavy podcast listeners are 34% more active in driving offline conversations (word of mouth) according to Engagement Labs.
They used to say print news drove broadcast, and I’ve found that to be true with podcasts too. More than once I’ve successfully taken a contributed article – usually one with a contrarian viewpoint – and used it as the basis for podcast pitch (this works the other way around too).
Here’s the thing: it can be hard to obtain information to pitch podcasts. Some of them don’t have websites. Some of those with websites don’t list contact information. And podcasts come and go, which I totally get, because I’m wrestling with sunsetting a podcast of my own after 30 episodes.
Enter Podseeker a Media Database for Podcasts
This is where Podseeker comes in handy. Podseeker is essentially a media database that solely focuses on podcasts. The company and product were founded in 2020 by Simon Thompson, a former Meltwater employee.
A subscription costs $50 per month and provides access to 1 million podcast contacts. It’s easy to search, you can build custom lists, and the company provides estimates of the size of any given podcast audience.
I asked Simon how Podseeker obtains those audience size estimates, and he wrote in an email:
“We use a number of publicly facing data points and correlate those with podcast audience sizes where we know what the actual listenership is. We then use an algorithm to extrapolate that onto all of the other podcasts in our database where we have the same public data points.”
I also asked if he had relationships with other vendors – because this seems like an easy and useful acquisition, and he noted:
“We don’t have deals with other vendors on the audience size side of things, but we are about to release a few features where we are licensing data from Listen Notes (such as social media links, etc.).”
A quick Podseeker product review
He recently provided me access to his product and I tested it using a real client of mine for a product review. One of the company’s claims is that it had contact information for niche podcasts. Since I do a lot of work in the niche of legal technology (legaltech), and I know the market inside and out, I thought this would make a good test case.
I searched for “legal tech”, and it produced 51 results. The list included about 10 podcasts I hadn’t heard about yet, which impressed me.
Each result brings up a brief description of each podcast and options to click through to the show’s website (if it has one) or to a podcast site like Apple Podcasts. You can also see when the last episode was published, which is a good signal as to whether or not the podcast is current and active.
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From here, you can add a podcast to a media list, or click for more details. This will show you the contact information for the show and options to listen to a show right there on the same page.
I like this feature because listening to a show a little bit is a good idea. Podcasters don’t want irrelevant pitches any more than a traditional reporter. Listening is a good way to ensure your pitches are on target.
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My take on Podseeker
It’s a simple and useful tool that works as you’d expect. Seems like a no-brainer purchase for PR agencies of all sizes if podcast outreach is part of your duties. The price point is such – $600 annually – that even smaller agencies or in-house teams (that spend more than that on a single team lunch) can justify the expense.
Podseeker offers a free seven-day trial. Useful links: pricing, features, blog, contact.
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If you are a PR tech vendor and are interested in a product review, here are the details on how.
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Image credits: Unsplash and Podseeker
