Podcast Marketing Strategy: How to Grow your Audience?

Podcasts have seen a massive surge in popularity over the past few years, with millions of people tuning in daily. With this increased popularity comes an opportunity for marketers to use podcast marketing to reach new audiences and grow their brands.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss tips for growing your podcast audience.

Here are some great podcast marketing strategies:

1. Submit your podcast to directories
2. Use social media platforms
3. Reach out to influencers
4. Start podcast monitoring
5. Collaborate with other podcasters
6. Optimize your podcast’s SEO
7. Create a podcast website
8. Leverage email marketing
9. Publish podcast episodes on YouTube

01 Submit your podcast to directories

Submitting your podcast to popular directories like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts will make it easier for people to find and subscribe to your show.

Once your podcast is in the directory, keep your podcast information updated, including your podcast’s title, description, and episode titles and descriptions.

Positive ratings and reviews can help your podcast stand out in the directory and attract new listeners. Encourage your listeners to rate and review your podcast on the directory they listen to your podcast.

Thanks to the social listening tool, you can discover the most active and influential sites and podcast apps that match your podcast.

02 Use social media platforms

Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are great places to promote your podcast and connect with potential listeners. You can:

• Create a dedicated social media account for your podcast on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Use this account to share updates about your podcast and connect with potential listeners.
• Share your podcast episode on your social media accounts as soon as it is released. Use engaging captions and include relevant hashtags to increase visibility.
• Share behind-the-scenes content on your social media accounts, such as photos or videos from the recording studio, to give your followers a glimpse into the creation of your podcast.
• Engage with your followers by responding to comments and messages and starting conversations around your podcast’s topics. This can help build a community around your podcast and increase engagement.
• Use live streaming platforms like Facebook Live, Instagram Live, or YouTube Live to interact with your listeners in real time. This can help you build a more engaged community around your podcast.
• Create a social media community for your podcast, such as a Facebook group or subreddit, where your listeners can discuss your episodes, ask questions, and share their thoughts.

03 Reach out to influencers

Identify influencers in your niche and reach out to them to see if they would be interested in promoting your podcast or appearing as a guest on your show.

Here’s how you can do it:

• Identify influencers in your niche by researching popular blogs, podcasts, and social media accounts related to your podcast’s topic. Look for people who have a large and engaged following and who align with your podcast’s values and mission. You can use a social listening tool for this purpose. Such a tool will detect influencers that match your brand.

• Before reaching out to an influencer, research their content and audience to ensure they are a good fit for your podcast. Look at their social media accounts and website to understand their interests and audience.
• Then create a personalized message highlighting why you think your podcast would be a good fit for their audience. Provide specific examples of how your podcast aligns with their interests and values, and include a link to it.
• Offer value to the influencer, such as promoting their content on your podcast or social media channels. Building a mutually beneficial relationship can increase the chances of them promoting your podcast.
• Invite the influencer to be a guest on your podcast. This can be a great way to reach their audience and gain exposure for your show.
• Follow up with the influencer after your first message and remind them of your podcast and why you think it would be a good fit for their audience.

04 Start podcast monitoring

Social listening is a powerful tool that can help you promote your podcast more effectively. Podcast monitoring will present you insight into what your audience is saying, what they are interested in, and how they perceive your podcast. 

Here are a few ways to use social listening to promote your podcast:

• Identify key topics and hashtags related to your podcast’s niche and set up alerts to track mentions of these topics and hashtags. This will help you identify opportunities to join conversations and promote your podcast.
• Monitor your competitors’ podcasts to understand what they are doing well and where they may need to catch up. Use this information to inform your own podcast marketing strategy.
• Engage with your audience by tracking podcast mentions and responding to comments and messages. This will help you build a loyal community around your podcast.
• Monitor the impact of your social media promotions by tracking the key social media metrics. Use this information to inform your future promotions and understand what content resonates well with your audience.
• Identify trends in the conversations about your podcast and use this information to inform your content strategy. Use the feedback to improve your podcast, align it to your audience’s needs, and tailor your promotions accordingly.

05 Collaborate with other podcasters

As a podcast host, you can invite others to record episodes together. Collaborating with other podcasters in your niche can effectively attract new podcast listeners. It’s a great way to promote a podcast.

