Think of your favorite podcast. If you’re like most people listening to it is one of the best parts of your week. You love discovering new podcasts but do you hesitate to market your podcast because it feels inauthentic? This is a surprisingly common problem in the podcasting world. Amazing creators aren’t necessarily experienced marketers and as a result risk making amazing content that only a lucky few ever discover. The good news is that people love to share podcast recommendations so your content can do 80% of the job for you. That remaining 20% is just the job of making sure the RIGHT people hear it.
Embrace Your Passion
Odds are that someone, somewhere is out there right now hoping to find more content like yours. In every undertaking to promote your podcast, step one is to tap into the genuine passion that led you to create it in the first place. Remember why you started your podcast and the impact you want to make and then create your approach from that space. When you’re passionate about your content, promoting it becomes an exercise in finding likeminded people and sharing in that passion together. Wherever you go to consume content, you should also consider for promoting yours. Submit your podcast to be featured on the directories where you like to listen, mention it in social channels you share with likeminded enthusiasts, and look for similar podcasts also looking to grow to work out ways you can each reach the others audience.
Focus on Value
Don’t like talking about yourself? Good. You shouldn’t, at least not directly. Shift your perspective from promoting yourself to providing value to your potential listeners. Instead of aggressively pushing yourself as a voice that should be heard, position yourself as a resource to your ideal listener. Highlight the knowledge, insights, and entertainment they’ll gain by tuning in. If you show genuine excitement about the value you’re offering it will shine through in your marketing efforts. You can experiment with providing templates and resources for educational content or bonus content for fiction. If you have a branded or company podcast, offering an inside insight on upcoming products is a very effective strategy for making your core audience feel “in the know”.
Storytelling, Not Selling
You’re a storyteller so tell your story! Share the journey of creating your podcast, the challenges you’ve overcome, and the lessons you’ve learned. Storytelling makes your marketing relatable and engaging, drawing in your audience without resorting to traditional sales pitches. Getting to know you better is what will draw your likeminded audience to your podcast. Be authentic, vulnerable and relatable in your approach and your message will resonate with exactly the audience you are looking for. One of the best ways to do this is to promote through channels where your audience is already listening.. Any chance you can get to share your passion with a new section of your target audience is worth it. Work out trades for guest spots, use your other media channels to talk about your podcast and if your are working with any paid advertising make sure you are telling the story of why you go through the effort to create the podcast in the first place.
Ads Aren’t Inherently Evil
Sometimes the best part of going to a movie is catching the trailers. Once you’ve developed an authentic way to tell your story and bring value to your audience, an advertisement is just a delivery mechanism to make sure no one misses out. Choose a medium that hits your like-minded audience and like action movie fanatics at to the preview of the next high octane chase thriller, your audience will cheer you through your promotion and line up to get more. You’ve got some great options including placing your trailer or audio ads on similar podcasts, look at a recommended podcast campaign for your favorite podcast player in your category, or you can even push your trailer through paid social posting or google ads. Do keep in mind, however, that generally the fewer steps someone has to take between hearing about your podcast and queueing it up on their phone, the more people will actually come listen to your podcast after hearing the ad.
Putting it all together
One of the best parts of podcasting is finding and building a community. When you understand who your audience is, you are authentically passionate about providing real value to them, and you get serious about finding channels to reach your unrealized biggest fans, you’ve build the foundation on to which your amazing content can take off.
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