Voice content is very big right now. More and more, people are turning towards voice-centric content like podcasts to learn and be entertained. Platforms like Apple Podcasts, Anchor, Spotify, and many others are turning up millions of listens a day and helping people spread ideas, build credibility, create influence and even promote their brands.
In 2021, there are now a total of 383.7 million podcast listeners around the world. That number could grow to more than 424 million next year. Getting on a podcast can provide people and brands with so much opportunity to reach new markets. Moreover, the podcast sphere has a very promising conversion rate. Three out of four listeners say they listen to podcasts to pick up new information and learn new things.
So there are two ways to leverage on this amazing growth opportunity. The first is to create a branded podcast, which could take a lot of time and energy to do. The second and faster option is to get on someone’s podcast. The second option— being a guest— will most likely still be a strategy if you take on the first option too, so it’s good to talk about how to make that happen to grow a brand. And thankfully, we’ve spoken to an expert at getting on podcasts quite recently.
About Kristin Molenaar
Outsourcing Angel’s founder, Linh, had a call with the Owner of YesBoss VA, Kristin Molenaar. Her business helps people increase their visibility and credibility by getting featured on top podcasts. With Kristin’s help, personalities and brands have appeared on high-ranking podcasts with hundreds to thousands of listeners.
In our video interview with Kristin, she talked to us about the importance of having a podcast outreach strategy and how a Virtual Assistant plays a role in that approach. You can check out the rest of that conversation by watching the video here:
Why Get Featured on a Podcast?
We’ve talked many times about how to promote your brand with a Virtual Assistant with strategies like social media outreach, email marketing, website creation, video marketing, and so on. Many of these strategies have been around for several years now. Now it’s time we talked about a strategy that’s still pretty fresh. Getting featured on a podcast is a great tactic when you want to build an online brand with virtual assistants. Why is that?
Here are four great benefits that getting featured on a podcast brings to a brand or person.
Attract a warm audience
When getting on a podcast show, you’re speaking to a very warm audience. Podcasters have very loyal followings that tune in to their content regularly. Podcasts usually have an average listen rate of 55% even after seven weeks of listening to a show. These kinds of numbers are very hard to achieve through video or social media content. Moreover, people who listen to podcasts are often more high-profile and have higher spending capacities. So if you’re looking for quality leads, podcasts are a great place to connect with audiences.
Network with people in connected spaces
There’s just something about the current state of podcasting communities. They are extremely connected and supportive. Online podcast communities give you access to a full network of business owners, coaches, authors, speakers, and other high-profile professionals that could become valuable business connections in the future.
Showcase authority
Lastly, podcasts are a great place to showcase one’s expertise and authority. Most people listen to a podcast to pick up knowledge. That said, getting on a podcast would be a great avenue for you to talk about what you know, how your business or service brings value to others, or what kinds of achievements you or your business has.
Here’s an important note— When getting on a podcast, don’t just use it as a marketing opportunity. Instead, seek to provide a great listener experience by adding value to the podcaster’s audience. Share stories that will inspire the listeners and offer information that could help enrich or empower them. You’ll build better rapport when you do that, and the abovementioned benefits will just be a bonus.
What Tasks to Delegate to a Podcast Virtual Assistant for Outreach
So now that we’ve talked about why getting on a podcast can help a person or business brand, let’s talk about how to execute a podcast outreach strategy. When talking about her approach, Kristin makes a perfect point about podcast outreach— so much of the work is very administrative and shouldn’t be part of a C-level professional or entrepreneur’s to-do list.
What kind of tasks should a podcast virtual assistant do when reaching out to possible podcasts to appear in? Let’s run through a few.
Pitch creation and updating
Leaving a lasting mark on podcasters’ minds and hearts depends on one output— your speaker’s bio. So you want to make sure that your bio has an added flair to it. Getting a Virtual Assistant branding expert or graphic designer and writer to work on your speaker bio can help you add an added punch to your pitch.
In some cases, you can write up the content yourself or even outsource that part too. Then, have a Virtual Assistant design a nice PDF for your bio on Canva or Adobe Illustrator. There’s a big chance your speaker bio will evolve as you add more accolades and milestones to your career, so have your Virtual Assistant ready to make amendments as they come.
Podcast Outreach
The next aspect to a podcast outreach Virtual Assistant’s job is to do the actual outreach. This will involve looking for possible podcasts to get on, looking for their contact information and then sending them a message. The reason why this step is very crucial is that it makes the guesting happen. So many entrepreneurs just wait for podcasters to approach them, which could happen but not at the rate we want it to, especially at the beginning.
That’s why having someone actively search for podcasts that could feature you will be a great way to extend your reach and get results. Consider getting a social media virtual assistant to join podcasting Facebook groups or search for LinkedIn contacts with podcasts.
Social media promotions and content
Speaking of social media, another job responsibility you could turn over is social media promotion and content. This step is important because a podcaster will most likely check out your social media presence before having you over. Likewise, their followers will probably do the same thing after listening to your show.
So you want to make sure that they have something worthwhile to check when they do that. Get a marketing virtual assistant to post regular content on your social channels and engage with people regularly.
Other Administrative tasks
There’s a sea of other recurring and ad hoc administrative tasks that you can give to a Virtual Assistant to get you on podcast shows. That includes:
- Keeping a database of podcasts to reach out to
- Sending the emails and providing the bios to podcasters
- Scheduling the podcast interview
- Posting the links to your channels when they go live
- And so many more.
If you want to work with a fantastic Virtual Assistant to take care of these tasks and more, we’d love to help you out! Book a call with our Outsourcing Specialist to start that journey today.
Looking for an experienced and reliable Virtual Assistant?
Our Outsourcing Specialist is here to talk about all your business needs so that we can find you a Virtual Assistant that meets your expectations and fits seamlessly into your business.
Tools and Systems Podcast Virtual Assistants Should Know
Kristin also talks about how to set a podcast Virtual Assistant up for success in the interview. It isn’t enough to just hire someone and get them going without any direction. Here are some systems and tools to queue your Virtual Assistant up for success.
Have a G Suite Account
A G Suite is a whole array of cloud-based tools you can use to share files with a Virtual Assistant without fail. G Suite is a cloud-based tool that helps you easily share files with an offshore staff and quickly update them. The essential tools you’ll use in Gsuite are Google Docs for certain documentation and Google Spreadsheets to keep a database of podcasts, links, resources, and other information.
Set Standard Operating Procedures
Communicating tasks as straightforward as possible to a Virtual Assistant is an important factor in getting things done. So what Kristin has done that we also do at Outsourcing Angel is record a set of video training for VAs so they can watch tasks get demonstrated step by step instead of just having a list of things to do. We like to use a program called Loom for this.
Key Performance Indicators
Don’t just give your podcast virtual assistant a set of things to do. Give them KPIs too, or a set of goals to reach. For example, how many podcasters should they reach out to? How many of them do you want to land? How soon do you want to get on their podcasts? How many interviews do you want to do in a week? When goals are clear to a Virtual Assistant, it helps them visualise what they must do to reach those KPIs.
Podcasting Provides Great Business Opportunity
Podcast guest-related tasks are virtual assistant tasks with good ROI. They get you good connections, a warm audience, credibility, and the chance to share your craft with the world. All in all, it’s something that entrepreneurs should look into if they want to create better brands and grow businesses.
Looking for an experienced and reliable Virtual Assistant?
Our Outsourcing Specialist is here to talk about all your business needs so that we can find you a Virtual Assistant that meets your expectations and fits seamlessly into your business.
