Be a Podcast Guest: Optimizing Your ROI and Converting Listeners into Buyers

Preparing to be a Podcast Guest: Optimizing Your ROI and Converting Listeners into Buyers

Anyone can make a great podcast guest! Yes, even you!

The key is to come in prepared, not just with the usual bullet points and familiarity with the host, but with the confidence of someone who understands the power of the podcast industry, and the potential of ROI when each conversation is accompanied by measurable marketing strategies.

Being a podcast guest can catapult your brand’s visibility, giving you an average of 45 minutes to share your passion with thousands of highly-targeted listeners. 

Unlike video, or text-based media, podcasts can be consumed anytime, anywhere, without the need for a screen. The words you use, your direct discussion with your audience, and all of your personal intonations make this an intimate form of media, and one that is likely to make the longest and deepest impact on your listeners. 

But without a marketing strategy supporting your episode, your listeners won’t know how to follow up with you and your brand. And you won’t know how to increase your sales from it.

So the best marketing strategy will also come with pinpointed ways to measure the impact that your episode had with the audience. 

In this course, we will cover a LOT:

• The Benefits & ROI of Being a Podcast Guest

• The Process of Getting on a Podcast

• How to be a Great Podcast Guest: Tips & Etiquette

• Capturing Listener Feedback: Gathering Data on Each Episode

• Converting Listeners Into Buyers

The podcast industry is booming, with over 5 million different shows, and nearly 70 million recorded episodes worldwide. 

2023 saw 150 million active podcast listeners just in the United States alone! 

The average podcast listener consumes 8 shows each week, and the average show is 45 minutes long.

Most interestingly, US ad spend on podcasts is projected to be $4 billion by the start of 2024, and $6 billion by 2026. That’s for running a 60-second midroll ad, likely costing you an average $30 per 1000 listeners (CPM).

You, as a guest, will get 45 minutes!

Learn about the different kinds of paid-podcast advertising here.

The Benefits & ROI of Being a Podcast Guest

Podcasting is pretty unique in its accessibility: any time, anywhere. Listeners can tune in while doing housework, during their commute, or while getting in exercise. They can listen with a partner, meaning it doesn’t have to be a solitary activity. It can be easily shared among friends, and to followers.

Podcasting is an effective way to speak directly with your audience, amplifying your message, increasing brand awareness, and building personal connections with your listeners.

There’s also the potential for catching the ear of an Investor.

How might that help you?

Being featured on a podcast can bring you and your brand credibility and trust within your industry, refining your business and niche to provide meaning and profits, while positioning you as a leader with value to provide your audience.

Also, the SEO benefits are divine!

We will be covering this further in two different sections ahead in the course, Have a Sharing Strategy and Capturing Listener Feedback: Gathering Data on Each Episode.

So how to begin?

The Process of Getting on a Podcast

• Establish a Contact

• Make a Spreadsheet

• Write the Pitch

• Schedule & Answer Pre-Interview Questions

Establishing a Contact

One of the greatest parts about the podcasting industry is that so many shows are low-budget productions. Most of the time, the person behind the mic is the same person behind the email address.

The trick is finding the email address.

Not all podcasts have independent websites, and so contacting a host and requesting to be on their show might have to come through private social media accounts, or through general inquiries to their parent company’s info-at address.

Nowadays, there are specific PR agencies that specialize in getting clients as guests on podcasts. They already established relationships with hundreds of podcasts, and will already have established a reliable point-of-contact.

However, many podcast hosts– especially those who are hungry for new stories– will not only have their own website, but they will have a dedicated form for becoming a guest on their show, just submit your pitch there to apply.

Of course, finding it isn’t always easy. Some hosts like to make the Guest Application hidden deep within their website, to keep you hooked and learning more about them. 

So keep clicking until you find it! It is a great way to become more familiar with your host.

Once you’ve submitted your Guest Application to one podcast, you’ll probably think of another show you’d like to apply for as well.

