Podcasting as a Book Marketing Tool

I am sure I don't need to convince anyone of the value of podcasts as you are listening to one. However, have you ever thought about how you can use it to help market your books? In today's solo episode I talk about effective use of podcasts as part of your marketing portfolio.

Transcript

Wendy Jones: 0:02

Hi, and welcome to the writing and marketing show brought to you by author Wendy H. Jones. This show does exactly what it says on the tin. it's jam packed with interviews, advice, hints, tips and news to help you with the business of writing. It's all wrapped up in one lively podcast, so it's time to get on with the show. And welcome to episode 178 of the writing and Marketing Show with author entrepreneur Wendy H. Jones. As always, it's a pleasure to have you join me here on the show. Today. I can't believe what I've ever said 178 already, it's just flying past but I love doing this. I really do. And I love having you join me each week. This week, I'm going to be talking about using podcasting as a book marketing tool. Although we've discussed podcasts before and the way you can do a podcast. Today, I'm going to discuss using it as a marketing tool. And it's something I haven't covered yet. And it's something I'm very interested in. So before we do that, what have I been up to? Well, I'm been writing like crazy, and I've been editing like crazy. And I'm about to bring out book number eight in the Detective Inspector Shona Mackenzie Mysteries, which is Killer's Cure. And I'm very much looking forward to bringing that out, it should be out sometime in the next two weeks because we are ready to go. I'm just getting the final polish bits done. So killers cars will be here with us in the next two weeks, I'm also getting ready to go to my go to the states for my trip to the states, and six weeks. Today, I will be in the States. So when you hear it in six weeks time, I will be in the USA ready for my three month tour. And I'm very excited about that. So before I get on to the actual topic, I would like to say it's an absolute pleasure to bring you this each week, I do so willingly. But it does take time out of my week and my writing, if you would like to support that time, then you can do so by going to patreon.com forward slash when to H Jones. And you can support me for just$3 a month, which is the price of a tea or coffee per month. Or you can support me by going to my website, clicking on buy me a coffee, and just paying for the price of a cup of coffee as a one off, and it will keep me in coffee. No joking, it will make sure that I know that you love the show and you want it to continue and you're finding it useful. So why did I want to talk about podcasting as a marketing tool? Well, I do get a lot of people pitching me to my podcast. And they will say, Oh, my, I've got an author who would like to come on your show. And they would like to talk about their books, etc. And that can happen. But they're pitching to the wrong type of show because mine's about writing and marketing. Now, if they come on, and they're able to talk about whatever they're writing or talk about a topic that's helpful to my audience, we can talk about their books as part of that, then that's totally different. And it's something we'll get onto in a bit in a little bit. However, I wanted to say that the reason I'm so interested in using podcasts as a marketing tool, is because I've been looking at some statistics about podcasting. And I'm stunned I am absolutely stunned. I did not realise how big the podcasting industry was. So that's rising in popularity and influence of podcasts and podcasts and podcasters. And the digital landscape is huge, and it's getting bigger by the minute. Example, there are 5 million podcasts globally in 2023 and 70 million podcast episodes, that's in 2023. We're only halfway through it. 464 point 7 million listeners globally in 2023. And this is predicted to grow to 504 million by 2024. These are staggering numbers. Now I know they're not all book, podcasts. I know they're not all right in podcasts, but they are there to help you. And you can listen to things that are interesting around the research of your book as well but we will get on to that as well. Now I'm sure this next statistic will not surprise you that Apple and Spotify are the India's industry leaders. And I would say that Apple tipsy edge but Spotify are snapping at their heels because they are looking at podcasts in a big way as well. Although, as part of their A reduction in what they're doing. Spotify have actually decided to get rid of a lot of their celebrity podcasts. And I don't know whether that wasn't that was because they weren't popular, or whether they're costing them a lot of money to pay the celebrities to be exclusive to them. But they are dropping a lot of the celebrity podcasts. So things are changing regularly on the podcast scene. And it's an it's a, as always, you will need to keep up to date with these things. So if you're listening to this, in the future, things, the statistics may have changed slightly. Podcasts are available in over 150 languages. And I again, I was stumped by this, the Scandinavian countries that have the highest possible podcast penetration rate of anywhere in the world. Now, I don't know why that is, it could be because they get very long winters. I don't know I'm making that up. But Scandinavian countries who knew I didn't, that's for sure. And the popularity of podcasts is led by the increase in sales of smart speakers. So things like the Amazon Echo, the Apple pod, all those things are actually driving sales of not sales are driving the interest in podcasts because people can listen to them on these without having to have headphones on without having to use their phone, they can just do it through the smart speaker. And it's really easy to do that. All you do is