Last week, I came across a LinkedIn that stuck with me ever since:
« I’m starting to realize that I might be wasting my time on my podcast. It doesn’t directly contribute to my business.
[…]
I'm thinking of putting the podcast on hiatus so I can 100% focus on making the newsletter as good as it can be. What do you think? »
Source: linkedin.com
Thankfully for me, I went through the same question before launching my podcast.
So in this article I’ll share the system I put in place to make my podcast generate leads for my business.
Before you implement this system...
This system works when you have two things in place:
1. Having the right listeners
Your podcast needs to attract your ICP (ideal customer profile). If your latest episode about FinTech gets downloads but your business helps Gen X freelancers with their marketing, even the best system might not generate you qualified leads.
Here are the few things I do to insure that only my ICP has interests in listening to my podcast:
The name, tagline and topics of my podcast position my show as a resource for my ICP
My guests either fit my ICP or help my ICP in areas complementary to mine
I distribute my podcast only where my ICP is most likely to consume it (audio platforms, YouTube and LinkedIn).
2. Having the right next step
My calls to action (CTA) need to point to something valuable.
The common "subscribe to our newsletter" or "visit our website" don’t tell listeners why they should take action. Also, only 3% of the target market is ready to buy right now (based on a study popularised by the sales expert Chet Holmes).
However I believe that more of these potential clients wouldn’t refuse a free resource that helps them solve their biggest current problem. This is why I recommend using a CTA leading to a free resource instead, based on of the following cases:
A case study on how you helped a client to solve a major problem that your the ICP faces today and what results your client have had from working with you;
A breakdown of your method to solve this major problem that your ICP faces today.
Gating this free resource behind an email form turns it into a lead magnet, a resource that potential gets access to by giving their email.
Now let’s dive into how I introduce my lead magnet to my listeners.
Step 1: Mid-Episode CTA
Including a CTA means interrupting the conversation. So I want the listener to get value before interrupting. But I don’t want do it so late that the listener might have stopped listening already.
So I include the first touchpoint happens about 1/4 to 1/3 through into the episode. But there’s another reason for including my CTA at this point.
As you’ll see in my script below, my CTA introduces a lead magnet on turning podcast listeners into leads. On most episodes, it’s exactly at this time where my guests and I usually start talking about using podcasting to generate leads.
So this timing couldn’t be better than this moment. Here’s what I say.
My Script:
« By the way, if you’re listening to this and you don’t see your podcast contribute enough to your business, I’m gonna share after this conversation how my podcast generates leads for my business. So stay till the end for that. »
Key Elements:
Natural transition: As I mentioned earlier, I align the topic of my CTA with what my guests and I talk about at this exact moment. So rather than interrupting to talk about something else, my CTA sounds like an addition to what was being said seconds before that. No background music, just a seamless 10-second long message.
Direct: I don’t address my message to the listeners as a whole. When I say “if you’re listening to this”, I’m talking to “you” the podcaster listening to this conversation.
Clear value prop: I state what the problem is, which is a podcast not contributing enough to the business. Then I introduce my solution to the problem and when I’ll talk about it in details.
Short CTA: First and foremost, the CTA remains an interruption. So I keep it short so the listener can go back to the conversation as early as possible.
Now let me break down the most crucial part of my system: the closing-episode call to action.