← Just One Tip from Your Podcast Performance Coach
Just One Tip from Your Podcast Performance Coach
229 Want to Turn Podcast Listeners into Leads? Use This Engagement Strategy
00:11:47
🎯 Podcast Tune-Up: Make sure your podcast is optimized to attract and engage the right audience → 🎯 Not Sure What's Wrong with Your Show? Find out by doing my 7-point free Podcast Audit → Don’t Just Talk—Listen! How to Actually Engage...
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:02]
A
Hey, podcaster, I'm Tim Wahlberg, your podcast performance coach, with another actionable tip so you can grow your podcast authority, generate leads, and convert with ease. Today's tip is don't just talk listen. Your podcast shouldn't be a one way street. If your audience is only passively listening and never engaging, you're missing a massive opportunity. And and I hate to break it to you, but just hoping people will comment or reach out is not a strategy. So let's fix that. In this episode, we're talking about where you should be engaging with your audience and more importantly, how to do it in a way that actually works. At the end of this episode, I'm gonna share a radio gem, a solid gold tip from my days as an award winning talk radio producer. But before we get there, we need to make sure you're engaging with your audience in the right places. And the right place is where your audience already is. Now, if you're sitting there thinking, tim, I have no idea where my audience is hanging out or who my ideal listener is, then it's time for a podcast tune up. One of the six steps of our podcast tune up program is audience calibration. Making sure your podcast serves both your listener and your business. Knowing who you're talking to is essential. If you want ROI from your podcast, check out the podcast tune up at podcastperformancecoach. Com. Okay, let's get back to engaging with the audience. Now, this is different from your growth strategy. What we want to do with engagement is take full advantage of your podcast as a conversation starter and lead nurturing tool. I've got three places you should be engaging with your audience and the first might seem obvious, but let's get into the nitty gritty of optimizing it. I'm talking about social media. Yeah, the thing that you love to hate or hate that you love it or just hate however you feel about it, it's a great place to engage with your audience. Now, social media can be a time suck, so maximize your efforts by picking a primary social media platform. Choose a platform where your audience is already spending their time. Note, this may be different from your favorite place to hang out. This is why it's so critical to know who your audience is and tailor your show and engagement effort to them. Great, you're in the right place. But does your audience know you're there? Make sure you let them know the one place they should be engaging with you by being clear about it in your show and in your cta. Your call to action don't give them a laundry list of social media platforms to follow. Tell them the conversation continues on that one specific platform platform. And make sure you tell them how to engage and be very specific. Ask a very specific question and then tell them to comment on the episode. Post on that exact social platform. Maybe it's a Facebook group. It would sound like this let's carry on the conversation in our Facebook group. If you haven't joined yet, click the link in the description. Join the group, then search episode 200 to share your answer to this question. If you're on LinkedIn, say I've just posted this week's episode recap post. Search for it by date February 18, 2025 when you find it, share your take on this question. If you're on YouTube, awesome. Treat the comment section like a real conversation. Be sure to post the question in the description. Whatever you do, don't send your audience on a scavenger hunt. Tell them exactly where to find you and how to engage. And if you're using DM's email, give them a keyword so you know exactly what episode or topic they're responding to. Better yet, use a chat bot to automate responses and filter leads. Okay, let's move on from social media to the second place to spark audience engagement, a private community. There are a lot of platforms that are hosting communities these days, and your audience will really start to feel like a community if you dive into this strategy. What? One option I'm loving right now is Substack. Several of my clients are having excellent success with it. You might not be on Substack yet, but let me tell you, I feel like it's really having a moment. A lot of podcasters, especially thought leaders, authors, and niche experts are using Substack as a home base for community engagement. It's not just a newsletter, it's a conversation hub. People can comment, reply, and support your work. As a bonus, you can turn it into a private or paid community for exclusive content. It's a great way to connect directly with your audience without relying on social media algorithms. Now, is it right for you? Maybe, maybe not. But if your audience isn't hanging out on Instagram or LinkedIn, a platform like Substack might be the perfect way to get that back and forth. Engagement okay, let's talk about that third place for audience engagement. Your email list. Yes. Really? Most people treat their email list like a one way street. Big mistake. Your email list can be an amazing place for engagement if you use it right. Instead of just sending info. Ask for a reply or link to a quiz or a poll for their input or opinion. Most