15 Ways to Promote Your Internal Podcast

January 14, 2020January 14, 2020 / Roni Gosch / 1 Comment

Your internal communications podcast is an important resource for company’s training and communications. We’ve put together a list of ideas to help you promote your internal podcast. These tips will ensure its success, as well as aid in overcoming potential challenges in adopting podcasting as a new platform.

1. Share the podcast on employee sign-in pages and the company intranet

Whether you use a simple sign-in page or an expansive employee intranet and database, there are certain places that your employees log on to daily. These high-traffic sites are ideal spots to post notices and links to your internal podcast. Ensure that it updates as your episodes update, and change the images/wording to make it unique and enticing to keep your employees engaged.

2. Feature employees on your internal communications podcast

Use your internal podcast as a way to highlight employee success stories. Seek input from those most knowledgeable in the company about the podcast topic. Consider interviewing employees, having them help with content and other ways they can be involved. By including your employees in the content you’re producing, you’re creating the feeling of a more communal project. More employees will tune in to hear friends and colleagues being featured, and may be interested in getting featured themselves. Employees enjoy hearing from different voices in different roles and it shows that the culture is collaborative and their contributions appreciated. Employee involvement can really bring the project to life and create deeper engagement.

3. Promote through holidays or sales-based events

Depending on your company, you might have several yearly special events planned like holiday parties, quarterly sales meetings or new product launches. Use these events to promote your podcast (or vice versa). Inform your staff that they can find more information about these events via the podcast. You can also use the podcast to update your company about progress on goals or follow up from events.

4. Post physical signage around the workplace

Get creative with signs and posters. Put them in high-traffic areas like break rooms, hallways, and the like.* Each sign should have a call to action involving your internal communications podcast. These CTAs can be to check out the latest episode, learn how to be featured, or something unique to your content that will drive interest (such as an upcoming company contest).

*We suggest you be as tasteful as possible, but if you want to hang signs on the inside of bathroom stalls and restroom doors, that’s up to you. They are high-traffic areas, after all.

5. Make QR codes

Most phones now come equipped with QR code readers, enabling you to implement QR codes into your physical signs or promotional material. Enable the code to take them to your internal communications podcast page, or even to the specific episode. Your employees can quickly scan the QR code to listen. It helps break down the roadblocks and steps between the employee learning about the content and directly accessing it. This increases the likelihood of them interacting with your internal communications podcast.

6. Create discussions during company meetings based on the internal podcasts

Your private podcasts are resources and should be utilized as such. Highlight the information from the latest episode during meetings. Make it clear to those attending that the prerequisite information can be found in your podcasting content.

7. Enable push notifications in your company’s podcasting app

Your internal communications podcast app does more than just play and pause your podcast. It can also notify your employees when new episodes of your internal podcasts are live. By enabling push notifications, your employees are alerted the moment a new episode is published and available. You not only make your employees aware that new content is live, but make them more likely to listen as the notifications appear right on their mobile device.

8. Send out the podcast in newsletters

Newsletters allow you to send alerts for upcoming events, deadlines, and recaps so that your employees can be kept up to speed. If you have an existing newsletter, you can integrate the podcast. Or, you can consider sending newsletters specifically about the podcast. Inserting content from your internal communications podcast into a newsletter does multiple things. First, it delivers the content straight to the employee, once again decreasing the steps they’d have to take to get to the content itself. Second, it allows you to frame your internal podcast as the resource that it is. This also reiterates how the content discussed/mentioned in the newsletter is explored more thoroughly in your podcast.

9. Use podcasts as a primary internal training tool, then scale out

You can use your internal podcasts as a method of training, meaning that it’s a mandatory tool as part of your onboarding and training program. You can get new hires immediately accustomed to accessing information via your internal podcast. Once the routine has been established, you can scale outward and start instituting internal communications podcasts for other communications and continuing education purposes. As your employees will already be familiar with the platform, accessing the content fits into their already developed workflow.

10. Offer reward prizes for engagement and promote them on the podcast

Reward your employees for consuming your internal podcasts. Reinforce by bringing up podcast points in your meetings or commenting on a particular episode and encouraging those who discuss. Some examples of rewards can be company swag, gift cards, highlights in future episodes and shout outs from company executives. Get even more creative with your rewards. You might even consider integrating it with existing systems for employee development and reviews. Inspire your team to understand that important content comes in the form of your podcasts.

11. Set leaders to champion spreading the word to other employees

Even in the modern age, word of mouth is still the most powerful way to spread awareness. Find people in your team that can act as “leaders” or “champions” of your internal podcast. These might be different representatives from various departments. Or, it could be employees who are big podcast fans who you get involved to share their passion. Part of their role can be to represent the podcast and bring awareness to it to the employees around them. If your leaders and high performers are discussing content from the podcast, chances are your other employees will consider the podcast important and will engage with it.

12. Calendar events in your calendaring system with the link to the podcast

As a company, you use tools like Google Calendar to keep events, travel plans, and meetings organized. Introduce updates to your internal communications podcast as a scheduled event on the calendar. A good solution could be to have a schedule for your podcast releases that will fit into a Google Calendar reminder. This will automatically remind your employees to look to the latest episode that you release. You can even include a podcast link in the Google Calendar notes to make it even easier for your employees to access.

13. Make meetings into viewing/listening “parties”

When you release new content for your internal podcasts, plan meeting content around your podcast and consider playing snippets of the podcast. This once again highlights how important your internal communications podcast is, and reinforces the need to interact and engage with the content to your employees. Using video podcast episodes can be extremely engaging (instead of or as part of PowerPoint/Keynote presentations). However, both audio and video can be used for this method.

14. Integrate with current communication tools such as Slack

Your internal podcast is part of your overall communications plan and works well with other means of communication, especially your company chat system (such as Slack). Integrate your internal communications podcast into your chat system, and ensure that your employees never miss another episode. Much like enabling push notifications and placing notices in high-traffic areas such as employee login screens and break rooms, this brings more attention to your content. It also acts to once again decrease the actions needed to get to your content.

