Part I: Five Tips For Guests
Your words, spoken in your voice, are powerful things. They can inform, inspire, and motivate someone to act.
I know, because I’ve seen how our clients at Interview Valet have achieved mammoth results and accomplished their goals by executing a well-planned podcast interview marketing strategy. They have launched brands, landed monumental deals, and obtained massive returns on investment—all by reaching the right audience on the podcasting stage.
No matter where you are in your personal brand development, whether you are just getting started or are looking to take your offering to the next level, a strategic podcast interview marketing strategy can help you position yourself as a thought leader, gain the attention of prospects, and turn listeners into leads.
If you’re ready to get your message and your personal brand out there by identifying opportunities to be a guest on relevant industry podcasts, the following five tips can help you successfully achieve your goals.
My advice is the result of over five years working with entrepreneurs, coaches, authors, franchisors, and brands primarily in the business, faith, and health verticals to implement a podcasting strategy to help them achieve their personal brand goals. My company, Interview Valet, helps industry leaders to not just add to the noise in their space, but to speak directly to their dream customers and convert traffic into leads.
Here’s what I’ve learned, and what you can do as a podcast guest to turn your spoken words into powerful lead generation tools.
Tip # 1: Get the Best—Not Just More—Leads by Speaking to Your Ideal Customers
Exposure brings opportunity.
A hurdle that too many entrepreneurs and start-ups face is obscurity.
There are likely thousands of people that you could serve—whose lives you could improve—if they only knew about you. How can you attract prospective clients without a million-dollar advertising budget or an existing network of followers?
Marketing 101 says that you need to break through the clutter to gain the attention of your prospects. That rule was true back in the day of David Ogilvy, and it’s still true today, only significantly more challenging.
It’s doubtful that David Ogilvy could have ever predicted the proliferation of digital everything, from social media to on-demand videos, to hundreds of satellite radio channels.
Breaking through the noise has never been more challenging because there has never been so much of it.
Too often, when brands attempt to break through the noise, all they do is add to it. Podcasting offers a unique platform to help you not just add to the noise, but to break through by speaking directly, and with maximum impact, to your ideal audience when they want to hear from you and are open to receiving your message.
In today’s overly saturated market, your goal should not be to obtain more leads; it should be to get the right leads—your ideal customers.
Rather than pushing messages out into the marketing stratosphere and hoping a prospect finds you, it is infinitely more powerful to be in on the conversation with your target customers. Being a guest on a podcast that speaks to your target audience and that has a significant following, and a reputable host, can help you to get in front of the right people for an uninterrupted 30 to 40 minutes of relationship and trust-building airtime.
During your interview, you have an exclusive opportunity to help your prospects get to know you, your heart, and your unique offering.
Bottom Line: Break through the clutter by finding opportunities to speak with podcasters who already have established audiences of your ideal customers.
Tip # 2: Be Specific and Target Your Niche
Too many people resist the idea of seeking out opportunities to be a guest on someone else’s podcast out of a belief that no one will be interested in their message.
Let me assure you that there is an audience for everything.
There are currently eight available podcasts dedicated exclusively to the topic of pickleball—which is a good thing.
The smaller your niche, the better.
People listen to podcasts because they want expert insights on hyper-specific topics of interest, so remember that bigger is not always better. It’s just bigger.
There may be more fish in the ocean than in a barrel, but a barrel of your ideal customers is what you need to grow your personal brand.
Bottom Line: When identifying existing podcasts on which you can appear as a guest, choose shows that speak to niche topics of interest for your ideal customers.
Tip # 3: Target Established, Reputable Podcasts and Hosts
Podcasting allows you to reach your ideal customers in a way that lends authority and credibility to your message.
At Interview Valet, when we work with a customer to help them identify valuable podcasts on which they can appear, we follow a successful algorithm:
1.Target Established Podcasts and Hosts. Make sure the podcast targets your ideal customers, has established an audience, has produced a significant number of episodes, and has received positive reviews.
2. Leverage SEO. The most reputable podcast hosts will list you on their website as a guest and will link to your personal brand website. If they are an established podcasting leader with significant website traffic and domain authority, a link from their website to yours will give your search engine results a valuable boost.
3. Ensure the Host will Promote Your Appearance. Not only will you benefit from your on-air time, but with the right podcast partnership, you will benefit from the show promoting your upcoming or recent appearance. Make sure any podcast on which you appear includes a strategy to market your interview.
4. Research Past Guests. Before agreeing to be a guest on any podcast, do your research. Find out who else has appeared on the show recently. If the host has spoken to other authorities in your space, it’s a good indication that the show is the right fit for you, and will give you exposure to your ideal customers.
Bottom Line: Your time is valuable. Make sure you are seeking out and committing to valuable podcast partnerships with reputable, established, and professional shows and hosts.
Tip # 4: Respect the Digital Stage
A former boss of mine used to say, only kids and clowns like to be surprised.
Which do you take me for? Never go on air as a podcast guest without doing your research and being prepared. You wouldn’t give a formal presentation to an audience of hundreds of people without preparing what you’re going to say.
To be a successful podcast guest, you have to treat the digital stage the same way you would treat the physical stage.
Before going on air, do your research about the host and the podcast. Know your hosts name, their background, their typical audience, what they often talk about, and the questions they typically ask. If you do your research, there should be no surprise questions.
Established podcasters typically ask many of the same questions. If you are unprepared for a routine question, you’ll demonstrate to the audience that you aren’t a regular listener, which will ruin your credibility with the audience. It’s the digital equivalent of a presenter saying, “Hello Columbus,” when he’s actually in Cleveland.
The Bottom Line: Respect your host and the audience by doing your research and being prepared for your interview.
Tip # 5: Be Authentic
If you’re nervous about the idea of speaking live on the air, know that podcasting is easier than presenting on the physical stage.
You may be speaking live to tens of thousands of listeners, but in reality, podcasts are usually produced over the phone or a video conferencing service like Zoom, which means you’re only having a conversation with the show’s host. Don’t talk yourself out of an opportunity to leverage podcast interview marketing by worrying about the on-air experience.
My best advice to any podcast guest is to be authentic. Don’t just stick to your talking points. If you feel nervous, resist the urge to talk faster.
Instead, slow down. Talking quickly is a common mistake that people make when they are presenting live. An experienced host will speak with a slow cadence, so if you speed up, it will sound jarring to your listeners. Plus, since 70 percent of podcast listeners play recordings sped up, you’ll sound like a chipmunk if you talk too fast.
Bottom Line: Be yourself. You’re an authority in your sphere of influence for a reason. Be calm, confident, and authentic, and you’ll enjoy every minute of your conversation with the show’s host.
Final Advice: Be Confident. You are an Expert.
The last piece of advice I’d share with anyone who is considering leveraging podcast interview marketing as a guest to help grow their personal brand is not to talk yourself out of the strategy due to a fear that you are not the expert.
The definition of an expert is someone who knows more than the average person based on their work history or personal experience.
By that definition, you most certainly are an expert in your industry and someone with insights and best practices to share. The only thing we are all the undisputed experts on is our own opinions.
Remember that what’s ordinary to you is amazing to others. Never undervalue what you can offer your audience. Go into each podcast interview with confidence and showcase to your ideal customers how you can help them to achieve their goals and live a better life.
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