importantly, give them a reason to hit reply and carry on or start a conversation. Make sure they know you'll actually read and respond. And here's a pro move Tie your email strategy directly to your podcast engagement. So if you send a newsletter on the same day your podcast drops, tell your audience Might sound like this if you're on my email list, and you should be, don't miss today's email with the title episode 212. In it, I share additional tips and ask you an important question. I really want to hear what you have to say, so be sure to hit reply and let me know whether you agree or or disagree with Blobbity Blue. This makes engagement easy and obvious. Plus it feels more personal than a thumbs up on a comment in your social feed. Okay, so hopefully you are starting to see the value of engaging with your audience. But before you go all in on engagement, ask yourself, do I actually have the capacity to handle it? Because if you're consistently telling people to engage but then you don't have the time to respond, guess what? They'll stop engaging. Don't promise back and forth convos if you can't keep up. Don't drive people to your DMs if you never check them. Don't spread yourself too thin. Be strategic. Maybe you only use an engagement CTA once every four episodes. Maybe you hire a team to help, but make sure you can actually handle the response. Audience engagement helps turn your listeners into potential customers. It helps them take that next step on the customer journey from being aware of you to engaging and connecting with you. Next, stop hiring you. Okay, and there's another benefit of audience engagement. You'll actually know your listener. Because here's the thing. Engagement isn't just about boosting comments and likes. It's about learning more about your audience. You'll confirm or refine your ideal client. You'll uncover what resonates and what doesn't. You'll get real, honest feedback that helps you create better content. And if your engagement strategies reveals that you're attracting the wrong audience, that's a huge win too. It means you can course correct before you waste time talking to the wrong people. So get to work on your engagement strategy. But first, let me hit you with a hard truth. If you're asking the wrong kinds of questions, you're sabotaging your own engagement. Let me share that gem I promised from my years in talk radio. If you want people to actually respond, you have to ask black and white questions. So here's an example of a boring question. So what are your thoughts on today's engagement episode? Okay, here's a better question. Do you think that having an engagement strategy for your podcast is important? Yes or no? See the difference? The question forces a response. It gives your listeners something easy to answer, and that's how you spark engagement. Add tell me why after that. And you've just started a conversation. So in your next episode you should try it. Here's a few more examples. Is social media doing more harm than good? Yes or no? Do you believe that offering discounts is the best way to boost sales? Yes or no? Is cereal a soup? Yes or no? Does pineapple belong on pizza? Yes or no? Duh, we already know it does. Yes or no questions are great, but you can also reframe them. So your listener has to pick a side, like will the new tariff policy hurt or help the economy? Which is more important, your morning routine or or your evening routine? Penguins can't fly because A small wings or B a poor mindset which makes better pets, cats or dogs? Now your listener are like, oh, team Dogs or Team Cockatoo? And you're like, what? Hey, that wasn't even an option. But let your listeners play. At least they're playing, right? Just don't forget the Tell me why. So if you haven't already got an engagement strategy or want to change your existing one, let's recap what we just talked about. 1. You should be engaging in at least one of these places, the social media channel that your ideal customer lives on, a private community or your email list. Number two, make engagement easy. Ask black and white questions. Number three, only commit to what you can actually handle and show up for that engagement. And four, use engagement as a tool to refine your strategy. And I hope that's just the tip you need. Remember, don't just talk. Listen. Any time spent with a potential client or an existing client is valuable time. You can learn so much more about the problem you solve, who you solve it for, and how you can help solve it. But now, if you're thinking, hmm, I don't get any time with my audience or I have no idea where my audience is hanging out or who my ideal listener is. Then it's time for a podcast tune up. One of the six steps of our Podcast Tune up program is audience calibration, making sure your podcast serves both your listener and your business. Knowing who you're talking to is essential if you want ROI from your podcast. I'LL put the link for the podcast tune up at the top of the show. Notes Better engagement is just a click away. If you want to find out more or check out the podcast tune up by going to podcastperformancecoach.com I'm Tim Wahlberg. See ya. Ooh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Wait, wait. Before you go, I've got some more great engagement questions you can ask your listener. Like do you think aliens watch our TV shows? Do you think fish get thirsty? Should socks and sandals be a federal crime? Is it acceptable to eat ice cream for breakfast? Do unicorns exist in a parallel universe? Can dogs understand what we're saying?