If you’re here because you want to learn how to promote your podcast, you’ve come to the right place.
Let me guess: You’ve started a podcast because you love teaching about that one thing you’re passionate about. But it’s not just about having a creative outlet — beyond that, you know for sure that podcasting is a great way to grow a loyal audience.
To appreciate the impact of podcasting on your brand, let’s take a look at some interesting facts and predictions below.
Facts, Stats, and Predictions About Podcasting
- Podcasts are popular because of their convenience. The vast majority of Americans (85%) own a smartphone, making it possible to listen to podcasts on the go. Source: Buzzsprout
- Podcast listeners in the US say they tune in because they want to learn new things. Source: Oberlo
- 1 in 3 Americans will be listening to podcasts every week in 2022. (In 2019, it was 1 in 3 Americans each month.) Source: Improve Podcast
- Podcast listeners, in particular, tend to be a highly engaged audience. 80% listen to most, if not all of the episodes they start. Source: Buzzsprout
- Spotify, a digital music and podcast service, is estimated to reach 28.2 million podcast listeners per month, compared with 28 million monthly listeners on Apple Podcast. Source: Statista
- When it comes to brand conversion, more than half of podcast listeners consider buying from a brand that’s advertised on a podcast. Source: Oberlo
- SEO and word-of-mouth drive podcast discoverability. While most listeners find new podcasts by searching a podcast directory, others search do a Google search, or follow podcast guests. Source: Buzzsprout
How to Promote Your Podcast
The good news is, there are a ton of ways to get your podcast seen by as many people as possible. First and foremost, you need valuable content that would make your audience come back for more. Then test a few strategies to know what works for you.
1. Always start with quality content.
If you want to have podcast content that engages your audience, then it needs to be something you like talking about. This also helps you to come up with new podcast episodes to keep your show running for years to come.
For those who are just starting out from scratch, make sure you do market research. Try to find out what your audience is interested in, the show format they prefer (interview, solo, co-hosted, etc.), and what’s trending in your niche.
You’ll also want to check on your competitors. See what they’re putting out and how well their listeners are responding.
2. Submit your podcast to directories.
A common podcast promotion strategy is submitting it to top directories. People are visiting these places to discover new podcasts. Do this especially if you’re only getting a few listeners.
It may take you hours to set up your show in each directory, but that’s nothing compared to the opportunity of being discovered by your true fans.
Popular podcast directories (in no particular order) include:
- Apple Podcasts
- Spotify
- Google Podcasts
- Stitcher
- Pandora
- RadioPublic
- PodBean
- Blubrry
- iHeartRadio
3. Run a giveaway.
Want to know how to make your podcast go viral? Back when I started my podcast, this viral strategy helped me:
- Rank #1 on iTunes (now Apple Podcasts)
- Get over 6,300 downloads
- Collect 446 email subscribers
- Get 50+ 5-star reviews in multiple countries
To entice people to enter my giveaway, I offered 4 different prizes, including a lifetime access to UpViral. Before signing up, they had to first subscribe and leave a review on my podcast. Here’s a snapshot of my opt-in page:
Back then, there was no way of ensuring that people really subscribed and left a review on my podcast — but based on the results, most of them did.
(The good news is, it’s now possible to make an action such as this a mandatory step of your giveaway, thanks to UpViral’s Custom Actions feature. 🤩)
Overall, running a giveaway is an effective method for growing your podcast audience. After all, winning free stuff excites people, especially with an incentive that’s ideal for them because it’s relevant and solves a need.
4. Create a blog.
If you already have a blog, guess what? That’s also a great place for sharing your show. Learning how to promote your podcast on your blog should be fairly simple. (In fact, you can use blogging and podcasting hand-in-hand by also mentioning your blog in every podcast episode.)
Consider these ideas for your blog:
- Embed a podcast episode in a blog post, accompanied by a full transcript. This has two benefits: One, people with hearing impairments can read instead. Two, you can optimize for SEO with relevant keywords in your transcript.
- Whenever you publish new blog posts, find opportunities within those posts to link to your podcast episodes. Of course, your episodes should be linked from within topics that are highly relevant so that it makes sense to check them out.
- Create lead magnets and tie them to your episodes. Lead magnets are great for growing your email list. Whether it’s an ebook, cheat sheet, or tutorial video, offer that in your podcast episode and provide the link in the description.
5. Publish at the right times.
Some podcasters release new episodes once a week, while others do it multiple times. Keep in mind that every podcast has a unique audience — meaning, what works for others may not for you.
You might want to consider these tips and reminders when planning the best schedule:
- Study your audience’s time zone and use that data to optimize your schedule. Check your analytics to determine where they’re listening from.
- If your content is evergreen, then specific release days and times may not be as important as when you’re publishing time-sensitive content.
- Consistency trumps frequency. By sticking to a consistent schedule, your audience can know when they can expect a new episode.
- Avoid “podfade” by working ahead of time. Record multiple episodes in advance and schedule them. That way, you don’t run the risk of missing a recording.
6. Promote it on social media.
Thankfully, social media has provided us a way to easily share any type of content, including podcasts, for free.
Amy Porterfield uses an enticing format — an audiogram — which combines beautiful imagery and soundbite from her podcast episode. Here’s an example:
(By the way, you can do this using Canva.) Rather than simply linking to your podcast episode, featuring a visual garners attention and engagement.
Don’t forget to write a punchy post with a call-to-action, encouraging your audience to listen to the full episode.
7. Tap into your email subscriber list.
Email marketing is one of the unique ways to promote your podcast. Remember that your email subscribers are people who want to specifically hear from you.
Make sure to notify them about your latest episodes. In fact, you can start an email type of contest where your email subscribers can invite their friends to sign-up, subscribe to your podcast, and get the chance to win a prize by referring their friends.
💎UpViral Tip: Using UpViral, you can create a one-click signup link so that anyone on your mailing list will be signed up automatically to your campaign.
8. Leverage in-episode CTAs.
Podcast calls to action are important. They help you achieve many goals, from growing your podcast audience to generating a sale for your product or service.
Towards the end of your episode, you can say something like, “If you haven’t already, make sure to hit subscribe to get the latest content each week.”
You can also invite them to check out one of your previous episodes to learn more about a certain topic. And if you need more reviews, ask them to write an honest review of their thoughts about your show.
How often should you include a call to action? Make sure you do it in every single episode. More importantly, always explain how following through will benefit them. One of the best things I’ve heard from podcasters is that subscribing or leaving a comment will ultimately support them to create new great episodes.
9. Invite a guest or be a guest on other podcasts.
Having a guest on your podcast or accepting an invite from other podcasts is a win-win. It helps both you and the other person boost each other’s discoverability and authority in your niche through cross-promotion.
Your biggest concern here is your partner’s audience. Both of your audiences should overlap to maintain relevance and make that collaboration mutually beneficial.
Final Thoughts
Thanks for reading this blog post! By giving heed to these strategies on how to promote your podcast, you can succeed at building a tribe of loyal listeners.
Out of all these tips, running contests and giveaways give you the unique opportunity to grow your podcast audience in less time. If you’ve got questions about it, feel free to reach out. Or try UpViral’s 14-day trial to get full access and run unlimited campaigns. Click here to get started.
