Top 9 Podcast Marketing Strategies for Entrepreneurs

There are millions of podcasts in the globe, 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, tiny businesses, and entrepreneurs continue to vie for attention from their target spectators, expand on their marketing efforts, and construct their brand identity through podcasts.

How do you shatter through the noise and develop your spectators? With a few tips and sound practices, it is feasible to steer more followers to your display and construct an engaged listenership for your podcast. 

What is podcast marketing?

Podcast marketing is the way you implement to promote your podcast. This might include using social media to promote a recent episode or featuring a well-known guest to tap into their spectators. The type of podcast you make (interview-based, business, educational, etc.) will influence how you way 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 make an infographic to post on social media. 

Whether your podcast is your main focus or part of your overall marketing way to promote your brand, a podcast marketing way can develop your podcast spectators, assist you become a trusted source in your industry, and construct your podcast brand. 

Top podcast marketing strategies to develop your spectators

• Identify your target spectators
• Get on podcast directories
• construct a media kit
• Implement SEO
• Try cross-promotion
• Use guests for promotion
• Invest in paid advertising
• Develop a social media way
• Attend conferences and events

There are several ways to construct engagement via podcasting. The most effective methods will depend on your spectators, your display, and your goals: 

Identify your target spectators

The first step in building a successful podcast marketing way is to identify your target spectators. 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 desire 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 assist you comprehend how, where, and why they’re listening to your podcast episodes, which can inform 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 structure, you upload your MP3 file to an independent RSS feed (really straightforward 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 structure allows people to subscribe and listen on their podcast apps of selection, while your content is hosted independently of any single app. 

Once you launch your display, you’ll desire to make sure that as many podcast directories as feasible 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 receive 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 propose your audio to listeners as aYouTube video. In short, understanding how your distribution works and having your display on as many directories as feasible will assist you meet your spectators wherever they are listening.

🌟Starting a podcast? discover the ins and outs of recording, publishing, and growing your own podcast without breaking the lender.

construct a media kit

One key component of a successful marketing way is having quick and straightforward 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 recent listeners on an online forum or comment section, having quick access to relevant images, links, and a basic display 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 distribute) from anywhere.

A typical podcast media kit includes:

• Your podcast thumbnail and logo

• Headshots of you or your podcast hosts

• A short one-line display description

• A longer paragraph description of the display

• A template for personalized graphics (for cross-promotion purposes) 

• Link to your business or podcast website

No matter where you are on your podcasting trip, an accessible media kit will make your marketing way much more seamless and straightforward 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 display, such as the:

• Podcast title (or podcast name)

• Podcast description (the short explanation of your display 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 assist you appear on Google.

Since potential listeners will likely view the display and episode titles before listening to the episode, it’s significant to include relevant keywords that provide key information and capture the display’s personality in these short text blurbs. Vague podcast titles may make sense for your existing spectators who are already visiting your own podcast website, but descriptive ones can attract listeners who are just seeing your display for the first period.

For example, if your skin worry business has a podcast about cosmetic trends called “Face It,” you may desire 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 display or brand before.

Try cross-promotion

One tried-and-factual way for podcast growth is cross-promotion. Also known as collaborative marketing, this way can receive a few different forms and can be a great way to get your display into recent ears. It also helps your listeners discover recent 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 spectators. For example, you might send your podcast trailer to a related podcast, then inquire them to play it on their feed as a podcast ad in swap for playing their promo on your own podcast. 

If you’re an specialist in your field, you can seek opportunities to do guest appearances on other shows. Then have the display’s host on your podcast. You can even record a single exchange between the two of you and air it on both feeds. Another cross-promotion tactic is to promote a different display on your social media channels in swap 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 way. That way, every period you make a recent episode with a recent guest, you reach a slightly different spectators. And if listeners enjoy the display, they may subscribe for upcoming episodes. You’ll desire to make guest promotion as straightforward as feasible, 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 display.

Invest in paid advertising

It’s sensible to employ several podcast marketing tactics in tandem. Building a listenership takes a lot of work and period. If you have the apportionment, you may include paid advertising in your podcast marketing efforts. This can receive 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 way ensures your display 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 display’s blog post on pants and listen or subscribe to the display.

Develop a social media way

Like most marketing strategies, your podcast marketing will likely focus on growing your social media presence. However, your podcast’s social media way will depend on how the display nests into your overall marketing way and business. 

Suppose you’re looking to reach online communities as an specialist 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 recent podcast episodes, short audiograms, or video clips as yourself. 

If, however, you’re looking to construct a successful podcast independently from your business, you may way social media platforms with a display-specific tone. In this case, craft social media posts from the point of view of your display and not your business.

Attend conferences and events

Though we often ponder of podcast promotion as an online endeavor, it is feasible to promote your podcast in the real globe too. For example, you could run a table at a conference, and provide away free stickers or promo material so your display can reach as many listeners as feasible. 

You (or yourpodcast hosts) could sponsor events relevant to your display’s topic, or participate in conferences for the widerpodcast throng, like Podcast Movement, On Air Fest, or Podfest. And if your podcast is location-specific, set up a booth at a local fair or occurrence.