You’ve come up with a fantastic podcast idea and you need some tips to get heard. Or maybe you’ve already gained a good core of listeners, but you feel the time has come to expand the podcast’s reach.

This is Day 13 of my 31 Day Podcast Challenge.

Your efforts into growing your podcast audience is something you should do on a regular basis. Dedicate just as much time and passion as you do when crafting and recording each podcast episode of yours.

But how do you do it? Here are some handy tips to increase your podcast listeners.

Focus on the launch

A good launch is crucial if you want to gain engaged listeners 

Launching goes beyond reaching as many people as possible: it’s about reaching as many people as possible to find your topic relevant. That’s why relying on a previously built audience can help a lot. 

Think about running an official countdown on your digital channels in order to attract some of the right people before you actually launch. 

Make your podcast launch day a digital event, be it a Facebook live, LinkedIn live, an Instagram story – get creative!

If you’ve already launched, that doesn’t mean you can’t create some event in order to get more engagement from your audience. This will turn into more shares, and eventually new podcast listeners from your listeners’ circles.

Email

Email is fundamental because it’s where closer connections happen. If people allow access to their email, they’re also open to your podcast. It’s ideal that you start building your email list before your podcast launches: that way you can let your contacts know you’re live.

The best way to keep on collecting contacts throughout the podcast is to build an opt-in landing page. It’s a web page that explains to your current and potential podcast listeners why they should receive your news in their inbox, followed by the chance to sign up for them. Mailchimp, Mailerlite or Revue are great tools for no-fuss list building.

It is vital that people give their consent, because you’ll know they are actually interested, and for purely legal reasons – you can’t spam people.

Give a brief and enticing summary of each episode and a preview of the upcoming one. While it’s quicker to go with an email template, try your best to customize your email to the receiving end.

Make sure you include the opportunity to share the email with friends to get new, engaged listeners for your podcast.

Whether or not you have an opt-in list, do email people you know personally if you know they’re interested in your podcast topic. Email pioneers and influencers asking them for advice and to share some episodes with their network.

Reach listeners on social media channels

As tailored as emails can get, taking care of your social media can help get your podcast noticed on a larger scale, driving those much needed downloads and reviews!

Each social media post should contain your unique insight into why people should listen to that episode. Consider your post a promo for your podcast episode, nothing more or less than that. 

Create a unique hashtag for your podcast and use it consistently. Also leverage the power of topic-relevant hashtags. Ask for reviews and downloads! As for graphics, try picking some memorable quotes from your episodes and turn them into social media designs.

You could invest a little budget in promoting your new podcast episodes with social media ads in order to increase impressions and, ultimately, podcast sessions, downloads, and subscriptions. 

Another option is advertising in the Overcast app. Overcast ads help you grow your podcast’s audience by reaching passionate podcast listeners on their terms, natively, right in their podcast app. Your ads appear below the controls on the Now Playing screen and in the Add Podcast directory, reaching potential new listeners as they search for new podcasts.

Be active where your audience is

Now that you have built your own podcasting marketing channels, it is time to think where your potential listeners spend time on and offline, such as topic-specific groups, Facebook groups, reddits, forums or even Quora. 

Transcribe your podcast episode audio

Transcribing helps you grow your listener base, because each transcript helps your podcast’s overall ranking in search engines. This makes it easier to be reached by people who are actively searching for content like yours. There’s no need to spend hours with DIY transcribing: there are lots of tools available to do that for you, such as Sonix, Trint or Happy Scribe.

Prepare your media kit for your podcast

A podcast media kit will help people tell a story about your podcast in a relevant and realistic way. It will help you communicate yourself and your podcast, positioning you as a truly professional podcast brand.  

Make your media kit available wherever possible. Send it proactively to influencers, publications, and groups that can cover your podcast story.  

A complete media kit will include:

• Podcast title, headline (if you have one) and links
• Short and longer podcast descriptions available for copy/paste
• Podcast logo and other visual material
• Team bio and photos
• Podcast idea and story
• A selection of your top podcast episodes

Mention partners and invite guests  

When you mention other podcasters and businesses in your podcast episodes or invite them to be your guest, you will be able to leverage each other’s audience.

Mention partners, tag them and email them to let them know, start a conversation for future collaborations

When you’re mentioned, thank them publicly. Start a conversation for future collaborations. And share the mention on your marketing channels

Invite a podcaster or business as a guest or be a guest for them for mutual relationship building and super interesting content

These ideas are just the starting point for discussions and workflows we provide our clients at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.

Recorded in Studio C at Channel 511, in the Brewery District, downtown Columbus, OH.

Brett Johnson is the owner and lead consultant at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants. With over 35+ years of experience in Marketing, Content Creation, Audio Production/Recording and Broadcasting, the podcast consultants at Circle270Media strategically bring these strengths together for their business Podcast clients.

Subscribe to my free daily Open The Mic Newsletter at www.circle270media.com. It's chock full of podcast news you may have missed, as well as social media, sales, and audio production tips, and insights on how to grow your business podcast.

If your business is using podcasting as a marketing or branding tool, I would love to showcase your podcast. Go to www.notetofutureme.com and scroll down to my booking calendar.

Email us at podcasts@circle270media.com to set up time to talk more about your new or established business podcast.

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I want to thank ArchesAudio dot com for the music you're hearing. They provide audio to podcasters for free as long as you give them some accreditation in verbally in your podcast as well on the show podcast notes.