5 steps for successfully promoting a new podcast

by Ronn Torossian | Oct 4, 2019 | Analysis, Public Relations

concept of podcast technology, graphic of microphone with digital device

So you’ve decided to start a podcast. An increasingly popular marketing strategy, podcasting seems to be having its moment in the sun in the world of social media. It’s more than likely that you’ve spent considerable time getting the sounds and feel just right, and now you’re ready to hit that “upload” button.

Before you do, however, you need to formulate a plan for how to promote your new project.

Your ultimate goal is to perform well on iTunes, with the Apple platform responsible for as many as 70 percent of a podcast’s listens and downloads. “There’s basically Apple and then everybody else,” says Erik Diehn. Accordingly, here are some strategies to leverage as you strive to make it big on iTunes.

Leverage your guest’s audience

If your podcast has an interview format, this provides you with an excellent opportunity to reach new audiences through your guests. When you post your interviews, give notice to the guests you had on that particular show so they, too, can promote your podcast to their followers. Make it even easier for them by handing over a series of shareable media, like pull-quotes, images, links or pre-written tweets and status updates.

Promote on social media in a variety of ways

Share a range of great content on social media, from soundbites to video, from images to teasers. To begin with, make sure you share an update when your first episode goes live. Then, keep sharing. Create quote images in Canva or Pablo, upload soundbites to Soundcloud so you can share them on Twitter.

Consider teasing your next episode 24 hours ahead of time, and reshare your podcast episodes multiple times. Aim for 3 posts to Twitter the first day, and 2 posts to Facebook the first week. Instagram is a great place to showcase your behind-the-scenes material.

Release at least three episodes on launch day

The very minimum number of episodes to have at your launch is three. As a general rule, however, the more the merrier. It also helps to build your audience before launching.

Convert the audio to a YouTube video

Adding every episode to your YouTube channel carries with a number of benefits. The creation of a video easily shared on social media is invaluable, and YouTube provides closed captioning and transcripts automatically. This is great for accessibility if you don’t plan to transcribe yourself. The SEO benefits, too, are huge.

Submit to podcatchers and aggregators

Podcatchers are apps that play podcasts. The most popular one is the main podcast app on iOs, with the purple icon and picture of a microphone. There are dozens more apps that collect and play podcasts, including: