Here is a list of 10 of the most effective podcast marketing strategies guaranteed to build you an audience and improve your brands visibility.
What is Podcast Marketing?
But first we have to understand what podcast marketing is, so what is it ?
Any kind of strategy or plan which is intended to expand your podcast’s audience and raise its profile is referred to as podcast marketing.
There are numerous approaches you may take to accomplish this, and even though some tactics are well-known, you still have the freedom to think creatively and promote your podcast in below ways.
Podcast Marketing Strategies
Over the past 10 years podcasts have gained a surge in popularity among masses, thus there has been a need for marketers to tap to new audiences.
Before starting to market your podcast we caution you to at least record and archive 20 episodes before considering any kind of marketing.
By doing this, you can make sure that your audience is engaged with content they can truly listen to.
Here are the top 18 podcast marketing strategies to boost your shows visibility;
- Submit your podcast to directories
- Use social media platforms
- Collaborations
- Optimize your podcast’s SEO
- Create a podcast website
- Leverage email marketing
- Publish podcast episodes on YouTube
- Create an audience persona
- Run giveaways
- Invite high profile guests and influencers
- Paid advertising and promotions
- Leverage your existing audience to attract more listeners
- Launch email newsletters
- Teasing upcoming episodes 24 hours ahead of their release
- Include links in your email signature
- Mention previous episodes
- Build and expand your network
- Calls to Action (CTAs)
1. Submit your podcast to as many directories as possible
It will be simpler for listeners to look for, find, and listen to podcasts if you submit your show to well-known directories like TuneIn, Spotify, Apple Podcasts , iHeartRadio and Google Podcasts.
Once your podcast has been added to the directory, make sure all of the information about it is up to date.
This includes the title, description, and titles and descriptions of each episode.
Your podcast can stand out in the directory and draw in new listeners with the help of positive ratings and reviews.
Urge your audience to listen to, rate, and comment on your podcast in the directory
2. Use social media platforms
One of the greatest and most dependable platforms for podcast promotion is social media due to the fact that it continues to grow day in day out.
We’ll examine a few of the social media platforms to put your podcasts.
Tik Tok
TikTok, released just in 2017, has 2.5 billion daily active users. This has made it become one of the best platforms to help you get better views translating to higher audience on your podcast.
TikTok offers a variety of unique options that you may use to promote your podcast, such as personalizing popular songs or doing duets with other producers and fans.
Instagram also enjoys a big audience which if strategically targeted will lead to increased traffic for your podcast.
You may post season trailers, teasers for upcoming episodes, and sneak peeks from previous episodes using the Reels and Instagram stories
You can also include a link in your bio that redirects fans to your website, and other social media platforms you have
Intimate details that bring your audience even closer to you and your show can be shared on your feed, such as audiograms or photos of the full podcast production process, including your gear, the editing process, behind-the-scenes photos with your guests, and other details.
Facebook
With over three billion active monthly users, Facebook is the largest and one of the most popular social networking platforms.
Media content you post to Instagram and TikTok can also be shared on Facebook seamlessly.
Facebook Groups is an indispensable feature to use to strengthen your approach. Another feature to take advantage of is Communities completely devoted to any subject you can think of.
However, each group comes with its own set of terms and conditions to aspiring members.
An example i know of how John Amoke from Nairobi Kenya used Facebook to grow his podcast. He created a dedicated page with engaging content like episode teasers and behind-the-scenes clips. He hosted Facebook Live Q&A sessions to interact with his audience. John also ran targeted Facebook Ads to reach new listeners and collaborated with other podcasters for mutual promotion.
Encouraging listener reviews and maintaining a consistent posting schedule helped build credibility and anticipation. He also created a Facebook Group for listeners to discuss episodes, enhancing loyalty and word-of-mouth promotion. These strategies successfully expanded his podcast audience.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn may at first be downplayed as a strategy when it comes to podcast marketing.
That said, LinkedIn boasts of a large pool of thought leaders and creative minds who engage in various topics.
You can also join existing groups or create one for yourself. This allows for discussions, quicker feedback, and debates by your fans and enthusiasts.
3. Collaborations
Collaborations with other podcasters is an exemplary podcast marketing strategy.
Collaborations gives you first-hand experience into other podcasters’ creative process. It also allows you to connect with like-minded individuals and cross promote your content to newer audiences.
Getting shout outs from other podcasters increases your chances of getting more listeners which translates to bigger audiences.
Cross promotions are normally done through guest appearances, social media shout-outs and co-hosting episodes or sometimes interviews.
4. Optimize your podcast’s SEO
In a world of ever changing trends, it is crucial to realign your podcast and optimize it for SEOs. taking into consideration best practices for your website and the podcast itself. hence your content has a higher chance of spreading to wider audiences.
A crucial pillar and principle of SEO optimization is to use targeted keywords so that it is suggested by the search engine when potential listeners look up the topic.
How you name each individual episode is equally very important. It gives you the ability to capture audiences’ attention as well as explain what the show is all about.
The title sells whatever you are putting out there as it directly impacts how much of the target audience it can reach.
Additionally, describing each episode to the letter is equally as important as this attention to detail creates interest among audiences.
