As of February 2021, there are over 1,750,000 podcasts available for listening, and the number is growing every day. In the United States alone, 104 million people listen to podcasts once a month, and 68 million listen weekly. Both popularity and competition are growing, and it’s critical your podcast promotion strategy is designed to cut through the noise. Where should you start? Here’s a look at the basics.
1. Understand Your Listener Demographics
Whether you’ve been recording podcast episodes for years, or you’ve only just started, understand your audience and how your content resonates with them.
Age
The vast majority of listeners in 2020 (49% to be exact) are between the ages of 12 and 34. A large range, but when it comes to podcast promotion and making sure your content is getting noticed, it’s important for creators to be aware of the majority market. What ages are most likely to align with your show’s message?
Genre
Even if you’ve found your podcast niche, keeping an eye on genre popularity will help you stay relevant and keep up with industry trends.
A few of the most popular podcast genres of 2020 include Comedy, True Crime, Health, and Fitness. Recently there has been a rise in demand for quality news podcasts that focus on current events. In general, listeners are looking for qualities of sincerity, trustworthiness, and humility, both in reference to the host and the content itself.
Whether your podcast fits neatly into one of these more popular genres or not, adjusting your content even slightly to accommodate the listeners desire for light-hearted, informal presentations of important but difficult subject matter can drastically influence your success.
Consider re-visiting old podcasts with guests, giving commentary and adding new information based on current events and the changing world. Don’t be afraid to rethink your podcast promotion strategies. It doesn’t require a huge risk, just small adjustments as you experiment.
2. Optimize Your Audio for SEO
When we talk about promoting content, we often think about SEO (and for good reason).
At its core, SEO (also known as Search Engine Optimization) is about using popular keywords to bump up your ranking in search engines, with the goal of increasing traffic to your content. These keywords are taken from the title, subheadings, alt text, meta descriptions, and the body of the content itself. Podcasts are inherently different, as they typically contain much less text than a normal page on a website. That said, how do we get the same SEO benefits of a blog for our podcast?
Repurpose your podcast audio into a keyword-rich blog post.
This is a great way to recycle old content (without major edits or re-recording) and drive more traffic to your show. Take some time to research keywords relevant to the podcast, optimize the title, subheadings, metadata, and body copy. If you need help with this, you can always partner up with a team of expert writers like Podcast Bloggers.
3. Promoting Your Show with Sponsorship Revenue
You’re probably wondering how working with podcast sponsors can help amplify your podcast and grow your audience. The answer is ad revenue!
Sponsorships are an easy way for hosts to earn money and create a marketing budget for their own show. Even with a small audience, podcasters can make $100 from a few host-read ads to fund a paid social media campaign that’ll put their show in front of new listeners. You can do a lot with only $100 in Facebook Ads.
Yet, many podcast hosts aren’t leveraging their shows to earn sponsorship dollars. Whether you think your content is too niche or your audience is too small, don’t be so quick to write off sponsors.
Today, more brands than ever are taking advantage of podcast advertising. With the increasing number of listeners as we mentioned above, this audio sphere is a breeding ground for advertisers. Just because you’re not Joe Rogan doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of these opportunities. You’ve likely heard the expression “The riches are in the niches” and it’s no different in advertising.
Types of Brands Utilizing Podcast Promotion
If your podcast is for True Crime junkies, pitch collaborations with independent films, mystery game companies, local escape room businesses, or even games for the phone (June’s Journey is a perfect example).
If your podcast is for young entrepreneurs or freelancers who work from home, you can advertise office supplies you find useful, helpful tech, or webinars that feature experienced professionals.
Or if your show focuses on topics around motherhood and family, feature products you’ve tried and tested, materials you’ve found helpful, or even get-aways for partners who need a mini-vacation!
In the United States, 81% of listeners report paying attention to ads during a podcast, 60% of listeners have bought something from a podcast ad, and 54% are more likely to consider the brand because it’s being recommended by a source they trust.
In short, podcast listeners actually enjoy listening to what their favorite podcaster has to say. If they vouch for a product, they’ll be more receptive which makes it an attractive channel for advertisers.
As a podcaster with a loyal audience, there’s a good chance that if you reach out to a company you are passionate about and support yourself, they’ll be willing to set up a trial-contract to promote their products. Most companies are always looking for new marketable spaces for their products, and it’s incredibly rare for the proposal to be rejected outright.
4. Think Beyond Your Show
For many hosts, podcasts are only a pillar in their overall content marketing mix. Many also use their show content as the foundation for their blog, YouTube channel, live speaking opportunities, and more. Cross-promoting your show through different media is one of the best ways to drive more eyeballs back to your podcast.
Some of the most popular podcasters take this to the next level with TV shows, radio segments, and published books. The possibilities are endless.
Pull together content from your most popular episodes and write a book. Collaborate with an animator and publish a comic. Gather a panel of your guests for a talk show, pitch it to a network or streaming service.
Does your podcast revolve around personal stories and experiences? Partner with an artist who can translate those stories into short animated YouTube videos to reach a new audience.
If your comedy podcast has taken off, round up a few other comedians you’ve met through the platform. Create a tour together that is uniquely your own, using the material you’ve collected over the years.
Even if you’re not sure what the next step should be, don’t let any of your content go to waste. Think big, and use everything you have. Don’t limit your creativity to podcasts themselves. Branch out into new media to express your thoughts and give you another avenue for podcast promotion.
5. Measure Growth Across Every Channel
As with all marketing initiatives, don’t forget to track your progress and measure your results. Podcast traffic, subscribers, downloads, and reviews are just a few metrics that help gauge the success of your promotion tactics. Tracking growth from each marketing channel will help you pinpoint the most effective parts of your campaign. Double down on what’s working and ditch what’s not.
It’s easy to get caught up in vanity metrics. Make sure your marketing efforts are directly impacting revenue or the ROI metric most important to you and your podcast.
Whether these examples have inspired you or not, there are endless podcast promotion opportunities. Make sure none of your time, talent, or tenacity goes to waste.
How We at Podcast Bloggers Help Our Customers
If you’re a podcast host looking for new ways to promote your show you need to check out Podcast Bloggers.
We transform podcast episodes into SEO-optimized blog posts to grow your audience.
Publish your podcast on every marketing channel, including your website to help Google discover your show and reach new listeners. Make it easy for readers to find, learn, and share your podcast with others.
