So you’ve done all your internal preparations, and you feel like you’re ready to start podcasting marketing. Maybe you’ve even put in the work and made one or two audio recordings.
But then, you realize that it’s one thing to make a podcast and another to get people to download and listen to them. That’s where podcast marketing comes to the rescue.
Perhaps you’ve even published a few podcasts, but the views just aren’t racking up. If you’re looking at how to improve this, you’re in the right place.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to podcast marketing, here are 8 of the best podcast marketing tips and strategies to up your podcast marketing game without using promotion services.
Table of Contents
1. Look Like a Pro From the Start
If there’s one thing you want to avoid when podcasting, it’s coming off as an amateur. Podcast consumers expect some sort of baseline level of know-how from podcasters.
That’s why you must look and sound like a pro from the start if you want your listeners to take you seriously.
One of the first things new subscribers will notice is your brand. What’s your brand image? How commanding is your logo design? What’s your identity?
If you can answer these questions clearly, you’re probably on the right track with your podcast marketing.
You also want to make sure that you’re paying attention to and taking advantage of how you design your podcast cover for every podcast you put out. That will influence an audience’s interaction with your podcasts.
2. Build an Email List
Email marketing has one of the highest investment returns among digital marketing channels. According to Constant Contact, email marketing has an average ROI of 42 times.
That said, not all email marketing campaigns are equal. Targeted and list-segmented emails drive the most returns. Email marketing also serves as a simple way to connect with your fans at a more personal level.
So, if you have a website, make sure you’re collecting your listeners’ email addresses. With this list, you can send a personalized message to your audience every time you publish a new podcast.
If you intend to do more than just new podcast notifications, an email list will still go a long way with your podcast marketing.
3. Leverage Your Guest Audience
Think of your guests as your best promoters. Inviting interesting guests to your podcast provides a unique experience for your listeners and allows you to produce more engaging episodes.
You don’t want to invite anybody just for the sake of it. You should focus on working with podcasters within your niche, as well as those with a similar audience.
To make your podcast more popular, it’s always better for your appearance to be well-known personalities with their show and listeners, be they influencers or industry experts.
Inviting people with a broad reach will expose your podcast to a large audience and make it easier for you to increase your subscribers.
That will influence an audience’s interaction with your podcasts. Besides, you can consider working with one of the top podcast marketing agencies to streamline the process and ensure success.
4. Scale With YouTube
Another strategy to boost your email marketing is to convert the podcast audio into a YouTube video and name it “Interview with…” for SEO. This is a great way to get double exposure for your podcasts.
The simplest way to repurpose a podcast for YouTube is to convert the MP3 file into an MP4 file. Then, add an image of your brand to appear for the length of the video and upload it.
Moreover, you can take advantage of the description section to include notes and links to your website and social channels.
A better — albeit more resource-consuming — option for uploading to YouTube is to record both video and audio content while making a podcast episode.
This way, you can replace that static image screen with an actual video where viewers can see you talking.
This is great for guest interviews or if you have a co-host.
Posting full episodes are great, but another way to add variety to your content is to cut your YouTube video into clips. You can create noteworthy, bite-sized clips from full episodes for your YouTube Channel.
This way, you can better target members of your audience who consume longer videos and those that prefer shorter clips. New viewers can also easily view these clips and have a sense of what your podcast is about.
5. Submit To Podcast Sites (Podcatchers)
Podcatchers, also called podcast aggregators or directories, are apps that play podcasts. The most popular one is Apple Podcasts, the default iOS podcast app.
Beyond Apple Podcasts, dozens of other apps and websites feature new podcasts.
Some of the most popular podcatchers include Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Google Podcasts, Castro, Downcast, Overcast, Podcast Republic, and TuneIn to name a few. Your podcast will work just fine with any of these services.
You also have the option of trying out each app to find out which one works best for you and your listeners.
Once you’ve selected a few podcatchers of your choice, create accounts with them and submit your RSS feed. All your new episodes will be auto-published on each platform.
As users of these platforms scour for new shows to consume, they may happen upon your podcasts, exposing you to new audiences. This is a highly effective podcast marketing tactic.