The list below shows some of our best tools which can assist you to find the keyword or key phrase;
- Google trends
- Ubersuggest
- Ahrefs keyword Explorer
- Google’s Keyword Planner
- Semrush
- WordStream
5. Create a podcast website
Create a podcast website. Having your own podcast website is an excellent way to provide additional information about your program while also making it easy for people to find and subscribe.
Using a website as a podcast marketing approach offers various benefits which includes.
An SEO-optimized website is an excellent method of podcast marketing. It provides opportunities to increase traffic and trust among potential listeners.
Furthermore, it makes it easy for existing listeners to reference previous episodes or find new ones without having to search endlessly on streaming services like Spotify.
Generate traffic -By developing a website for your podcast, you can increase visitors to your show.
You can promote each episode on social media sites and link back to your podcast website to boost engagement with potential listeners who haven’t heard of you yet.
You can also utilize SEO methods on your website by including keywords in the title tags and meta descriptions so that search engine crawlers can quickly find it when users search for topics related to your podcast.
Build credibility
Having a dedicated website for your podcast will help you gain credibility with your listeners. A website allows you to share all of your episodes, show notes, and other podcast-related material.
This builds trust with potential listeners by demonstrating that you constantly produce high-quality material.
Having an easy-to-navigate website gives listeners a double edge because it allows them to discover exactly what they need fast and efficiently.
Grow your audience
Having a podcast website allows you to expand your podcast audience by providing them with something tangible, such as a home base where they can find show-related information.
Furthermore, imagine someone has already listened to one of your programs but cannot recall the title or specific specifics about it.
In that instance, users may quickly find that information on your website rather than browsing through lengthy lists of episodes in their streaming app collection.
6. Utilize email marketing
You can use your subscription list with listeners’ email addresses, you can regularly share podcast updates to keep them interested and glued to your show.
You can also do this by sending special content and notifications about upcoming episodes and events on show.
Email marketing allows you to keep in touch with your audience creating relationships for your show’s foundation.
This creates a culture of devoted listeners.
Moreover, you can increase the popularity of their podcasts by carefully targeting their material to the correct individuals.
Email marketing also provides information into what type of material resonates with consumers, since podcast owners can track which types of emails elicit the greatest interest and engagement from their audiences.
When done correctly, podcast email marketing will not only help you establish a passionate community of dedicated followers, but will also teach you how to do so.
7. Publish podcast episodes on YouTube
It is worth noting that Youtube has more than two billion monthly users, thus starting a podcast on the video sharing platform is advantageous.
But if your podcast is still “young” and do not have equipment yet, you can begin with uploading an image that accompanies your audio episode.
YouTube is the second most used search engine behind Google.
In order to increase engagement, social media reach, and website traffic, you can take advantage of the huge numbers that it the platform comes with.
Capitalizing on this creates more exposure and audience reach.
Youtube Publishing makes it easier for potential listeners to find you and draws in funs who are less likely to listen than watch.
YouTube allows you to monetize your content through sponsorships and advertising, increasing your revenue.
YouTube is better placed to attract an audience that prefers video content. This enables you to tap into another segment of audience thereby increasing your reach.
8. Create an audience persona
Understanding your audience is the foundation of any effective podcast marketing and promotion approach. One useful approach is to develop a listener persona.
A listener persona is a semi-fictional portrayal of your ideal listener, including demographics, interests, and listening patterns.
How to create a listener persona; a step by step guide
Define objectives
Determine what you want to discover about your listener persona, such as their hobbies, age group, region, and listening patterns.
Select data collection methods
Decide whether to obtain data through surveys, social media polls, or both.
Create questions
Create questions that specifically target the information you wish to obtain. Make sure they discuss their hobbies, age group, and reasons for listening to your podcast.
Conduct surveys and polls
Distribute surveys and polls to your existing audience via relevant methods such as email or social media.
Analyze data
Once you’ve gathered enough responses, examine the data for patterns and trends.
Create a Listener Persona
Use the analyzed data to develop a thorough listener persona.
This character will lead your content production and marketing strategies.
Implement findings
Use the information from your listener persona to personalize your podcast content and marketing methods.
Creating a listener character can help with content development, advertising, and community participation.
Knowing who you’re speaking to can help your podcast marketing techniques be more effective and targeted.
9. Run giveaways and gifts
Contests and prizes are an interesting way to attract new listeners while also rewarding your loyal audience.
These promotions can generate buzz for your podcast, encouraging more people to listen, subscribe, and even become active members of your podcast community.
Giving out discounts on branded merchandise, a simple shoutout on your future show or may be a mention in your next episode’s show notes are just some of ways to get your audience hooked.
10. Invite high profile guests and influencers
Another under the radar marketing strategy is to host exciting and famous guests.
High profile guests can include celebrities, social media influencers and politicians just to name a few.
It can be daunting task to think about asking a celebrity to be a guest on your show.
But you’d be surprised how many celebrities are willing to be featured on multiple podcasts.
They may have a new content, cause, or product to market or promote.
Aim for the big names in your specific industry or field.
These can be experts in any subject matter that your audience would love to hear from.
