Did you know that the number of U.S. podcast listeners is expected to increase by 6.1% year-over-year to 125 million? This is particularly prevalent among younger listeners, with 39% of U.S. adults expected to listen to podcasts monthly.
The podcasting craze is so strong right now that everyone and their mother seems to want to get in on it with a podcast of their own. However, that’s a lot of competition to deal with, and some are worried they can’t stand out in the crowd.
To help you find success, here is a beginner’s guide to promoting a podcast.
Table of Contents
1. Start Off With a Niche
Don’t start recording anything until you’ve settled on a niche (or theme). This is the topic of your podcast that will remain at the center of all your episodes.
An example of a podcast with a niche is WealthAbility on audible. This is a financial podcast in which CPA Tom Wheelright offers wealth-building tips and tax advice to help listeners achieve their financial goals.
There are several other types of podcasts you can do. Just make sure the theme of your podcast is marketable and that it has an audience.
2. Design a Website
Designing a podcast website with a blog is an absolute necessity, especially when starting out. Aside from the fact that blog content is easier to share than a podcast link, blog posts also attract a different audience than you’d reach with a blog alone. Moreover, blog posts open the door for SEO, which is of major importance in promoting your podcast.
3. Social Media Marketing is a Must
No podcast promotion is complete without a social media marketing plan. This doesn’t just mean that you post a link to your podcast on Facebook and walk away. You need to go to the social media platform where your target audience is present and share interesting and appealing information in a unique way while also sharing the link.
For example, post an audiogram or teaser video of the podcast on Facebook or Instagram. This is where you put short clips from the podcast that somehow catch a prospective listener’s interest. You’ll find this to be far more engaging and hard for listeners to ignore than mere text alone.
4. Schedule Guests
One can not emphasize enough the importance of guests for podcasts. Even if you have an engaging personality, listeners like it when you mix it up with other experts in your niche. This builds your credibility, and it also opens the door to you being exposed to the guest’s audience.
5. Publish In a Consistent Manner
When you’re ready to start recording, create a few episodes and release them on launch day. The more content the viewers have to listen to from the start, the more likely they are to subscribe.
After that launch, start posting in a consistent and timely manner. To determine exactly what that means for you, look at how other podcasts in your field publish their content. Stay consistent to hold on to your listeners’ interest.
Promoting a Podcast
There are several other aspects that go into promoting a podcast, but these tips should prove helpful in getting started. You will start off small, and you should not expect to blow up overnight. But if you follow these tips, you will see growth, and you will have a greater chance of being a successful, money-making podcaster.
For more information on podcasts, visit our Business and Entertainment sections.