15. Create goals based on the podcast

Goals help your company move forward. By making goals based around your internal podcast, you create something for your employees to aim for. Perhaps it’s an action that needs to be taken after they’ve listened to the episode, or prepping notes for a discussion to be had about the content in the episode, or something that’s specific and unique to the needs of your company. Regardless, a target to aim ties in the purpose of the podcast and provides measurable actions

As far as resources go, your internal communications podcast can be one of the most strategic ones at your disposal. It offers a unique way to interact with your employees. With these methods, you can ensure that you reach as many of them as possible and keep your company informed.

Click here to learn more about Podbean’s private podcasting solutions for internal communications, training, and company podcasting.

Promote Your Podcast – 11 More Tips And Tricks

January 8, 2020January 8, 2020 / Roni Gosch / Leave a comment

You’ve now started your podcast. You want to get it into as many ears as possible. Now how do you promote your podcast? How do you rise amongst the top podcasts with millions of downloads? These eleven tips and tricks will help get you get more eyes and ears on your podcast.

Promote Your Podcast - 11 Tips And Tricks

Remember that first impressions matter

Creating a podcast means that you are now effectively the CEO of your podcast – as well as the COO, the secretary, the mailroom clerk, and the support team. Like it or not, being the public face of your podcast – such as attending events in your podcast’s name, reaching out to guests/interviewees, and interacting on social media – means that you have to act like it. Any interactions a potential listener will have with you will color their feelings towards your content.

Consider how you phrase things and how you come off in your interactions with listeners, fellow podcasters, and other industry professionals. If people see that you’re someone they’re comfortable around, they’re more likely to check out your content and collaborate with you.

Audiograms

Audiograms are a when you convert a chunk of your podcast to video, usually with a static background of your podcast cover or your chosen image, created with the intention of posting to social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. Platforms such as these benefit from shorter-form videos, which is perfect to highlight a clip of your latest episode, your favorite chunk of livestream, or even a past episode that’s relevant to a trending hashtag or seasonal event.

With this, your audiogram will function as a podcasting sampler for people who haven’t heard that particular episode, or your podcast in general. By utilizing the video player native to the platform, you give them a chance to see what your podcast is like before they click the link to check out the full episode. It also breaks up your feed to create a more diverse and interesting first look for anyone who comes to your social media page (if you’re wondering where to go, we’ve been using Headliner with spectacular results!). The following is an audiogram example from the Gravity Beard podcast.

Create a Podcast-Specific Hashtag for You and Your Users

Please don’t tag any buildings, but hashtags are a quick and functional way to introduce your podcast to someone. Create a unique hashtag that’s intriguing and specific to your podcast. As examples, it can be the title of your podcast. It can be phrase you or your hosts have coined.

With it, the only limit is your imagination and the law! Interact with the tag on social media when people use it. Feature it across your social media channels. You can use it it as a tag on all your posts or just utilize it in an image.

Understanding Social Media Outlets

When we spoke with Gabriel Urbina of Wolf 359, his surprise came when realized what conversations were happening on other platforms he wasn’t present on, like Tumblr.

You never know what medium will suit you, your content, and your posting style best. Experiment with different platforms, and figure out the different ways that your media fit into their native landscapes. Check to see if your host offers automatic sharing for your chosen platforms. Set up your accounts to have episodes automatically post when you upload your new content.

This is not to say that you should adopt a “spray-and-pray” technique to your social media marketing. Take into consideration your style of posting and the social media platform. Create a steady stream of content (episode clips/audiograms, pictures, and the like). See what platform is most suited to that style. For example, users can click a link in a Tweet, but cannot click on a link in an Instagram post description.

Join podcasting-specific groups and events

The internet is a whole made up of millions of smaller communities. No matter how niche your podcasting topic is, there is a group for you. Seek out these groups on platforms like Reddit, Livejournal, or even in physical meet-ups at local libraries and tech centers. Introduce yourself and your podcast to the groups’ members.

Also keep an eye out for themed events on platforms like Twitter and Facebook. They could be questions themed around an event or month (such as Podbean’s Podtober event), or themed around a month of creation (in the same vein as the ever-popular NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month). These events unite users everywhere around the same goal of participation and interacting with others who are also participating. Your name and podcast will be seen by others who are participating in the event.

There are a myriad of online communities for you to traverse through to promote your podcast on. The r/podcasts and r/podcasting subreddits offer amazing advice, chances to talk shop, and a place to talk about what it means to podcast.

Cross promotion with similar podcasts

When we say “cross promotion,” we don’t just mean promote yourself across your multiple platforms (because let’s face it, you’re probably already doing that). We’re talking about reaching out to your friends in the podcasting industry. Offer to promote their show on yours as a trade for them to promote your podcast on theirs. You can feature other guests on your podcast and vice. versa. This can extend your voice to a wider audience than just your own.

If both podcasts are in the same genre, of course there might be some audience overlap. However, a good portion of their audience might not be aware of your content. However, they are familiar with the podcast you’re a guest on, or featuring a host from. They will want to tune in to check out the content. By doing so, they’ll be introduced to your podcast and become part of your audience.

Making friends and connections in the podcasting industry is important. But as with point no. 1, be genuine! Don’t do so with the sole intent of being a guest on their show to grow your own audience.

Email list and newsletters

As we advance further and further with our social media platforms and technology, we start to find more and more people who wish to pull back from it. That’s where email lists and newsletters come in. This content gets delivered directly to your subscribers’ mailboxes. You can bring more information to their attention without putting the onus on them to go hunting for it.

Also, with the ever changing landscape of social media’s algorithms, your posts often have a chance to be buried to a wide majority of your audience. Your email list is comprised of fans who manually subscribed to it. You now have a direct line to your most loyal fans. With mailing lists, you can ensure that they’ll always see your notifications.

