This boom in the podcast industry has been considered a gift and a curse. According to Edison Research, the numbers look good, and the audience is around 90 million Americans this year. Approximately, there were about 57 million podcast listeners in 2018. That’s 32 percent of all 12-year-olds.
There is, however, a lot of competition because of the large set of numbers, which show there are around 750,000 different podcasts with more than 30 million episodes. These podcast statistics could be making you wonder if you can build an audience and carve out your niche. How can you boost your podcast with these massive figures at hand?
You likely began podcasting with the intent of creating a community that shares your interests and values your point of view on a particular topic.
You’re in the right place if you’re looking to grow a podcast listenership and attract new guests. Thus, start applying these ways to boost your podcast now:
1) Rely On Marketing
Even if you’re producing great content, you still need to market it. Listeners don’t appear from anywhere. Marketing includes a lot of tactics. To name a few:
- Social Media – Marketing your podcast on social media is one of the most accessible ways to generate traffic. That’s why everyone on the internet has an extensive social media following. There are various ways to do this right.
- Hashtags – This is blatantly obvious, but it bears mentioning. Each time you use a hashtag, you get introduced to another stream of potential listeners.
- Blog And SEO – You should write a blog and post your episode transcripts if you genuinely wish to take your marketing efforts to the next level. Making a podcast blog helps it get discovered on Google, which has a higher search volume than other podcasting platforms. The topics you talk about on your podcast are probably searched for on Google unless you’re talking about something extremely obscure. A blog post containing a transcription of that post, or at least the show notes, might get Google to rank you for the keywords mentioned in the transcription.
2) Focus On Your Audience
The goal is to appeal to as many people as possible, but remember that you can’t please everyone. So, to maximize profits, you need to focus on attracting the followers who value your podcast the most. You can design promotions to reach that audience with the right messaging once you learn more about them over time.
Write a complete description of your target audience and turn it into a persona to refer to while producing a marketing copy.
At the beginning and end of each episode, invite your listeners to subscribe, share, and review your podcast. Authentic calls to action are more effective than pushy ones. Be honest and explain how your podcast will continue to grow, resulting in more quality content for listeners.
3) Ensure Podcast Quality
The most challenging but most important aspect, for most things, is the quality. The word ‘quality’ could have many different meanings. Quality could refer to the choice of guests, skill as an interviewer, or the audio equipment. It could even refer to the background music used for your show.
You can get the feedback you need from your audience. You can simply ask them. If you don’t have an audience yet, try convincing your friends to listen to your show and receive their feedback.
Regardless of how you define quality for your podcast, strive to continue improving. The tactics listed here will help you increase your listeners, and they’ll be highly effective along with the appropriate and high-quality podcast tech and software.
4) Publish At Strategic Times
Some podcasters believe that it’s essential to release your podcast at strategic times. If you’re just getting started, observe similar podcasts and check the times when they upload. If you observe a trend, there could be a reason. Look for trends in your data until you get your own.
Find out when people are listening to your episode by checking your analytics. If you notice a trend within your audience, try it for yourself.
5) Partner With Other Podcasters
You can reach out to podcasters who share your audience and ask to do a cross-promotion. The process is simple—mention their show, and they’ll do the same. Start by contacting shows with an audience similar to your own. They’re more likely to respond.
Being a guest on a radio show is a great way to get in front of a broader, aligned audience. A podcast press kit will help guests easily share the episode. Similarly, it makes your show more exciting and adds a unique perspective to your listeners.
Conclusion
A trial-and-error process is required to find the best podcast marketing mix. You have to test multiple approaches to find what works for your show. You have to be creative and diligent to attract more listeners.
The promotion of a podcast depends on two pillars: high-quality content and patience. It doesn’t matter how much budget you have for advertising. Nobody’s going to watch a subpar output, so you have to make it a goal to keep on improving.
Along the way, develop your strategies to get more loyal listeners and find unique ways for new audiences to discover you.