say, and I can, I'm not gonna say the word, but the woman's name. And then good. Play the writing and Marketing Show. And they will play it. It's phenomenal because I'm on Amazon podcasts. I'm on all sorts of podcasts and podcast distributors. But apples, not apples. I'm on Apple podcasts, but I'm on Amazon podcast as well. So you can just say to your smart speaker play the writing and Marketing Show, and it will do it. You don't even have to find it anymore. It's amazing. But these are figures that can't be ignored, guys, they really cannot because there are so many people out there who may not have heard of you, but will hear of you through podcasts. So why are podcasts and effective marketing tool for promoting books? Well, first of all, you need to talk we need to talk about how you can target your audience. So you need to be on podcasts that are about your books. Now that's not saying it just has to be a book podcast. Because for example, if you are writing books about 19th century, Scotland, even though they're novels, you will have done a lot of research on 19th century novels. So you can pitch yourself to historical podcasts. And you may find that you can talk about writing books that are set in 19th century Scotland, because you're talking about the research you've done, you're talking about how you why you're interested in that time period, that particular area, how it relates to your books, everything like that, so you need to pitch it correctly. So my first tip to you here is look widely. Look around, see the different types of podcasts that relate to what you're doing. Listen to a few of them. That's important. Then pitch yourself. Of course, you can pitch yourself to book review podcast, you can pick pitch yourself to write in podcast. But if you're pitching yourself to write in podcast, the idea is you go with something that you can bring to them. And that's what they're interested in, what can you bring to them, not what can they do for you. So pitch it the right way, and you will find that they will have you on and you will be able to talk about your books as part of it. So my friend that's as I say, that's my first tip. And it's something you mean want to stop the podcast and do now is look for as many podcasts that you could appeared on, as you can think of jot down all the different ideas for podcasts that might be interested in having you as a speaker. For example, if you do talks on your particular topic, even though they're novels, if you do talks on them, you could pitch yourself as a public speaking, and you know how to be an effective public speaker, how to do talks, things like that. Think of as many different podcasts as you can, because your books will come into it. And each of these have a different reach. So you're reaching a different target audience. Soalthough you're niching down, you're widening it out as well and you're reaching a different target audience because all of these people may be interested in your books as well. And why is podcasting unique over other other digital channels and marketing channels, while podcasting, I will tell you, I listened to mine in the car, and I can listen for half an hour, and the journey is over. And I've learnt a lot while I was driving along. And it's not too long. If I listen to audiobooks in the car, there tends to be a bit disjointed. Unless I'm going on a long journey. Of course, it can be a bit disjointed, but podcasts usually are the perfect length. And I can even listen to two or three of them if they're shorter podcasts. So trust me, they are perfect because they're a perfect length, and people can learn something from them. And people are interested in them. People are interested in podcasts. What about hosting your own podcast? Well, my second episode, first or second episode of This podcast was about hosting your own podcast. So I would like to refer you to that. But if you host your own podcast, you can talk about your own books every week. Now, I'm not saying you just host a host a podcast that talks about your books, you would need an idea for one. And that's the starting point, you need an idea for your podcast, because you can't just go on and say I'm going to talk about my books every week, because people will get a bit fed up about it. But you can talk about your books every week, even if it's briefly you're bringing it to the audience's attention. And so Rana hosting your own podcast is extremely effective, because it can actually help you to create a deeper connection with your readers, because they hear you talking every week. If you your unique voice, they hear what you're like they get to know you. And readers will think about you as a person, as well as your books, they'll feel they've got a connection with you. And that is a good thing. And there are a lot of effective author hosted post cut podcasts out there. And one of the ones I would like to bring to your attention is the creative pen by Joanna pen. And she this has a huge impact on her book sales. And listening to her podcast, I was invited to do it as well. It's an excellent podcast. So it's listening to podcasts as well. It's not just about appearing on podcast, it's listening to podcasts, because of you listen to podcasts about marketing your books, then you're going to learn a lot and I mean a lot about about marketing and promoting your book, you're going to learn a lot about writing books, you're going to learn a lot about researching for your book. So it helps you to move forward and helps you to be better at what you're doing. So listening to podcasts. Now I listen to a lot of different podcasts. If I listened to them all every week, then I would soon run out of hours in my week. So you need to be selective. What I do is I have a lot of podcasts that I listen to, some of them are only 1015 minutes long. So I might listen to two or three of them a week, others