Expanding Your Influence With Podcast
Expanding your influence with podcast is a fantastic way to reach your audience. While blog posts and videos require a person to sit in front of a computer, a podcast allows your audience to do other things while learning a thing or two from you.
As a business, it's time to take advantage of that supply and demand to build your influence through podcasts.
And the best part? You don't have to be an accomplished content creator to understand how to launch a podcast for your brand.
What's the Goal of Having Your Show?
One of the main goals of having a show is for you to build relationships with many influential individuals. Not through bombing them with nauseating sales talk, but by giving value and celebrating them on your show. By leveraging your authority and being a go-giver, you're making a significant impact in the world while establishing your influence on your and future customers.
If you haven't started your show or made guest appearances on other shows, here's what you're missing out on:
- Establishing Your Authority – A podcast is a great way to share your expertise. Podcasts (especially video podcasts) allow you to provide an opportunity to establish your authority both through your words and through your excitement. Regular podcast episodes with great value will position your brand as an authority. Customers expect a corporation that understands the sector, and podcasts help to build that trust.
- Audience Connection – Listeners become acquainted with your voice and presenting style if you broadcast regular episodes. This familiarity makes your audience keep coming back and remembering your show. A podcast allows you to reach out to potential clients on a personal level. They gain a more profound understanding of your services and products. Your audience can also listen to the podcast in a variety of ways. Podcasts let your audience listen to you while doing other tasks throughout their daily lives.
- Brand Awareness – The beautiful thing about podcasting is that branding can be very subtle. Your logo will appear in the artwork or on the video itself if you're making a podcast. You'll almost certainly mention your brand names in the intro and outro, and because podcasting is about connecting with your audience, listeners will remember you without feeling sold to.
- Increase Traffic Generation – Podcasting, like any other form of content, can help you reach out to new audiences by increasing awareness. Your subscribers are more likely to listen to a podcast they enjoy on a regular basis. Your audience will likely continue to listen as long as you are consistent. As a result, your dedicated audience may suggest your podcast to others. As a result, it broadens your reach, which can quickly lead to increased traffic and lead production.
- Better Conversion – It may seem unusual because a podcast is a one-sided medium, yet it can help you increase your conversion. Podcasting allows you to create a successful relationship with your listeners and gives them the impression that they know the person on the podcast. People typically listen to podcasts because they have a connection to the host or the brand. When the relationship is good, trust is built, and listeners want to be connected with you. When listeners regard you as a friend rather than a stranger, they are more likely to purchase from you, increasing conversion rates.
Imagine reaping all these benefits by doing something you love. However, before that happens, you'll need to create a system that'll allow you to expand your reach with podcasts effectively.
However, if you're already implementing the go-giver way — you already have a head start.
Get a Podcast Guest and be a Podcast Guest
One of the biggest surprises for those who start podcasting for the first time is they wind up making genuine friendships with other people. The guest and host will have each other's attention for a certain amount of time, which is great if you want to form a bond that can lead to future collaborations. Some podcast hosts will be so impressed with you that they'll refer you to other hosts in the industry, which is a significant perk.
When you appear as a guest on a podcast you establish yourself as an authority in your niche. This is especially true if the podcast is well-known and has a huge following. You'll be putting yourself in front of listeners genuinely interested in your message, which means they're likely to want to learn more about you as an expert.
Another advantage of appearing as a guest is that you can reach a new audience that has never heard of you before. You're being interviewed for every other podcast with which the host will share your episode. Podcast fans will be delighted not just to hear you on the show but also to listen to your show. That's because you're providing them with valuable content that they wouldn't have discovered otherwise.
- You also need to be inviting. You can’t always be a guest on other shows. In your own branding, you need to put it out there that you’re looking for guests. And there’s an easy way to do that – maximizing your website and social media.
- Add a featured image to your Facebook highlighting that you are looking for guests.
- Add an invite to your intro and ‘about me’ section on LinkedIn.
- Add to your quick bio on all other social media channels.
- Add links to the podcast in your header.
- Add a special button, image, or link to your guest page saying ‘now booking guests' on other areas of your site.
Have an Interactive Network for your Podcast
- Podcasts build a community of listeners who do more than just hit play. Creating a two-way interaction with your audience elevates your show from a platform to a valuable resource. Once you've established a consistent cadence of episodes and listeners, reach out to invite them to actively engage.
- Let your audience be part of your show. Ask for stories, ideas, or feedback from your listeners for future episodes. You can ask your listeners for suggestions on who should be your next guest. Folks appreciate being heard, and it can lead to loyal audiences. A mailbag or call-in episode is also great for generating content when you're out of ideas or need to take a week off.
- Join any community platform – One of the challenges of podcasting is that you can't actively interact with your listeners like YouTube. By engaging in the conversation with these people, getting to know them, and sharing your knowledge — you're already forming a bond. Eventually, they'll turn to you because you've already established yourself as someone of authority in that niche.
Establish Your Social Media Presence for Your Podcast
If you don't have a social media page, it's about time you change that. You need to maximize all of the platforms out there to reach your audience.
The connection you have with your listeners extends beyond simply uploading episodes on a regular basis. During the weeks leading up to your next episode, you can use social media to stay in touch with your audience and even try to reach new followers. Twitter and Facebook are clearly at the top for you. On your social media page you can:
- React to the news by linking it to the content of your shows.
- Tease upcoming episodes of your podcasts.
