Have you noticed how many podcasts are springing up around you?
New shows are coming out constantly, because podcasters have discovered something important — when someone spends 45 minutes+ listening to you share your passion and expertise, they tend to become big supporters of your work.
Podcast fans are among the most engaged and motivated audience out there, which is why more companies and thought leaders have made tapping into them a big priority for their content and outreach strategy.
As I’ve mentioned, I’m focusing on being on more podcasts this year because I like that I get more bang for my time and energy buck doing an interview than a guest post.
That’s why I’ve invited Brigitte Lyons to talk to us today about the benefits of working with podcasters.
Brigitte is the owner of a boutique PR agency that has transitioned the majority of their work to focus on this growing opportunity. She helps her clients get known, grow their audience and attract more customers through podcast bookings.
If leveraging other people’s podcasts is something you’ve considered exploring, you won’t want to miss the webinar we’re hosting together on March 8th, on How to Package Your Story for Podcasters. Brigitte will be joining me to show you how you can take the content you already have and repurpose it to podcast fodder.
Now, here’s Brigitte’s guest post on why podcasts should be a part of your lead gen strategy.
Every so often, a new platform springs up that completely disrupts an industry.
When Facebook was launched, people abandoned MySpace in droves, flocking to the new platform.
When blogging came on the scene, traditional magazines and media started hemorrhaging ad dollars, as brands invested in online influencers.
In the past 2 years, podcasts have emerged as the newest media disrupter, and everyone from major brands to indie businesses are flocking to get their message out through podcasts.
I came to this realization honestly — by tracking the data. When my agency started pitching podcasts a few years back, they were little more than a sideshow to our more traditional PR work with outlets like Inc, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur.
It would have been easy for us to continue down that path, as the audiences for these well-known business outlets are much larger than podcast audiences.
But my company does something you don’t get at most PR agencies. We track how much traffic and how many leads our clients get from their media coverage.
What we saw from podcasts was shocking.
Clients were getting 20–50x the traffic from podcast interviews than they got from other types of media coverage.
Not only did they get more web traffic from booking podcasts, but they saw higher conversion rates as well. More of these new visitors were turning into email subscribers from podcasts than from high profile contributions or TV appearances.
I’ve been working in PR for 15 years, and I know better than to measure the results of a PR campaign in traffic alone. Authority-building, name recognition, impact and reach are all important goals for a PR campaign.
But I couldn’t deny the data in front of me, which is why, over the past few years, my agency transitioned from treating podcasts as a sideshow to starting nearly every new client with podcast bookings.
The beauty of adding podcasts to your lead gen strategy is that it’s a low-effort, high-reward activity.
It doesn’t take much time to pitch yourself as a guest on a podcast—not once you get up-and-running. It only takes an hour out of your day to record. And, when your show comes out, you have a direct line into the audience you most want to reach.
Consider this data from Edison Research:
- Podcast audiences are growing 20 percent year-over-year. Right now, 15 percent of Americans are listening to podcasts, and that number is rising steadily.
- 85 percent of listeners hear all, or most, of every interview. Imagine that you have 45 minutes to an hour to talk to your ideal audience. That’s what you get with podcasts!
- Just over half of podcast listeners listen at home — not in the car! This means that it’s easy for someone to hear an episode and take action.
This is why so many business owners are getting in the podcast game.
But the beauty of it is that you don’t have to make the major time investment in launching your own show to tap into these audiences.
The best bang for your buck is to “borrow” an existing podcaster’s audience by appearing as a guest on their show.
My #1 recommendation is to start slow. Pitch 1 podcast a week — that’s 52 in a year! Even if you only are accepted to 10 percent of the shows you pitch (my agency aims for 20% booking rates), you’ll have appeared on 5 shows.
Each of these shows will help you reach a new audience through your interview, and give you backlinks, which helps your search rankings.
Want to Learn How You Can Package Your Story for Podcasters?
Lacy and I are hosting a live, free training at 2 pm ET on Wednesday, March 7th.
You’ll get my best tips on:
- How to package your story for podcasters
- What should go into your email pitch
- How to build a starter pitch list
Super excited to learn more and clicked to sign up for the webinar. The landing page says March 8, while the blog post says March 7th… which is it, as I don’t want to miss it.
Oops! It’s the 8th!