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(By Yann Ilunga) There are several reasons why podcast guesting should be part of your marketing strategy. Similarly, there are different things you might try to achieve through your podcast guesting endeavors. In this article, we take a look at a series of goals you may want to focus on as a podcast guest.
Authority-Building Being interviewed is an opportunity for you to share your expertise. If you’re a business owner, author, coach, marketer, consultant or entrepreneur, this means building authority.
Through the advice you share, the stories you tell and strategies you lay out for the different podcast audiences you’re addressing, you’re positioning yourself as a go-to expert.
Especially if you’re just getting started, each podcast guest interview will allow you to leverage the host’s platform while contributing to the establishment of your expert status.
Networking Doing a podcast interview as a guest is both about the audience and the host. This second goal has to do with the latter.
If you look at interviews as an opportunity to grow your network, you’re going to find yourself adding several new connections to your network on a regular basis.
Some podcast hosts might even be prospects and may end up becoming clients of yours, referrals or partners you could collaborate with for something like a joint-webinar or an affiliate marketing campaign.
Lead-Generation Chances are you’ve heard the say ‘the money is in the list’ before. If lead-generation is one of the strategies you’re focusing on, then you’ll be glad to hear that podcast guest interviews can help with that.
The different audiences you’re sharing your advice with on your interviews represent a target group of people you can direct your list-building efforts toward.
Think of what you’re going to discuss on the show and try to naturally tie your content and advice with a free, downloadable resource you offer in exchange for people’s email address.
Growing Your Community While email is great for several reasons - including the fact that, on average, it has the highest ROI compared to other marketing techniques - it has its limits when it comes to community-building.
In fact, email marketing is indeed a way for you to communicate with members of your community but not for them to communicate with one another.
Because of this, you ought to consider creating a common space where they can come together, communicate with and support each other.
In my case, for example, I do this through the Podcast Growth Mastermind Facebook group. Whether you rely on a Facebook group, Slack community, Might Networks hub or something else, you can use your guest interview opportunities as a way to invite listeners to join in.
This way, in addition to growing your network of contacts by connecting with hosts, you’re also going to grow your community by having audience members gravitate toward your community.
Marketing a Product, Service, Book or Your Podcast While you don’t want to be salesy, you need to remember that an interview represents an opportunity to actually promote something you’re selling: an info product, a service, a physical product, an in-person event, etc.
If you take a look at a couple of experts in your space, you may notice that whenever they have a product launch, a book coming out or similar, they are featured on a series of podcast as guests.
Are you an author? Then you could go on a “virtual book tour”, a series of podcast guest interviews you record in advance and ask the various hosts to publish around the release date of your book. And if you host your own podcast, you can mention it on your guest interviews.
Speaking Opportunities This last goal you might want to focus on as a podcast guest is quite underrated. If you plan on stepping on stage and speak at conferences in your space, I have a tip for you. Why not making a list of all the events you’d like to present at and then look at whether the organizers host a podcast?
If they do, then those are shows you probably want to focus on. By doing this, you’ll be able to break the ice and connect with the conference organizers. Now, when it’s speaking application time, you won’t just be a “random name” in the list of applicants, rather a familiar face. And who knows, after the podcast interview, the organizer may even end up asking you to speak at his or her event.
Remember: even though there are several goals you might want to achieve as a podcast guest, your #1 priority should be providing value.
Yann Ilunga** is a podcasting consultant and systems strategist. He’s the host of **The Podcaster Lab**and creator of what **Forbesdubbed “Podcast Community to Join”: the Podcast Growth Mastermind.