So you are an entrepreneur looking for new business leads? Podcasts have emerged as one of the most effective ways to not only build a brand, but also generate new leads for your business.
In this article, we will share a number of tips on how to use podcasts to generate new leads for your business.
Launch a personal website
While your objective may be to generate leads for your business, it is important to realize that from a listener’s perspective, you are an individual with a background that they find interesting. At the end of your podcast, listeners may be more interested in checking more about you, rather than just the company you represent.
Having your own website is very useful for this reason. Here, you may share more details of your background, your company and what you do. More importantly, make it extremely easy for people to get in touch with you.
A personal relationship is the first step towards forging a business relationship, and your website thus plays a key role here.
Promote podcast independently
A podcast interview is a two-way street. As the interviewee, you rely on the podcast’s popularity to reach new audiences. At the same time, the podcast relies on your network to reach new audiences.
In the run-up to the podcast, invest heavily in promoting the upcoming show. If you have an established social media following, let them know about the show so they share it with their networks.
It is also a good idea to advertise on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn to the respective target audiences. Being interviewed on a podcast can help you build an authority image among your TG and this directly translates into interest in your business, and consequently leads.
Engage with comments on social media
Your podcast may or may not have gone the way you expected. Any public presence is bound to attract a fair share of critical comments. Instead of letting these comments fester, you must actively engage with these posters to explain your perspective on things.
It is absolutely fine to admit that you were nervous during the interview, or did not mean to say something that you really did. This does not reflect poorly on you, or affect your brand. On the contrary, it shows a human side of your personality and motivates people to reach out to you.
Set up a funnel
When you do a podcast, people reach out to you for various reasons – to understand more about what you offer, to check if you can offer consulting services, or to simply say hi. No matter the reason, they are part of your target group and may hence be interested in following you.
Integrate your website contact form with an email marketing software so that you can quickly update them each time you appear on another show or you want to share interesting observations from your industry. While these subscribers are not technically leads, you can continue to nurture them using this strategy so that when the time comes, they turn to you for solutions and may sign up for your business offering.
Do not stop with one
Appearing on a podcast is great. But like it is with every other form of marketing, a one-time appearance is as good as no appearance at all. People tend to follow multiple podcasts in the genre of their choice. So when you appear on several of these shows, you tend to build brand visibility that ultimately results in a lead.
But appearing on so many podcasts is easier said than done. Hire agencies that can help with media placement so that they can do the outreach on your behalf and secure a pipeline of new podcasts for you to appear on.
Over to you – have you generated leads with podcasts? What other things must one take care of to maximize ROI? Share your experiences in the comments.
