These 40 Podcast promotion tips come from experienced podcaster who focus on getting their podcast out to as many people as possible. Many podcaster sell advertising slots on their shows, and the largers number of downloads they consistently receive the more those advertising spots can be sold for, which makes sense. The broader the topic of your podcast, the more potential advertisers you have for your show.
My personal podcasting experience and mindset was different. I originally started 3 podcast at the same time, in a small sidegig niche, the network marketing niche. By the time I started my networkmarekting podcasts the network marketing business model had slipped into a downhill trend, because we allowed many self proclaimed gurus to start teaching people how to do something, they had never done. I knew the trend could not be stopped, but my hope was that there were enough business minded people, that could understood logic and reason that I could help. To say the podcast accomplished what I hoped it would is an understantement. I have met some wonderful people and developed many friendships from the podcast, and some of those people have become business partners in various projects.
So the sell advertising model was never part of my personal podcast promotion plan, but if it is for you, these 40 tips that were originally published by Podbean should be very valuable for you. If you haven’t started your podcast yet, the good news is the cost of equipement has come way down from when I started 7 years ago.
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THE 40 BEST PODCAST PROMOTIONAL METHODS FOR 2023
Cross-promotion with your fellow podcasters is a great way to reach new audiences that you might not have otherwise been able to reach! Whether you cross-interview, or just shout each other out in an episode, the positive impact cannot be overstated. (Sidebar to this one: Are you a Podbean hosted podcast?
- Keep track of trending topics on social media, so if something happens to align with your podcast (looking at you, video game podcasters on National Video Game Day!), you can take advantage of the trending hashtags!
- Your stats do a lot more than just tell you how many downloads you have – use the audience heat map to see when your listeners are most engaged with your podcast, and time your episode to drop around the same time!
- Use built-in social share tools and post scheduling software to help you automate some of the work behind social media posting. It keeps your platforms active, gives you space to promote past episodes, and frees up your time to focus on recording your podcast!
- Explore your local scene! Your local cons may have spaces specifically for local podcasters to speak, run booths, and more! It’s a great way to connect with your community!
- Speaking of connecting with your community, reach out to local places (coffee shops, comic book stores, businesses associated with your podcast topic) to see if they’re open to hanging flyers or signs for your podcast!
- What categories do you have your podcast listed under? Don’t be afraid to change them up to see how that changes your listenership in your directories!
- Do you use audiograms? They’re a great way to promote your favorite clips, as well as introduce some multi-media features to your social media feed!
- Make sure that your podcast is listed on all the available directories to submit to – you never know what portion of your audience you’re missing out on by not being on a specific directory!
- Create a custom hashtag for you and your listeners to use across social media! Custom hashtags help you keep track of what your listeners are saying about your podcast
- QR codes are your friend! Include them on your business cards, promotional flyers, and more as a quick way to link to your content.
- Speaking of quick ways to link to your content, use something like Linktree to keep all of your links in one place – this cuts down on how much searching and clicking your listeners have to do, which means they’re less likely to get redirected or distracted from your content.
- Ready to jump into advertising? Try paying for ads on other podcasts! You’re already reaching an audience that enjoys podcasts, so all you have to do is find the best podcasts to advertise on.
- Look into growing your email list! This goes directly to your listeners’ email inbox, and gives you more space for content than you’d find in the average social media posts.
- How does your community communicate with each other? Look into making a group space like a subreddit, a FB group, or a Discord server for everyone to get together and chat. Creating a fun space for your community and shouting them out will make other people want to join.
- Don’t be afraid to change up your podcast description! SEO is always changing and adapting to new trends, so changing your description up will help keep you on trend.
- Speaking of SEO, brush up on what some of the trending topics and phrases are for your niche. Including them in your podcast description, episode description, and other content will help you pop up more in online searches.
- Have you tried live-streaming before? Going live with your podcast will create a new experience for you and your listeners to engage in, and gives you new ways to reach out to listeners!
- Get creative with making merch! Run a book podcast? Look into bookmarks! Run a D&D podcast? Look into making custom dice! Listeners who love your content will love supporting you
- Speaking of creative merch, look into working with/commissioning local artists or small businesses online! They’ll promote your design (and by extension, your podcast) to their audience, who may not have otherwise known about you.
One of my business associates was a featured guest on a local podcast / radio show in California where he was sharing his expertise with Restaurant Owners in California and othe small business owneres.
20. Continuing on the merch train, get exclusive with your merch! Maybe you have a t-shirt design only available to newsletter subscribers, or a sticker that only your livestream attendees hear about. Exclusivity will create more desire to be part of your community!
21. Look into joining a podcast network. They’ll offer you new opportunities for cross-promotion, advertising, and more!
22. Create content that fosters engagement – ask questions, run polls, get your audience input on episode topics, and engage with the answers.
23. Want to explore video for your podcast but don’t know where to start? Start with doing videos exclusive to Instagram reels or TikTok! Short form videos are easier to start with, and allows you to grow from there!
24. Speaking of reels and TikTok, remember that it’s always good to repurpose your content, but make sure that you’re adapting as needed for each platform.
25. Look to online events and panels to see if they’re looking for speakers or podcasters to promote with, or participate in their event. There a lot of virtual events happening year-round, and they’re always looking for people to participate!
26. If you can’t find an event, try hosting your own event/panel! It provides a different lens through which listeners can view you and your podcast, and establishes you and your podcast as a voice in your niche.
27. Do you have a website for your podcast? If you don’t – or if you haven’t touched it since you started your podcast a few years ago – take the time to set it up with your relevant links and podcast info!
28. Consistency is key! Once you’ve got a schedule for your podcast (your publication days, your recording days, etc), try to stick with it as much as possible.
29. On your social media, utilize every tool you can to make the platform work for you! Use your pinned posts, video options, and highlight options to make sure that any information your listeners want is just a click or two away.
30. Use calls-to-action in your posts and your episodes to remind your listeners of the ways they can support you (leave comments/reviews, check out your shop/patron page, etc).
31. While we can’t condone acts of vandalism, tagging some sidewalks in chalk with your podcast name/social media handle is a promotion go-to for artists all around the world. Get creative, grab a friend, and get tagging!. I love these type of Guerilla Marketing ideas.
32. Look for in-person get-togethers for topics in your niche! You’ll find both potential listeners and potential episode guests, as well as some fine folks that can help inspire future episode topics!
33. If you don’t have a media kit put together, there’s no better time than now! Check out our sample media kit here: https://bit.ly/3Dr2mST
34. Paid advertising can go a long way, especially if you pick a platform that you know your target audience hangs out on!
35. The best promotion tip? Keep making the best and most engaging content you can!
36. Reach out to local businesses to see if they’d be up for a cross-promotional offer, or if they’d sponsor you! (This is where that media kit comes into play, by the way!)
37. Does your favorite website or app have an audience that your podcast would appeal to? Reach out to them to see if they’d be open to listing your podcast on their site/page/app as a resource for their users!
38, Does your local paper/news website have an Arts section? Reach out to them to see if they’d be interested in featuring you and your podcast in the paper/on their site!
39. Your local libraries love featuring the folks from their neighborhood and what they’re getting up to. See if they have a spot to promote your podcast on their bulletin board, or have a spot for some of your business cards!
40. If you are stretched for time you can always find many people on Fiverr that are willing to do various podcast promotional activities for you.