Turn Your Podcast Into the Growth Engine That Drives Your Business

Turn Your Podcast Into the Growth Engine That Drives Your Business

Traci DeForge: [00:00:00] Today I’m breaking down the tips that we use with our clients at Produce Your Podcast to make sure their podcast is the growth engine that drives the revenue for their businesses This is the Growth Accelerator Podcast. Now your host, Tracy Deforge. I recently had a conversation with Tanya and Michael, hosts of Be Bold Branding, where we talked about how important it is to shift your mindset around organizing your show for results over metrics.

What differentiates shows that are, that become b- valuable business assets versus those that kind of fade away? Right. Well, that’s such a good point, because when I started Produce Your Podcast, which was in March of 2016, there were less than 350,000 total podcasts. Mm. So fast-forward a decade, as you said, the industry has…

Absolutely. It’s evolved. It’s changed. It’s grown. Um, now we’re into the millions [00:01:00] of podcasts. And then what does that actually mean in terms of if you’re a business owner and you wanna leverage that podcast for growth is that you have to be really clear about how you’re gonna differentiate not only your podcast and the brand of your podcast, but also your messaging and the types of conversations that you’re going to have with your audience.

Because let’s say, for example, if you are a consultant, and you are, maybe you’re writing a book. So do you want to leverage your podcast to create the chapters for those books so that you can have your audience engaged in the process as the book is being developed, while at the same time you’re building the audience for that book release?

So then you’re getting really good data on engagement from where your audience is coming from, how they’re consuming your content, and then ultimately, that could layer into your marketing strategy for when you launch the book. Is that gonna be a pre-sale strategy? Are you gonna actually go and do live events in some of those markets where you have [00:02:00] been growing your audience alongside writing the book?

So there’s so many different opportunities for business owners in podcasting, that the number of podcasts really shouldn’t be in any way an intimidating factor or even anything that you should use as a reason not to start a podcast. It really should be even more of an encouragement factor to why you should start a podcast, because it’s showing now that it’s more than just a nice-to-have for your marketing strategy.

It’s a need-to-have for your marketing strategy. I really enjoyed that part of the conversation with Michael and Tanya, specifically about how you can leverage your podcast content and turn it into a book. Because thought leadership, industry expert visibility is more important now than ever. If you’re curious to have an even more of a deep dive around how to make that happen, you’re gonna wanna check out Growth Accelerator Podcast, episode number four, where Tina Dietz and I will give you all of the step-by-steps [00:03:00] on how to think strategically about turning your podcast content into a book.

And one of the things that Tina and I talk about- Whether you’re interested in turning it into a book or not is how incredibly, incredibly important it is to think through the foundation of your content before you even launch your first episode. That may seem overwhelming, but honestly, it’s building a strategy just like you would in your business if you were launching a strategy for a new product line or a new course or a new program or if you were educating your audience about a new service that you are providing.

You wanna make sure that you allocate and dedicate the same amount of time, energy, and resources to the strategy of the foundation of your podcast if you want it to be that growth engine machine that it can be for your business. Here’s another clip where Tanya, Michael, and I discuss the [00:04:00] importance of strategy and foundation for your podcast ROI.

Many businesses, you know, launch podcasts without that clear ROI strategy. What’s your framework for ensuring that podcasts drive actual business growth rather than just, you know, vanity metrics? Right, so- Which are hard enough in their self to get right. Right. Well, a- again, you know, you really have to think about what’s in it for your audience and the type of podcast that you’re wanting to create because you are…

If you’re looking at it as a platform to build thought leadership and to gain visibility, maybe get on more stages, then that’s a different ROI for the investment of time and resources than if you are using it as a lead generation source to move people through your funnel from the top of the funnel, middle of the funnel, and then directly into a purchase.

So first and foremost, you wanna identify what is the objective for the ROI for your podcast, and you need to know that going into it. [00:05:00] I think that’s one of the things that working with a very strong podcast strategist or consultant on the front end of things is something that you can actually help shortcut your learning curve on and increase your opportunities for ROI because they’re going to help you navigate not only just, well, what’s the format of my show, what microphone do I need, how am I going to get a guest?

It’s more about once I have the right microphone, open that mic, what am I doing to generate leads, generate visibility, generate sales for my business, and is that what the ROI that’s tied to the podcast? And if yes, then you need a blueprint to get you there. Mm-hmm. And so each of those objectives that we talked about have a little bit of a different strategy, but one consistent theme throughout all of the things that we just talked about was making sure that your podcast has a very clear call to action that aligns with that revenue generating opportunity that you’re looking for.

