Podcast Marketing: 10 Ways Get More Listeners

In the last few years, there has been a drastic increase in podcast channels and podcast shows
online. With more than 800,000 active podcasts, the competition for listeners is at an all-time
high. For any podcast to be successful, podcast marketing is an important aspect to include in any
strategy.

Why You Need a Podcast Marketing Strategy

Bruce Wawrzyniak, host of “Now Hear This Entertainment” wrote in a previous guest post that he fears podcasters are constantly adopting a “build it and they will come” approach. But with over 1 million podcasts in circulation, distribution on a variety of different platforms is not enough.

In fact, one of the biggest struggles that podcasters face, is not how to launch their podcast, but how to promote their podcast and gain listeners. Effective podcast marketing can make or break your podcast. It can be the difference between a show struggling to get a hundred monthly downloads to a show that has a loyal following and is getting hundreds of thousands of downloads per month.

Whether you are considering starting a podcast or have one already, you will need to learn how
to grow your audience numbers. The number of people listening to a podcast show is an
important factor in its success.

Therefore, a bigger listening base translates to a successful podcast show.

Here are ten of the best podcast marketing strategies that are sure to get you more listeners.

1. Set up the foundation of your podcast

Before you start any marketing journey, it is important to take the time to come up with a promotional plan for your podcast.

This includes gathering all the essential components of an effective marketing campaign, including:

• A proper title for your podcast show
• Appropriate artwork that will resonate with your target audience
• The right tone of voice, which conveys a thousand things to a listener and is key in getting what you want to say across correctly.
• The type of show format you would like to implement, which will allow your audience to understand your brand from the start.

Marketing is all about communicating your key message to your target audience. Therefore, effective marketing strategies always begin with understanding the who, what, where, when, and why of your podcast.

• WHO is the audience going to be?
• WHAT is your podcast going to be about?
• WHY do you want to start a podcast AND why should the listener tune in?
• WHEN will your podcast be published (this focuses on your posting schedule)?
• WHERE can listeners listen to your podcast?

All of these steps are important in communicating with your target audience and giving them a reason to listen.

Spreaker Quick Tip: Podcast Cover Art

Always remember to communicate your message effectively through your cover art. First impressions count. And, although you should never judge a book by its cover – people inevitably do, especially when it comes to podcasts. Your podcast cover art needs to look informative, engaging, and eye-catching at a glance. This is ideal for brand awareness and for creating curiosity in the mind of anyone who comes across your brand while searching for podcasts in your niche. When a potential client is curious, they are likely to click on your channel for a listen.

2. Invest in quality equipment

For your podcast to be a success, you need to ensure you invest in the best podcast equipment for your show. Sound quality is an important aspect of a podcast and is the one thing you cannot compromise on.

It is recommended to use high-quality podcast microphones and checking your sound levels before going live. Having the best microphones and gadgets for your podcast is the best way to ensure you can compete in this highly competitive space.

Read more about it: Three Pieces of Gear for Starting A Podcast.

3. Be strategic with your podcast & episode titles

The first thing that search engines see when looking for optimized content is the title. This is why you need to make your podcast titles catchy while ensuring you use the right keywords for each episode. How you title your podcast episodes has an impact on the number of people an episode attracts. Apart from labeling your episodes using titles, you need to use words that tell a potential listener what the episode is about.

A podcast name should be short and sweet. Keeping it simple and direct is always ideal when choosing a podcast name. Ensure you give your podcast a name that represents exactly what it is to make it easy for potential listeners to identify it. For instance, Football Weekly or the Property Podcast are titles that tell you exactly what a podcast is about.

If you run a somewhat fun and interactive podcast, you can play with words, phrases, and puns to come up with a podcast title. This can be a clever way to make a statement and stand out while ensuring it represents your podcast niche. The best way to test a funny title is to test it on your friends to see if they understand what it is about.

Another way to come up with a catchy podcast title is by incorporating your brand’s name. This is especially effective if you already had a brand following before the podcast. Using the same name makes it easy for people to associate the podcast with your brand. Good examples include the Joe Rogan Experience or the Tim Ferris Show that leverage the fame of their founders

The title should be the hook to every episode. The most successful titles include how-to titles, tips titles, and guide titles. If these are not fit for the kind of shows you host, you can use other creative ways to curate your titles to attract the right audience.

You can add an episode description with the relevant keywords to tell listeners more about the episode. This ensures your titles remain short, as longer titles can often be a turn-off for most people.  

4. Create a podcast website and separate pages for each episode

While most people prefer to host their podcast on existing platforms, this is not ideal for getting your show noticed. These platforms offer basic website designs, which do not make a podcast stand out. The best way to get your podcast noticed by listeners and search engines is using a private website for your podcast.

Some of the important reasons for creating a website for your podcast include:

• Share-ability: sharing content in blog form on your website is easier than sharing links to a Google or Apple podcast.
• SEO friendliness: when you have a website, you can have a blog that can hold content tailored for your audience.
• A larger audience – having a podcast website makes it easier for you to reach a larger audience through your podcast and your blogs.
• Email marketing – you need a website to be able to build an emailing list.

On your website, ensure you dedicate different website pages for all your episodes. This will ensure your visitors do not have to scroll through lists of episodes to get to the content they want to listen to. Dedicated landing pages also offer more listener engagement using appropriate headlines, strong call-to-actions, visuals, and copy.

The main purpose of a landing page should be to get your visitors to listen to the podcast. Therefore, you need to fill it with information that will quickly inform their decision to listen. This includes a clear headline to describe the show, quotes and testimonials from listeners, links to other episodes, and a button to subscribe to your emailing list and podcast.