Your newsletters also allow you to introduce exclusive content. Maybe extra material cut from your scripts, or behind-the-scenes pics of your recording space. Maybe even tips and tricks you can offer to those starting their own podcasts. We’ve seen folks use MailerLite with great success!

Attend local podcasting conferences and meet local podcasters for get-togethers

Whether you’re planning on hitting up every podcast convention across the country, or just hitting up a local group of podcasters that met on Facebook first before going for drinks, there’s nothing like sitting together with a group of people in the same industry as you. They can offer advice on common podcasting issues, get the same in-jokes about microphones, and understand and celebrate your podcasting achievements.

For these get-togethers and conference runs, always keep a steady supply of business cards on hand, and be ready with some storage ideas for the business cards you receive. If you’ve got the effort and the budget, you also can’t go wrong with things like stickers or buttons. (Our marketing writer loves collecting podcasters’ stickers, so if you’re going that route and making your way to some podcasting conferences, be sure to stop by the Podbean booth!)

Advertising

There’s a phrase in business that “it pays to advertise.” “Yes, we know about the advertising,” you say. “We’ve talked about this in the monetization webinar and in your Podbean 101 – Learning The Tools Of Podbean webinar, why would we include it here?” Because it’s a way that’ readily available for podcasters like you to run ads for your shows!

Your host may offer something akin to an opt-in ad service that allows sponsors to look at your podcast and offer you a deal to run an ad for a certain length of time. But did you know that you could turn around and be the one to create an ad and pay to have it run in other podcasts?

With Podbean’s Ads Marketplace, you can create an advertiser account and run an ad you’ve created for your podcast in other podcasts within the same genre as your own. This method offers you the advantage of the downloads and audience of another podcast, as well as the experience of what advertisers see when they go to look into podcasts to run their ads.

Podcast networks

Podcast networks are podcasts grouped together by topic, genre, ownership, or just a collective decision to unite under an umbrella name. There are certain perks to some networks, such as guaranteed ad opportunities and prepaid hosting by the network, but each network is different and works by their own rules. But one thing’s for sure, a network’s audience is wider than a single podcast’s.

By joining a network, your podcast can be promoted along side others in the network. The audience of the other podcasts know you meet their quality standards in content and production. Take, for example, the likes of Critical Role, or The Brit Pod Scene – both networks have pages that list the podcasts within their network, and utilize social media to promote their podcast, new episodes and content.

Keep making your content the best it can be

“Consistency and quality help breed loyalty,” says Jason Solomon of the hit wrestling podcast Solomonster Sounds Off. “To build an audience, you need to stick to a regular schedule of recording. If people like what they’re hearing, they will keep coming back for more and are far more likely to engage with you on various platforms.”

Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of picture-taking, post-writing, Instagramming, and marketing. The danger comes when you put so much of the focus on marketing that it’s a detriment to your content. Remember to keep your podcast the forefront, and to keep focus on creating content in your regular manner.

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Marketing and promoting your podcast can seem like a huge endeavor, especially when you start bringing more technical and analytical aspects into it. These tips will help promote your podcast and get you to your podcasting goals.

Promote Your LiveStream – Tips and Tricks

December 30, 2019 / John Kiernan / Leave a comment

Livestream content has become an engaging form of media. Podbean now gives you the opportunity to livestream your podcast and engage your audience in new and exciting ways. What steps can you take to drive listener attendance and engagement to and with your livestream? We’ve put together a list of best practices to promote your livestream:

Utilize eye catching promotional images for social media
Promote your livestream during you regularly scheduled episodes
Use your email list and newsletters to promote your livestream
Cross promote your podcast on similar podcasts
Utilize audiograms
Sponsors and advertisers (paid and unpaid)
Develop a community around your podcast
Find new outlets for your podcast to be discovered

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1. Utilize eye catching promotional images for social media

Podbean always recommends posting your new episodes, news and show schedule via your social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. Eye catching images do a great job at drawing attention in the world of fast mobile app swiping. By creating a graphic for your upcoming livestream schedule (whether it’s pinned to the top of your profile, or your chosen social media’s header image) you’re drawing a potential listener’s eye directly to your most important information.

If you’re familiar with our Podbean 101 webinar, we discuss that you can use any digital art programs such as GNU Image Manipulation Program (free), Adobe Photoshop, Pixelmator and others to create your images.

2. Promote your livestream during your regularly scheduled episodes

Each of your podcast listeners is also another potential livestream listener. By making a point of bringing up your livestream during your episodes, you give your listeners more access to engage with you. It also exists as a permanent fixture of the episode, so no matter who listens to it they get access to the information, from your longest running listeners to your newest listener.

If you utilize dynamic ad insertion such as PodAds, record a few bumpers to insert into your back episodes that feature information about your livestreams. By using ad insertion, you can easily change your ads to keep your livestream info up to date. You can also set reminders and links into your show descriptions on each episode for even easirt access for your listeners.

3. Use your email list and newsletters to promote your livestream

Your newsletters and email lists put you directly into your dedicated listeners’ inboxes. Along with informing your followers about convention appearances, future episode topics, and podcast-related news, you can deliver information about your upcoming podcast livestreams.

You can also utilize your patron program (Podbean has built in seamless way for fans to support you directly from your podcast), you can also make patron-only perks for your livestreams. You can have your patrons weigh in on topics you discuss, answer call-ins from patrons only, or set up a variety of livestream-based rewards.

4. Cross promote your livestream on similar podcasts

Many podcasters cross collaborate on extra-special episodes and/or guest-host episodes on each other’s podcasts. By featuring these guests, you’re allowing yourself to market to an audience that’s interested in your guest, but may not be familiar with you or your show. The vice-versa may also open your podcast up to a brand new set of ears. Many podcasts within a similar genre also benefit from cross promoting ads on each other’s shows.

