Podcast Advertising: Let’s Do It the Right Way

Podcasts are booming; similar to other platforms, this type of content easily goes viral and, in some ways, is replacing YouTube vlogs. Usually, when someone starts considering creating a podcast channel, the first things he or she tries to come up with are the themes and topics, the format which best suits the podcasts, and how many hosts is ought to have. While those things are vital for a successful podcast, there’s one thing that most people don’t take into account: podcast advertising.

Even if you manage to create the best show – you developed the right energy and the most engaging topics for your target audience, you will still have to promote it. Otherwise, it won’t get listened to and your effort won’t be worth it. After all, what’s the point of creating something amazing for people if no one hears it? We’ve got you! The gurus at Camberlion have already done the research for you. Let’s learn how you can utilize podcast marketing and the different ways to approach this process!

10 Podcast Advertising Strategies to Try

Luckily for all of us, some of the most popular podcasters in the world have shared their secrets to success in the public space. During our research, we’ve managed to find what we consider the best advice and tools. Some of these tips and tricks date back to as early as 2012, which just shows how much experience some people have in the podcast business. If we all the information we gathered, we would have to write a mini book. So, for now, we’re just going to focus on the 10 best podcast marketing strategies you need to try:

Use Your Guest’s Audience

The main objective of starting a podcast is to build an audience. When you’re hosting a podcast, you should consider inviting guests, regardless of whether you choose an interview or discussion format. If you’re able to invite people who already have their own audience, you can use that to your advantage! One way to do that is by making it easy for them to share and promote the episode they are featured in. Pro tip: send them a quick message on the day that the podcast will go live and include a few types of shareable media, such as

• Images
• Links
• Short video snippets
• Tweets and status updates
• Pull quotes

Try to get the most viral moments of the podcast and cut them into 30- or 60-second clips that will spark an interest in your target audience. An example of this could be the first few seconds of an answer to a fantastic question or a controversial statement that’s left without commentary during the conversation. By sharing these clips, people will be left curious and, hopefully, make a note to listen to the entire podcast once it goes live.

Promote it on Social Media

Thanks to social media, promoting a new product, service, or business is so much easier compared to just a few years ago. All of those platforms are terrific ways to advertise your podcast! You can be as creative as you like, and utilize as many of the platforms as possible as you market yourself. For starters, one “must-do” is always to keep in mind always share new updates once you publish an episode. Share them multiple times! But that’s only the bare minimum; in order to truly harness the power of social media, you must promote your new episodes a few days before they come out. You can do that by publishing snippets, quotes, viral moments, and anything else that has happened on your podcast that you assume will be of interest to your target audience on your social media.

Once the episode has been released, you need to keep re-sharing these same moments and share the link to the podcast multiple times over. It’s good to do TikTok five times per week and Instagram three to four times per week, but that can vary depending on the results you’re seeing (reference our blog on TikTok Analytics to help).

Release Multiple Episodes From the Start

The general rule is to publish anywhere between three and five episodes from the get-go. You should be aware that three is the absolute bare minimum, according to our research. The saying “the more, the merrier” is in full swing here, and you don’t be hesitant to publish more than five episodes! It’s also a good idea to have several more episodes pre-recorded to make sure you have content for the following weeks so you can maintain audience interest.

One of the podcasters that frequently talks about the multi-launch strategy is Jason Zook, and it’s a vital part of his plan for hitting the very top of iTunes. He also mentions how important it is to start building an audience before your podcast even goes live – that way, you will have people already waiting for your content and ready to spread the word from the beginning.

Turn Audio to Video

You should try to repurpose your podcast in any way possible. Some try to mix live videos with podcast interviews; however, that route is slightly more challenging. Here is the introductory option: add each episode of your podcast to your YouTube channel. Having a video version on one of biggest search platforms provides:

• Links to easily share on social media
• Closed caption and transcripts that are automatically done by YouTube (which saves you time and energy)
• Better SEO (search engine optimization)

When it comes to SEO, Google will occasionally put 53 times more value on video rather than written content. So, while things like show notes and descriptions can help you rank higher on the search engine, having a YouTube video might turn out to be that much more effective. Converting audio to video is not that difficult, and there are many tools that allow you to do that easily. Google recommends iMovie for Mac and Windows Live Movie Maker for PC users. But of course, you can look for more modern and high-quality software to do the job.

