How to Get the Most Out of Your Podcast Guest Appearance

You've just nailed a guest appearance on a relevant podcast in your niche. The energy, the insights, the camaraderie - it all came together perfectly. But as the recording wraps up, the next question on your mind should be how to get the most out of your podcast appearance.

Navigating the post-show landscape is just as vital as the on-air moments. So, how do you ensure that this podcast episode goes the distance and truly makes an impact? In this guide, we’ll offer you 10 actionable tips to ensure your guest spot continues to resonate, reach new ears, and reaffirm your authority in your niche.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Podcast Appearance: 10 Expert Tips

To truly harness the power of your podcast appearances, there are steps you can take before, during, and after the episode airs. Let’s dive into these handy tips.

1. Build a Rapport With The Host

When being a guest on a podcast, establishing a genuine connection with the host will, first and foremost, ensure a vibrant and dynamic episode that both of you will be eager to share and promote.

But building a rapport isn't just about good conversation, it can also lead to many other benefits. You can ask the host to give your episode a shoutout, tag you on their social platforms, or even include a link when (if) they email their listeners. This will extend the promotion beyond the recording and hopefully lead to continued mentions on various platforms long after the episode airs.

Moreover, this rapport isn't limited to the current show. It can be the stepping stone to other podcast appearances. A host impressed by your dynamic interaction might introduce you to fellow podcast hosts eager to engage in enlightening conversations.

2. Create Visual Content, Clips, & Highlights

Repurposing podcast content is the key to getting the most out of your guest appearance. Because doing so gives you the most mileage out of your work. And this can be especially helpful when promoting your latest appearance. Whether it's audio or video, captivating visuals can drive more traffic and attention.

Consider crafting audiograms, brief video snippets, or attention-grabbing quote pictures from the episode. Bear in mind the aim is to tease what’s coming, not reveal all. Offer just enough to make potential listeners click play and listen to the full episode.

There are so many tools out there that can help you create engaging visuals, even if you aren’t a designer yourself. For example Canva, Descript, and Veed.io can help you with your design, audio, and video editing needs. You can also use advanced AI tools like OpusClip if your appearance is on video. This platform repurposes long video clips into several shorter clips perfect for social media.

16 Tips for Creating Effective Podcast Artwork (w/ Examples)

3. Promote the Appearance on Social Media

Whether you’re on LinkedIn, X (formally known as Twitter), TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook, each channel offers a unique audience eager for content. And you should utilise every relevant social media platform at your disposal. But there's a catch.

Avoid the trap of one-size-fits-all. Recognise that each social media platform possesses its own distinct style and audience behaviors. So, instead of recycling the same message or visual over and over again, take a moment to tailor your promotional content to each specific channel. This strategy requires more time, but it effectively ensures your podcast appearance resonates with each platform's audience.

4. Tag the Podcast & Utilise Its Hashtags

When promoting your podcast appearance, strategically using hashtags and tagging is critical. It's not about sheer volume, but relevance. Prioritise the podcast's specific hashtags and always tag the show or the show’s host(s). Doing so will boost visibility and encourage the podcast host (and their followers) to engage with, and possibly share your post.

5. Transcribe the Episode

Producing some form of written online content to accompany each guest appearance is important for your growth. And one way you can achieve this is by creating podcast transcripts.

Put simply, a podcast transcription is a word-by-word account of everything that happens during each episode. They typically make content more discoverable, accessible, and convenient. More discoverable because they drive traffic to your website, more accessible because they give your audience more options, and more convenient because they make your content easily repurposable.

Taking the time to transcribe your podcast appearance gives you an opportunity to reach new listeners. If you’re not sure how to create a podcast transcript, or you’re not entirely clued up on why you should be doing so, we’ve highlighted all the important bits in the below article:

Podcast Transcriptions: Why & How to Create Them (Quickly)

6. Email Your Subscribers About It

Email marketing is a great way of promoting your podcast appearance. So, once your episode is live, send your listeners and fans a message telling them about the episode. You can also take this opportunity to highlight critical takeaways from the episode, provide timestamps, and more.

All in all, the content of your email will depend on what your guest appearance is about. But it works well to engage in a conversation with your subscribers. You can do this by sharing behind-the-scenes information, soliciting feedback, and involving them in the episode’s creation process. Having a back-and-forth with your audience can create a strong bond between you and them, helping to foster a loyal listenership that's more likely to share future episodes.

7. Add the Episode to Your Email Signature

Most of us overlook how useful it can be to include a link to your guest appearance in your email signature. Not sure what we mean? Well, think about the number of emails you send daily. Each one could be an opportunity to promote your podcast appearance.

Adding a call-to-action (CTA) and a link to the episode in your signature makes every correspondence a nudge for someone to tune in without being overly pushy. It's an innovative, effortless way to increase your episode's reach.

8. Engage with Listeners Post-Release

Engaging with listeners after your podcast appearance has aired is an essential way to build a solid community around your content. When your episode goes live, spend some time going through the comments sections of the hosting platform, the social media posts you’ve created or been tagged in, or any shared links and respond to them. Doing so gives you an opportunity to respond to feedback and answer questions. Acknowledging fans goes a long way in fostering loyalty.

9. Reference the Episode in Other Media Appearances

Capitalising on one podcast episode can have ripple effects across various media channels. And every new guest appearance on a podcast, webinar, or television show is a prime opportunity to reference and promote your past ones.

You don't need to make a big deal out of this, however. Simply referencing an appearance is enough. In other words, don’t turn every appearance you make into a shameless self-promotion segment. Quickly mentioning the fact you've been a podcast guest on other shows is a good way of not only building credibility, but also driving curious listeners back to older content.

10. Promote Older Episodes

Last but not least, never stop promoting your episode. Podcast episodes, especially those with evergreen content, shouldn't be limited to a one-time promotion.

If you’re constantly making new podcast guest appearances, it’s easy for older ones to become buried in your backlog. And if there’s a particular episode that you’re really proud of, it’d be a shame for it to never see the light of day again.

Promoting previous episodes can help stop this from happening. By sharing the same episode every few weeks, you’ll keep it in rotation. And hopefully, you’ll keep catching the eyes of new followers and potential listeners. Think of it like playing your favourite song on repeat - if it's good, it never gets old.