Have you ever been listening to a guest spot on a podcast and thought to yourself - “I could do that!”? Getting interviewed in this highly immersive medium is a great way to reach both mass and niche audiences. Whether you’re keen to boost your personal profile or to promote a brand, it's a great strategy to establish authority. In this post we’ll fill you in on the advantages podcasts have over other media, how to find your most relevant shows and how to get on their radar. Being booked as a guest on a podcast gives you credibility and can raise brand perception of your product or service.
So why appear on a podcast rather than in a magazine article, YouTube video, online interview or on social media posts? It’s all about attention and the unique way that podcasts are consumed.
60% of audiences say they tune into podcasts to educate themselves, and two out of three podcast listeners give them their full attention. (Spotify).
Usage of social media platforms like Facebook is high, with over 64% of Australians using the platform (16 million active users per month) (We Are Social). Comparatively, podcast usage is said to be around 5.6 million people per year in Australia (The Infinite Dial 2021). However, podcasts have clear advantages in the areas of attention and trust. A study by Mindshare’s NeuroLab found that trust for advertised brands went down after the exposure to a video ad on social media and up when brands were featured on podcasts. Additionally, podcast listeners make it through around 90 % of a given episode, meaning immersion equates to over 30 minutes on average, a very different effect on memory structures than a 30 second video on Instagram.
Where social media and online publications have the edge is time to publish. Whilst an interview can be conducted, edited and live in a matter of hours online, podcasts often take much longer for planning, recording, sound editing and release. What you lose in speed, you gain in screenless immersion unique to the podcasting medium. Of course, if you can amplify your podcast spot with social media as an addition, you’re hitting lots of audiences in different ways and maximizing the potential to get your name and message out.
How do you find the perfect podcast to appear on? Google and Spotify are your friends. It may be useful to look at a recent top 10 list of podcasts in your region to ensure relevance and reach. However, if your personal profile or product is more on the niche side of things, it is definitely a good idea to find a podcast that aligns on that particular subject or genre. For example, if you are a fitness professional with a specialty
in women’s health, we would recommend looking at fitness podcasts such as The Mind Muscle Project and Danny Kennedy’s Fitness and Lifestyle Podcast as they have established audiences and have welcomed a wide range of guests. However, we also advise to think out of the box and appeal to podcasts in other areas that could help you reach a more generalist audience. Single Minded is a podcast about relationships - a clever pitch about the fitness industry and dating apps could catch their interest. We’d advise having a list of at least 5 podcasts to target so you can have plenty of options to hit up over a range of audiences.
Once you have found the podcasts you’d love to appear in, think about what you have to offer them as a guest. Do you have a unique perspective on a current issue? Are you an expert in your field with extensive experience that can draw a lot of anecdotes? Were you part of a unique subculture at a definitive point of time? Do you have an established following you can offer as a new audience to bring to the podcast listenership? Make sure you can bring something compelling to the mix. When we were creating our original sports podcast The Long Haul, the team put a lot of time and effort into finding the right selection and mix of guests to bring the story to life. You don’t have to be famous. Executive Producer of The Long Haul, Liz Keen elaborates:
“It was fantastic to connect with famous sportspeople, just to get a chance to hear their perspectives, but I love that we have also spoken with athletes who I’d never heard of, but are just as inspirational.”
Creating more varied content around your area of expertise can also be a great way for the podcast crew to get a feel for what you have to offer. You could write a blog, create a YouTube video or online webinar. All will help establish your credibility and show that you are worth their time.
So now you’ve found the perfect podcast targets and figured out your unique selling points to offer them, what's the best way to get in contact?
Our Head of Commercial & Partnerships Zach Kangalaris recommends reaching out to anyone you may know in the business:
“Network with people within the industry. It’s rapidly growing and there are plenty of opportunities if you’re prepared to do the work and learn the ins and outs.”
Attending podcast meetups, conferences and events is always a great way to network. If you’d rather connect digitally, following the podcast and hosts on social media and engaging on their content is a great way to get on their radar and has the added bonus of helping you to understand their tone of voice and following.
If you are keen to promote yourself or your brand in a more official sense, podcast advertising may be a great option to explore. As the podcast ad industry matures, more and more options for ad formats have come to fruition. Host-read ads are amongst the most effective, with 52% of podcast listeners proven to trust advertising more if the podcast host endorses the brand.(Marketing Mag).
The podcast industry has a lot of interesting options for guests and brands, which will only increase as the industry grows. If you’d like to learn more feel free to reach out to us, we’re always happy to advise and chat.