You can also use a tool like Podbean’s Ads Marketplace (as an advertiser) to create ads promoting your livestream to run on other podcasts. By advertising on podcasts with content similar to yours, you can reach out to a wider scope of listeners. Ads marketplace allows you to review the statistics and activity of various podcasts such as downloads per month, geographic listenership, and more.

5. Utilize Audiograms

Audiograms are video clips of audio that play over a video or still background image. These short clips can be perfect for posting strong, poignant episode points to social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. There are also options to include transcripts of these clips or to just have audio only. By deploying a different format to your posts for your social media platforms, you diversify your feed for your followers and create a visual contrast that’s more likely to encourage your followers to check out the rest of your posts.

Don’t be afraid to get creative with how audiograms integrate your livestream into your social media posts. Create goals for listeners to call in with their best story or wildest joke, and the best one gets turned into an audiogram for social media. Your livestream is an event for people to plan for, but the highly-coveted (or soon-to-be highly-coveted) spot of having the best call can be a goal they can shoot for. (We’ve been using Headliner with fantastic results!)

6. Sponsors and advertisers: paid or unpaid

There are many ways to benefit from sponsorships. As well as financial sponsorships, sponsors can offer promotional opportunities such as featuring you on their site, providing your access to events you might not have otherwise been able to attend, and discounts on products (such as gear you use and promote during your podcast). Promotional sponsorships allow you to reach a much wider audience, and allow fans of your sponsor to find you as well.

7. Develop a community around your podcast

Community is one of the most important parts of growing a podcast listenership. By creating a place for your listeners to congregate, you’ve now given them a place to discuss your topics related to and/or covered on your podcasts/livestream.

As examples, you can use a Facebook group or a server on the chat platform Discord to build engagement and post news about livestreams, upcoming podcast events, and other items to keep your community informed. Much like with your patrons mentioned above, you can allow your community to weigh in on future topics, certain segments of your livestream, or primary priority for calling in on your podcast livestream.

8. Find new outlets for your podcast to be discovered

When we spoke with Gabriel Urbina, he discovered that quite a bit of the conversation for his podcast Wolf 359 was happening on Tumblr, a platform that he hadn’t been present on beforehand. You never know where your podcast will find its audience, but by reaching out on different platforms you will be able to reach out to listeners who might not navigate your other platforms, and increase podcast livestream attendees.

There are import/export systems in place to have your episodes cross-posted to places like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, WordPress, and Tumblr. Explore the different platforms and formats of your show (with sites like Youtube and Facebook, your episode posts as a video), and expand invitations to your podcast livestreams to each platform.
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When it comes to promoting your podcast and your podcast livestreams, there are many different paths to investigate and travel down. By using one (or more) of these methods, you increase your visibility, and increase the pool of livestream attendees.

Podbean Live is available to any podcaster on any hosting company. Click here to start your livestream today!

The Many Phases and Faces of Fans: The Gravity Beard Podcast on Community

December 23, 2019December 23, 2019 / Roni Gosch / Leave a comment

Listen to The Many Phases and Faces of Fans: The Gravity Beard Podcast on Community

As a content creator, it’s an accepted fact that a podcast is nothing without its fan following. Whether your fans are the quiet sort that bring it up for recommendations, or loudly and meticulously buying merch, liveshow tickets, and behind-the-scenes patron-program access, all fans are good fans and welcome to be part of your show.

One podcast, The Gravity Beard, as a community that takes it one step further.

If you haven’t heard of them, The GravityBeard Podcast is a comedy podcast that’s got a little bit of everything for everyone.

“The GravityBeard Podcast, always since its inception, is a variety show podcast. Whenever you tune in from week to week, we do have elements of the show that are consistent and have been since we started, but it has evolved since we started it. But it’s a variety show, in that you don’t know necessarily what we’re going to do week to week. We’ve done a huge array of things, from interviews to round-table discussions, to a lot of different things under the comedy umbrella. And then currently, we’re doing “This Week Today,” which is something we’ve done consistently for the last year and a half or so. And then more recently we’ve done “Staff Meetings,” which is a talk show segment-formatted show that we put together because we’re getting so much great content out of the GravityBeard Interns Facebook group. So that’s essentially what the podcast is.”

As their podcast grew, so did their fanbase and how their fans interacted with the show. Not content with just interacting with the creators on public forums, they inserted themselves into the GravityBeard narrative – going so far as to assign themselves roles based on the fictional company.

“The Intern group – especially the GravityBeard one – is a place that’s kind of built its own separate world. I guess, to some extent, in the way that it’s not just people sharing just content that they find online, and it’s not just people interacting with the show in general, but like, it’s people that have taken up an active part of the fictitious world that The GravityBeard has kind of put behind it as far as an internship, so then The Gravity Beard is a company that everyone kind of bought into. It’s an extra layer. As opposed to other groups where it’s like people come on and they talk about the show, and they try to interact with the host. This one actually built its own separate thing all around it that allowed for more back-and-forth and interactivity with everyone.”

Though their group isn’t the largest – around 230, give or take – the name of the game is quality over quantity. Each new member is personally greeted as if they’re new employee getting on-boarded to the company, and there’s no shortage of positions for those that want to join in.

To learn more about The GravityBeard Podcast, check out their Twitter and their fellow shows on the Podfix Network.

Podbean’s Big, Fat 2019 Podcast Statistics and Trends Roundup

December 17, 2019December 19, 2019 / podbean / 3 Comments

2019 has been an outstanding year for the podcast. As one of the largest podcast hosting companies, we wanted to share some of the key data and trends from our platform. This includes valuable insights not only from our hosted podcasts, but also useful listening data from our popular podcast app.

Trends: What Changed in Podcasting in 2019

1. The number of podcasts is increasing (and listening is too).

You’ve probably heard this from other sources, and our numbers definitely confirm a significant trend in growth. The number of podcasts hosted on Podbean grew 70% from 2018 to 2019.

