Would you love to get started with using interviews in your pet business content?

Chatting to industry experts and other pet professionals helps keep your marketing material interesting and fresh.

You bring a new face to your audience and it can help you build your following too.

In this podcast episode I’m breaking down everything you need to know if you want to start using interviews in your content marketing.

You can listen in on the player link below or carry on reading as a blog post.

* denote an affiliate link, meaning if you click through and buy a product I will be paid a small commission but this doesn’t affect the price you pay.

What is an interview

I know this sounds a bit silly, but an interview is defined in the Oxford dictionary of Journalism at follows.

“A journalist asking somebody questions for the purpose of obtaining information for a news story or feature.”

But you don’t need to be a journalist to do an interview. We are all publishers now with our websites and social media.

So there is nothing stopping you from channeling your inner newshound and carrying our interviews.

Why use interviews in your content marketing?

There are plenty of positives for using interviews in your marketing.

1. You bring a fresh face to your audience.
2. You can show your expertise.
3. You stand out from the competition.
4. You become a trusted source of information.
5. You can educate your audience.
6. You improve your understanding of the topic.
7. You build authority.
8. You reach the audience of the person you’ve interviewed.

How to use interviews in your content marketing

Your interviews can be used in so many different ways and repurposed over and over again.

Here are some examples to help ensure your interviews reach far and wide.

1. Use the content for copy on your website.
2. Take themes and sections from the interview and use as social media posts.
3. Create graphics and infographics for social media.
4. Send an e mail to your subscribers to tell them to check out the interview.
5. Use the interview as bonus content for an online course.

How to find people to interview

If you’re planning to start using interviews in your marketing, it’s vital to make sure you’re approaching people your audience want to hear from.

The easiest way to do this is ASK them, Who would they love to learn more from?

Are there any topics they want to learn more about?

What challenges do they face in relation to your area of expertise?

For example, if you’re a dog groomer and you think your followers could benefit from advice on keeping their dog healthy and happy in the winter, you could get winter walking tips from a dog walker, trainer or even a vet.

How to carry out the interview

For years I used a notepad and pen, and a trusted Olympus dictaphone – and I still use this for most of my journalism work.

There are so many tools out there now to carry out interviews. You can use Zoom and record video and audio.

You can go live on Facebook and Instagram and ask people to join you, and use software like Streamyard to go live on multiple platforms.

You can carry out interviews face to face and record on your smartphone, or pick up a clip on Rode microphone to improve your sound quality.

Try this Rode clip on microphone on Amazon* for £59

Finally, if you’re looking to write interviews rather than do videos or live, you can send questions via e mail and create your content from this.

What to do after the interview

Always say thank you to the guest and ask for their bios, social media and website links and images.

You’ll need these for your social media posts and to create graphics to go with the interview when it goes live.

What to do when the interview is published

Share, share, share!

Remember you’re the only person who sees all of your content and you want as many people as possible to see it.

Make sure you tag the person you interviewed so they can share with their followers too.

Send them the graphics you’ve created and if you feel comfortable, you can write posts for them and make it easy for them to share the content.

Also, repurpose it when the topic is in the news, or if there’s an awareness day relating to what was covered in the interview.

Finally, if you’re not there already, come and join my free Facebook group as we have a sharing thread where you can show off your content each Friday.

Here’s the link www.facebook.com/groups/publicitytipsforpetbusinesses and it would be great to see you there.

Links mentioned in this episode:

How to find people to collaborate with in your pet business content

How to start a podcast for your pet business

Get out your way and put yourself out there with Osmaan Sharif

How to get started with guest blogging in your pet business