Let’s get into a [00:06:00] conversation about the content and the format of the podcast itself, and how that actually is an important consideration factor along with everything else we’ve talked about today about the importance of really strategically focusing your podcast as a growth vehicle. Here’s why. Most podcast hosts go into podcasting thinking that they just need to open up the mic and have a Q&A interview with an expert, maybe even a client, or a subject matter topic of interest for their audience.

That is absolutely one format that works effectively, but it is not the only format that works effectively. Everyone who is consuming content right now is time-starved, and they want to make sure that the time that they are spending with your podcast is getting an ROI back to them as well. So when you are thinking through your content strategy, [00:07:00] evaluate the different types of podcast episodes that you can put out there that is going to really be of value to your audience.

Yes, Q&A is one of those, but have you considered the idea of integrating short-form content? Short-form content by Produce Your Podcast definition is a piece of content where you are really showcasing your expertise, where you are providing tactical tips, where you are providing a deep immersion into one specific topic, something that people could find you in a Google search and get the problem that they want solved, they can find that solution in your short-form episode It’s also very efficient to repurpose additional content into your short forms.

This podcast that we’re doing today is a perfect example of that. I’ve already invested the time in having the conversation with Tanya and Michael, and it was a lot of fun to be on the Be [00:08:00] Bold Branding podcast. But it’s also an opportunity for me to take that piece of content and help you solve your problems of growing your show and break down some of the audience growth barriers that you’re experiencing so that you can take this information that I’m providing to you, and then take that and make your podcast better.

See what I did there? A lot of people think when they launch a podcast, especially if they’re a business owner, they think that they have to always do a Q&A interview, very similar to what we’re doing today. But what we have found as we have built and developed strategies over this last decade is that there’s a really good balance between being able to showcase someone else’s thought leadership, like you’re giving me the opportunity to do today, but at the same time, your audience also needs to understand and be able to have a deeper immersion into your expertise as well.

Mm-hmm. So when we were looking at and developing our packages for 2025, we actually pivoted our [00:09:00] strategy. Instead of recommending all Q&A interviews, for example, we are looking at The opportunity to create long-form and short-form podcasts for clients who maybe have, in the past, either always done just Q&A interviews and looking at a second season or a second year, or they’re just coming into podcasting and introducing it into their pipeline for the first time.

Because the short-form content can give you the opportunity, like let’s just, you know, workshop this in this moment. We’re having a conversation right now about what works best for podcasting for lead generation, for growing your business with a podcast. We’re having a really good dialogue about that. You could very easily follow up and release, after this episode, you could very easily follow up a dialogue between just the two of you about what’s working with your podcast, the takeaways that you mentioned in this episode, and you have that opportunity to go in a deeper level and engage with your audience, and they are getting to hear yours perspective on the points that I may share.[00:10:00]

And so what that does with your audience is it really solidifies your positioning as the go-to expert in the branding space, and why it would be a great opportunity to work with you. So really having that balance between that long-form and that short-form is not only just a really great algorithm tool for growing the show, but it’s also a really great way to, if you’re a service-based professional, you want to be able to showcase your abilities and your expertise in the services that you provide.

Here’s the bottom line. You are investing your time and resources to generate content. You deserve to get the results. The takeaways for today are strategically focus on the foundational pieces of your show. Make sure you are creating a podcast Both audio and video in generating other pieces of content and connect all of your content to become of value to the audience that you are targeting.

Because it is that audience that you want to continue [00:11:00] the conversation with that will ultimately turn into conversions and increase your bottom line. Number two, don’t get hung up on the fact that you have to do a Q&A podcast interview to have a podcast. You are the expert in your industry. You are the thought leader.

You know more about your business than anyone else. Use those short form content pieces to showcase you, to invite people to connect with you, to have and give people the opportunity to know what it feels like to work with you, to connect with you, to build a relationship with you. There’s no better content strategy than a short form episode to get that done.

And the bonus tip is that when people are scrolling through the feed and looking for a snack sized bite of content to inspire them, educate them, make them feel lighter or smarter, your [00:12:00] short form content will win. And number three, do not be intimidated by the number of podcasts that are out in the world, even more so the number of podcasts that may be specifically targeted in your business category.

Because you are going to be creating content that is original from you, that is specific to you and your business, and is gonna connect with the audience that wants to do business with you. Congratulations. You’re on your way to turning your business or company’s podcast into a thriving lead generation and marketing force.

Connect with us and schedule a meeting with our team at ProduceYourPodcast.com. Launch or grow your podcast and start generating more visibility, leads, and sales for your business today. Let’s get started