There are millions of podcasts in the world, with roughly two million listed on Apple Podcasts, the most popular podcast-listening platform. That’s a lot of available podcast content for listeners.
Still, brands, small businesses, and entrepreneurs continue to vie for attention from their target audience, expand on their marketing efforts, and build their brand identity through podcasts.
How do you break through the noise and grow your audience? With a few tips and sound practices, it is possible to steer more followers to your show and build an engaged listenership for your podcast.
Table of contents
What is podcast marketing?
Podcast marketing is the strategy you implement to promote your podcast. This might include using social media to promote a new episode or featuring a well-known guest to tap into their audience. The type of podcast you create (interview-based, business, educational, etc.) will influence how you approach your marketing. For example, if you interview an influencer, you can tease the episode with an audio clip, but if your podcast is educational, you might create an infographic to post on social media.
Whether your podcast is your main focus or part of your overall marketing strategy to promote your brand, a podcast marketing strategy can grow your podcast audience, help you become a trusted source in your industry, and build your podcast brand.
Top podcast marketing strategies to grow your audience
- Identify your target audience
- Get on podcast directories
- Build a media kit
- Implement SEO
- Try cross-promotion
- Use guests for promotion
- Invest in paid advertising
- Develop a social media strategy
- Attend conferences and events
There are several ways to build engagement via podcasting. The most effective methods will depend on your audience, your show, and your goals:
Identify your target audience
The first step in building a successful podcast marketing strategy is to identify your target audience. If you run an online business or ecommerce store, you may be familiar with the concept of the buyer persona—a fictionalized profile of your ideal customer. This can include demographic information, geography, buying habits, and specific interests.
For your podcast, you’ll want to establish a listener persona. By conducting surveys, getting anecdotal research from your network, and exploring podcasts that already exist in your genre, you can identify your target listener. This will also help you understand how, where, and why they’re listening to your podcast episodes, which can tell you where to focus both your marketing and content creation energies.
Get on podcast directories
Podcasting works differently than most internet mediums. Instead of uploading content to a single site like Facebook or Instagram, which then hosts that content in a closed system, you upload your MP3 file to an independent RSS feed (really simple syndication).
From there, podcast listening apps (also known as podcast directories) such as Apple podcasts or Spotify act as an intermediary, allowing listeners to use those directories to receive and organize your MP3 files. This system allows people to subscribe and listen on their podcast apps of choice, while your content is hosted independently of any single app.
Once you launch your show, you’ll want to make sure that as many podcast directories as possible include your podcast's RSS feed. Many podcast host platforms (like Simplecast, Acast, or Libsyn) will automatically submit your RSS feed to apps. Getting on some podcast platforms or directories, such as Apple or YouTube, may take extra steps.
For instance, since Google sunsettedGoogle Podcasts, you have to connect your RSS feed to a YouTube account and then the website will automatically offer your audio to listeners as aYouTube video. In short, understanding how your distribution works and having your show on as many directories as possible will help you meet your audience wherever they are listening.
🌟Starting a podcast? Learn the ins and outs of recording, publishing, and growing your own podcast without breaking the bank.
Build a media kit
One key component of a successful marketing strategy is having quick and easy access to your marketing materials. Whether you’re posting podcast clips on social media platforms, pitching yourself as a guest on other podcasts, or simply chatting with potential new listeners on an online forum or comment section, having quick access to relevant images, links, and a basic show description is invaluable.
It’s helpful to have a media kit or press kit as a folder on your computer, with additional versions on your mobile device and on a shared drive, such as Google Drive or Dropbox, so you can easily access it (and share) from anywhere.
A typical podcast media kit includes:
- Your podcast thumbnail and logo
- Headshots of you or your podcast hosts
- A short one-line show description
- A longer paragraph description of the show
- A template for personalized graphics (for cross-promotion purposes)
- Link to your company or podcast website
No matter where you are on your podcasting journey, an accessible media kit will make your marketing strategy much more seamless and easy to manage.
Implement SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) basics drive potential customers to your website. The same principles apply to podcast SEO.
Since podcasts are mainly an audio medium, the SEO mostly applies to the written portions of your show, such as the:
- Podcast title (or podcast name)
- Podcast description (the short explanation of your show that appears on podcast directories)
- Episode titles (the name of each episode)
Optimization varies depending on the platform you’re using. For example, on YouTube, including video chapters can help you appear on Google.
