Tink Media

Tink isn't software, it's Lauren Passell's growth shop, and the work is some of the smartest in the indie space. They built their reputation on cross-promo and creative partnerships, the kind of swap deals you can't really buy out of a product. Best if you've got a real budget for promotion and want a human strategist; not where you go for a self-serve dashboard.

Tink Media is the agency Lauren Passell founded in 2019 after realising that podcast marketing was being handled by people who didn't actually listen to podcasts. The team specialises in growth strategy, podcast PR, in-app placement, and cross-promo, the kind of show-to-show audience trades that move the needle for indie creators who can't outspend Spotify on billboards. They run something called Podcast Therapy, hourly strategy sessions that work well if you have one specific growth problem and want a senior brain on it for an afternoon. The wider engagement model is custom campaigns priced against goals rather than seats. Their newsletter, Podcast Marketing Magic, is free at the basic tier and $8/month or $80/year for the premium version, and it's a useful tell for the kind of taste and depth you'd be hiring. Tink isn't for everyone. If you're looking for a tool you log into and see graphs, this isn't that. It's a small team doing thoughtful, hands-on work for shows where the host or network has already decided to invest in growth and wants the work done well. Where Tink shines is the connection layer: Lauren and her crew know which shows will swap promos with you, which networks are about to launch something complementary, and which trade press will actually cover an indie launch. That kind of relational knowledge doesn't fit on a dashboard.