By I hate asking people for things. Call it years of ingrained people-pleasing if you want, but mostly, it comes from my not wanting to waste anybody’s time, including my own. So when I ask you to co-present with me in a webinar or event, it’s because there’s nobody else I wanted to ask. You were the best possible speaker (or collaborator) on this topic, I know there’s existing demand for it, and I know that I have what it takes to make sure your message is heard loud and clear.
Now… this works in the inverse too. I don’t hate when people ask me for things. But when they invite me to their podcast, webinar, or conference, I take it seriously and I think critically about the unique content I can create for their audience. I also tend to assume they have their acquisition strategy locked down. That is, until they ask the red flag questions:
“Can you post about it on your LinkedIn at least 3 times?”
“Can you send a couple dedicated emails to your list?”
“Can you help us drive at least 100 signups?”
And that’s when my enthusiasm fades. It’s not that I don’t want to help. After all, if I’m speaking at your event, it’s because I really do believe it’s a great use of my and my audience’s time. I am happy to promote it. I just don’t want you to think you can use my audience.
Look, friend. I’m going to hold your hand when I say this: If you’re relying on your guest to bring in signups, it’s because you don’t have a demand strategy.
I know that sounds harsh, but stay with me — this is one of the biggest mistakes I see brands make when they collaborate with guest experts. They think borrowing someone else’s audience is their acquisition plan. It’s not.
Guest speakers aren’t your growth hack. They’re your content marketing partners.
SparkToro’s Approach: Expertise Over Ego
At SparkToro, we’re really thoughtful about who we invite to guest host our webinars. Every content decision ladders up to one simple question:
What can I (or this person) uniquely say that nobody else can?
If we want to teach Audience Research 101 or zero-click marketing, those are Rand Fishkin or Amanda Natividad things — because those are our lanes. If we want to dive into content marketing, event marketing, demand generation, or even PR, sure, we can cover that too (and we have!). Those are areas where we have some expertise and experience. But we aren’t uniquely known for them.
Now when we want to dive into a more specific topic like Google Analytics 4 or B2B storytelling, we’ll look outward for true subject matter experts.
When GA4 was first rolling out, I knew I didn’t know squat about it. So I called up our friend Steve Lamar, Founder of ReallyGoodData. He knew GA4 inside and out, and had built free tools to help people transition. Perfect fit.
I hosted that session as the “dumb user,” asking the beginner questions and leading the discussion on behalf of everyone who felt lost. Steve brought the expertise. I brought the marketing power.
When we hosted a B2B storytelling session, Jay Acunzo was the first person we thought of. We provided the platform and the thousand-person audience, and he brought a fire presentation. And two years ago, when ChatGPT started to pick up steam and everyone and their mom* was panicking about how to “adopt AI or get left behind like a f-ing loser, bro” we knew we weren’t the experts. Britney Muller is. So we called her and pretty quickly, over a thousand people signed up.
That’s how it’s supposed to work.
(*Well, not my mom. She does not care.)
Why We Do Guest Webinars (and What Actually Works)
SparkToro’s Office Hours webinars with guest experts have been one of our most effective (and surprisingly simple) growth channels.
The benefits are clear:
- We reach new leads and subscribers.
- We deepen engagement with our community.
- We give our audience something to talk about (and share!).
- We reinforce SparkToro’s value through practical education.
When guest experts lead a session, we get the unique advantage of marketing their expertise. But here’s the thing — the leads rarely come from their lists. They come from ours.
Our GA4 webinar with Steve Lamar was our biggest one ever: 2,647 signups. Almost all of them came from our owned channels. People didn’t sign up because we begged Steve to blast his email list five times. They signed up because we said, “Hey, GA4 looks hard and it’s coming soon and we don’t know wtf we’re doing but we found this guy who knows what’s up, come join.”
That’s the power of audience trust.
Your audience shows up because they believe you’ll connect them to the right experts. You don’t need your guests to “blast their lists” if you’ve already built that trust yourself.
How to Host Guest Speakers the Right Way
Here’s the playbook I’ve developed after years of running webinars and events that actually convert and make experts want to come back:
1. Do your own marketing.
If your strategy depends on your guest’s promotion, you don’t have a strategy. Build a real acquisition plan — email, organic social, maybe paid — and treat any promotion your guest does as a bonus. They’re not on your payroll, so they shouldn’t be on the hook for anything beyond creating the content they’ve agreed to do.
2. Choose experts for their perspective, not their reach.
You’re not booking an influencer campaign. You’re curating expertise. Prioritize people who can teach something your audience doesn’t already know.
3. Market the topic, not just the person.
“Come learn GA4 from a data expert” or “Learn storytelling from a successful show runner” performs better than “Come see this person.” Frame the value around the problem being solved.
4. Treat your guest like a partner, not an employee.
They’re lending you their time, energy, and expertise — all of that is hugely valuable. In return, give them the captive audience and the space to shine.
5. Make it easy to say yes.
Be clear about expectations: time commitment, deliverables, and format. When guests know you’ve got the logistics and marketing handled, they’re far more likely to show up enthusiastically.
When It’s Okay to Ask Guests to Promote
Now, nuance time. If you’re paying a speaker — like a formal speaking engagement with a contract or scope of work (SOW) — sure, it’s fair to include promotion expectations. You’re compensating them for both their expertise and their reach.
But if they’re volunteering their time to share knowledge with your community? That’s different. Your job is to make them look good, not put them to work.
Guests don’t work for you. They’re lending you their credibility. The least you can do is lend them your audience.
And by the way… I feel like this is a great opportunity to say that in a few weeks, I’m speaking at Turing x SYSTM Growth Summit in London about content marketing in a post-SEO world. This is my first trip across the pond and I’d love to see you there!