When you've recorded a podcast appearance, squeeze everything out of it by promoting it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and wherever else your audience congregates.
First, you can tease the episode before it's published by mentioning how much you enjoyed the discussion—drop a few hints about what you said and when it's due out. Then once it's live, there's a lot you can do to engage people's interest and send new listeners to the podcast.
Your interview likely has a whole heap of information nuggets scattered throughout the episode, so use those gems to promote your appearance.
Here's how you do it.
Table of Contents
Collect recordings
Most people record podcasts in a studio, or over the internet, and use one of these four ways:
- Face-to-face audio-only
- Face-to-face video
- Online audio-only
- Online face-to-face
So, when you want to create promotional snippets, there are three vital things to find out before recording day (scroll down to the table below to see when you should ask them.)
Of course, you'll ask these questions in your own way, but they boil down to these three points:
#1 Will you share pre-made snippets with me?
Podcast hosts often make snippets of the parts they see as likely to catch attention. These snippets feature the podcast's branding, but are easy for you to share.
#2: Would you be willing to share the raw recording with me?
It's unlikely that you'll get a 'yes' to this request. However, if you frame it properly as wanting to help them promote the episode as much as possible (as you should always do) the host may agree.
If you get the original recording, you can show off your podcast appearance in a way that feels true to your brand. The podcast host will choose key moments that intrigue their audience and use those as snippets (aka clips). However, you might decide that other excerpts would appeal to your audience.
With access to the recording, you can get creative. Make your own relevant snippets and post them on your social media platforms to encourage your audience to listen to the full episode.
#3: Do you mind if I make a separate video recording, too?
If the host gives the go ahead, you can record a video of yourself with your phone separately from the main recording so you can get an alternative angle. That opens up new possibilities for making brief clips to help when you want to show authority in your niche. If you’re meeting online, your phone video may even be higher quality than the laptop recording.
Once you have your own recording, you can create unique social media content from it to help promote the episode and direct your audience to the full episode.
NB: You can't make your own in a studio video recording, because your phone would be in shot, but it should be fine in the other three common recording situations.
Now you’ve got the recordings. Let’s look at three ways to use them.
#1 Create video snippets
Short-form video clips with subtitle work well on social media platforms.
If you've got audio only from the host, you can turn it into a video by using an audio waveform along with images and captions.
Audio-videos work well for snippets where there is an exchange between you and the host. But, if the section is just you talking, it's better to use the video recording you made because video is more engaging on social media.
Your clips should fit into one of these four categories, depending on your goals. When creating each snippet, ask yourself:
1. Does it educate the listener/viewer?
Choose podcast guest interview snippets that show the value people will learn if they listen to the entire interview.
In this snippet between Ryan Pineda (the Wealthy Way podcast) and Pat Flynn (SPI), Pat explains why he's pivoted his business to focus on community rather than selling single courses and books.
2. Does it entertain the listener/viewer?
You might attract listeners by choosing the fun aspects of your podcast episode. These might include humor, stories or music, for example, to give listeners a sense of what listening can offer them.
This "Are You Garbage?" Instagram snippet features podcast guest Kevin Smith discussing food shopping with the hosts, comedians Kevin Ryan and H. Foley. It demonstrates the podcast's irreverent tone and brand of comedy. Listeners in their target audience will probably click the episode for more.
3. Does it inspire the listener/viewer?
For example, how about this inspiring clip?
"I used to say, courage today, boldness tomorrow, confidence down the road. And the idea of, there's no chance you will be confident today if you haven't worked through some level of courage or boldness because you have no track record." Benji Block on the B2B Growth podcast: What I wish I knew about overcoming self doubt.
4. Does it encourage the listener or viewer to take an action?
You might decide to choose interview content that showcases one of your actionable tips.
Or, perhaps show your story of the actions you took in one situation, demonstrating how the audience might respond to similar challenges. This sort of visual content showcases how listeners might find your podcast content helpful.
Tailor your snippets to suit each platform
You could potentially make an even bigger impact by considering snippet length, orientation and aspect ratio.
The average attention span of users varies between platforms.
According to Only Social, Instagram and TikTok users prefer clips lasting between 15-30 seconds. X (Twitter) followers prefer something a little longer, whereas Facebook and LinkedIn people watch clips of 1-2 minutes and YouTube can go over 2 minutes for optimum views.
So, think about prioritizing different snippets for the social platforms you plan to post them to.
Consider your clips' orientation and aspect ratio according to the platform, too.
Portrait view works best for Instagram Reels, TikTok videos and YouTube Shorts. However landscape is better for standard YouTube videos, while for Facebook and Twitter you'll get the best out of landscape or square.
Choose a tool to help you
There are loads of tools for making social media posts out there. Here are five examples of AI-based tools for making video clips:
Headliner turns audiograms into video clips ready to post on YouTube and social media platforms. Its clips creation tools include 'Make' and 'Eddy'.
Eddy is a free transcript-based editor that creates podcast clips and captions, while Make "helps podcasters create stylized, branded videos without ever stepping in front of the camera." These clips put your audio over AI generated images and often include a waveform animation.
Cost: Headliner has a Forever Free (ad-supported, limited per month) version. Paid monthly plans include Basic ($9.99) or Pro ($25.99). Both paid plans offer discounts for yearly subscriptions.
Descript has easy-to-use AI tools for creating social media clips from a video podcast episode. Drop the file into the automatic transcription tool, then get to work selecting, editing and enhancing your clips.
Here's a Descript clips video to show you how it's done.
