Podcast Collab Strategies: 6 Ways To Collaborate with Podcasters

How to grow your show with podcast collab opportunities; strategies for teaming up with other podcasters to expand your audience.

Podcasting has become a powerful medium to engage with our communities, share our perspectives and expertise, and build our brands. However, podcasting doesn’t have to be a solo sport, even though it definitely feels like it sometimes. In fact, much of my podcast growth over the last five years has come from collaborating with others. While podcast guesting is a popular way to partner with your peers, let’s explore five other ways to collaborate with podcasters. I know there will be something on this list you haven’t tried yet, so take notes and try these podcast collab strategies!

Podcast Collaboration Opportunities: A Sustainable Podcast Growth Strategy

1. Podcast Interviews

Since podcast guesting is one of the most popular podcast collab strategies, let’s start here.

By appearing as a guest, get introduced to a new audience interested in your ideas and work.

We know podcast guest appearances offer other benefits like leveraging the call-to-action typically at the end of the episode to promote your podcast, join your newsletter, attend a free webinar, or sign up for your challenge. Getting backlinks to your website is another search engine optimization benefit. Lastly, being a guest on other podcasts helps you build relationships with fellow podcasters, opening doors for future collaborations and opportunities.

In Grow My Podcast, Deirdre Chen, the founder of Capsho, has a fantastic episode sharing how to leverage podcast guesting to gain new clients with Chris Williams.

Over the last four years, I’ve been a guest on nearly 200 podcasts. It all started when I launched my first book, an Iceland travel guide. I used podcast guest appearances as a book tour strategy. By strategically selecting podcasts with a similar target audience, I could reach a lot of listeners in a short period, resulting in a significant boost in book sales and increased visibility for my show. Win-win-win!

2. Share Your Interviews On Your Feed

Another podcast collab opportunity is to feature your podcast guest interviews on your podcast feed. How does this work?

After conducting a guest interview, share the episode with your audience, providing them with fresh content while sharing a side of you they don’t typically see…you in the guest chair. Plus, you’re promoting the podcast you were originally a guest on.

To implement this strategy, discuss accessing the audio file and sharing the episode on your feed when accepting invitations to be a guest on another podcast.

Here’s a simple script I use when I want to bring this up:

“Would you be open to me sharing the episode on my podcast too? This will introduce my audience to your show, so it’s a great promo opp as well.”

Helpful Tip: Keeping search engine optimization in mind, retitle the episode so you can optimize its discoverability. This win-win collaborative approach lets your audience hear a different side of your story and introduces listeners to another podcast they might enjoy.

I’ve used this strategy several times; check out these episodes here:

How To Effectively Raise Your Prices Without Losing Clients – Women of Color Podcasters
How To Plan For Maternity Leave When Self-Employed – The Thought Card Podcast

3. Podcast Promo Swaps

Podcast promo swaps are another cross-promotion strategy that expands your podcast’s reach. This strategy involves partnering with another podcaster for a 30-60 second ad swap or exchange.

Basically, each podcaster shares a promo script with talking points they’d like to read on air. They then record these host-read ads promoting the other’s podcast. The ads run on scheduled dates you both agree to.

While one promo swap is a good first step, consider multiple episodes so listeners hear your message more than once, boosting their likeliness of taking action.

These host-read ads can be tailored to mention relevant episodes or highlight specific aspects of each podcast. To find potential collaborators, you can use resources like Tink Media’s podcast promo swaps database, which connects podcasters interested in teaming up.

4. Feed Drop

A feed drop involves featuring a podcast trailer or an entire episode from another podcast on your feed or vice versa. This collaboration strategy allows you to curate content from others that align with your show’s message.

When considering content for feed drops, pick episodes that will resonate with your audience and be relevant to your show’s theme.

This also holds true when exploring partnerships with sponsors.

If approached by a sponsor, choose an episode from their archive that provides value to your audience and complements your content. Instead of sharing the episode as is, consider adding a personalized intro so your listeners know this content is from another creator and share why you think it’s worth listening to.

Here’s an example of how I introduced my audience to Expedia’s travel podcast, “Out Travel the System.”

5. Collaborative Episodes

Creating collaborative episodes with another podcaster is an incredible way to leverage each other’s expertise and creativity. By joining forces and recording episodes, create a unique and engaging experience for listeners that will be shared on both feeds.

Collaborative episodes allow for shared responsibilities, where both hosts contribute their unique insights and perspectives. Whether it’s a single episode or a series of episodes, collaborating brings a fresh dynamic to your podcast and opens the door to new ideas and content opportunities.

The podcast docuseries Millennial Wealth Builders is an excellent example of this, where Acquania Escarne and I joined forces to create a 12-part series highlighting Women of Color building wealth. We won three grants to produce this series, and instead of us making a new podcast and starting from scratch, we decided to leverage our existing platforms syndicating episodes on both of our shows.

Read Next: 6 Habits of High-Growth Podcasters

6. Newsletter Swaps

If you are looking for how to get your podcast noticed and you have a newsletter, consider partnering with another podcaster with a similar audience, swapping mentions, or exchanging full newsletter features.

Alternatively, do the same on social media.

By promoting each other’s shows on social media, you’re essentially reminding your audience about other shows they might be interested in. Remember, when you promote other podcasters’ shows, include a link to their show, specifically, their Podlink, so it’s easy to follow on any podcast player.

In Conclusion: Use podcast collabs to grow your podcast

When it comes to podcast cross-promotion, the sky’s the limit. Whether you choose the quick route like a trailer feed drop or want to collaborate more extensively on an episode or series, collaborating with other podcasters is a powerful way to grow your audience, connect with new listeners, and create great content.

As a next step, put a call out inside podcasting communities you are parts of, like WOC Podcasters or Black Podcasters Association, and pitch your ideas. See if anyone would be interested in working with you.

Podcasters are friendly, open to collaboration, and believe high tides rise all ships, so you really have nothing to lose by putting yourself out there.

If you need help pitching yourself, save time crafting a compelling email with my podcast pitch templates. These are the exact emails I used to land on top shows like Side Hustle Nation, Do You Even Blog, and more.

Podcast Collab Strategies: 6 Ways To Collaborate with Podcasters To Grow Your Show and Expand Your Network