The top podcast hosted on Podbean had over 50 million downloads in 2019. The overall downloads number on the Podbean platform increased by 62%. The number of podcast plays in the Podbean app grew 110%.

2. The podcast app market is growing, while podcast app market share is diversifying.

Top 10 Podcast Apps and Players in 2019

From the beginning of 2019 to the end of 2019, Apple’s share of downloads for Podbean podcasts dropped from 49.36% to 39.26%. Spotify as a source of downloads/plays started from 0% but immediately rose to 7% when Podbean became a Spotify passthrough partner in March 2019. Spotify has now grown to 18.08% of downloads for Podbean podcasters.

However, Apple Podcasts’ absolute number of monthly downloads didn’t drop. They actually increased by 29.23% throughout the year.

Actually, all podcasts apps showed growth in downloads in 2019. For example, Google Podcasts’ monthly downloads number increased by 71.29%. The Podbean app’s downloads increased by 110%.

Spotify joining the market didn’t reduce the number of downloads on other apps. It was part of the trend of an overall expansion in the podcast market. We see this is a healthy sign that the podcast market has a huge potential to grow. New major players, such as Spotify and Google, have helped the overall podcast market to grow faster. More downloads are coming from a variety of podcast apps, including those focused on cross-platform users.

3. The Podbean app is one of those sources that is growing.

The number of podcast plays in the Podbean app grew 110%. The Podbean app now has over 1 million monthly active users.

Listener engagement on the Podbean app has also grown strongly. The total number of “follows” (listeners following podcasts) on the app grew 83%. The total number of comments on the Podbean app grew 84%.

4. Businesses podcasting showed significant growth.

The number of podcasts using Podbean’s Business and Enterprise services grew 230% from 2018 to 2019. Podbean now hosts podcasts for IBM, RedHat, J.P.Morgan, Aflac and many large companies and organizations. We see podcasts becoming as essential to businesses as blogs have been. Podcasts are the hot, new marketing and communications tool for companies and organizations, for external marketing, workforce development and much more.

Podcast Trends: Consistency in 2019

These podcast statistics remained relatively consistent with past years for podcasts hosted on Podbean:

Approximately 58% of downloads were on iOS devices
Around 22% were on Android
Around 53% of downloads were from listeners in the U.S.*

*Though the U.S. remains the top country for downloads far ahead of any other single country, listening is growing in various markets. And, many of the top podcasts hosted by Podbean are in languages other than English.

The Most Effective Monetization Methods for Independent Podcasts

Podbean works with podcasts of all sizes, genres and professional levels, but our primary hosting clients are independent podcasters. We provide various monetization services, giving us a unique window into what is working for independent podcasts when it comes to making money. Podbean provides Premium Podcasting (i.e. podcasts behind a paywall), a Patron Program (for listeners to contribute monthly donations), and podcast advertising services.

Among them, the Podbean PodAds service appears to bring in the most income for Podbean-hosted podcasts. However, Premium podcasting has the highest growth rate and potentially could be the biggest source of income for independent podcasts.

The top podcast using Podbean’s PodAds dynamic ads insertion service served over 4 million ad impressions. We don’t know how much the podcast gets paid for their ads (Podbean does not take a revenue cut from podcasters using this service). However, if we calculate using a $30 CPM, the estimated ads income is $120,000. Overall, the PodAds growth rate was 40%.

The top podcast using Podbean’s Patron Program made over $100,000 so far in 2019. The Podbean Patron Program’s overall income growth rate was 59%.

The top Premium Podcast made over $70,000 thus far in 2019. The Podbean Premium Podcast service’s overall income growth rate was 62%.

Interesting Insights about Podcast Listeners

Podbean listeners are very loyal to the podcasts they follow on the Podbean app. Among the top 100 podcasts in the Podbean app, the average four-week retention rate is 61% and the average seven-week retention rate is 55%. Podbean retention (available as part of Podbean’s standard hosting statistics for all users) tells you the percentage of people who keep listening to your podcast over particular periods. If you’re hosted with Podbean, you can check your podcast retention rate in your Podbean statistics page to see how loyal your listeners are and to spot trends that might help you make content modifications.

Podbean also offers a “Downloads by Day of Week and Time of Day” chart. The top five time slots that have the most downloads/streams on the Podbean app are:

Wed 7 pm EST
Mon 8 am EST
Mon 9 am EST
Tue 9 am EST
Mon 10 am EST

Overall, the most important time period for podcasts is Monday to Wednesday in the morning (Eastern time). Consider this when scheduling episode releases, to make sure you take advantage of having fresh podcast content available during these prime listening times. If you’re hosted with Podbean, you can check your podcast’s peak listening time slots. Your podcast might have different peak listening periods than the averages.

Top Podcasts in 2019

Below you can see various top 10 lists, from both our hosted podcasts (and the platform’s monetization programs) and the Podbean app. Visit https://www.podbean.com/2019-top-10-podcasts to see the Top 10 podcasts hosted on Podbean in each category.

Top Podcasts in 2019

Top 10 Podcasts Hosted on Podbean

Top 10 Most Popular Podcasts on the Podbean App

Top 10 Premium Podcasts

Top 10 Podcast Earners in the Podbean Patron Program

Advertisers’ Top 10 Favorite Podcasts

Top 10 Most Followed Podcasts on the Podbean App

Top 10 Most Discussed Podcasts on the Podbean App

Podbean Webinars – Get The Most Out Of Your Podcast!

December 16, 2019 / John Kiernan / Leave a comment

Podcasting, as a medium, constantly expands with new features, practices, and opportunities. While there are resources aplenty, the rapidly changing nature of podcasting means that a how-to article that was up-to-date four months ago might no longer be so today. The remedy to this, of course, is a method that allows for changes and updates as quickly as podcasting does: live webinars from voices in the middle of the industry’s source of growth.

