How to Gain More Podcast Listeners
“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” is a timeless question to provoke thought, but a more relevant question is “If you record a podcast and no one listens to it, what good is it?” Seriously, you could have the most entertaining and informative podcast imaginable and if no one can find it, then no one will listen to it. Which is why it is nearly as important or possibly more so, to properly market your podcast or in other words, find listeners. Below are some thoughts on how to gain more listeners for your podcast.
Gaining Podcast Listeners & Growing Your Reach
Launch
If you haven’t launched your podcast already, great, because getting a great launch is a key to gaining listeners. Be sure to have at least 3-5 episodes recorded before launching and make sure they’re well edited and the audio is clean and well recorded. With a couple hundred dollars and a little bit of knowledge you can produce quality audio. Releasing quality content is most important but audio quality is a close second, especially with the advent of today’s technology.
If you have a solid launch strategy and enough downloads of the first few episodes you’ll have a decent shot at landing in the “New & Noteworthy” Podcast section on iTunes in your respective show category. You will only be eligible to show up in this section for the first 8 weeks after your initial launch. Therefore, it is critical to have a lot of good content early to maximize your exposure in this section.
If you’re able to land in the “New & Noteworthy” section, you’ll land on the front page of iTunes and thus have a great shot at getting a new audience from people browsing through the section. It is also really important to have a schedule and stick to it. Experienced podcast listeners are leery of new podcasts fading away on them. One way to indicate you are going to last, is to consistently publish on schedule.
Social Media
A prominent and consistent social media presence is going to be one of the best ways you find listeners for your show. If possible, start your social media at least a few weeks prior to your launch to build momentum, regularly posting engaging content to all major social media sources, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
A great method of marketing on Facebook is to live cast recording or prepping to record your podcast. Record these videos and publish them on YouTube as well. There are a lot of great and creative ways to draw in followers to convert to listeners on social media.
Interviews
Interviews are a common and effective way to gain more listeners. Interview other podcasters and prominent people related to your podcast subject. You might not have much luck getting celebrities or stars of your genre, but you will find podcasters with less than 100,000 followers will be flattered and willing to be interviewed on your show.
It will also be great if you can get interviewed on an existing podcast. Be sure to send your interviewer or anyone you interview a follow up email with your podcast link information and some canned social media text they can easily share with their followers.
Audiograms
Audiograms are basically your audio played over videos or slideshows. This provocative content can help you to reach and engage new followers with your brand and content. Websites like Wavve.co will help you to create these valuable marketing tools. Audiograms are really cool and interesting videos. Great audiograms strategically placed on social media will draw people in and expose them to your content.
Get off a great launch, utilize social media regularly and well ahead of your launch. Get interviewed and feature interviews early and often to cross promote your podcast. Use audiograms to create awesome video content that will intrigue your followers. These are just a few things you can do to gain more listeners for your podcast.