We tend to do business with people who take the time to connect with us. Those we’ve come to know, like and trust.
On my family’s farm, that often means doing business around the kitchen table with the sales reps, agents and small business owners who visit us time and again. We get to know them; we try their products and if they work, we use them again and again.
True, most B2B marketers can’t have a coffee with each and every client. However, there are many other ways to connect with those you can’t meet in person and B2B podcast guesting is one of the best.
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Why podcast guesting works for B2B
You can reach people through podcasts that different people [in the buying process] listen to. [You can talk directly to the decision maker but] sometimes what you care about is reaching people who you've got much less contact with throughout the sales process and give them something that's interesting, or makes them feel like they relate to you better, or shows them something that you believe passionately in...Podcasting's great because you can reach those people that are potentially involved in influencing the selection of an agency but maybe aren't core to the process.
Mike Maynard, Napier Group CEO speaking to Jessica Rhodes, Interview Connections
Podcast appearances can be extremely effective in helping you reach your target audience.
For a start, you’re speaking to many more people at a time. Probably more than you usually have access to (unless you’re a seasoned public speaker.)
Your interview is valuable long-form content.
It’s the chance to have a deep-dive conversation that can help you tap into both your core market and related industry segments. Most podcast episodes run at least 30 minutes, and even if your interview doesn’t last that long, you’ll still record a decent conversation with plenty of chances to offer value, demonstrate what it’s like to work with you and showcase your knowledge, expertise and opinions.
Then there are all the opportunities for content repurposing. You can get terrific material for follow-up articles and social media posts from each interview, especially if you use templates and create a process to follow after each appearance.
Whenever you do a podcast interview, you build credibility and trust with the podcast host and their audience. Then, as you appear on more podcasts, your reputation grows and builds up a picture of your expertise and thought leadership. You start to build relationships with the listeners, especially if they hear you on more than one podcast. It’s a much more engaging way to reach decision makers in your industry than cold calling, for example.
Appearing as a podcast guest is an excellent networking opportunity, too. Connecting with the host can open opportunities to work with them again, and if they’ve had a great experience with you, they’ll likely recommend you to other podcast hosts too.
Case Study: Talya Heller
Down to a T Consulting founder Talya Heller helps early and growth stage SaaS B2B companies figure out who they're competing with and how to win with competitive research-backed positioning. After 12 months, Talya's business is going from strength to strength, due in part to her strategy of sharing information on LinkedIn and appearing on relevant podcasts.
I sat down with Talya to learn how her podcast guesting strategy works.
Do you have a deliberate podcast guesting strategy?
I don't think I started with one, but now I want to continue focusing on podcast guesting next year.
Most of my guest appearances were offers that came from the hosts. But I pitched a couple after I saw their content online or listened to episodes and thought I really liked the style of the host, or they talked about something but I could bring a different perspective, or I listened to the podcast and noticed no one's talking about certain topics.
The more I do this, the more I get practice, and the more I feel I can build a case for myself to pitch to higher visibility podcasts as well.
What results have you seen?
When I started my own business, the challenge was that I'm not a known expert in the field. So, I started to build an online presence on LinkedIn because my audience is there looking to learn and engage with other people. That led to hosts inviting me to be a guest on their podcasts.
Building trust at scale through LinkedIn and now podcast guesting is the foundation for all my marketing strategy. In the last few months, I've gotten more opportunities - more speaking opportunities, invitations to participate in different things, acknowledgement from the industry.
The appearances themselves have made it much easier for me to close business because they give people who potentially want to work with you a better sense of who you are and what it's going to be like to work with you. I think it makes them feel like it's less of a risk.
Every podcast appearance can lead to other ones and potential clients, then people introducing you to other people. It really compounds.
What kind of things do you talk about?
It really depends on the podcast and audience. Some focus on career journeys, or if the audience is largely people from other go-to-market areas, we might focus more on sales enablement and how to get people across the organization to collaborate with you or use the materials you produce as a product marketer.
If the podcast is product marketing specific, the conversation is usually about practical tools, in the weeds - how you do this or that. For example, I can talk through my framework or thought process for how I work with clients on competitive positioning, the steps I go through with them.
In broader podcasts that don't talk about product marketing specifically, the conversation is more philosophical - what is product marketing, how do you work with product marketers, why it's important to know your audience. When we say you have to define your ideal client profile, what we mean by that.
How do you promote your appearances?
I take the prompts and go through my reactions, to create other forms of content. If they asked something interesting or we went on a tangent that interested the host, that's probably interesting to more people. It gives me ideas for other content.
If hosts share clips, that's best because you can promote it too, and decide if you'll do it the same day or different time. It helps amplify both of you when you tag them.
Podcast conversations can spark ideas later. Always refer back to the interview, to give them credit. So, you can say 'a month ago I was talking to this person on their podcast and they said something that made me think about these other things.
What tips would you give to people who are new to guesting?
First, understand the types of podcasts you are saying yes to. Don't automatically say yes. If it's not aligned with what you typically talk about, or the audience is vastly different, bring that up with the host and share your thoughts. Most podcast hosts will share the prompts in advance, so you have some idea of what they'll ask you about.
The more conversational you are, the better. If practicing makes you feel more comfortable, do that. If practicing makes you nervous, don't do it. Find the things that will make you most comfortable in the situation.
If you're serious about it, try to invest in the setup - a decent microphone, good lighting. You don't need a fancy background, but a good camera if it's on video. Ask questions like: Will it be audio or video? Will you promote social clips? Can I get some clips to promote?