5. Implement smart podcast SEO strategies

Search engine optimization or SEO is a marketing strategy that ensures your podcast is listed higher on search engine results. The best way to enhance your podcast SEO is by using the right keywords, descriptions, titles, and content for your podcast. This should be in line with what your target audience is searching for online.

Keywords are important because they are the linchpin between what people are searching for and the content you are providing to fill that need. Your goal should be to drive organic traffic to your podcast from SERPs. As a result, the keywords you choose to target (the ones you include in your content) will determine your traffic.

To enjoy podcast SEO success, you need to optimize your podcast for typical google search results and podcast directory search engines where your podcast is listed. Ensure you use relevant keywords in the podcast description and even name.

Every episode you create should also use the relevant keywords in the title and description to ensure it attracts the right audience while ranking highly on search engine results. The ultimate goal for your podcast is to become one of the top podcasts across all platforms. This requires you to combine great content with the best SEO strategy.

Every time you upload a new podcast episode on different listening apps, ensure you follow up with a post on your website. The right content should have:

• SEO friendly page title
• H1, H2, H3, etc. subheadings
• ALT attribute of images
• Meta description
• Relevant keywords distributed throughout the article.

Understanding and implementing podcast SEO means discoverability. People who have never heard of your podcast can accidentally find it on Google. This is the power of keywords.

Want to learn more about podcast SEO?

Specifically:

• Search Engine Optimization: What is It?
• How to Find the Right Keywords
• The Ways Google Displays Podcasts
• How Does Podcast SEO Work: Best Practices
• and more

Read our article: How to Make Your Podcast SEO-Friendly

6. Cross-promote your content on social media

Producing and publishing a podcast requires a lot of commitment and time. It is equally important to ensure you are also taking time to promote the podcast. One of the best places to create brand awareness is on social media platforms. Many podcast listeners are also active users of social media platforms. To be able to reach this audience, you need to be active on these platforms.

Instead of simply putting up posts and tweets on social media, you can include sneak peeks of your shows on Facebook live, especially when you have exciting guests. You can also turn part of the recording into YouTube content to maximize on the platform.

Ensuring your content is visible on multiple social platforms in different forms is an excellent way to attract new listeners. Make sure to subscribe to the Spreaker Youtube channel here to learn more about how to market your podcast.

7. Start using paid advertising services

Sometimes the best way to advertise a podcast is going the classical marketing way. The best thing about modern-day advertising is that you can do it on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Once you have the right keywords, going for paid advertising on Reddit ads, Google AdWords, Stumbleupon ads, and Facebook Ads can be a great way to get more listeners for your podcast. The first listeners are the hardest to get new podcasts, and paid marketing can make this process easier. Other places to consider advertising include blogs or featured podcasts.

8. Use influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is also an ideal way of reaching your target audience in other people’s subscriber lists. When looking for an influencer to collaborate with, you need to go for one with followers in your demographic. You can host the influencer on your show or approach them and use your negotiation skills to get a mutually beneficial partnership where they mention your podcast on their social media platforms for free marketing on your podcast.

You can find ideal influencers on social media platforms where most of your target audience is found. Start by engaging them on their pages by replying to their posts and sharing their content. Once you have created a rapport with their brand, you can approach them and ask them for a partnership.

Podcasts are an ideal method of enhancing PR for most brands today. Therefore, work on creating a mutually beneficial agreement to get more influencers to want to market your brand.

9. Create and nurture an email marketing list

Email marketing is one of the most beneficial aspects of marketing with the best returns. Based on statistics, email marketing gives back $44 for every $1 spent, making it an effective way of connecting to your listeners and attracting more listeners.

When it’s all said and done, email marketing is the perfect solution to continue cultivating relationships with your community.

Although there are many other digital marketing apps to use for your podcast, email marketing is by far the best, and here’s why. You can:

• Send automatic reminders to your audience to take a specific action
• Seamlessly have in-depth conversations expanding on what they thought of a certain podcast topic 
• Gather, analyze, and interpret responses are easier to utilize via email
• Use intuitive platforms to personalize messaging based on customer responses and behavior on an email
• Send mass messages, reaching more people with one click
• Monetize your emails

Want to learn more about email marketing?

Specifically:

• What is email marketing?
• Why is growing your podcast email list important?
• How can you capture emails?
• Email Content
• Email Sequences
• Welcome email formula
• and more?

Read our article: Why You Should Grow Your Podcast Email List

10. Get publicity in the media

The media is one of the avenues you can use to promote your podcast to a larger audience. You need to team up with the best journalist in the business to improve your chances of reaching the right target audience. Platforms such as HARO (Help a Reporter Out) can help you connect with authoritative media sources and journalists.

When you enroll in a media platform as a source, you will be the go-to person whenever the media needs content related to podcasts for paper articles, radio, or TV. In exchange for your input, your podcast or brand is quoted, and a link to your podcast is included in their news outlets.

Podcast Marketing: The Recap

There’s a lot of great advice out there from people who have successfully grown and marketed their podcast. Much of it we’ve covered here in the post. Here’s a quick recap:

1. Set up the foundation of your podcast. This includes the W’s of your podcast.
2. Invest in quality podcast equipment.
3. Be strategic with your episode titles. 
4. Launch a podcast website
5. Implement smart podcast SEO strategies
6. Cross-promote your content on social media
7. Try paid advertising
8. Use influencer marketing
9. Create and nuture an email marketing list
10. Get featured in the media

Learning the best ways to promote your podcast is often a trial and error process until you find the perfect marketing mix for your channel. By testing a few of the strategies highlighted above, you are sure to come up with the perfect marketing strategy to suit your needs.

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