So before we begin writing our pitch, let’s begin building our Podcast Spreadsheet!

Making a Spreadsheet

Who doesn’t love a good spreadsheet?!

Download our template here.

Like any beautiful spreadsheet showcasing contact information, you’re going to want to keep this tidy, and up-to-date.

Your x-axis should keep track of: 

• the show name

• website

• links to listen (ie: Apple, Spotify, Pantheon, etc)

• social media accounts (youtube, tiktok, instagram, LinkedIn)

• host name 

• host email

• link to guest application/ contact form

• dates of 1st, 2nd, 3rd outreach

• contact notes

• link to your recorded episode

• show notes 

Every industry has a podcast to fit, and during your search, you might find that your unique expertise translates to other popular podcast subjects as well. Spreadsheet tabs are perfectly suited for helping you organize the different topics you might be able to speak on.

For every tab on your spreadsheet, you might have a completely different pitch.

The Pitch

• Knowing Your Objectives

• Personalize Your “Value Angle”

• Talking Points in Bullet Points

• Your Media Kit

Ok baby, let’s shine!

You know who you’re writing to because you’ve not only read their bio, sifted through their website, listened to their previous episodes, and you’ve caught the tone of their show... 

You understand what the show’s true objectives are.

And you understand what your own objectives are for being on their show. 

Knowing Your Objectives

You are NOT there to sell anything, but you should have in mind how you want their audience to follow up with you or your brand, so that you can convert them later through your larger content marketing strategy. 

• Where are you currently seeing the most engagement with your brand? 

• Do you want these new listeners to engage there as well, or some place new? 

• How can you activate these listeners to engage with you beyond the recording? 

Personalize Your “Value Angle”

Considering your objectives, and the show’s, address your email to the host by name (as well as other relevant contacts, such as a Production Director, Content Manager, or an Assistant), and state in one sentence how your unique experience can be beneficial for their audience to learn about.

Let’s call that your “Value Angle.”

Your “Value Angle” is unique to the podcast you are pitching, but it should align with your overall marketing goals, and sell your story.

In total, you will have three different versions of your “Value Angle,” for your:

1. Intro

2. Conclusion

3. Email Subject Line (with a hook!)

Talking Points in Bullet Points

Format a brief outline of added-value talking points that support your “Value Angle”, and that you’d love to share with their audience.

In your Conclusion, include another reiteration of how their listeners will love your “Value Angle”, and round it out with your Media Kit.

Your Media Kit

Your Media Kit is just a quick glance for important information, like ways to contact you or links to your online profiles. 

Your Media Kit should include:

• contact information

• website link

• links & statistics for your social media

• other relevant links (publications, groups or awards),

Now, re-write your “Value Angle” one last time, but with a hook, and make that sentence your Email Subject Line.

Review for grammar and punctuation, and click send.

Click here for Writing the Perfect Email Subject Line.

Your pitch should not be more complicated than that. 

If the value you’re offering is truly relevant to their audience, they will invite you to interview on the show. 

If you don’t hear back from them, re-evaluate what your real value to their audience is, and try again.

Schedule & Answer Pre-Interview Questions

Whoo hoo! You’ve heard back, and they are open to scheduling!

Likely around this time you will receive a link to a brief survey to collect some basic information about your credentials or expertise that are standard for their guests.

From that information, your host and their team will begin to apply your talking points to their interview formula, and you will likely receive a follow-up with a link to Pre-Interview questions they’d either like you to submit in writing or by voice recording. 

Remember your own overall objectives for recording the podcast, and stick to your talking points as much as you can given their particular questions for you.

The Interview

Take a deep breath, wear a smile (sip some coffee), and enjoy the conversation! If you’re having fun, your listeners will have fun too.

A good host won’t let you stray too far from your main talking points, but keep your underlying objectives in mind throughout the conversation, including your “Value Angle.” 

Remember, it’s the audience you’re speaking with, as much as the host. 