Since potential listeners will likely see the show and episode titles before listening to the episode, it’s important to include relevant keywords that provide key information and capture the show’s personality in these short text blurbs. Vague podcast titles may make sense for your existing audience who are already visiting your own podcast website, but descriptive ones can attract listeners who are just seeing your show for the first time.
For example, if your skin care company has a podcast about cosmetic trends called “Face It,” you may want to add a descriptive subtitle to the podcast description. A title like “Face It: Exploring Sustainable Cosmetics in the Disposable Age” will provide more context to a potential listener. It can also make sense to use more descriptive titles and keywords for YouTube videos since the site’s algorithm serves your content to people who have never heard of your show or brand before.
Try cross-promotion
One tried-and-true method for podcast growth is cross-promotion. Also known as collaborative marketing, this approach can take a few different forms and can be a great way to get your show into new ears. It also helps your listeners find new podcasts that might be relevant to their tastes and interests.
One way to cross-promote is to trade promos with a podcast that has an overlapping audience. For example, you might send your podcast trailer to a related podcast, then ask them to play it on their feed as a podcast ad in exchange for playing their promo on your own podcast.
If you’re an expert in your field, you can seek opportunities to do guest appearances on other shows. Then have the show’s host on your podcast. You can even record a single conversation between the two of you and air it on both feeds. Another cross-promotion tactic is to promote a different show on your social media channels in exchange for them posting about yours. This way, social media accounts with audiences similar to yours promote your content, while also helping to associate the brand with others that have a crossover.
Use guests for promotion
If your podcast format features guests, asking them to promote the episodes on their social media pages is an effective podcast marketing strategy. That way, every time you make a new episode with a new guest, you reach a slightly different audience. And if listeners enjoy the show, they may subscribe for future episodes. You’ll want to make guest promotion as easy as possible, so creating vanity links (for example yourpodcast.com/guest_name) and having a template for personalized graphics in your media kit can incentivize your guests to post about their appearance on your show.
Invest in paid advertising
It’s wise to employ several podcast marketing tactics in tandem. Building a listenership takes a lot of work and time. If you have the budget, you may include paid advertising in your podcast marketing efforts. This can take a few forms:
- Social media ads. You can buy social media ads to reach listeners with specific interests or people who live in a specific location.
- Podcast ads. Consider purchasing podcast ads on shows with overlapping, larger audiences. This method ensures your show gets in front of listeners who are already engaged with similar content.
- Google ads. Use Google ads to promote a specific topic that you covered in a podcast episode. For example, if you run a fashion podcast, you may buy a Google ad for people searching how to style a sweatshirt with pants, which would then link to your podcast website, where they can read your show’s blog post on pants and listen or subscribe to the show.
Develop a social media strategy
Like most marketing strategies, your podcast marketing will likely focus on growing your social media presence. However, your podcast’s social media strategy will depend on how the show nests into your overall marketing strategy and business.
Suppose you’re looking to reach online communities as an expert in your field. In that case, you may use a personal social media account and post as yourself (instead of through your brand account). You could promote relevant new podcast episodes, short audiograms, or video clips as yourself.
If, however, you’re looking to build a successful podcast independently from your business, you may approach social media platforms with a show-specific tone. In this case, craft social media posts from the point of view of your show and not your business.
Attend conferences and events
Though we often think of podcast promotion as an online endeavor, it is possible to promote your podcast in the real world too. For example, you could run a table at a conference, and give away free stickers or promo material so your show can reach as many listeners as possible.
You (or yourpodcast hosts) could sponsor events relevant to your show’s topic, or participate in conferences for the widerpodcast community, like Podcast Movement, On Air Fest, or Podfest. And if your podcast is location-specific, set up a booth at a local fair or event.
Podcast marketing FAQ
Is podcast advertising worth it?
Like any advertising, success depends on several factors, including your budget, resources, and time. There are different approaches you can take—such as using social media or buying ads on similar podcasts—that can prove beneficial. To increase the success of your efforts, craft a podcast advertising strategy that takes into account your audience, goals, and budget.
Why should businesses consider starting a podcast?
If you run a business or an ecommerce site, launching a podcast can be a great way to reach a new audience and build a network around your brand. However, there are a lot of podcasts out there, so you want to make sure you’re bringing something new to the conversation. Ask yourself, what value are you providing to listeners that they can’t get anywhere else?
How do you create a podcast marketing plan?
The first step to building a podcast marketing plan is to understand your target audience and identify ways to reach them. A podcast marketing plan should be more than just posting new episodes on your social media channels. Instead, it should employ a range of tactics to find the right listeners and convince them that your show is worthwhile.