or longer, I might just listen to one of them that week, because I'm not interested in the topic of the other. So I pick and choose the topics rather than listening every single week to every single podcast. But on the whole I there are certain ones I always listened to. And one of them is the creative pen. Appearing on podcasts, as I said earlier is an exam is a brilliant way of getting the word out about your books. It's a really, if you you're providing value, if you provide value, people will remember you more. If you provide value, then readers will pick up on you more, they're more likely to pick up your book and read it. And also when you go on as a guest, your reach is exponential because you get in front of all their audiences as well as your own audience. So your reach is much further and then their audience might be sharing them with other people. So again, your reach goes out even further. So it's a very good way of doing it. So I want to give you some tips. First of all, do your research. Do your research and make sure it is the right podcast for you. That is my first tip for doing that. My second tip is find out how you actually approach them, then send them an email. In your email say I have been listening to your podcast. I especially liked episodes, X, Y and Zed with speakers, A B and C and I learned so much from them. And it has helped me in whatever way has helped you. I am also an author, writer. And I noticed that you haven't had anyone talking about a on your podcast, and I have a lot of knowledge in this area. And would you be interested in having me as a guest, if you would like to discuss this further, I would be happy to do so. But to see how you can help them, if they have heard it before, if you say they've heard how to podcast for authors, you can say, I see that you've not heard anything on podcasting, and to attract readers. I happen to be an expert in this. I have written articles on it. I've written blogs on it. And would you be interested in hosting me on your show, because I think I could bring value to your readers, put it in their court. And then when you actually have done the podcast, thank them. And also see when the podcast comes out, share it far and wide, and tag the podcast host in everything you do. So they know that you're sharing it, it's not just about you getting the word out about you, it's about you helping to get the word out about them. It is a two way process. And that's important to remember. And so what if you're doing book related podcast content, there's lots of things you can do. If you're running your own podcast, you can have books, reviews, you can have, how to write historical fiction, you could have how to write crime fiction, you could have the best crime books of the month, the best crime books of the year, the world is your oyster, there are lots of different ways in which you can get the word out about your books. But you're doing it in a way that entertains because remember, like everything, every piece of anything you do, needs to bring value. And you bring value by entertaining, engaging and informing. So if people learn something, and they enjoy it at the time, then you're more likely to have success in selling books, through your podcasts, it's you're better at marketing. And you can also collaborate with other podcasters Why not discuss with, you know, other podcasts that focus on books and literature, whether they would be interested in doing a couple of joint shows, and see if that would help reach out to someone and say, I'm really interested in maybe doing a hosting takeover one week, you never know, they might not want that. But hey, somebody might just need you to do something. One week, I had to I had, I lost my voice one week. And I needed to bring a podcast out. And I collaborated with someone who stepped in and did the podcast for me. And it was an extremely popular episode. And they just got a different view from someone else and a different take on it. Because let's face it, there are times when maybe you can't do your podcasts for whatever reason, and you don't get hung up, then you just can't do it. getting hung up doesn't help anyone. So to summarise, in order to use podcasts as a marketing tool, you need to research podcasts that are already out there, you need to think about whether you would like to set up your own podcast to do this. You need to think about and research podcasts that you could appear on. You need to make sure that when you pitch them, you do it in the correct way. That's really important. And you need to make sure that you are able to do it. Oh, and my last thing if you are hosting your own podcast, decide how often you're going to do it. It might be every two weeks, it might be every week, but make sure that you do it regularly. But don't get hung up if you can't because you know life happens. If you're in hospital you don't want to be getting too worked up about a podcast. I hope you found this episode. Interesting. I'm hoping to be back next week. We'll be back next week and I'm hoping to have a guest with me and we will be talking about yet another aspect of writing and marketing. So thank you for your time. Have a great week and keep reading and keep writing brings us to the end of another show. It was really good to have you on the show with me today. I'm Wendy H Jones. And you can find me at Wendy H jones.com. You can also find me on Patreon where you can support me for as little as $3 a month which is less than the price of a tea or coffee. You go to patreon.com forward slash Wendy H Jones. I'm also Wendy H. Jones on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Thank you for joining me today and I hope you found it both useful and interesting. Join me next week when I will have another cracking guest for you. Until then, have a good week and keep writing. keep reading and keep learning