New listeners are like gold to a podcast host. Building an audience takes time and effort. For shows that feature guests, finding the right podcast interviews that convert new listeners to your show can feel like a unicorn. What is a podcast host to do?
Ensuring quality of guests, honing your skills as a host and putting tools like social media to work can all help. That’s the beginning and most likely all hosts already know this. Let’s look at a few more ways you can find podcast interviews that convert new listeners.
Find guests with an engaging story
Engaging podcasts tend to come with quality stories. We crave stories as humans – from the first oral history of a family to the works of J.J. Abrams and George Lucas – and we love to hear the storyteller weave their narrative.
From business-focused shows to wellness podcasts, a guest with a story that draws in new listeners will build an audience and deepen the engagement with a current audience. A few examples could include:
- They were school teachers “barely getting by” until they discovered how to flip their lifestyle, earning enough to write their own destiny.
- He has overcome obesity – losing 255 pounds – and a stutter to become a business coach inspiring entrepreneurs.
- Addiction takes many forms. An entrepreneur addicted to his work can get as lost as an alcoholic. Combine the 2, and it’s a recipe for disaster. Instead of giving up, he became the sober entrepreneur.
- They met through a common thread. One had embryos she wanted to have a chance to live. The other wanted to adopt. Together they founded a service to connect others with the same story.
Inspiration and connection drive great stories. Those stories often have a lesson a podcast audience can use in their everyday lives. And it all helps convert new listeners.
Find guests with helpful advice for your audience
Coaches, speakers, subject matter experts and others turn their experiences into life lessons, helping others grow and succeed. These kinds of podcast interviews help hosts build a loyal audience by bringing value. From entrepreneurial-focused shows to sales and marketing niches, inviting experts on a show who offer great tips and lessons can help convert new listeners.
- Video marketing expert – a self described tech-geek – offering tips, tricks and technical advice.
- An experienced photographer and marketer to help you understand the lingo of your ideal customers, speak their language and convert.
- Networking expert who shows you how to not “be that person” in a Facebook or LinkedIn group, building the best network.
- A chef who took his cooking lessons online, and now shares the lessons he learned to help others do the same.
- 3-time CMO in Silicon Valley who helps entrepreneurs “Play Bigger” and become the category king.
Business podcasts looking to find podcast interviews that convert new listeners can do so by booking terrific guests with helpful advice.
Find guests that sound professional
Is there anything worse than a podcast where the host sounds like they’re in a New York production studio, but their guest sounds like they recorded in a bathroom with a bad phone connection? Equipment is an important part of the equation when it comes to a quality podcast interview. Ensuring your guest sounds good and your listeners can enjoy a problem-free show will help convert new listeners to your great show.
Each of these points fall into the common sense category of building a winning podcast. Making sure they all come together in each guest takes work. Sometimes working with a podcast guest booking service can help keep consistent guests on your schedule, building an audience and bringing your show into the top tier of podcasts. When you’re ready to hear how this works, let us know.
image source: radio audience
