Whether you’re looking to connect with more potential guests or hoping to expand your network of listeners, it’s all about one phrase: podcast promotion.
But woah there, friend, before you dive directly into promotion, here are a few reminders for you to absolutely nail your social media setup.
Before you start promoting your podcast, it’s crucial to determine who your target audience is and where they are located on social media.
1. Determine Your Target Audience
The first question to ask yourself is, “Who is my target audience?” If you said everyone, you are lying to yourself. Every podcast has a unique audience they are trying to appeal to, and you are actually hurting yourself more by not narrowing it down to find them.
There are a variety of different ways to determine your target audience, but one recommendation from Captivate is to create your “podcast avatar.”
By determining one specific persona you want to find, it is easier to tailor your social content to your ideal audience. This wastes less time and money – a win-win for you. Instead of searching and attempting to appeal to everyone under the sun, you now have an end goal in sight.
Determining your target audience allows you to move on to the next step, finding where that audience is.
2. Find Your Podcast Home
You wouldn’t post your aunt’s wedding photos on LinkedIn with the caption #bestauntever, would you?
Every piece of content has its correct platform home – the same can be said about podcast content.
Every podcast has its own group of individuals it is trying to reach and should be promoted in areas where those individuals are most likely to be active.
For example, a podcast about home improvement and home ownership is more likely to flourish with promotion on Facebook and LinkedIn to reach a mature audience. Conversely, a podcast about college success may do better numbers when promoted on TikTok or Instagram to appeal to Gen Z or Gen Alpha.
Finding your podcast home may take a little bit of trial and error with posting on various platforms. Remember, don’t give up if you don’t yield results right away. Perfecting things takes time!
3. Post at Ideal Times
Once you have found your audience and determined which platform they utilize most, it’s all about determining the ideal posting times and being consistent.
As much as we want to just post whenever we want and hope for the best, there are ideal times to post on social media.
Some social media platforms have switched up their algorithms which can make it a bit difficult to get your posts seen. But knowing the ideal times may put you one step ahead of the competition.
For reference, Hootsuite shares that LinkedIn users should post at 9:00 AM on Tuesday and Wednesday to see the best results. It’s all about doing the research to see what works the best for your platform and, again, some trial and error.
4. Be Consistent
Are you more likely to interact with an account that has 20 followers or 200k followers? Are you more likely to interact with an account that has 2 posts or 200 posts?
Establishing your brand and remaining consistent with posting allows users to see your credibility and commitment.
If you want users to do something for you (i.e. listen to your podcast), then you have to do something to get them interested in you. Providing them with consistent, engaging content will help you get noticed, get people interested, and ultimately get them listening.
5. Accept Constructive Feedback
One last crucial step is listening to your audience.
If your audience shows more interest in Instagram reels compared to YouTube shorts, maybe it’s time to shift your focus.
Listening to your audience is just as important as your audience listening to you. You wouldn’t be anywhere without the support of your audience, so be sure to read the signs they’re giving you.
The phrase “giving the people what they want” is ultimately true in terms of what content you should be putting out to your audience. Stay true to yourself and your podcast brand, but remember to incorporate an audience-focused approach.
Podcast Promotion Takes Some Personal Investment:
It never hurts to post on social media just to experiment. Finding out where your audience is will take time. There will be some bumps in the road, and posts may flop along the way, but in the end, it could lead to your audience being bigger than you ever even imagined.
Need help getting your podcast off the ground? Reach out to us to embark on your podcasting journey today!