Guests like these may not be household names for the average person but still, related enthusiasts would probably be excited to hear from them.
11. Paid advertising
Paid advertising can be a brilliant marketing strategy for your podcast.
Unlike organic growth, which takes time and consistent effort, paid advertising offers immediate results.
It allows you to target specific demographics, making your reach more focused and effective.
However as the name suggests, they are paid for hence the need for a dedicated podcast budget.
Social media ads
Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook ads allow you to target audience segments according to demographics, interests, and behaviors, so you can reach people who are likely to be interested in your show.
When creating ads for social media, be sure to craft fascinating visuals and copy that highlight your podcast’s value and unique selling points.
Always include a clear CTA, such as “Listen Now,” and provide a direct link to your podcast on Spotify.
Search ads
Platforms like Google Ads can help your podcast appear in search results for relevant queries.
This strategy can be particularly effective because it targets people who are actively searching for content related to your podcast.
When setting up search ads, conduct keyword research to understand what potential listeners might be searching for.
Use these insights to create a list of target keywords for your campaign and optimize your ad copy and landing pages around those terms.
Spotify AdStudio
If you have a marketing budget, you can deploy a campaign on Spotify AdStudio to advertise your podcast across other shows and music on Spotify.
Based on your knowledge about your listener base, you can choose which audiences and genres of podcasts and music you want to target with the ads.
Just like with social media ads, make sure you include a specific and powerful CTA that encourages people to check out and follow your podcast.
12. Leverage your current audience to attract more listeners
Your current listeners can help you build your audience, so be sure to ask them to subscribe.
Gaining more subscribers improves your podcast’s ranks. The better your ranking, the more accessible your show is to potential listeners looking for new podcasts.
Additionally, urge your listeners to provide a review or testimonial.
Run giveaways or praise new reviewers (“We’d like to thank Amoke John, who dropped us a 5-star review”).
People enjoy receiving shout-outs and free gifts, so this method will inspire more listeners to submit reviews and comments.
And, like your subscriber numbers, the more good reviews you have, the higher you will rank.
13. Launch email newsletters
A newsletter is an amazing marketing approach that allows you to repurpose podcast content, get listeners excited about upcoming podcast episodes, guests, and subjects, and offer supplementary information or a deeper insight into your show.
A valuable and consistent newsletter can have a knock-on impact.
If your email list appreciates the additional and unique content you share in these emails, they will forward it to their own networks, so contributing to the organic growth of your program.
14. Releasing teasers and trailers of upcoming episodes a day or two earlier
If you have an interview with an exciting guest, tease your audience on social media the day before the show airs. This allows you to build anticipation. Something as basic as this can raise awareness and promote social shares (especially if you tag the visitor in your post, who is likely to repost or share it from their account).
15. Include homepage links in your emails
An underrated yet effective way of podcast marketing and promotion.
Including hyperlinks to your show and website in your email signature makes it super easy to access both instead of an interested party having to go back to type and search for your content again.
16. Mention previous episodes
Refer back to your older podcast episodes whenever you can to get more traffic.
For instance, you might say something like, “We talked about [topic] back in episode 33, so be sure to go back and listen if you want to learn more!”
17. Build and expand your network
Grow and expand your network. Joining your industry network is an excellent method to promote your show.
Find methods to meet and support other podcasters, particularly those in your niche—you’ll be surprised at how much help and brand exposure you’ll get in return.
Consider the following strategies when it comes to your network;
Join podcasting-related groups
Discover a site (or several) where other podcasters hang out, such as Facebook’s Podcast Support Group, Reddit’s /r/podcasts, or LinkedIn’s Podcasting Technology Resource Group, to name a few.
Cross-promote
Reach out to comparable podcasts and recommend mentioning each other on your own. You can also entertain each other as guests.
This manner, you can each gain exposure to a new set of listeners.
To find other podcasts in your niche, visit the iTunes listing page, or use tools like as Matchmaker.fm and SpeakOnPodcasts.com, which connect podcast creators with potential interviewees.
Invite them and offer to appear on their shows
Networking with like-minded podcasters from avenues like groups and communities makes it easier to send out invites to them to appear on your own podcast.
This creates invaluable relationships.
Request a share
If you mention someone or their brand on your show (in a favorable light, of course), contact them to see if they’d be happy to post it on social media.
After all, they’re also getting some free publicity as well.
18. Calls to Action (CTAs)
Requesting your listeners to subscribe, review, share your podcast on social media, or tell a friend about the show should always be in your scripts.
These compelling words, as simple as they seem, always work.
It should, however, be noted that you should not come across as too desperate.
CONCLUSION
And with that, we hope we have given you the best insight into 18 of the best podcast marketing strategies to boost your shows visibility.
With this detailed list, you have a plethora of choices of which choosing the top 10 podcast marketing strategies definitely becomes much easier.
Ultimately, it all boils down to getting your show in front of as many listeners (and viewers) as you possibly can through the numerous channels available like podcast directories, podcaster support groups, social media, or YouTube.
Marketing your podcast takes a lot of effort, but it’s worth it. All the best.
Also read: 9 simple steps to monetize facebook in Kenya
