Podcasters pour as much blood, sweat, and tears as bloggers into their content but online radio audiences, styles, and platforms can be difficult to optimize and market. Thankfully, plenty of experts have weighed in on the best podcast promotion techniques. Here’s what they have to say:
Kate Erickson—Reaching Your Target Audience and the Top 5 Ways to Promote Your Podcast
EOFire is a ranked business podcast specializing in interviewing entrepreneurs, and Kate Erickson is their lead startup writer. Here, she focuses on the basics of podcast promotion—how to find your audience, how to get to that audience, etc. Her suggestions include:
- Find your target audience. This is the key to any creative endeavor, and without this crucial determination you might as well be shouting into the wind. Find the niche that will work for you and your audience and stick to it.
- Produce good quality content. Content is king, still.
- Join an online community. Specifically, join an online community where your target audience is likely to be, and become an active community member before trying to promote your podcast. Build goodwill with the right people.
- If you have a guest on your show, email them afterwards. They’ll be more likely to promote the podcast on their own channels if you send a friendly reminder and a link to their show. By doing so, you can incorporate their audience into yours.
Jon Loomer—How to Promote a Podcast with Facebook Ads
Jon Loomer is a phenomenal online marketing expert, and here he provides step-by-step instructions on a key aspect of podcast promotion—Facebook advertising. Directly advertising on Facebook can save you precious time, and can increase downloads on your podcasting platforms. Additionally, Facebook can make advertising to your targeted audience easy by providing the ability to search for niche groups and communities. He also advises:
- Promote your podcast directly with links from ITunes and Stitcher. You can make Facebook ads that directly target specific mobile devices, and can send them the specific link works best with that device.
- Make sure to post your podcast on multiple platforms. You don’t want to limit your audience to specific devices or platforms. Spread the word as broadly as possible.
Joan Stewart—11 Clever Ways to Promote Your Podcast to the World
Joan Stewart’s contribution to Entrepreneur shares some unique podcast promotion ideas that serve to reach out to a more diverse and enthusiastic audience, especially on platforms you’d never think to use. She recommends:
- Share your show notes on Pinterest. These can provide a summary of the full podcast to intrigue listeners. Adding an image can help convince more visually-stimulated audience members to tune in.
- Share a recording of your podcast on Youtube. These videos don’t have to be lengthy or in-depth, but it’s vital to get a Youtube presence even for a podcast. Youtube is the second largest search engine online, and generating keywords there can bring more attention to your show.
- Work with other podcasters. Communicating with and promoting other podcasters will make them more inclined to promote you as well. Knowing and promoting informative, high-quality podcasts can also help you build your authority with your own audience—crucial to attracting and retaining listeners.
Buzzsprout—10 Fresh Marketing Ideas to Promote Your Podcast
Buzzsprout is a popular podcasting hosting platform with some distinct insights on the subject of podcast promotion and authority building:
- Write an e-book using your most popular content. For some people, speaking is easier than writing and therefore making an e-book from pre-existing content is not so daunting. E-books can do a lot for you and your brand—they can help you establish your authority and attract more customers.
- Change your scenery. Sometimes your podcast needs a shot in the arm only the road can provide. That can mean recording your podcast in public or doing an actual live show.
- Organize meet-ups with your fans. It’s the age of niches and communities, and fostering that community can help it grow and mature.
- Utilize giveaways. Sometimes generating good buzz is as much as giving away things for free. Good press with your audience can spread to new listeners.
All of the experts agree on one key component of podcast promotion: consistency. If you have a regular deadline, make every effort to keep that deadline. Your audience will respect you more, and new listeners will be more likely to find your show. Don’t skip deadlines and don’t be sporadic about publishing as doing so diminishes your authority. Your promotion efforts must also be consistent to match, whether it be through social media platforms or direct email messaging. Content is king, but consistency is queen.
Building a podcast is work, but it is work that can provide you with new customers, new opportunities, and new experiences. Podcast promotion is also work, but it makes your podcast’s success all the sweeter.
How do you do podcast promotion? How do you expand and retain your audience?
