Outline:
Having a social presence for your podcast
It takes a lot of work to promote a podcast, especially when it’s not your full-time job. And sometimes the more you shout out your show, the fewer people listen.
But one thing is for sure, you have to show your work or nobody will find you. 30% of podcast listeners find new shows by searching the internet and 17% do it through social media according to Buzzsprout. Thus, not having a digital and social presence deprives you of almost 50% of potential podcast listeners. You can’t afford to be left out of this space!
It’s not easy to attract eyeballs and ears in a noisy space, but there are ways to stand out and effectively reach more people. At Rumble Studio we’ve tried dozens of strategies until we’ve found the most fruitful ones. Here’s how to share your content organically and get real engagement from your (potential) audience.
#1 – Find the right social groups
Instead of posting an invitation to your next episode on every possible platform and virtual group, focus on those that will make a difference.
For instance, there are many Facebook groups where just leaving a link to your show will get lost in a sea of other links. Saturated groups never work and the engagement will be close to zero.
But others have real engagement. For our 100 Podcast challenge, we found that the following two had people actively searching to consume new podcasts:
There are special threads for showcasing your podcast (like happy social Saturday on the Independent Podcasters Community) and sometimes you can self-promote your show as well.
But don’t just focus on throwing your links whenever you can. Try to engage with other podcasters, create small groups within these communities where everybody shares each other’s content, and be active with other people’s work as well. The more we give, the more we get.
You should also expand your reach to groups outside of podcasting per se and include ones based on your broader topic. So if your podcast is about film music, find groups that are focused exclusively on this topic. Their members will find your podcast relevant because it’s something they deeply care about and they’ll be more likely to engage with your content given this common passion. You might even find guests for your show in these groups!
Also, use these groups as a way to find content for your episodes. If you know that many members engage with music royalties, for instance, you can try to answer their concerns. If your content is relevant, you’re more likely to get them wanting more of your content. Address their needs and you’ll have supporters for life.
# 2 – Create snippets of your content
You need to awaken people’s curiosity for your podcast.
Trailers do it in 1 or 2 minutes. Ads have to do it in the first 10 seconds. What about podcasts? We’ve seen that a 1-minute snippet of your episode can catch your audience’s attention. Export a fragment of your show that leaves a hook at the end and add an animated graphic to make it both visually and auditory appealing to the listener.
Your potential audience has to feel that they need more after listening to this snippet. This hook can look like a guest’s strong statement on an issue or a host’s impactful question leaving the conversation on a cliffhanger. People will be intrigued to learn more about it and will barely wait for the episode to be released.
The audience has to experience that the only way to have peace of mind is by satisfying their curiosity and learning the whole story behind that snippet.
# 3 – Enhance the role of the guest
The guest’s role is a powerful tool that you can take advantage of in two ways.
The first one refers to the guest on your show. Once you air the episode, contact the guest to thank them for their time and ask them politely to share your episode with their community.
It’s not just you promoting the show but a powerful ally as well. The guest is someone who has a stake in the show and is motivated to get people to listen to it as well. Not only is the guest directly implicated in the success of the episode (they want to look good and smart, who doesn’t?) but their audience has a special affection towards them. This fondness makes the audience more prone to listen to your show than coming from someone they don’t know (a.k.a. the host).
The second way is for you, the host, to be a guest but this time on other people’s podcasts, on a written interview, or on a live show. Being on other people’s shows gives you authority and visibility.
There’s always a section in this interview where you can promote your work; this is where other audiences will hear from you and your show. People acquire the first impression about you which can boost their willingness to get to know more about you through your work. Put yourself out there and reap the fruits of this added visibility.
# 4 – Be personal and close to your audience
Listeners are more prone to engage with genuine and trustworthy people.
How can you work on these traits? Create actions that speak louder than words.
For instance, at Rumble Studio we’ve created a discord community where we maintain a direct link with our audience. People can ask questions or give feedback on certain channels which we always address on time. People feel that we listen to them and realize we’re there for them which makes them more eager to be active in the community.
Again, the more we give the more we receive. We also have a discord channel where we encourage podcasters to share their work, find guests, and ask for feedback. We participate and encourage others to do so and when it’s our turn to share updates on our tool, our articles, and our podcast, it doesn’t feel like a marketing stunt. This two-way street makes it a genuine and fruitful conversation.
And here’s another example of a genuine approach. In our 100 podcast challenge, our creative director Laetitia had to reach out to many podcasters through Facebook groups, cold emails, and other venues. Her more personal approach, where she openly stated her inexperience as a podcaster, was the main factor for people to participate in her newly founded podcast. Even some of the guests referred and shared this challenge with their friends and colleagues solely driven by their willingness to help without Laetitia ever asking them to do so. This is the power that brings transparency and genuineness.
# 5 – Write blog posts
You can accompany your audio media (podcast) with visual media (blog).
Writing articles can help you expand on ideas that were said in a podcast episode but you couldn’t develop further due to time constraints. Or a blog post can help you introduce the next topic to your podcast. The possibilities are endless!
This additional content will generate more traffic to your work. Some people will learn about you through these articles. Then they will head on to your podcast. Others will come the other way, from your podcast to your articles. The important thing is that you’re expanding your reach and creating new opportunities for your content to be discovered.
Ask for people’s email addresses to create a newsletter and engage with them more directly. You will develop a relationship with your audience over time if you can keep delivering content consistently. They will expect your newsletter and make it part of their daily routine. Congratulations, you’ve now become part of their everyday life!
# 6 – Base your promotion on your show’s analytics
You need to learn about your audience if you want to be more effective at reaching them.
By understanding how and when they consume your content, you can personalize your podcast promotion. Your publishing host (e.g. OmnyStudio, Buzzsprout, Anchor) usually has an analytic tool that will allow you to learn things like:
- Episode downloads over time (graph)
- Platforms used to listen to your podcast (e.g. windows, android)
- Type of device used to listen to your show (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile)
- Average listening time
- Listener’s country and/or region
And many other elements that will help you tailor your content to the right audience. For instance, if you know that more people listen to your show in England than in any other country, you might create a paid promotion specifically for that country. Based on this information, you can also optimize the artwork’s design for your snippet to the type of device more frequently used to listen to your show.
The more you learn about your audience the more effective your promotion to that niche.
Summary
Creating a podcast doesn’t end with publishing your show. Your content has to be seen or else you wouldn’t be in this business. By learning how to promote your show, you will make better use of your time and spend it on what you most love: content creation. Based on our own experience on Rumble Studio, these 6 tips will help you find and gain an audience more effectively to boost your show’s reach.
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