Podcast promotion is an essential strategy when it comes to podcasting. Unlike when podcasts were starting, promoting a new show now requires much marketing. Waiting for the target audience to find a podcast show mostly through the search engines is a risk usually reserved for already established companies.
Moreover, you can’t rely entirely on podcast directories. You will need to use extra time and insert more effort to steadily grow your podcast audience.
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This post has been updated in August 2021.
If Podcasting isn’t precisely Cutting Edge, Why the Rise in its Popularity?
The term ‘podcast’ was relatively known by 22 percent of the US population adults in 2002. Now, according to Statista, the figure had risen to 70% in 2019. Furthermore, the same research estimates that there are 83 million podcast listeners in the U.S.A. They also expect that the number will grow to around 130 million by 2020.
The increased podcast promotion is due to the ever-increasing accessibility of smartphones and other consumer electronics. Podcasts are now a source of news, entertainment, and talk shows. People are listening to them while at home or in a vehicle while commuting.
Additionally, the rise in social media continues to enhance podcast promotion to the more enormous masses. Most popular social media platforms people are talking about podcasts include Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumbler, and YouTube.
With that being said, let’s look at some of the best promotion strategies.
The Best Podcast Promotion Strategies
Podcast promotion is vital apart from the mixing of podcast content, conducting interviews, and uploading great content. You do want to make quality content only to see your work go down the drain, with only a limited number of people listening to it.
Listed below are several strategies to incorporate into your podcast promotion. You can pick a few or use all of them. Be wise in your choosing.
1. Host Guests, occasionally including a Live Audience
One of the simplest ways to podcast promotion is to feature other people already having an established audience. Hosting recognized podcasters can provide initial exposure on top of social proof of quality for your show. If listeners hear high caliber guests talking, they will take it as a good sign of a high caliber show.
After hosting a high-profile guest on the show, ask them if they are willing to share your podcast with their audience. Make sure to ease their sharing work by making the sharing as easy as possible. Send them a notification having a link to the show notes. Furthermore, add a few scripts the guest can use to inform the audience about your podcast. You can also go ahead and include a Click to Tweet icon pre-filled with a tweet about the episode.
Remember that this strategy is a two-way podcast promotion for both parties involved. First, find quality guests and increase their exposure through your show. Then make it easy for them to share the broadcasted episode with their audience.
2. Be a Guest in other Podcasts as well
Being a podcast guest in other shows in your niche is another great way to do podcast promotion. By appearing in presentations related to your career niche, you shall be increasing your presence to people already interested in your topics. Likewise, it will require less effort to capture an already active audience who have the habit of listening to podcasts.
Therefore, get in the custom of reaching out to other podcasts regularly. Below is a simple strategy for creating such a rewarding practice:
- Create a spreadsheet containing all the podcasts in your niche that you would like to feature.
- Get their contact information and include them in the spreadsheet.
- Ensure to reach out to a number of these podcast hosts by pitching a couple of them weekly.
Through building solid relationships with these podcasters, you are likely to find reputable ones that you can feature on your show. Since many people tend to listen to similar topics on multiple platforms, relationships are a great way of ensuring cross-promotion.
Hence, collaboration is a genuine way of exposing your audience to variety while also attracting other people to your show.
3. Produce High-Value Show Notes for Sharing and SEO links
Before releasing a recorded podcast, it is imperative to assemble all the show notes. Show notes are short descriptions relaying information on what to expect in the episodes. Listeners use these notes to determine whether the broadcast is worth listening to or not. The short story, therefore, is an essential way of enticing the potential audience to hit play.
The show notes are presentable in several forms. Such records can be kept concise, focused on luring potential listeners to the episode. Also, you might include relevant and related links mentioned in the talk shows. Remember to add further resources the audience can go to if they want more information on the topic(s).
Making the show notes valuable will make it easy for the discovery of your presentation. Below are three methods of making episodes relevant:
i) Use Show Notes to Rank on Google
Utilize search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to leverage your show notes. The approach will increase the ranking of the show notes on Google.
The task is simple; take a few main topics from the episode and craft a relevant headline around the subject. Doing so will help you rank for information discussed in that episode. If you’ve hosted a high-profile guest in that particular show, use their name in the title to aid in an online search. You will, therefore, be ranking for people searching for their names.
A point to note: Kindly keep the vital information, like discussed topics and guest names, close to the beginning of the title. It is of no use to let your podcast name or its number be the forefront name over information that will attract people to the blog.
ii) Make the Show Notes Easily Shareable
After optimizing the show notes for SEO, you should tailor them to become shareable on social media by:
- Structuring the records in a shareable manner
- Including a call to action within the structure
The structure should include a compelling title that clearly explains what the episode is all about. Using a meta description that goes below the title and a sharp image to accompany the notes will aid in providing more details.
When sharing your show notes on social media, ensure that the most exciting image comes first. Social networks will typically feature the first image in your updates unless a specific “og:image” is set in the SEO tool.
Using a well-crafted image can go a long way in enticing the audience to share the podcast with their social contacts. The reason can be due to the subtle touch the image provides in addition to the name of the show.
Show notes lacking any image will have Facebook and Twitter displaying a boring text-only link. Worse, these social media platforms might decide to use images that you did not intend to share such as an author photo and the site’s favicon.
iii) Make the Show Notes Fun
Another way to do podcast promotion is to make the show notes fun and exciting to read through:
- Writing a compelling narrative around the show
- Adding additional content that not mentioned in the show
- Sharing a little-known fact about the guest not commonly available
4. Make Sure to Optimize your Podcast Promotion Website to Current Standards
Having a poor website associated with a great podcast is likely to impact the show negatively in terms of recognition. A quality website is one way of attracting a potential audience to your podcast, enabling it to grow. If you already have a website, here are some essential things to have:
- Contact Page: This is how various folks can get in touch with you when need be. The page contains your official email address and all the social media links for your podcast
- About page: Here, you’ll be selling the benefits as to why the audience should listen to your podcast
- A memorable or descriptive domain name
- Subscribe page: here is where you explain why and how to subscribe to the show
- Media kit: it is a way of packaging the podcast’s information in one convenient place for sponsors, listeners, and journalists
- SEO plugins: this helps optimize the show notes for any online search
- Social sharing buttons: each show note should contain one in their description box
- Friendly user interface: the website should display correctly on a tablet and smartphone device
Likewise, have a short promo trailer embed in your podcast homepage. It will be an excellent way for potential listeners to have a taste of what to expect in your broadcast.
5. Craft your Episode Title as Descriptively as Possible
Titling your episodes can have a significant impact on the overall podcast download numbers. Labeling your product episodes using only numbers can be detrimental to your shows. It won’t lure the potential audience to click and listen to the talk show. A vague title will have people scroll by your podcast episode without clicking.
Being as descriptive as possible in the title will help the target audience determine what the show is all about at a glance.
6. Share Testimonials & Reviews to Aid in Podcast Promotion
Sharing both reviews and testimonials is an easy and natural way of increasing engagement. Such engagements enable both the podcast and its social media handles to grow over time simultaneously.
Furthermore, the combination of the number of reviews and downloads is what determines your ranking in various podcast providers. The providers include iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, among others.
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Podcast Promoting your Way to Success
As you can see from this article, podcast promotion strategies are easy if you only take the time and effort to cultivate them. Do not rely on luck only to get your product out there. Employ these strategies into your promotion campaign and witness your podcast growing to new heights.
