Podcasts should be used as a key marketing strategy by all companies looking to increase their monthly leads.
Break through the noise this year with podcast interview marketing. Why it should be a part of every marketing strategy.
A client once told me that they needed 100 leads every month because their close rate was 2%.
The Facebook Ads that they were using brought in a mix of leads. Some were a fit; most weren’t. Which meant they had to spend more money to bring in a higher quantity of leads so they could at least guarantee two deals. It felt like Facebook Ads were just eating their money.
The next month, they started guesting on podcasts, and their close rate increased to over 40% with the leads they got from the podcasts. They were able to get higher quality leads from podcasts and close them more often. That sure beats throwing every dollar into the Facebook, Instagram, Google vortex.
The biggest issue so many businesses face today is obscurity. It’s hard to break through all the noise and present as the authority in your industry. Gaining that visibility can be hard, and it’s the number one problem CEOs lose sleep over.
Most businesses rely on Facebook, Google, and Instagram ads to bring leads, but those leads typically aren’t a great fit. The ads put businesses in front of an audience, but it isn’t necessarily the right audience—no matter how many hours they spend tweaking keywords, location settings, and banging their heads against a wall. It can be frustrating.
Visibility and authority don’t have to be a never-ending game you play with ads.
The answer can be simpler: targeted podcast guesting.
With over 50k interviews, 100 million downloads, and 8 years of podcast interview marketing in the books, I can tell you that podcast guesting has made a major difference for businesses trying to break through the noise and get quality leads. I’ve seen people connect with their target audience in ways that aren’t possible with an ad or blog. Consumers desperately crave a deeper relationship with businesses and their owners, and podcasts have a multidimensional presence that fits the bill.
When you guest on podcasts, you already know the host (if you’ve done your research) and you already have a sense of who the audience is (if you’ve done your research). The probability of speaking to your ideal client is much higher when you already have a sense of who you are talking to. Speaking to an audience that is vetted and self-selected to hear your message (i.e., they chose to listen to a podcast on that particular topic) will always beat throwing Facebook Ad spaghetti at a wall, trying to connect with someone—anyone. (Hey, pick me, over here!)
Transfer your Authority.
When you snag a seat on a podcast, the host’s authority transfers to you. Talk about a two-for-one deal! The audience respects the host because they value what they have to say. They turn on the podcast when they could be doing any other thing in their life. They are loyal; they’ve chosen to be there. So, there is already a sense of trust between you and the audience. When you get to have a conversation with the host, the audience already trusts you somewhat because they trust the host. See how that works?
That also means that the leads you are able to generate from the show are much more engaged and probably much more ready to fling their credit card your way.
By being on a podcast, you get to talk to an audience that trusts you, people who have chosen to spend their time listening to what you have to say. Remember, these people could be doing anything else. When you are talking to the right audience, leads and conversions are a no-brainer. It’s no longer about ad spend. It becomes about fostering real relationships with the host and the audience.
A close rate of 40% from one podcast is just the beginning of it. Why? Because that podcast episode creates evergreen content, meaning it will be around for years and years to come. It’s been listened to by thousands of people over several years, meaning it continues to generate that percent of leads for the business today. Without any Facebook Ads involved. (Audible sigh of relief.)
Podcasts are evergreen, and so is your lead generation from appearing on a single podcast. The business who thought they were desperate to just get more leads was actually desperate to connect better with their leads. They didn’t need more; they needed better. When they took the time to show up on a podcast and build real relationships with the host and audience, their leads and close rate increased substantially.
At the end of the day, relationships are what bring sales. When we can deepen our connection to the people we bring in the door, the returns will be exponentially better.
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