How to Build a Podcast Distribution Workflow

If you’re a marketer, you know that the work doesn’t stop once you’ve finished the content. 

You need an effective distribution strategy to go along with your content. 

When it comes to your branded podcast’s distribution strategy, there are some ways that you can simplify the workflow to make it as seamless as possible.  We outlined a few of these key tactics and tips to master your podcast processes.

1. Keep All Your Assets in One Place! 

Being organized from the get-go will make the process of creating and scaling your podcast much easier. Our first tip is to make sure you collect all your podcast assets into one easy-to-access place prior to publishing. We recommend using content management systems like ClickUp or Asana.  

Having a central area that the entire team can access makes distribution easy. The review process is streamlined and something your entire team can do together.

This also ensures that if you ever need assets from previous episodes, you can easily refer back. Remember assets include everything connected to the episode – the script, show questions, raw files, edited audio, bonus clips, artwork, social assets, promotional collateral, etc. 

2. Develop Marketing Materials 

The best way to make sure your episodes get the traction they deserve is to develop marketing materials before each show is released. Promotion comes in many forms but some of the assets you can invest in include:

• Press release: Sites like Podnews might feature you if it’s the launch of a new show, season, or if you feature a high-profile guest. 
• Social Media Images and Captions: Images and captions can accompany posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok (depending on which social platform is the best fit for your show and listener demographic).
• Audiograms: A podcast audiogram is an image that's converted into a video and layered with other elements on top, such as a waveform and/or transcriptions. These tend to grab people’s attention when they’re scrolling on social. 
• Videos: Clips from the episode, behind-the-scenes shots, or bonus clips can be shared as teasers on social platforms to hook your audience. 

3. Pick Your Distribution Date

Choosing the right time to release your podcast is an important step in the launch process. What day of the week or hour of the week is best to publish? It’s important to consider these questions for podcasters looking to optimize their posting schedule.  

In 2018, Megaphone found that podcasters tend to publish their episodes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday between 2am and 5am with 5am being the best time to gather the maximum number of downloads. 

But remember, that’s a broad research study, and doesn’t mean that those days and times would work best for YOUR podcast. You must decide based on your demographic’s age and location. 

However, once you do decide on what your distribution date is, it’s important to be regular and consistent with your posting schedule. Corporate hosting platforms like CoHost give you access to analytics that tell you when and where your audience is listening. 

4. Test Out Different Times of the Day 

Once you develop a listenership and begin tracking analytics, you’ll be better able to decide what time of day is best to gain traction with new listeners and retain the ones you already have.

Maybe your audience plugs in more when you release early in the morning on their commute to work. This might be true for a self-help podcast that’s trying to motivate its listeners before the start of their day. 

Or it may be true for a podcast like The Daily, where listeners are trying to get a quick morning summary of the world’s breaking headlines. On the flip side, a majority of listeners who tune into thriller, crime, or mystery-themed podcasts, likely do so at night. 

The key takeaway here is that you need to discover what is the best time for your listeners by testing out releases at different times of the day/week and diving into the analytics to see performance. Once you know this, make sure to publish a few hours before then.

5. Begin Your Promotion

Once you have your marketing materials and release date, it’s now time to start promoting! 

You can create tracking links and promote the episodes across media platforms. Make sure that your social assets (like graphics, audiograms, videos, blogs, etc.) are valuable and shareable so you can spread your message far and wide. Engage with your followers by responding to comments and interacting with their content. 

If you want your guest to promote their episode with your provided marketing materials, share them using Dropbox or Google Drive so guests can market with ready-to-go materials. Remember to always share the pending live link of the episode with your featured guest. 

6. Measure, Measure, Measure! 

Now that you’ve distributed and promoted your show, it’s time to measure to see if your marketing strategy is working. Use your podcast analytics to compare your top performing episodes with your latest releases. 

These data points help you see how your podcast episodes evolve over time by comparing their performance based on the content, guests, day it was released, etc. 

 Make sure you have a tracking sheet that allows you to track all your episodes that can be updated over time. This type of data will be invaluable as you make decisions about future show themes, guests, release dates, and what your new season should tweak or change.