How to promote your podcast and get more listeners

You’ve spent weeks planning, recording and editing your podcast together, but your listening figures aren’t quite where you’d like them to be. So now you’re thinking about what you can do to promote your podcast and grow your audience. There are a whole range of ways to do this from leveraging your guests, to producing promotional content to share online.

What is a podcast?

A podcast is made up of a series of audio files which can be listened to via the internet. Unlike radio, podcasts can be listened to on demand whenever and wherever listeners want.

Podcasts can cover a whole range of subjects and themes including history, current affairs, food and sport. They are also typically free to download, but some providers have started creating paid content for subscribers. 

How do potential listeners find podcasts?

There are many ways for future listeners of your podcast to find you. One way people find new podcasts they’d like to listen to, are by using podcast charts and lists of whatever podcast platform they’re using. Apple podcasts and Spotify, for example, have lists of popular podcasts grouped into different categories.

Another way potential listeners might find a podcast is through a recommendation. This could be by reading a review, seeing someone share it on social media or having someone they know telling them to give it a listen.

Social media offers another opportunity to connect with potential listeners. Sharing audiograms, quote cards or video clips are all great ways to give people a taste of what they should expect if they listen to your podcast.

Ways to promote your podcast

Leverage your guests

Once someone has appeared as a guest on your podcast, don’t let the relationship end there. Keep in touch with them. Let them know how the production process is progressing, when the episode will go live and what they can do to market it when it’s been published.

Your guests' social following provides you with the opportunity to reach hundreds if not thousands of potential listeners. Ahead of the episode going live, provide them with promotional material and a direct url to the episode so they can share this with their followers. Examples of promotional material include quote cards, audiograms and video clips (if you’ve also filmed your podcast).

Turn your podcast into a vodcast

This option might not work for every podcast, but video might provide you with new opportunities to reach more people with your podcast. Filming your podcast offers your audience another way to consume your episodes, but also lets you use the footage for promotional purposes. 

Try clipping up key moments from your episodes and sharing these as videos on social media. If you choose engaging, funny or eye catching moments, these could grab the attention of potential listeners and be shared widely. You’ll need to spend time working out what works for your podcast and what engages your target audience.

Host live recording sessions for your audience to watch or listen to

Invite your audience to join you as you record interviews or discussions for your podcast. This might add a new level of pressure for you as people will be able to hear the raw, unedited discussion as it unfolds in real time. But giving listeners the chance to hear how the episodes are recorded gives them the feeling of experiencing something exclusive, to which no one else has access.

Create promotional content

If you currently record an episode, edit it together, publish it live and share the url on social media, then you might be limiting the potential audience of your podcast. A url which may or may not appear with an image won’t be as engaging as a branded graphic, audiogram or video.

An audiogram is one great way of promoting your podcast. This involves taking an audio clip from the episode (make sure it's a part which will engage with people) and creating a video with the words appearing as text over the audio. You could also add images, video clips or an audio wave to make it more engaging.

Guest on other successful podcasts

It might seem counterintuitive, but have you tried appearing as a guest on someone else's podcast? Doing this has a couple of benefits. First, it positions you as an expert in your field. Second, it gives you an opportunity to plug your own podcast. And lastly, it allows you to reach potential listeners that you might not have otherwise connected with.

But do your research before you start pitching yourself as a guest speaker on other podcasts. You’ll want to make sure that their podcast is listened to by an audience who you’d like to reach and that they have a sizable following to make it worth your time.

Ask listeners to help

Your existing audience could be your greatest untapped asset. Encourage them to leave reviews, share your episodes with friends or share your podcast on social media. You can do this by adding a short spoken request at the end of each episode. Recommendations are the best way for news of your podcast to travel and reach new people. 

Reviews offer another opportunity too for creating more content to share on your channels and promote your podcast. Copy your best ones across to branded social posts which you can then use for marketing.

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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 create and market your podcast. 

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