How to effectively promote your podcast on social media

You’ve spent hours planning your podcast, booking guests, recording interviews, editing your show together, all before you share your episodes online for listeners to stream. But there’s a problem. No one, aside from a few friends or colleagues, is listening to your podcast that you’ve spent time and money on making. Producing your podcast is only one half of the picture. Like anything you’re trying to share with people, you need to factor in how you plan to promote your podcast. Social media offers one of the best, and most cost effective, ways to do this. 

Why are podcasts so popular right now?

There are millions of podcasts for listeners to stream on platforms like Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Spotify. So it’s safe to say that podcasts have established themselves as a very popular content format for people to consume information.

More than a third of adults in the UK listen to podcasts each month, tuning into shows covering topics like sports, news and pop culture.

What is a podcast?

Podcasts are most often made up of a series of pre-recorded, spoken word, audio files which are shared on podcasting platforms for listeners to stream and download. Typically they feature one or two voices who act as hosts or the narrator, but they often feature other voices in the form of contributors or guests depending on the format of the show.

There is no one format that podcasters have to follow when producing their show, meaning that podcasts can be recorded and produced in a variety of different ways. They can range from discussions, to interviews, to dramas, to documentaries. Podcasts are an incredibly versatile medium which allow listeners, for example, to learn about a theme or subject in greater depth or get lost in a story in a fictional place.

Ways to promote your podcast on social media

Social media offers you an incredibly powerful tool for reaching potential listeners for your new podcast. Having a plan for how you’re going to focus your time and effort on promoting your podcast on social media is key. 

Consider which platforms your target audience will be on and how best to reach them. Your approach on LinkedIn is going to be very different to TikTok for example. To help with promoting your podcast on social media, we’ve come up with a couple of ideas of how you could go about this. 

Involve your podcast guests on social media

If you produce a podcast which involves interviewing or speaking with guests, then you have an easy way of promoting your podcast already at your fingertips. Making the most of your guests' existing network is a great way to promote your podcast and reach people who might become listeners to your show. Guests will want to share that they’ve appeared on a podcast too, as it is great kudos for them and adds to their persona as an expert in their field, and so most will be happy to share the link to your podcast when it goes live.

Go one step further and make promotional material that you can send to your guests, after they appear on your podcast, which they can share on their social media channels. Things like quote cards, audiograms and short video clips are all great assets to share with your guests. Ensure you make posting about your podcast as easy as possible. You could even write up suggested posts for them to share, which include text, an image and a link to the full episode. 

Produce social video content

If you’re filming your podcast, either remotely or in person, make sure you take advantage of the power of video on social media. Most social platforms will now prioritise video content as part of their algorithms, making video one of the best ways to engage with existing and new audiences online. 

Your social video content could take many different forms. If you’ve filmed your show to be shared as a vodcast, then you will already have access to a large amount of footage that you could clip up into shorter videos for social release. Try identifying key moments from your interview or discussion which you think will resonate with audiences or pique their interest. Maybe a guest gave a really good explanation about something, told a personal story or revealed something for the first time. But don’t give everything away, you want potential listeners to tune into the full episode to hear the entire discussion.

Another option, if you’re not filming your podcast, could be filming stand alone videos or pieces to camera with your host. For example, they could be sitting down with their podcast microphone speaking directly to camera, telling viewers about the guests they’ve got on the show this week and encouraging them to listen to the full episode when it’s released. 

If video isn’t an option for your podcast because you don’t have access to filming equipment or you want to focus on the audio, then perhaps audiograms are a good option to consider. More on those next.

Create audiograms to share on social media

When we say create an audiogram, we don’t mean the medical graph that shows the result of a hearing test. Instead, podcast audiograms are social videos produced from a short audio clip taken from your full episode, combined with a still image, footage or animation and on screen text. They essentially provide a visual way of sharing an audio first podcast on social media and encouraging potential listeners to stream the show.

You make an audiogram by first selecting a highlight from your podcast episode, perhaps a really good answer to a question or an interesting moment in the discussion. This provides the audio. Visuals are then added to this in the form of an image or video footage related to the subject or theme or an animated audio waveform. This provides visual interest. Finally you’ll want to add subtitles or on screen text to the audiogram which provides people with the option to read what is being said without listening to the audio.

Turn your podcast into a blog

Are you already transcribing your podcast for accessibility? Take things one step further and use your podcast transcript to write a blog post for people to read online. This is an easy way to further engage audiences with the content of your show and encourage them to listen to the full episode on podcasting platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you don’t already have a website, then you’ll need one to which you can add your blogs. Once posted you can then share the link and extracts to your article on social media.

Another option is to use native features on social platforms like LinkedIn which allow you to write and share articles on the platform for users to read. No website required. This can be especially useful if the target audience for your podcast is made up of professionals or is sector specific. 

Produce podcast video trailers

Many popular podcasters are now producing podcast trailers to promote the release of each episode and encourage listeners to stream the full show. These videos can last anywhere from 30 seconds up to a few minutes in length and are designed to capture the attention of potential listeners.

Much like social videos, podcast trailers are produced so that they include all the best parts of a discussion or interview in one short, snappy video. On screen graphics, B-roll, archive assets, newspaper or news reports can all be used to add a further dimension to the video. You will want to treat these videos like movie trailers, grabbing the attention of your audience and giving them a reason to listen to the full episode. 

Again, this idea largely relies on you producing a vodcast (a podcast which is also filmed and produced as a video). This idea can be achieved with podcasts recorded virtually and in person, the only requirement is that they are filmed.

Show behind the scenes

Audiences love to see how their favourite shows are made and feel like they’re gaining an exclusive look at what happens behind the scenes. This is something to really think about doing once you’ve started gaining traction and have begun to grow a following online. Providing the chance to see how you produce your podcast is a great way to build your relationship with your existing and new audiences. 

Pulling back the curtain on the production of your show doesn’t need to be complicated. You can film short videos giving a tour around your recording studio or setup before sitting down to record your next episode. If you have a team working on your production, maybe think about introducing them and explaining what their roles are. 

You could even consider recording a bonus podcast episode which includes interviews with the team who produce your podcast or a first hand narration from yourself explaining how you make your show, the challenges you’ve faced and experience you’ve got out of it.

---

We’re Sheeran Media

You might have reached the end of this article and thought that you’d like some help from the professionals to produce your podcast.

Hello! We're Sheeran Media, an all in one content production company with expertise in video, podcasts, animation and design. If you have a project you need support with, then get in touch. We’d love to help!