At first glance, launching a podcast (or launching new seasons) might seem as easy as recording content and hitting upload, but getting results from your podcast requires strategy.
The most successful podcasts make it look easy, but don’t let that fool you. Successful podcasts are created with specific goals in mind that align with the brand’s overall marketing and sales strategy. One of the most important things you can do for success as a creator is to have a buttoned-down media strategy to ensure people know about your podcast or any show milestones.
A media strategy can be executed around the launch of your podcast, but it’s not limited to that. It can also be leveraged for an array of other reasons such as:
- Season launch
- Notable episode Changes to the podcast (i.e. host switch or co-host added)
- Winning awards
- A high-profile guest
- Partnership announcements
Each of these milestones are newsworthy and in order to really capitalize on them you have to create a splash. Keep reading to learn our top 5 tips for doing just that!
1. Become a Guest on Other Shows
There is no better way to have other potential listeners learn about your show (or latest news!) than by guesting on other podcasts.
By appearing on shows, you’re not only increasing awareness about your podcast but also tapping into a new network of listeners that may have never heard about your work. It’s a great way to showcase your niche knowledge and expertise and offer value that can lead to new subscribers.
Quick Tip: When reaching out to other creators, make sure you let them know exactly why you think you would be a good guest, and what you want to talk about. It’s also a good idea to offer them a guest spot in return or offer some other form of cross-promotion! Creating mutually beneficial relationships with other creators is always a good thing.
2. Create a Press Release
Podcast press releases are an underutilized promotional tool for podcasters. The right press release can result in widespread media attention and ultimately more listeners to your show.
If you aren’t as familiar with a press release, it’s simply a formal statement that’s sent to targeted press in hopes that they cover your story. It’s essentially intended to create buzz around your podcast. Plus having your podcast written about establishes credibility in the industry and makes you stand out from the crowd.
Once you have credibility, this makes it more likely that other publications will write about you, creating a snowball effect of more coverage and listeners.
You should only write a release when there’s something newsworthy happening on your show, such as a new season, a high-profile guest, etc. When writing your press release, make sure to cover the 5 W’s:
- Who are you?
- What are you announcing?
- When are announcing it?
- Where are you?
- Why are you announcing it?
When deciding where to send your podcast press release, you want to cast a wide net. Most publications won’t write about you, so you’ll need to send it to several outlets at once.
Here are a few different publications that write about all sorts of topics and podcasts:
- Podcast Specific News: Discover Pods, Podnews, and Podcast Magazine
- Pop Culture Outlets: The Verge, Vulture and The New York Times
Make sure your press release has a section that includes a quick link to your show with a short bio so that prospective journalists can quickly see who you are, what work you’ve done and who has appeared on your podcast.
3. Press in Publications
Though podcasts are growing in popularity and cornering the market of audio entertainment, we encourage podcasters to seek out mainstream media to grow even faster and become a household name.
Mainstream media attention brings your podcast to the larger public – even to people who aren’t listening to podcasts yet. Coverage in mainstream media gives your podcast the chance to reach a more diverse audience.
While press releases (can get some media attention or syndications, creators still have to go after media in a targeted fashion and cannot solely rely on a press release.
Whether you hire a PR agency or go after media contact yourself make sure to have a clear vision and message. Your media pitch should be very specific. You must explain to journalists what’s in it for them. Why should their audience care?
Why is it timely or topical? If something related to your topic is in the news right now, you’re more likely to be featured.
Pro tip: apart from email, you can also pitch media contacts via social platforms like Twitter where you can tweet or DM them!
4. Social Media Posts
Social media is one of the most powerful ways you can promote your show and should be a huge part of any podcast media strategy. However, before you start, there are a few key things to keep in mind to ensure social traction.
Find Your Audience on Socia
Before you launch your podcast or when you are first getting started, consider where your audience is and how they use social media:
- What’s the topic of your podcast?
- Who are you speaking to?
Is your audience younger? If so, they probably use Instagram or Snapchat.
Are you starting a professional podcast for senior leaders? Then go for LinkedIn promotions.
If you don’t know where your audience hangs out, ask them on your next episode! It’s a great way to engage with your listeners and find them in their natural habitat.
It’s most likely that your audience is on several different platforms, but you want to find the one where they’re most active. This way you can avoid wasting time and energy posting social media updates that your audience won’t see. We recommend focusing on one or two platforms to really maximize your efforts.
Use #Hashtags
If you choose to promote your podcast on Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn, then you need to use podcast hashtags in your posts. Hashtags will help you reach a bigger audience and serve your content to those who are interested in that specific hashtag.
Find a few general hashtags that describe the content of your podcast, like #smallbiz or #finance101, and create a branded hashtag for your podcast. A branded hashtag can help start building your community. While no one may use it at first, it can become a powerful brand-building tool for your podcast as you scale. Make sure to encourage your guests to use the hashtag when promoting the episode to their networks!
Use Show Quotes to Create Social Assets
Social media was made for images!
Even though your podcast is audio, you can still use visuals to your advantage. The easiest way to do this is to pull quotes from your episode and create quote-based images.
Quotes should help identify what the episode is about and pique the curiosity of your listeners. If you have a designer in-house, amazing! If not, Canva lets you easily create quote graphics that you can share on social media.
Use Soundbites, Audiograms, and Video
Sharing podcast content on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn have never been easier. As a podcaster, you have tons of audio and video content that can be leveraged.
Remember, social media videos generate far more social shares than images or texts. If you want people to consume and share your content, then creating videos is your best bet.
- You can convert your audio into a video using animation. This way you can incorporate branding elements that will autoplay on social media. You can do this yourself using a video tool called Headliner. Headliner is software that easily transforms audio into video with images, text, waveform animations and more so you can share it on social.
- You can record quick videos of you and your guest to help promote the episode or share behind-the-scenes content. You can host Facebook Lives to promote episodes or do Q&As after episodes have aired. You can even host a Facebook live during your episode as you record it!
5. Newsletter Announcements
A newsletter is a great way to promote your new show or let people know about new seasons, notable news, etc. Newsletters help build a connection with your audience by creating a feeling of exclusivity.
It also has the added benefit of directing your subscribers to your content and if it's value-add it also strengthens your podcast’s authority.
Remember, there are no limits to the content you may want to include in your newsletters. Whether you want to educate your audience with industry news or simply update them on your latest episode, a noteworthy guest, or a new format, a newsletter is a great way to start forming a loyal community.
