You understand that podcasts are the fastest expanding platform for getting your message to your ideal customers. You’ve been on a handful of podcasts. You thought it went great. In just 45 minutes, you talked directly to your dream customers. Listeners got to know, like and trust you. They saw you as an expert, a thought leader, a trusted resource….but they didn’t turn into customers.
If you are not seeing fast and significant results being a guest on a podcast in 2015 something is wrong! You can fix it quickly by looking at what the experts (your customers) are telling you. Their actions will let you quickly diagnose and address the bottleneck. But before we go into how to get actual business results as a podcast guest, let’s start with some tough love.
- The Good: You are most likely NOT the problem.
- The Bad: Your system is broken at some critical point.
- The Ugly: Until you fix your system, you might be wasting your time on podcasts.
How to identify where your sales system is broken
The old joke of marketing was “Half our efforts are a total waste, we just don’t know which half” Today on the web we get meaningful analytics that allow us to take action. The only experts are your customers. They vote with their actions and dollars. Everyone else (including me and YOU) just has opinions. Customers are clearly telling you what they love and what they loathe by their actions. You must do more or what they Love and cease doing what they Loath.
The key analytics to track and analyze are:
- Number of Listeners -Get an estimate from the show host
- Number of Visitors – Get from Google Analytics
- Number of Leads – Get from how many people filled out a form
- Number of Customers – Get from your shopping cart or merchant processor
- Number of Advocates – Get from your NPS Surveys
The Buyer’s Funnel
You may have heard of a sales funnel. Push enough people through to get sales out of the bottom. No one likes to be sold. Everyone like to buy. We are all selling preparation H. People don’t want your product or service. They want to solve their problem or satisfy their aspiration. The strategy behind being a podcast guest should be to help listeners naturally advance them through the buyers funnel. They solve their problem and show their appreciation with paying you money!
When we fix the system, we always start at the top. This will have the biggest effect. The higher up a limitation is, the great it affects the entire process and limits your business results.
Identifying and Fixing your Constraint
Scenario #1 No Listeners
\Just being on a podcast doesn’t’ get you in front of your ideal listeners. You must be talking to people who are similar to the ideal customers. You want to get in the ears of those you can delight and will send you more customers. Some people call this your “avatar” or “ideal buyer persona”. A friend recently said his ideal customer was anyone who had $17.95. Be careful what you wish. You get crazy customers because you market to crazy customers. They cost you time, stress, and money.
Questions to ask yourself?
- Have I clearly defined my ideal buyer persona? Hint: If you haven’t written it down you the answer is no
- Am I on shows with just lots of listeners or lots of my ideal customers? Quality vs. quantity
- Have some shows performed well while others did poorly? If so, the rest of your system probably works
Free Tip: Don’t focus on getting in front of the most people. If you just want to get seen by millions, become infamous. Commit a heinous crime and you will be featured on every news station.
Scenario # 2: No Visitors
The goal of any marketing event like a podcast appearance is to drive listeners back to your home base, your website. It’s only there you can engage with them. You should see a bump in traffic every time a new podcast is posted. If you direct listeners to a specific landing page (mywebsite.com/PodcastShowName) you will be able to see easily where the traffic (listeners) heard about you.
Questions to ask yourself?
- Did I give them a clear and compelling reason (an Offer) to come to my site?
- Was what we discussed on the show consistent with what I offered?
- Why would they take the time to go to my site after hearing me?
Free Tip: Giving away a chance for free iPad will get you traffic, but probably not customers. You are just attracting people who want a free iPad
Scenario #3 No Leads
So people hear you on the podcast, come to your site, but they don’t share their email address. Until they do so, they are not your lead. You have no way of communicating. You can not help them by nurturing them through automated emails. You can’t offer more value and build trust by offering further resources to help solve their problem with your product of service. It should be easy to sign up. Adding a top offer bar or footer is free, pop-up forms especially when the visitor is showing intent to leave your site also work wonderfully.
Questions to ask yourself?
- Is my form consistent with the offer?
- Do I use insulting words like “SUBMIT” in the text of the button?
- Do I ask more question in the form than I need?
- Is my form easy to fill out even on mobile devices?
Free Tip: If you don’t yet have a lead capturing system, start with something inexpensive and learn how to use it. A more expensive tool doesn’t improve your results until you have the skill and creativity to use it.
Scenario #4 No Customers
If your podcast appearance don’t make dollars, they don’t make cents (sense). For most the results as a podcast, guest means increased sales. Drawing on from my experience in eCommerce it’s vital to see the first purchase as not a sale, but as a trial. Online selling is based on trust. As each transaction builds trust, you will see repeat orders for more expensive and profitable products. Make sure you offer an array of products and services fo them to buy and experience. Your chances of selling a $10 e-book to a first-time visitor are much greater than selling the $5k coaching package.
Questions to ask yourself?
- Do I have a variety of things to buy a various price points?
- Is it clear how people can buy?
- Is my guarantee clear and reassuring?
- Do I have customer testimonials as social proof near the “buy now” or “add to cart” button?
- Do I include trust seals like a BBB symbol or membership in recognized and trusted organizations?
Free Tip: Are your ideal customers comfortable buying online? Don’t make them call, fax or email you to do business. You probably don’t need to add an expensive shopping cart. Just add PayPal buttons to your websites. (5 minute how to video)
Scenario #5 No Advocates
This should be the last area you tackle. It will have the biggest impact on building your brand long term. Word of mouth advertising has only been amplified by social media. ver time raving fans will bring you more business than the biggest podcast. If you don’t yet track Net Promoter Score do so and take specific actions for those individuals that at Detractors and Promoters.
Questions to ask yourself?
- How much of my business comes from referrals from previous customers?
- What is the LifeTime Value of my average customer?
- What is my NPS score and how does it compare to the best in the industry?
Free Tip: The average Starbucks purchase is under $5, while the Life Time Value of a customer is over $30,000. If you want to build a business focus on continually strengthening the long-term relationship with your customers, not today’s transaction.