Podbean is proud to present our new line of live webinars, Our presenters have a perfect combination of experience in technology, education, and podcasting.

Podbean 101: Learning The Tools of Podbean
Presenter: Roni Gosch (Podcast Specialist, Podbean)

Whether you’re brand new to Podbean or have questions about parts of the interface that you’re looking to start using, this webinar will walk you through all the key points of your Podbean dashboard. This webinar will help you:

• Choose a Podbean site layout that suits your podcast best

• Find your RSS feed and learn about the different things that change and affect it

• Decipher your analytics and how learning from them can you grow your podcast in the long run

• Discover a couple of our monetization options readily available and built into the Podbean interface

Click here to register for this webinar!

Podbean Live: The Podcast Livestreaming Solution for Every Podcaster
Presenter: John Kiernan (Head Of Marketing, Podbean)

Podcast live-streaming is here! Looking for a new way to connect with your listeners? Searching for an alternative monetization solution? Wondering if there’s something exciting to bring your listeners for big events? Podbean Live is the solution for you, and this webinar will teach you everything you need to get started!

In this webinar, you’ll learn how to use Podbean LiveStreaming to:

• Easily record long-distance interviews

• Interact with your listeners via the live chat and call-in features

• Monetize your podcast with Virtual gift and ticket sales

• Understand the tools to start your own podcast livestream!

Click here to register for this webinar!

Monetize Your Podcast
Presenter: Roni Gosch (Podcast specialist, Podbean)

Making money with your podcast should be an exciting prospect that can create more opportunities to grow and spread your message! Podbean makes it easy for podcasters of any size to make money with our integrated monetization options. In this webinar, learn more about our various podcast monetization, as well as learn how to make your podcast appealing to advertisers and sponsors.

The topics in this webinar will include:

• Creating steady income for your podcast through our patron program

• How to use podcast live streaming to receive virtual gifts and ticket sales

• Explaining CPM, how to attract advertisers, and how to dynamically insert advertising into your podcasts

• Learning the basics for growing your podcast traffic

Click here to register for this webinar!

Podbean Enterprise – Your Private Podcasting Solution
Presenter: John Kiernan (Head Of Marketing, Podbean)

Podbean Enterprise is your modern, effective all-in-one internal communications solution. Securely deliver audio and video private podcasts, access detailed analytics and so much more.

In this webinar, learn more about our various private podcasting tools, such as:

• How to publish a private podcast

• How Podbean keeps your podcasts truly secure

• How to track listener engagement across all of your employees

Click here to register for this webinar!

Webinar spaces are limited, so register as soon as possible to save your seat.

Podbean strives to ensure podcasting resources are readily available for all levels of podcasters. To learn more about our webinar topics, check out our blog pages for podcasting basics, monetization, Podbean Live, and enterprise and business-level podcasting.

The Rise of Skywalker Release: Recommended Star Wars Podcasts

December 9, 2019December 10, 2019 / podbean / Leave a comment

The Rise Of Skywalker Podcasts from Podbean

The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20th. Are you ready?

Star Wars fans might have mixed reviews of the different films, but it’s always exciting when a new one is on the horizon. Our favorite Star Wars podcasts are abuzz with news, commentary and analysis. So, whether you’re a die-hard fan or just have a casual interest, now’s the time to listen up and learn more. Get excited for The Rise of Skywalker and delve back into some Star Wars nostalgia and trivia with our recommended Podbean Star Wars podcasts.

You can find this topic featured in the Podbean app to listen on the go. If you don’t already have the Podbean app, download it for free in the App Store or Google Play store. It’s the best way to listen and discover new podcasts you’ll love, with recommendations of hot topics plus personalized recommendations based on what you listen to most. You can also listen to these podcasts online here.

Recommended Star Wars Podcasts on Podbean

THE NERD ROOM – A STAR WARS, MARVEL, & DC PODCAST

A weekly podcast bringing you the latest Star Wars, Marvel, and DC news and reviews!

Hyperspace Hangout: A Star Wars Podcast

A podcast by Star Wars fans, for Star Wars fans!!! To be a part of the show, send your transmissions to HyperspaceHangout@gmail.com | Remember – “traveling through hyperspace ain’t like dusting crops”

BLUE HARVEST: A STAR WARS PODCAST

Will and Hawes, two long time friends, unite every week to talk about all things Star Wars.

Rogue Won: A Star Wars Podcast for Winners

ROGUE WON: A Star Wars podcast for Winners with Johnny Grasso, Hawes Burkhardt

Tapcaf Transmissions – A Star Wars EU Bookclub

Reading, discussing and breaking down the books of the Star Wars Legends Expanded Universe

The Bad Motivators: A Malfunctioning Star Wars Podcast

Three guys with a unique approach to Star Wars news and discussion.

Blah Wars: A Star Wars Podcast

A Star Wars podcast featuring news, speculation, audio commentaries, debate and banter. Hosted by John Galantini and Jude Gay, with occasional guest presenters Bradie Tippetts and Raj Rajendran.

The Wretched Hive: Star Wars Podcast

Just five guys talking about Star Wars…and other stuff.

The Contingency Plan: A Star Wars Podcast

Welcome to The Contingency Plan podcast, a Star Wars literary Podcast. In the coming episodes we will deep dive into the extended universe and discuss all fun rabbit holes along the way. Thanks for joining us, and may the Force be with you!

Dex’s Diner

So a Jedi, an Imperial & a smuggler walk into a bar…A new Star Wars podcast hosted by @ksherwood17 @bradtheSWchief & @justsaynotojoe. Follow us on Twitter @DexsDinerPod!!!

Star Wars Spelt Out Podcast

Josh Chapman wants to get better at Star Wars, so he is getting people he knows on the mic to podcast and their ideas and stories. Some people know more, some people know less but all that really matters is they have something to say, it’s STAR WARS SPELT OUT.