Send Your Podcasts to Aggregators and Podcatchers

Podcatchers are apps that play podcasts. The most popular one currently takes the number one spot on the App Store and has quite a distinguishable purple icon. But it’s not the only tool for listening to podcasts on the market. There are dozens of apps that collect and play podcasts, and their websites feature new podcasts and help with discovery. Here are few:

• Overcast
• Stitcher
• Podcast Addict
• Podcast subreddit
• PodcastLand (your podcast is automatically listed here if it’s in iTunes)
• TuneIn
• Bello Collective
• Castro
• Podcast Republic
• Downcast

Podcast Catcher also has a ranking of the best podcast of the month, which gets chosen by the users of the app. If you manage to win that competition, that will expose your content to many potential listeners.

Have a Transcription of the Audio

All great podcasts share a full transcript of the show. At the start, you may want to take a different approach and just highlight vital and exciting parts of the show. Instead of boring your audience with a long text full of inconsequential conversations or exchanges, you can provide only the show’s highlights in written form.

Transcripts are great for SEO, and it also helps you collect new listeners. If you have the budget, you can use software to transcribe the show so that you don’t waste time and resources on this (sometimes boring) task.

Have a Party After Two Weeks

The effort you put into the first couple of weeks of your podcast will greatly affect how it performs in the future. The likes, shares and the rate at which you collect downloads and gather positive reviews matter the most at the start, as these things will motivate you to keep doing more and will ensure that the platform you choose put your podcast gets a signal that people find it engaging, which will encourage it to promote your show organically. You have exactly two months on iTunes to get into the New and Noteworthy section. The first two weeks are of the utmost importance if you want that to happen!

To alleviate some of that pressure (and make it more fun), we thought of some exciting things you can do during the first few weeks so that the after-launch period feels like an ongoing event:

• Have a real-life party on launch day
• Host a party virtually on a streaming platform
• Publish blogs related to the topics you discuss on the podcast
• Do giveaways and incentivise people to share the podcast
• Have all the people that work on your podcast share and re-share snippets, viral moments, images, and other promotional materials

Do a Giveaway Contest

Giving something for free or having discounts can serve as a great motivator for people to listen and share your podcast. Use that to your advantage! For example, you can ask people to leave a review on iTunes as one of the requirements to enter your giveaway. This should earn you some more reviews, boost the social rating of your podcast, and help it get noticed by the platform.

If you have the money to do a good giveaway, consider gifting items such as

• Branded clothing or bags
• Re-usable water bottles or tumblers
• An experience or getaway

If you can’t spend money, you can offer to mention the winners in the show notes or to give them a shoutout at the end of the podcast.

You can start a giveaway contest directly on social media and/or mention it during the podcast episode. From then on, you need to give people a timeframe as to when they can enter and then pick the winners. Make sure to post updates and reminders for the contest on your social media every day.

Try to Get Mentioned by Partners

This is a strategy that you can copy from content marketing, where you usually look for popular websites to mention your business and, thus, bring in traffic. Here, you need to look for a partner with a larger following than you, willing to place your podcast on its channels and aligns with your values. One way you can approach this situation is by mentioning a business on the podcasts and then reaching out to it and starting a partnership.

Additionally, if you see a common audience or other connection with a brand or another podcast, you can simply e-mail its team and ask for collaboration.

Try to Get Featured as a Guest on Other Podcasts

You know how politicians travel all across the country to promote themselves? Or how do movie stars go on talk shows when promoting their new film? Learn from the pros! Do something similar by going on a podcast tour and making appearances on other podcasts that are related to your niche.

When you start doing a podcast, you will quickly learn that booking guests can be a challenge. Having a proactive approach might be something other podcasters will appreciate, and it will prompt them to send you an invitation to participate in an episode. If you easily want to find podcasts in your niche, you can simply go to iTunes or Google and view the podcasts that are in the same category as yours.

Before We Part Ways

These are just 10 ways to advertise your podcasts. However, there are many more that you can use and get good results from. You can use our list as guidance at the beginning and, as you continue to grow and see which ones work for you, you will soon find the perfect formula for promoting your podcast.

If you want to continue learning about marketing, scaling your business, and being successful in the long run, take a gander at our other articles. If you’re more of a listener, we frequently upload TikTok videos full of easy tips and tricks that can be valuable to any business.