6. Podcast Marketing – Publish at Strategic Times
What you don’t want to do is upload podcasts whenever you like. While you can do that, the best approach to improve your podcast marketing is to have a consistent schedule on how often you release new episodes.
Whether that be once a week or several times a week, keep it on the same day so people know when to tune in.
A best practice is to post your podcast episodes on specific weekdays. This will help your audience know when to expect your new releases and better anticipate and prepare for them.
Having a consistent schedule will go a long way in helping you create a following that is loyal to your content — customers who keep tabs on your platform to make sure they don’t miss out on new uploads.
You don’t have to get it right from day one, though. You can gradually work on a schedule to help you achieve consistent publishing times like with your blog.
In addition to consistent times, you should watch the trends to make sure your content is always relevant. You want to work on identifying opportunities in happenings around the world and your niche.
This will help you to talk about things that people are interested in at the moment. There’s a high chance of attracting new listeners, too with this podcast marketing tip.
7. Be a Guest on Other Podcasts for Marketing Your Podcast
If you are already familiar with inviting guests to your podcasts, you want to start doing the opposite: going on other people’s podcasts as a guest.
Simply go to any podcast site and navigate the various categories to find podcasts in your niche. Once done, reach out and make that guest appearance.
You’ll be introducing your content to a complementary audience, and you’re likely to attract more followers.
While some platforms may require some info about you, others may ask that you subscribe to their guest request newsletter. Overall, many podcasts out there are likely to welcome a proactive outreach.
Plus, you can rest assured that you’ll be getting an excellent promotion opportunity for your podcast. If you want to be a guest on my podcast please email me at lisa@inspiretothrive.com
8. Get Busy With Social Media Marketing
More companies realize the importance of social media marketing to brand exposure, and you should be no exception. If you want to market your podcasts better, you must promote them on social media.
With so many social platforms promoting various content types, there are more than a dozen ways to do so.
To take the most advantage of the social platforms, ensure you customize posts for each of them. Know what works on Facebook and implement it and do the same for other platforms.
For example, you don’t want to use the same long post you uploaded on Facebook for Twitter, as most Twitter users will appreciate short-form content.
Another great way to get people to engage with your podcasts is to open a discussion on the topic you’ll be addressing. Ask the community about their thoughts on the topic, and make them feel important.
You might have to give some things away, but your focus should be on giving subscribers an idea of how much value they’ll be getting from the entire podcast.
Conclusion of Podcast Marketing
Podcast marketing is a trial and error and retrial process. You implement different things to see what works and what does not.
Make sure to try out all the tips mentioned here to find out what does it for you.
Once you get those working strategies, use them to drive subscribers to your podcast and open new ways for others to find you.
I’d love to know if you are podcasting and what you are doing to promote your podcast in the comments below.
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She has 30+ years of experience in marketing/advertising with 11 years of experience in content marketing, social media, blogging, and SEO.
You can purchase her eBook about Twitter on Amazon.
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Social media marketing levels the podcasting playing field in a big way Lisa. Being generous, social, patient and persistent can grow your listener base quite nicely. Podcasting grabs only a tiny bit of my attention span but any listeners I attract tend to find me through social media, with my chatting and sharing being key drivers.
Ryan
Hi Ryan, do you do any pocasts? I don’t think I’ve seen you doing them yet. Yes, I’d agree the same principles of social media would apply to podcasting and blogging too 🙂 Thanks for your input and have a fabulous day 🙂
I do light podcasting over on Anchor.fm but only here and there. I may ramp it up one day but feel busy enough with my blogging, guest blogging and blog commenting campaigns. We shall see 🙂
That’s where I was too Ryan. I haven’t done one in over a year 🙁 Time to get on it if time allows.
Lisa: We should have a talk about podcasting… 😉
By the way: Do you mean several different podcasts, or episodes of one podcast, in the following sentence: “Perhaps you’ve even published a few podcasts, but the views just aren’t racking up.”
Hi Martin, yes we should 🙂 I meant episodes. How are your views doing vs. your blog? I’d love to know the comparison. Thanks for coming by on this one Martin and enjoy the rest of your day!
Ryan: If you want to talk podcasting someday in the future, please feel free to contact me. I have an idea for a podcast for you… 😉