Here are a few ways to collaborate with other podcasters:

1. Identify other podcasters in your niche with a similar target audience and content to yours. Look for podcasters with a similar style and tone and who align with your podcast’s values and mission.
2. Reach out to the podcasters you identified and introduce yourself and your podcast. Explain how your podcast complements theirs and how a collaboration would benefit both of your audiences.
3. Once you’ve established a partnership, cross-promote each other’s episodes by sharing them on your social media accounts, websites, and email lists. This will help you reach new listeners and increase the visibility of both podcasts.
4. Co-host an episode of your podcast together and discuss a topic that interests both of your audiences. This can help you reach new listeners and gain exposure for your podcast.
5. Create a bundle where you and the other podcaster discuss a specific topic of interest. This can create a more engaging experience for your listeners and increase the chances of them listening to both podcasts.
6. Organize live events or meetups related to your podcasts. This can help you connect with your listeners and build a community around your podcasts.

06 Optimize your podcast’s SEO

Using SEO strategies can effectively improve visibility and increase engagement with listeners when promoting a new episode of a podcast series.

By optimizing titles, descriptions, website content, and social media posts related to the show, marketers can ensure their content is seen by more people interested in the topic.

Here are a few tips:

• To optimize your podcast for SEO, you should focus on keyword research, creating a relevant theme or topic for your podcast, a podcast description, and summaries for each episode. 
• Also, you should upload your podcast to popular platforms such as YouTube and Spotify and optimize your podcast by creating a podcast trailer and episode descriptions. 
• Additionally, creating content on evergreen topics and trending topics can be helpful for podcast SEO.

07 Create a podcast website

Having your own podcast website is a great way to provide more information about your show and make it easy for people to find and subscribe.

Take a look at some benefits:

• Build credibility – A dedicated website for your podcast will help you build credibility with podcast listeners. A website allows you to post all of your episodes, show notes, and other relevant information about your podcast. This helps build trust with potential listeners by showing that you take the time to provide quality content consistently. Furthermore, having an easy-to-navigate website makes it easier for listeners to find exactly what they need quickly and efficiently.
• Generate traffic – creating a website for your podcast also allows you to generate more traffic to your show. You can promote each episode on social media platforms and link back to your own podcast website, which can help increase engagement with potential listeners who may not have heard of you before. You can also use SEO tactics on your website by incorporating keywords into the title tags and meta descriptions so that search engine crawlers can easily find it when users perform searches related to the topic of your podcast.
• Grow your audience – Having a podcast website allows you to grow your podcast audience by giving them something tangible – a home base where they can go for resources related to the show. Additionally, suppose someone has already listened to one of your episodes but does not remember its title or certain details about it. In that case, they can easily look up that information on your website instead of scrolling through endless lists of episodes in their streaming app library.

An SEO-optimized website is a great way of podcast promotion. It provides opportunities to generate traffic and build credibility with potential listeners. Also, it makes it easier for existing listeners to reference past episodes or find new ones without having to search endlessly on streaming apps like Spotify or Apple Music.

Here you can see an example of a great podcast website:

08 Leverage email marketing

Building an email list of your listeners and sending them regular updates on your podcast is a great way to keep them engaged and coming back to listen to the newest podcast episode.

Email marketing can be an excellent tool for podcast owners looking to build a loyal audience. It is a great way to stay in touch with your listeners and develop relationships.

Through email, podcast owners can provide their subscribers with special content and reminders about podcast episodes. Also, it’s a great way to inform the audience that you host other podcasts.

With careful targeting, podcast owners can ensure their content reaches the right people and takes their podcast’s popularity up a notch!

Email marketing also provides insight into what kind of content is resonating with users, as podcast owners can track which types of emails generate the most interest and engagement from the audience.

When done right, podcast email marketing will not only help you build an enthusiastic tribe of loyal fans – but it will tell you exactly how to do it too!

09 Publish podcast episodes on YouTube

Publishing your new podcast episodes on YouTube can greatly expand your social media reach, engage new listeners, and drive more traffic to your website.

YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google, so it makes sense for podcasters to leverage this platform for additional exposure and reach.

Publishing your podcast on YouTube makes it easier for potential listeners to find you and help attract people who are less likely to listen than watch.

YouTube also provides an easy way to embed your podcast onto websites and social media pages. This can help you spread your podcast’s message even further, and an increase in visibility can lead to more downloads and subscribers.

YouTube videos can also be used to monetize your podcast through ads and sponsorships, giving you the potential to earn extra income.

Finally, uploading episodes to YouTube allows listeners to watch the podcast’s video version, which can be a great way to engage with viewers who prefer visual content.

Conclusion

Podcast marketing is an ongoing process and requires consistent effort. It’s important to be creative and experiment with different tactics to find what works best for your podcast.

Additionally, it’s essential to track and measure your results to see what’s working and what’s not so that you can adjust your strategy accordingly.

In conclusion, podcast marketing is a powerful way to promote your brand. By combining the podcast marketing strategies discussed above, you can increase your visibility, reach a wider audience, and build a loyal following for your podcast.

Want to grow your audience? Start podcast monitoring right now!