Content Upgrades are a relatively new concept in the conversion optimization game, but one that is gaining traction because… well it works.

Although this concept might have started with a traditional blog in mind it’s been quickly adopted by podcasters as a way to increase conversions on their website.

To some of you it might seem trivial or just another thing to add to the checklist, BUT the small stream of emails that it contributes definitely add up over time!

What is a content upgrade (for podcasters)

A content upgrade is a specific piece of content that a user can opt-in for. And In my opinion it should be specific to the post or piece of content and not something that is site wide.

For instance this is going to be different than the type of opt in Ramit Sethi has at the bottom of every post on his site.

Instead we’re going to create a unique call to action that get’s people to take action for each post. You can see if below with the podcast Ecommerce Influence. (a podcast we happen to produce here at Just Hit Publish)

In this example they’re using a transcript of the episode as their unique content for each episode. And if you can go to the website you can see it’s different for every show.

The next question that comes to my mind is “What kind of conversion rate can I expect?”

That’s a tough question to answer because it depends on how many people visit the page and how good is the “upgrade”.

The most common upgrade I’ve helped podcasts implement is by using the transcript as the content upgrade. You can see we’re doing that in the image above.

If you go through their content upgrade (good interview with Ryan Deiss so it’s probably worth it!) you can see how the transcript is formatted into a pdf and delivered.

Using a transcript I believe you can expect a conversion rate of around .1-.5% of your downloads per episode. Obviously this can range depending on the quality of the guest. What was talked about etc.

How do I get this to work?

The easiest way to start doing this is.

Step 1 – transcribe the show (or create a special checklist, guide)
Step 2 – Use Leadpages and use the “Lead Magnet Delivery”
Step 3 – Then use leadpages to create a Leadbox for each specific show.

Example of how this all looks below!