Knights of Vader – A Star Wars Podcast (for kids)

Star Wars flavored NPR crossed with COAST TO COAST AM – Objective analysis, passionate debate & unpretentious speculation of all Star Wars media – Join Zack, Zenger and “Force Ghost” Jim as they discuss the many facets of Star Wars!

Children of the Force – a Star Wars podcast

Children of the Force is a podcast about Star Wars by one adult and his two kids. We discuss news, do reviews, tell jokes and have discussions about all things Star Wars.

Scruffy Looking Podcasters: A Star Wars Podcast

A stuck-up, half-witted, Star Wars Podcast. 4 scruffy dudes on a weekly podcast covering Star Wars news and speculation. Hosts and avid Star Wars fans James Hebert, Kev Garbett, Chris Hall, and Ed Bosshart discuss Star Wars movies, shows, news, books, and more from their perspectives and have loads of fun doing it. Mature Content.

Podbean Podfest Ticket Giveaway

December 4, 2019December 10, 2019 / Shannon Martin, Podbean / Leave a comment

Podbean is excited to announce we’re giving away 50 tickets to join us at Podfest Expo 2020 in Orlando, Florida! Get a free Creator Pass to one of the hottest podcasting and multimedia events. Learn, get inspired, and grow better together with Podbean and Podfest.

About Podfest:

Podfest Expo is a community of people who are interested in and passionate about sharing their voice and message with the world through the powerful mediums of audio and video. The conference provides content creators with world-class education, inspiration and ideas, and community and networking.

Podbean supports Podfest as a Gold sponsor and will be live streaming sessions from the conference, along with demonstrating Podbean Live and answering all your questions in the exhibit hall. If you attend, be sure to come by the Podbean table to say hi and pick up some exclusive Podbean conference stickers. They’re fast becoming a favorite podcaster collector’s item!

Apply here for your free Creator Pass.

Podbean will select the first 50 eligible participants. By entering, you agree to attend Podfest Expo from March 6th-8th in Orlando, FL. Winners are responsible for their own transportation, accommodation, and personal expenses. Podbean will provide one Creator Pass ticket, valued at $299. Once selected, Podbean will email winners with a redemption code.

Follow Podbean on Facebook and Twitter for our latest updates, giveaways and more!

Tips for Live Stream Success

November 26, 2019November 26, 2019 / Shannon Martin, Podbean / Leave a comment

We’ve gathered some of the best tips from our experiences over the past few months with Podbean Live. Whether you’re thinking about doing a live show or have already started live streaming, these can help you run successful live streams and build a larger, more engaged audience.

Set up your live stream for success

Think of hot topics to cover in your live stream. What topics have you covered on your podcast that most interested listeners (highest # of downloads or most feedback)? What topics have listeners asked for? Is there a hot topic in your industry/niche right now, or a big event, product release, etc.? What’s everyone buzzing about? Is there a popular expert/guest you could have on the live stream? You can also use the live stream to make a big announcement or share some “behind the scenes” or more in-depth information.
Come up with a catchy title. Once you come up with a topic that will be interesting, you need to grab listeners’ attention. Make sure the topic is clear (and easily searchable). Come up with something catchy, but not so clever that listeners won’t understand it or be able to find the live stream if they’re interested in the topic. Speaking of titles, make sure to make your nickname in Podbean Live something recognizable for your podcast, name or brand. On your home page in Podbean, you’ll see your nickname at the top left. Click the edit icon to change it.
Two (or more) voices are better than one. Co-hosts or guests can make the live stream more interesting, and even encourage listeners to tune in. It’s easy for co-hosts, guests, and even listeners to call in using Podbean Live.
Write an outline and prepare. Just because a live stream is a bit more spontaneous doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be well thought out. Don’t waste listeners’ time. Come up with a flow for the live show and come prepared with what you hope to cover. You might want to have extra material and ideas since you are live and things might not go as planned. Be prepared, but adaptable.
Use a microphone and headphones or headset and test your audio equipment. To avoid echoing, ask all callers to use a headset as well. Here’s a video about how to use a USB mic or interface with Mac. Subscribe to the Podbean Youtube channelfor more video tutorials. Podbean also offers webinars to learn more.
Be sure you have a good environment and internet connection. Try to live stream from a quiet environment where you won’t be interrupted. Test your internet connection.

Getting listeners to your live stream

Schedule your live show in advance. Consider what time(s) will be best for listeners (you may even want to ask them/take a survey).
Think about live streaming at a regularly scheduled time. This provides consistency and gets your listeners used to tuning in.
Share your scheduled live stream on all your social media and communication channels. Under “actions” for the live show, you’ll find the share button so you can easily share to social media, via email, etc. And, don’t forget to promote your live shows in your podcast episodes! Ask listeners to follow you in the Podbean app so they will always be notified of new live shows.
Encourage your followers to share too. Podbean’s live stream “engagement score” shows you a measure of how listeners are engaging with the show, and offers listeners ways to support you. One of the ways they can support you is by sharing your shows. Don’t forget to ask them to do so.
Build excitement for your live streams. Don’t just share a link once and be done. Give potential listeners a hint about what will be happening or why they’d want to join. You can even build in suspense, by teasing a special announcement or guest. Ask questions and solicit listener feedback for the live stream in your social media posts.