Try to be the best guest you can. Be prepared to show up on time and work with the host to have a good conversation.
Connect with Talya on LinkedIn
How to identify podcasts with a B2B audience
Find the podcasts your target audience listens to
It’s tempting to try for larger, generic business shows with broad appeal, but a significant portion of those audiences might tune out because they don’t find your content relevant.
You’re likely to get better results if you go for more targeted podcasts, whose audience aligns with your expertise or needs your solutions. Those listeners learn to see you as an authority in a field that matters to them and are more likely to respond to your call to action or remember you when they encounter the problem you’ve talked about on a podcast.
As Talya says, you can go for a mix of highly targeted podcasts and other shows still in your niche but with a broader audience, and tailor your message to fit.
If the podcast is product marketing specific, the conversation is usually about practical tools; how you do this or that. In broader podcasts that don’t talk about product marketing specifically, the conversation is more philosophical—why, rather than how.
Use Rephonic to search for relevant shows
Start by searching for podcasts in your niche, then narrow the field by applying detailed search filters.
For example, imagine you're a company whose product is ideal for marketing SaaS products. You might search for SaaS podcasts, then add a filter to find podcasts that interview guests. Then, refine the search by applying the Professions and Interests filters. This brings up a list of podcasts likely to have listeners interested in hearing your message.
Check podcast data to be sure the audience matches
Perhaps you need to reach the decision makers. With a small business, that might be just one or two people. Or, perhaps as Mike Maynard mentioned, you target large or enterprise level companies and want to reach those on the ground who will influence the choice or even implement your solutions.
Check Rephonic’s data on each likely podcast. Read the overview to see a brief description and key facts such as how many episodes they’ve recorded, the audience engagement score and approximate numbers of listeners per episode.
Then click the audience and feedback tabs for a more detailed analysis.
Keep track of likely shows with our list feature. Once you’ve added several podcasts, Rephonic will also show an extra selection of other podcasts to check.
Look at previous episode topics and guests
Once you've identified the possibilities, go even deeper by checking who they've interviewed in the past and what topics they've already covered.
Check the episode content: can you add alternative insights or fill in a gap?
I saw their content online or listened to episodes and really liked the style of the host. They talked about something but I could bring a different perspective, or I noticed no one's talking about certain topics.
Talya Heller
How to craft a message that resonates with B2B audiences
First, know understand who you’re talking to. I say this a lot, but it really is the starting point for everything else. It’s crucial to give the right message to the right audience.
Use the following ideas to craft messages for different podcast audiences:
What do they need to know?
Are you speaking to an audience of beginners or experts? What are they ready to hear? Do they need basic explanations, or are they ready for advanced ideas?
- What problems do they have, and how can your message help them move forward?
- What are their goals, and how do your experience and expertise tie in?
- What barriers might they face, and how can you help overcome them?
- What relevant topics, industry trends or sticking points can you address?
What stories can you tell?
Humans are hard-wired for story.
Listeners will easily remember your interviews if you illustrate your points with interesting, funny or poignant tales. So, what personal anecdotes from your life might appeal? What stories can you tell to illustrate difficult concepts or showcase your clients’ challenges, how you helped them and the results you achieved?
Good stories don’t just happen overnight. Check our detailed storytelling article to learn how to craft effective stories to tell as a podcast guest.
How to turn listeners into leads
Create relevant calls to action
Consider your goals for each podcast guest appearance and craft two calls to action to mention when the host invites you to do so.
One CTA should be low stress, requiring little effort or investment in time or money. The purpose of this CTA is simply to give the listener a foothold into your world, to keep and maybe grow that initial contact. The second call to action asks a little more investment from the listener and might include words like sign up, download or join.
Read How to Choose and Deliver CTAs as a Podcast Guest for more information.
Include a landing page
Create a podcast-specific landing page and mention the URL whenever you make a relevant CTA.
Include a simple, actionable form to capture email addresses so you can keep the contact going through marketing emails and newsletters.
Keep the language, branding and tone consistent with your messaging and high investment calls to action, because inconsistencies can easily confuse people, and it doesn’t take much to send them running.
For example, if your CTA invites listeners to download a free book, your landing page might include a greeting from you (confirms they’re on the right page) an image and short blurb, plus an email form and your promise to send the download link in your confirmation email.
However, it wouldn’t include banners or links to other services you haven’t mentioned in your podcast CTA, or complex navigation menus that might distract visitors from giving you their email address and completing the download.
Track results
Don't forget to measure the impact of your podcast guest appearances and calls to action.
- Use unique UTM (Urchin Tracking Modules)parameters for podcast-related links, so you can see where visitors to your landing page have come from.
- Set up goals and conversions in your analytics platform to measure actions.
- Create a unique discount code for each podcast so you can see when listeners from that podcast take action.
Final thoughts
Podcast guesting can be an excellent B2B marketing strategy.
It helps you reach the right audiences at scale and lets them see a bit of your personality, learn about your expertise, understand your product and judge what it might be like to work with you.
Meanwhile, content repurposing gives you plenty of material for follow up posts on social media and backlinks from the podcast show notes and website can improve your site’s SEO and domain authority.
If you’ve never thought about being on a podcast before, approach a host with small audience numbers, say 90-500, and work up to bigger podcasts as you gain experience and confidence. In fact, the numbers don’t matter as much as speaking to the right audience does. Giving real value to 90 ideal customers is probably a better use of your time than speaking to 9000 people who aren’t the right fit.
Want to make a start on podcast guesting? Use our database to find the best podcasts to showcase your value to potential B2B clients.