Cost: Start for free, then move to monthly payments in the Hobbyist ($12), Creator ($24) or Business ($40) plans.
Veed helps you repurpose content and generate shareable video snippets with ease. You can automatically center the speaker, add subtitles, remove filler words, focus eye contact and delete irrelevant moments in one click.
Cost: You could try the limited free version or go straight onto Lite at $9/month or Pro at $24/month (when billed yearly.)
Upload a video and let Klap's AI identify and create video clips and engaging captions and score each clip's potential to go viral. A one-minute video can convert to four or five brief clips for TikTok, YT Shorts or Instagram Reels.
Klap's tools include AI editing, auto reframing and captions. You can customize colors, logos, fonts etc. to fit your brand, while the scheduling tool lets you set publishing times in advance.
Cost: Prices range from a basic version at $23 per month to Klap Pro+ at $151 per month.
Upload an audio or video file or a YouTube link and Choppity automatically splits the content into clips.
Choppity lets you search for particular moments and edit videos as if they were text documents. It can also add subtitles, reframe from landscape to portrait and includes "Magic Follow" to ensure a moving subject stays in frame when you swap to portrait mode.
With Choppity, you can create custom templates with captions, music and image overlays. Then use the template for each snippet to keep a consistent style.
Cost: Monthly plans include Creator ($4) and Team ($32).
Here's a tip:
What question is your clip responding to? Give the viewers or listeners some context by popping the question up top as a headline. (Questions don't matter as much if you've mastered the art of speaking in soundbites, which may show more context.)
#2 Create quote graphics
Make the most of your podcast appearance by using a quote graphic to showcase brief but intriguing content from your interview.
Here's how you get quotes for social media posts
- Transcribe the audio using a transcription tool. Descript and Headliner include built-in AI transcription or you could use a dedicated transcribing tool like Otter.ai or Sonix.
- Go through the transcription to find quotes or upload the transcript to an AI like ChatGPT or Claude and get them to do the work for you.
Example:
I fed part of this transcript into ChatGPT and asked it to find three quotes about the importance of connection. It did a brilliant job finding two quotes, but the third quote didn't match, so I asked it to find a different one. Here's what I ended up with:
Choose a tool to help you
Again, you can find heaps of AI-based graphics sites to help publicize your guest appearance. Here are a few options to get you started:
I'm not an artist or graphic designer, so Canva is my go-to site when I need to make graphics.
It is very beginner friendly and has customizable templates for just about anything you want to design. They also have easy-to-follow tutorials. (Here's one about making quote graphics.)
Like Canva, Adobe has templates and designs for just about any graphic, including a 'social media post maker' which is free for anyone to use.
People sometimes think of Adobe as catering more for design professionals, but their free social media post maker is a drag-and-drop editor, so you don't need a lot of experience to get started.
#3 Create text posts
Don't get so busy with making visuals that you forget to write some posts, too.
Written posts let you go a little deeper into the interview conversation and pull out gems too long for a clip or quote. You can tailor these posts to different platforms.
Ideas for text posts that promote your podcast guest appearance
#1. Highlight some vital points from your podcast interview and let the audience know they'll find more in the episode.
#2. Post conversation starters related to the interview.
You might invite opinions or experiences, highlight key insights, start a debate or ask for recommendations to get a conversation or debate going on your favorite platform.
I concocted a few conversation starters based on those ideas:
- On the 'Freezing for Fun' podcast, we talked about the five surprising benefits of cold water swimming. What cold water pros and cons have you discovered lately?
- Poppy and I agreed to differ on our top five best-ever puddings in this episode of 'Delicious Desserts'. What would you add to our best desserts list?
- Denny and I dove deep into investment strategies in this episode of the 'Safer Money Podcast.' Now, I'm curious—what’s the best piece of advice you've received in this area? Share it with us in the comments!"
#3. Expand on something you touched on during your podcast appearance.
- Write a blog post to complement the episode. Post an article summary on your social media platform and include a link to it or the podcast episode.
- Share a case study that illustrates a point you made on the podcast
- Give your audience some additional examples.
Try using copywriting frameworks
Many copywriters use frameworks or formulas to structure their posts to capture attention and promote reactions from their audience. Look them up and you'll find lots of examples online, including this copywriting frameworks article by Brendan Aw.
Try using one or more of these formulas when writing your podcast appearance posts for Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.
Schedule posts
Depending on how long the episode is and how many good snippets it contains, you could have content for a week, a month, or even longer.
You can either schedule posts manually or invest in a scheduling too. To load posts in advance, look for the platform's calendar or planner, upload the post and choose the date you want to publish.
However, if you want to go the automatic scheduling route, there are loads of options available online. Have a look at Zapier, Hootsuite, Buffer or Sprout Social, to name a few. Your graphic or video maker may well have a social media scheduler too.
Some platforms don't allow links in the post, so the only option is to put the link in the comments. However, if you get the option to include the link in the post, consider these pros and cons:
Pros:
- The algorithm might prefer posts without links
- It encourages people to go to the comments
Con:
- It might be harder for people to find the link.
Reply to all comments.
Monitor what works best, and what doesn't, so you can create even better content for your next appearance.
Final thoughts
As we've said before, you've put a lot of work into getting and giving podcast appearances, so go all out on making the most of all that content gold.
Once you've mined that episode for all it's worth, it's time to turn your attention to finding your next podcast guest appearance. That's where Rephonic can help. Save yourself hours by searching our database for suitable podcasts. Then reach out to them using our pitch templates.
Keep your podcast guest journey going.
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