- Open the door to your studio and share a few clips from your recording sessions;
- Interact by making “inside jokes” about previous episodes (don't force it, it will come naturally)
- Actively exchange with your following by answering questions or by inviting your audience to offer their ideas and tips on how to improve your podcast.
Have a Clear Call-To-Action (CTA)
A Call-to-Action at the end of your episode is an effective way to encourage your podcast listeners to do something. You don't want to say “thank you for listening” and end the conversation. This will allow you to ask your listeners what they should do at the end of the episode. It doesn't matter how much your listeners like your episode because many won't take the time out of their day to review it if you don't give them that extra push.
However, you don't want to interrupt the flow of the episode, so keep your CTA relevant to the issue at hand.
Your call-to-action should be natural and straightforward, whether you want your listeners to subscribe, listen to another episode, join an email list, read an article, or download a free resource.
CTAs are the ideal approach to get them to do this since they help you to affirm them and show them how much you value their support.
Email Newsletters Still Work
Email newsletters are making a comeback (or did they ever go away?) as an effective and cost-free tool to reach out to your clients.
Even if your audience is loyal and interested, they can be busy and distracted. Your latest episodes may go overlooked in their podcast listening app.
Consent is the key to the strength of the email list for podcasts — those who sign up consent to receive additional information about your podcast. They want to be notified whenever a new episode is released. They have agreed to give you their attention. In exchange, you must provide them with something worthy of their attention.
Consider a casual listener who discovered you on Apple Podcasts and has only listened to 2 or 3 episodes. They might slip off at this moment, distracted by another new show. However, you mentioned the checklist in the last episode, so they signed up for it. You can update them weekly to ensure they don't forget about you.
Remember, your email list is a gold mine. However, you don’t want to badger them with “buy my stuff” emails. Instead here’s what I want you to do:
Step 1: Send them an email letting them know how and why you showed up in their radar.
Step 2: You want to instill the fear of missing out on opportunities. (you can name drop businesses, brands or people they might know that you had on your show).
Step 3: Give them the sense of urgency to take action as soon as possible. Remember to communicate frequently, but not too much. Just enough to stay current and top of mind.
Following that system, here’s three email templates you can use to send out to your email list.
Email 1:
Subject: Love to interview you on our podcast
Hey Eddie,
Great chatting earlier this year at the Mayfield Conference.
We've been interviewing/celebrating leaders in the industry on our podcast.
I just interviewed Jerry Matthers from Leave It To Beaver, Inc., Tony Dow from WallyWorld, Hugh Beaumont, CTO at Ward.io, and Barbara Billingsley at JuneCo.
You came to mind in my chat with Tony, in particular. I'd love to share the great work you guys are doing in a 20-minute Zoom interview.
How does your schedule look Aug. 10-30? You can either give me some times that work for you – or grab a time here. (hyperlink to schedule page)
Love to get you in this season.
Thanks,
Larry
Email 2:
Subject: FW: Love to interview you on our podcast
Hey, Eddie.
I'm going to be opening up another 10 episodes to record. Last month, I ended up featuring Mike Brady from BradyCo, Alice Nelson at SamTheButcher, Inc., and Carol Brady from MomCo. You can hear our conversations here. (hyperlink to show page)
Can we schedule a 20-minute podcast interview October 1-20th? Love to catch up and feature what HSKL has been doing.
Use my link here – or just give me some times you have open. (hyperlink to schedule page)
Appreciate you!
Larry
Email 3:
Subject: Media request: HSKL on our podcast?
Hey, Eddie.
Not sure if my last 2 messages got to you. No worries if you don't do interviews. We've just been growing some valuable connections through our podcast and didn't want to leave you out! We've been getting good feedback.
We just promoted our interview with Alan Hale Jr. over at Skpppr, Bob Denver at Little Buddy, LLC, and Natalie Schafer at Mrs. Lovey. Since you are in the same industry, I thought you might appreciate the insights that they shared.
I have a production window I'd love to get you in: November 5-20th. Could we hit that? Use my link here – or just give me some times. (hyperlink to schedule page)
Hope the week is going well for you.
Thanks!
Larry
My recommendation is to personalize these emails – don’t send it with your email marketing program. It needs to look like you’re sending them a one-to-one email (which it is).
Pro tip: People pay close attention to ‘P.S.’ so make sure to add segments like that in your email. It has something to do with the Zeigarnik effect, which says that humans have a desire to complete tasks — like making sure to read anything marked ‘P.S.’.
Be Consistent
Consistency is essential. Use your calendar to schedule podcast episodes routinely, whether once a week or once a month. By sticking to a posting schedule, your listeners will know when to expect a new episode and when to tune in. The more people listen, the more they will trust you and your brand!
The future of your podcast will depend on how well you communicate it to your audience. Your name will be your brand and your identity. It’s what people will search for when they want to listen – what they’ll tell their friends when they’re recommending your show.
The best way to be inviting to people is to value them. This is what we do in UpMyInfluence — we lead with generosity and believe in proactive service to others. I believe that relationships are another investment, like your podcast gear, tools, and hosting platform. Use these actionable items as a guide and go over them when needed.
Expanding your influence is important. If you dive into organic, natural friendship and genuinely care about people, you are putting them in a position where it's easier for them to trust you.
Listen to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur
More Resources from UpMyInfluence:
How to Be An Exceptional Podcast Host