If you have another camera handy, point the lens at yourself while conducting the interview (see Etiquette below). 

Some podcasts will already record video of your conversation (not just audio), but having your own video record can be repurposed into various different kinds of extra marketing material for your brand, whether that’s published on social media or made into other video projects.

How to be a Great podcast guest: Tips & Etiquette

• Be Polite and Ask First

• Provide Backlinks for Show Notes

• Send a Prompt and Brief TYL

• Leave a Show Review

• Have a Sharing Strategy

• Stay in Touch

Be Polite and Ask First

Don’t be shady.

Always ask the host if it’s ok that you record the conversation on your end for your own marketing purposes. You better bet that some shows lay a sole-claim to their interviews and may call Copyright infringement if you publish your own recording of the conversation. 

Many hosts, however, will appreciate the transparency and will agree (legally) to allow both of you to publish the conversation through your own channels, in whatever way is honest and allows you both to reach new audiences in a way that honors your mutual interests. 

They may even have some suggestions on how to do that most effectively, out of experience with other guests.

It’s usually considered a win-win for you both to have increased visibility for your episode, but the show may have Branding Guidelines that they will ask you to abide by. 

For example, they may prefer that you use cuts of their published video for anything you publish through your own brand. 

Each show will have their unique guidelines, so be respectful and ask!

Provide Backlinks for Show Notes

Typically, in the pre-interview survey you receive at the time of booking, you will be asked for a link to your website, social media handles, and any other relevant links to access more information about your brand, your products or service, and any specific marketing campaign links that you are running for this show’s listeners.

But for whatever comes up candidly during your recorded conversation, the host is likely to send you a follow-up survey, asking you to provide (or confirm) links for their show notes and transcripts.

So be sure to be prepared as best you can to get that information back to them as soon as possible. 

Send a Prompt and Brief TYL (Thank You Letter)

Yes, sending a brief but thoughtful thank you email to the host and their team wins you brownie points, for sure.

But don’t stop there. 

Have a Sharing Strategy

Remember your Benefits and ROI? 

Create a specific Landing Page for the episode, publishing the transcript (with permission), backlinks, show notes, and ideally, a written blog post / TYL to the host for the opportunity to speak with them and their audience.

This is fresh, shareable content built on this specific opportunity with this show. Doing this boosts your SEO ratings, and your validity online. 

Most podcasts are shared by their hosts into multiple listening platforms, each of which is an individual marketing engine exponentially promoting SEO results per episode, across the web.

It also allows you to track visitor behavior and gain insight to their interest with your brand, and their motivations.

Even in 2024, Apple Podcasts reigns supreme with the easiest widget to embed on a web page. Other top players are Spotify, and Google Player.

When you can embed a podcast audio file to your site, you are increasing your audience dwell time on your website… once again boosting your SEO rating.

Not sure what that means? Click here to learn more about SEO

But don’t stop there.

Remember the video you recorded? 

Use that video to expand further on your experience recording with them, creating Behind The Scenes (BTS) Content that can become bonus features for your dedicated audience across all of your social media channels, think YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. 

Don’t forget other streaming services like Patreon, which can allow listeners to donate and directly support your show.

Used alongside yet another CTA to learn more about your brand, your extra video content expands your brand’s reach both through SEO, backlinks, and online clout.

Pay to Boost Your Episode and Related Content.

Now, we’re going to take it even further!

I file this under Tips & Etiquette because while to some it might feel like a luxury investment, its value can exceed expectations. The host appreciates it, and your new audiences will appreciate it, because you will be reaching more of them in a shorter period of time.

Likewise, some shows may already be offering their guests Ad Packages like:

• prioritization of their episode over others

• boosting links on social media

• additional mentions online (backlinks)

• the rights to embed the show on your own website

Sponsoring your episode increases your overall air time and expands your brand awareness across multiple channels.

Click here to learn more about paid ads.

