In this penultimate post of the Podcasting for Business series, I’ll talk about how you can promote your podcast and get the word out there.
You can having a fantastic podcast with perfect audio quality and great content, but it’s very unlikely that it will take off without some marketing first. Here are some quick and fundamental tips for promotion.
1. Show notes
The show notes is the text that accompanies each episode – often in the form of a blog post or a bullet point list of important notes. You can also simply provide an edited transcription of the audio.
Believe it or not, some people just read the show notes and don’t even listen to the show. Having show notes is also useful for search engine indexing. These show notes should be on your blog or website, and don’t forget to put a clear link to your podcast on your landing page.
2. Online marketing platforms
- If you make use of email marketing, it is essential that you promote your podcast in the emails. Ensure that you include a short description about why the show would interest your email subscribers. If your episodes are published with the same frequency as your emails, then that’s even better.
- Social media is, of course, a crucial tool in promoting your podcast. Use the social profiles of your business to spread the word and use relevant hashtags, mentions and tagging to gain more visibility.
3. Podcast directories
Submit your show to iTunes (the largest podcast directory). This is where millions of people search for podcasts to listen to. To get listed you’ll need to have your first episode ready, an RSS feed for the show, tags, and album artwork.
There are various other directories out there. Don’t register for all of them – stick to the ones that are specific to your location or show topic.
4. Guest interviews
One of the best ways to get more exposure for your podcast is to have guests on your show and be a guest on another podcaster’s show. They’ll promote your show and you will do the same for theirs, which has the potential to gain you a new/wider audience.
After you have a guest on your show, don’t forget to email/message them with a reminder for when the episode goes live, and include a direct link to it so that they can share that with their followers.
5. Podcast communities
Join and get involved with various podcasting communities and other podcasters (especially the ones in your niche). Promote other relevant podcasts from time to time; ask others to promote your show (do this in moderation); and encourage your followers to rate and leave a review for your show.
Ratings and reviews are essential for iTunes ranking, so this should be your call to action in each episode and in the show notes.
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In the last post of this series, we’ll look at how to measure your podcast’s performance.