Make your live stream awesome

Consider integrating music. Podbean Live has built-in music you can use for background, intros, and interludes. Music adds atmosphere and can help with the flow of the live stream.
Interact with your listeners. Thank new listeners for joining. Solicit listener comments and calls. Ask a specific question or for listeners to share an opinion on a topic you’re covering. Do a live listener “poll” or “vote”.
Make it a conversation. Make sure you respond to listener comments (or assign a co-host to do so). Get a few callers on the live stream at once for a group call. Do a Q&A (respond to listener questions, ask listeners to submit questions for your guest).
Minimize use of ads or promotional time in live streams. Especially while you’re building an audience, you may want to leave ads out of the live show. You can always edit ads in if you publish your live show as a podcast episode, or start adding them as you build a larger audience.
Keep up a good pace. Don’t have dead air or bore listeners. This might take some time to hone, but have plenty of backup ideas and keep things moving along. Your live stream does not need to be a particular length, so if you find you don’t have enough content to keep it lively, shorten the time.
Have fun with it. Podcasting is already an intimate medium. Live streaming adds another level to that intimacy and interaction. It’s a wonderful chance to have fun, try out new or more in-depth topics, experiment and create a community atmosphere. You’ll need to be adaptable, as things can change no matter how much you prepare. Have ideas in mind and don’t get stressed out. Listeners do not expect the same level of polish as they would from a podcast episode, but they like seeing your human side. Live shows can make a great blooper reel for a bonus podcast episode!
Gamify it. You can even run contests or little competitions around live streams. Podbean shows listeners the level of support they’re giving to your show, including commenting, sharing, listening and sending gifts. From these actions, you see an engagement score. Take advantage of this gamification and encourage listeners to support you in the ways they prefer. This can make listening even more fun. And, you can also consider doing something such as sending top supporters podcast merch, like a sticker or pin. Or, just give them shout outs on the show.

After you’re done, analyze what worked and what didn’t. Use any listener feedback to improve. Even better, analyze results from a few live streams to test out different variables. Specifically ask listeners if they liked certain things, or if you should try something else.

Think about how you want to use live streaming in conjunction with what you’re doing with your podcast. Live streaming offers a great opportunity for listener engagement and doing new things. Think about how it might further your goals and fit into why you’re doing your podcast.

Learn more about Podbean Live and get started. It’s free and open to all podcasters!

Podcasts for Holiday Stress Relief

November 22, 2019December 11, 2019 / Shannon Martin, Podbean / 1 Comment

While the holidays can be filled with joy and celebration, stress sometimes comes along with all the enjoyment. All the holiday merriment can also mean a packed schedule and feeling overwhelmed with obligations. And, the added pressure combined with family conflicts might mean you’re looking for some ways to relax and de-stress. We’ve got a podcast recommendation list that is just the thing. Happy holidays!

Podcasts for Holiday Stress Relief

Meditation, Relaxation and Sleep

Happiness Spells

Five minute lists of happy things — Increase your appreciation, positivity, gratitude and creativity. Fall asleep easily and peacefully.

Women’s Meditation Network

Guided meditations created just for women that will inspire, calm and center you. Listen when you want to start your day with mindful intention, relieve stress or anxiety, fall asleep easier or simply tune into the wisdom of your inner voice. Each meditation is created with love to help you shine throughout all the seasons of your life. Hosted by Katie Krimitsos.

Nothing much happens; bedtime stories for grown-ups

Bedtime stories for grownups, in which nothing much happens, you feel good and then you fall asleep.

Daily Meditation Podcast

A Library of Meditations at Your Finger Tips. Be happy, healthy, more at peace, and sleep better as you’re greeted every morning with a daily guided meditation technique. Feel as though you’re seated next to your personal meditation teacher Mary Meckley as she takes you on a weekly journey to manage your emotions. New themes each week based on an emotion with different daily meditation techniques to manage stress triggers. You are so worth slowing down for.

Sleep With Me

Insomnia? Mind racing at night? Worries keeping you up? Tune in for a bedtime story that lets you forget your problems and progressively gets more boring until you fall to sleep. So get in bed, press play, close your eyes, and drift off into dreamland.

The Meditation Podcast

The Meditation Podcast creates an extraordinary meditation experience for people in their everyday lives. Founded in 2006 by husband-and-wife team Jesse & Jeane Stern, the podcast uses guided meditations, binaural beats, mindfulness, and 20+ years experience in Healing Arts. Please use headphones, and do not listen while driving or operating machinery. For our complete archive of meditations, please visit our web site or Patreon.com/theMeditationPodcast.

Guided Sleep Meditations

Soothing guided meditations to help you relax and get to sleep at bedtime.

Holiday Fun

Tis the Podcast

Tis the Podcast is determined to keep the Christmas Spirit alive 365 days a year! Join Anthony, Julia, and Thom as they embark on a magical journey debating and discussing different Christmas movies, specials, and television episodes each week. Please visit http://www.tisthepodcast.com for the running ranking of all the movies they review, in addition to episode show notes and contact information.

Dreamtime Hour Holiday Editions

Holiday short stories for bedtime or while sipping hot cocoa during those cold winter nights.

Holiday Special Podcast

Watching Holiday Specials and talking about them.

Christmas Tales

Ghosts, lost love and what happens when the festive season is hijacked by the politically correct brigade… Christmas tales by some of the most cherished writers of our time.

Fun for the Family

The Saturday Morning Cereal bowl

A weekly music show for the whole family.

Adventure of The Month – Kids and Children

Every month a new adventure over few episodes

The Calm Kids Podcast

Stories by kids, for kids to unwind and go to sleep relaxed and happy.

Reading Bug Adventures – Original Stories with Music for Kids

Let’s Fly! Reading Bug Adventures is a story podcast for kids from The Reading Bug. Each episode is a new adventure with original songs — just hop into the Reading Bug’s magic book bag, and we’ll be transported to whatever time or place is in the books inside! Join us for action and adventure, and bring your crayons and paper so you can color your own illustrations. Reading Bug Adventures is created, written, and produced by The Reading Bug, an independent, family-owned children’s bookstore. Learn more at http://www.thereadingbug.com/adventures.

GOOD THINGS RADIO

A lively show focusing on the good that life has to offer while going through the joys and challenges of parenthood, married life, culture, friendship and faith.

Bonus: Mindful Parenting and Family

Mindful Parenting in a Messy World with Michelle Gale

Insightful parenting conversations with some of the leading voices in the mindfulness world.