A podcast is a relatively new communication format with the audience, which is rapidly gaining momentum. Already in 2019, according to DiscoverPods, 83% of people listened to podcasts for more than 7 hours each week. What does that mean?
- The new format is in demand among users.
- More podcasts are popping up every day, which means more of your competitors in this niche.
- Now’s your chance to be among the first to jump on that train. One of the first million, to be exact, but it’s better than nothing.
Another conclusion drawn from the sudden popularity of podcasts is that there isn’t much information yet on how to do them correctly and successfully, much less promote them. In this article, we’ll try to give you as effective tips as possible for attracting listeners.
Think About Marketing Strategy
Although novice podcasters will have to experiment a lot, you can’t act blindly and hope for luck. Just like in any other niche, you will need to think of a marketing strategy for the podcast that will include:
- Length and release topics
- Frequency of release of new podcast series
- Distribution
- Promotion methods
When you outline your strategy, you’ll need to determine the period you’ll follow, as well as the metrics you’ll use to calculate the effectiveness. For example, your goal is to get 1,000 regular listeners in a month. Try to achieve this with your chosen strategy. If something went wrong, figure out why.
Check the Statistics
Statistics is your haven of certainty in a chaotic, evolving world. Though sounding trivial, it is true. When we say podcasts are popular, it doesn’t give us anything yet. You need to know how many people listen to them, in specific numbers. It’s also helpful to track how many podcasts already exist in your niche to assess the competition. Besides, statistics will help you know your target audience, who they are, and what they want.
Promote Yourself
It’s much easier to promote a podcast if you don’t start from scratch, but you already have an audience, for example, in social networks. Then your first step is to tell your clients that you are launching an audio show.
But even your existing audience needs to be prepared for the new product you are offering:
- Ask how many of your users are already listening to podcasts and what they’re interested in.
- Tell them why it’s worth subscribing to you.
- Specify what they would like to hear and how often they are willing to listen to you.
- Put together a list of questions for the first episodes.
Social media is a unique platform for one-on-one communication, so take advantage of it.
Create High-Quality Audio Content
Creating quality creative content that will attract listeners is a broad topic and can be discussed for a long time. However, we will try to cover at least basic points so that you understand what quality content means in terms of podcasts and audio shows. First of all, realize that a podcast is a format perceived only by the ears. Moreover, not many people who listen to audio shows 100% engage. Most turn them on in the background. That’s why it’s important not to turn it into a boring lecture. Avoid this through the following approaches:
- Script the release beforehand. It would help if you spoke succinctly and richly, moving logically from topic to topic, not running through questions very quickly, but not getting hung up on one thing either. Specify in the script where there will be a lyrical monologue of the presenter, the dialogue with the guest, the advertisement, or a little joke.
- Turn to the professionals. At a minimum, hire a professional audio presenter and buy/rent professional equipment. The voice should sound clear, without defects – so it was pleasant to listen.
Collaborate With Other Projects
Inviting a well-known personality in the niche to record a podcast is the easiest way to attract listeners and the common type of collaboration in this format. A newer way, the effectiveness of which is too early to judge, is collaborating with other podcasts. In both cases, the scheme that works is that your colleagues attract their target audience to you.
Where to look for collaborative projects? Oddly enough, offline events will be more effective than online solicitations. Many well-known personalities read email at times, but getting to know them in person at a conference is easier, making a good impression and leaving contacts to contact them. Plus, there will be people/projects from your niche at specialized events.
Try to Get On the List of Top Podcasts
One of the most popular article formats is lists. And if you get to the top of such popular podcasts, you are guaranteed to increase your listeners. The catch is that to get there for free, you need to be already known. But there is another option: order contextual advertising.
Use SEO
This method of promotion is most effective if you create a website page or a separate site specifically for the podcast. Then use all known SEO techniques to get it to the top of the results. But even if you only distribute your podcast on third-party platforms, you can turn to SEO techniques. Mostly, it’s about keywords and/or tags. They should be competitive, popular, but not overly so. Use what people are searching for, but for which there isn’t much content yet. By the way, based on search queries, you can pick up release topics as well. For example, invite an expert to answer users’ burning questions.
As you can see, the methods of attracting listeners to the podcast are basically the same as those used to promote other formats. The only exception is the peculiarity of such shows – audio. Techniques aimed at visuals and text will not work here. Nevertheless, you can use the tips listed above and transform already proven marketing strategies for your podcasts.
