Starting a podcast is hard work — a lot of time and effort goes into the production of each show. From writing content to interviewing guests and then editing each episode, you have both a time and monetary commitment that can be quite large. With such a significant commitment, it’s hard not to focus on your bottom line.
Did you know that you don’t have to focus on followers to make your podcast profitable?
If you choose guests that are your ideal customer, you can use your podcast as a collaborative sales pitch. When you collaborate, it does not look or feel like a sales pitch, but it can convert your guests into customers and help garner interest from their followers.
Your podcast guests are an excellent resource to help you grow your network, business and learn new things. If you follow our strategy, you’ll have at least two points of contact with them before and during recording. Use the time you have with your guests to do more than just form a connection, but build a relationship that turns them into customers.
1. Start With a Strategy
According to Bernie Borges, Vice President of Global Content Marketing for iQor, “Hope is not a strategy. Have a strategy before beginning a podcast.” Bernie’s advice is solid. You do need to start with a strategy but may not be sure what that looks entails. Your strategy is the overall plan and goal for your podcast.
Ask yourself why you are creating this type of content and what you want to get out of it. If it’s more sales, that’s great because we have a lot of experience helping grow small and medium-sized businesses.
If you didn’t start your podcast with a solid strategy, it’s not too late. You can pause your podcast for a few days to design and implement a strategy to create growth right now. The strategy that we are mainly focusing on here is account-based podcasting.
What Is Account-Based Podcasting?
Account-based podcasting is the idea that your podcast is tailored to or targeting your ideal clients and customers. Your content is personalized to connect with your guest, who should be your ideal customer.
Because of the highly targeted and personalized nature of your content, it must have value. Talk about the client’s goals, plans, pain points, and realities.
2. Focus On Relationships, Not Metrics
James Carbary, CEO & Founder of Sweet Fish Media, says, “We do podcasts. But we’re much more passionate about relationship–building.” He’s right. The relationship with your guests and customers is the most vital part of your podcast.
Your metrics will improve over time, especially if you have interesting guests, topics, and content. Your guests are who will help you to expand your network further. If you offer value to your guests, it’s possible to convert them into customers.
Know, Like, and Trust
As a marketer, you’ve heard the concept of know, like, and trust. You can apply this concept to your podcast guests. During the process of the interview, they get to know you.
Before a guest agrees to an interview, they might want to have a pre-interview with you or just a friendly chat about the podcast topics and any taboo topics. Because you will likely speak to your guest multiple times, they will get to know you.
The next step is for the guest to like you. During your interview and any subsequent contact, you need to be likable. You achieve being likable by being personable and yourself. Let your guest get to know you and get to know your guest.
Ask questions and answer the questions asked of you. If you make your guests look good during your podcast episode, this makes you look good to not just the guest but other potential guests.
Trust comes last. When your guest gets to know you and your company, they will start to trust you. Don’t make bold promises you cannot keep or make your podcast sound like a sales pitch. Your time during each episode is about your guest.
Giving them your time and platform to speak about what they do and what you do builds the relationship and later trust. Providing valuable content to them, where both of you learn something new, is a massive step towards creating trust and delivering your sales pitch.
Points of Contact
Your initial contact with your guest is the email, message, or phone call asking for an interview. You should introduce yourself, what you do, and the overall gist of your podcast. When you ask for someone to appear on an episode of your show, set up a planning call with them to go over the episode’s topic.
The planning call is your first major point of contact. It’s where you get to introduce yourself and let the guest get to know you and your company better.
During the planning call, collaborate with them on the episode theme and what topics you can cover. You should create a bullet-style list of what to cover during the episode.
This step is essential because it makes you look professional and prepared in your guest’s eyes. It also shows that you care about their experience on your podcast.
After the planning call, set up the date for the recording of the podcast. You have a topic list that you and your guest collaborated to create, guiding you through the show’s topic. Having everything planned out in advance lets your guest cohesively tell their whole story.
Diving Into Topics
Keep your intended guest in mind before choosing a topic. The topic needs to align with the guest’s experience and provide value to them and your listeners.
When you have the planning call with your guests, ask them if they are happy with the chosen topic and if they have any additional topics they would like covered.
Don’t forget that your goal is to make your guest look good and have a good experience creating the podcast episode with you.
3. Get in Front of Hard-to-Reach Customers
To build a relationship with your ideal customer, you first need to have some people in mind that you would like to collaborate with.
Once you have a list of possible companies or people you would like to interview, reach out and talk to them. Because you are asking for interviews for a podcast, you’re more likely to get in front of people who can make decisions, like CEOs and entrepreneurs— customers who are typically hard to reach by making cold calls.
Initially, you’ll have to start small. Ask for interviews with CEOs or executives from smaller or up-and-coming companies.
Ensure that your content fits the person you’re interviewing. You don’t want to talk about the topic of financial decisions with someone who’s never made any for a company before. Do your research, and don’t forget about the value of your content.
4. Know When to Speak Up or Follow Up
At the end of the podcast recording session, you can start a conversation about your observations during the interview. Use this time to talk to your guest about their challenges or any weaknesses that you noticed.
If they agree that there is an issue they need to address, ask if they want to set up a dedicated call to discuss it. On the follow-up call, pitch your services to them and describe how you can help them solve their problems.
Your Podcast Is a Tool, Learn How to Use It
Your podcast is a platform you can utilize to get your company’s name and services in front of more potential clients. If you are unsure of where to start or need help getting organized, we can help.
We are experts at building strategies, automation, production, and publishing content in many different mediums. Contact us today at Selworthy to discuss how to take your podcast content and transform it into additional content such as blog posts and YouTube videos.
