Having guests on your podcast is a great way to put your show on the map. Not only does it draw in new audiences, but it also engages with your current listeners. 

So how do you build your audience using guests? Let’s take a look. 

Why Guests Are Essential To Grow Your Podcast

Having a guest on your podcast is a great way to draw in more listeners as it creates more variety for your show and may also help you tap into their followings. A good guest speaker will have a network of their own which enables you to promote your show through them. 

Choose Guests Based on Your Target Audience

To find out what kind of guests will benefit your podcast, you will need to take a look at your target audience. 

What is it about your podcast that connects listeners? Choosing guests that your listeners can connect with is vital when it comes to building your audience. 

How to Source Guests

Sourcing guests is not as hard as you may think with today’s technology. Here are some ways to help find potential guests that will help to grow your podcast audience. 

Interact with Your Listeners

The easiest way to find out what kind of guests are going to be the right fit for your podcast is to ask your audience. You can gather information from interacting with listeners through surveys and social media.

Reach Out to Other Podcasts

Check out similar podcasts to see which guests feature on their shows. Alternatively, hosts that present podcasts in the same niche as your own are also a good idea when it comes to guest podcasting. 

You may also want to think about being a guest on a podcast as it allows you to connect with a wider audience. 

Social Media

Using mediums such as Instagram, Facebook, Linked In and Twitter make it easy to connect with potential guests.

You can even see who your audience is connecting with to make the job easier. It can be difficult to stand out from the crowd when trying to engage with a potential guest, so it is important to be genuine and explain the benefits of why it would be great for them to appear on your show. 

Businesses

A guest doesn’t have to be a celebrity. It could be somebody from a local business with a new product that relates to the sector your podcast is based upon.

Source your guest by getting in touch with the company and finding out if a member of staff would be happy to appear as a guest on your podcast. 

Influencers

Most influencers will be happy to guest star on a podcast. A great way to look for influencers is on Youtube, Instagram, and Facebook. 

Maybe your podcast is all about books, so having an author as a guest would be the perfect fit. Newly published authors make great guests because it helps to promote their work as well as your own. 

Podcast Matching Services

Sites like Pod Guests and Podmatch are directories that find guests and podcasts based on your niche. Using this kind of service will save you the stress of sourcing a guest yourself as all the work is done for you.

How to Do A Podcast With Guests

There are a number of ways to use guests on your podcast to help grow your audience. 

Interview Your Guest

Traditionally, guests appear on shows to be interviewed. Promoting a guest interview beforehand to followers is a good way to help increase listeners, particularly if your guest is well known to the public or the niche your podcast caters to. 

Co-host

Co-hosting makes for great entertainment, especially if you and your guest are passionate about the topic at hand.

Having a guest co-host can help grow your audience as new listeners are introduced to your podcast. You can also help build their reputation as listeners have the chance to get to know them.

Guest Takeover

Allowing your guest to take over an episode of two of your podcast is a great way to grow your audience. 

If your guest is particularly notable, this helps to draw in more listeners. However, a guest takeover requires your guest to prepare enough interesting content to engage your listeners. 

Guests Can Share Your Content

Getting guests to share your content is vital as it can double your audience. Once you have recorded an episode of your podcast, get ready to market it. 

Methods such as live stream teasers, video/audio clips, and animated graphics are all great marketing techniques that will reach a wider audience. 

Tease Your Audience

Keep your audience on their toes by using marketing techniques to keep them guessing about future episodes of your podcast. Sharing “behind the scenes” content on social media platforms is a clever way of engaging your audience to make them wonder. 

Getting your guests to ‘Guess the Guest’ is another fun way of interacting with your listeners. Having your guest promote your podcast before it has happened is a sure way of gaining more listeners. 

Make Your Content Available on Other Platforms

Recording a podcast isn’t the only way to increase listeners. Filming your podcast provides ample opportunity to grow your audience by posting it on various platforms. 

Posting your content to Youtube and Instagram is a sure way to drive traffic to your podcasts. 

A large amount of your audience may not listen to podcasts, so using other platforms to target them is a good way to get your material noticed to essentially boost your listeners.

To Conclude

We hope this article has given you some inside knowledge on how having a guest on your podcast can help to grow your audience. 

Create a strategy that not only works for you but one that your listeners can relate to. Your guest doesn’t have to be a well-known celebrity. They just need to be relatable to yourself and your audience. 

Podcasting is all about listening, so an interesting guest who can entertain the audience is bound to increase traffic, and there is no doubt that you will be well on your way to podcast success.