Likewise, boosting related content through your social media channels may produce profound results by exposing your episode to brand new audiences, beyond the listening platforms.

Capturing Listener Feedback: Gathering Data on Each Episode

• Landing Page with Freebie

• Text-to-Subscribe Services

• Autoresponder Emails

A dedicated Landing Page is the beginning of your digital sales funnel. Learn more about Landing Pages here.

We discussed a little bit earlier in this course in Having Sharing Strategy– building a Landing Page for your episode to live embedded on your website, to serve as a thank you to your host and an introduction to your brand to new audiences.

That same page can provide the listener a Freebie, or a Lead Magnet.

Your Freebie can be a download, entry in a raffle, discounts to products or services, exclusive content, an NFT, or in fact, any thing of value for free.

Design your Landing Page with an embedded form to collect information on your visitor, whether that’s just an email address, or more.

This is where your Content Marketing Strategy gets FUN.

When your visitor submits their email, you have just converted a listener into a subscriber.

How are you going to thank them?

Again, we have another TYL, but this time it’s for our new subscriber on a new web page. Here you’ll deliver their Freebie, whatever that looks like, and suggest new directions on your website that they may be interested in. 

By creating this new web page to say thanks, you have actually created a new Destination Page Goal in Google Analytics. You’ll be able to separately track visitors that have completed your form, giving you insight into how your specific episode’s listeners are behaving and interacting with your brand.

See below for Converting Listeners Into Buyers

A Text-to-Subscribe Service

Text-to-Subscribe is probably the most convenient way for your Listeners to visit your website and opt-in for more information from your brand, and receive their Freebie.

It is fast and direct, allowing multitasking Listeners to continue their other tasks without taking more than a pause.

Bada-bing, as quick as a text, you’ve got a new subscriber to your sales funnel. 

Many email marketing platforms have SMS marketing systems built into their product lines, providing seamless integration with your email, automations, and social campaigns.

Setting up Text-to-Subscribe, or Text-to-Join is easy:

• Set up your keyword

• Configure your autoreply

• Promote your keyword

• Collect analytical data

Autoresponder Emails

So your Listeners have either Texted-to-Subscribe, or they’ve clicked on your URL, but forms have been submitted and now you’ve got a brand new Subscriber List.

How are you going to thank them for opening your emails?

An automatic response established in advance set up through your Email Marketing System. 

Learn more about Email Marketing here.

By tracking this data, you can determine your:

• Traffic-to-Download Rate

• Lead-to-Conversion Rate

• Traffic-to-Conversion Rate

Traffic-to-Download Rate

This is the web traffic earned through your podcast episode, and the percentage of that traffic who submitted their email to receive the Lead Magnet (your Freebie!), becoming a New Subscriber.

Lead-to-Conversion Rate

The percentage of New Subscribers from your Lead Magnet that actually convert into paying customers.

Traffic-to-Conversion Rate:

Skipping over the Lead Magnet, this data looks directly at how much traffic was initiated from the podcast Landing Page and the percentage that eventually converted. 

Use these formulas to guide your Podcasting and overall Content Marketing Strategy, as it will give you an idea of how well that episode drove traffic, turned them into Leads, and then into actual paying customers.

So let’s make sure we’re selling what your Listeners want!

Converting Listeners Into Buyers

Up until this point you’ve been very successful at keeping your Listeners, Visitors, and Subscribers hooked, but have you made any money yet?

Your traffic and your download rates are only as valuable as your Call to Action is effective. 

So this goes back to your original objective for recording a podcast episode: your “Value Angle.” 

• What is the real value you’re offering your Listeners?

• What is it they feel motivated to actually pay you for?

The lessons you learn through podcasting can inform your larger Content Marketing Strategy. 

Reviewing your Google Analytics and interpreting the behaviors and flow patterns of your Listeners can provide powerful insight to developing your niche, and discovering your most popular product and most impactful messaging.

You’ve got a dedicated 45 minutes with your ideal customer. 

So what are you going to talk about?