Episode 19
How to market your podcast and reach new listeners | Ep 19
In this episode, we're cutting through the noise and diving deep into REAL podcast marketing strategies.
Forget the gimmicks and the 'buy followers' schemes. We're talking about actionable tips to grow your audience organically. We'll cover everything from leveraging social media and SEO to tapping into the power of referrals and guest appearances.
Plus, we'll expose the common pitfalls that drain your budget without delivering results. Learn how to target the RIGHT listeners, not just any listeners. We'll even show you how YouTube can be your secret weapon.
Transcript
Welcome to Podcasts Done For You, the show where we make it as easy as possible
Speaker:for you to make the right choices to advance your podcasting career.
Speaker:So let's get started on the show.
Speaker:How to market your podcast and reach new listeners.
Speaker:It's the million dollar question that everyone wants to know, don't you?
Speaker:Well, let me just tell you that there are a lot of wrong ways to go in this market.
Speaker:A lot of people spend a lot of time and money.
Speaker:on resources that supposedly get you new downloads and reach new
Speaker:people, but they're not real.
Speaker:And I think you realize that after you trial it a little bit, I know
Speaker:I've trialed it just to see and understand what actually happens.
Speaker:And the real test, of course, in that scenario is when what happens
Speaker:is you test it for a little period of time, and then you see the
Speaker:drop away immediately afterwards.
Speaker:You'd have to assume that some people that have reached, that the podcast
Speaker:has reached for the first time and, uh, are new that a certain percentage
Speaker:of them are going to like it and want to come back, particularly if
Speaker:you've targeted the right people.
Speaker:And if you see that not happening, then it's a pretty good indication
Speaker:that what you are getting is not real.
Speaker:Now let's focus on what you really want.
Speaker:Reaching new listeners or new viewers, as the case may be now in order
Speaker:to do that, part of the strategy that you look at is the obvious.
Speaker:The obvious is posting on social media, making it interesting enough that it
Speaker:is going to expand your audience and throw it out to new people who are
Speaker:going to be exposed to your podcast.
Speaker:Of course, you can do that as well with emails, newsletters,
Speaker:and those sorts of things.
Speaker:Posting it on your website and using SEO type techniques and the like to
Speaker:bring in more people to your website is also going to help foster that.
Speaker:But the other big thing is really is more structured, I think, and
Speaker:the new people that you want to bring in really just depends a lot
Speaker:on who you're trying to target.
Speaker:Now, what I think is the great thing about a podcast is it's so much more easy
Speaker:to refer to get referrals from a podcast than it is to get normal referrals.
Speaker:What do I mean by that?
Speaker:Well, this is why we're talking about it to reach new people.
Speaker:So I have.
Speaker:Various clients, for example, who will share the podcast.
Speaker:And even though they are a client of my client, that they will share the
Speaker:podcast episode with family members, friends, colleagues, where they
Speaker:think it's a value because it's a non threatening way to share materials.
Speaker:It's not saying, Hey, you've got to go and talk to this person.
Speaker:It's not saying rock up at a meeting.
Speaker:It's saying, in your own time, I thought this might be of interest.
Speaker:Have a listen to it.
Speaker:And that's one of the great ways by encouraging that through your
Speaker:existing client network to encourage that use is really going to expand
Speaker:your ability to reach new listeners.
Speaker:Is it going to do it on mass really quickly?
Speaker:No, it's not.
Speaker:Now there are tech, there are techniques that you can use to potentially
Speaker:give you some of that mass, but let's talk about some of the more,
Speaker:I think more valuable techniques which will extend reach for you.
Speaker:And it's really about then starting to utilize people that you have on the show.
Speaker:So one thing is using the clients and your existing, uh, database
Speaker:of people who already like you.
Speaker:But the next thing is to expand in a different and new
Speaker:direction is starting to utilize.
Speaker:guests on the program.
Speaker:Now I hasten to add, and we've recorded an episode of podcasts done for you,
Speaker:the show about this specific idea, please be very, very careful when
Speaker:you're inviting guests onto the program.
Speaker:I don't want you to lose sight of the fact that you have to be the expert.
Speaker:It is your show.
Speaker:You must be the expert on your own show.
Speaker:And it's why co hosting is such a big thing for my.
Speaker:Clients, but let's put that aside and let's say you've got that sorted out.
Speaker:One of the great things about having guests on your program is they're
Speaker:opening up new networks for you.
Speaker:They're going to add value to your program by being a peer perhaps or an
Speaker:expert in a different area that you can have a constructive conversation with.
Speaker:Whatever the reason is.
Speaker:When you've got them on the program, if you make sure that they have
Speaker:something to share afterwards, they're going to want to share it.
Speaker:After all, it's pretty natural that people that appear on your show
Speaker:want to share it with other people.
Speaker:That's why they're doing it as well.
Speaker:So give them the material to be able to do it.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:It's nice to share for them to share your posts, but give them
Speaker:something fresh and interesting that they can share on their own.
Speaker:That is a little bit different to what you're sharing that
Speaker:gives them extra value.
Speaker:They're suddenly opening up.
Speaker:Your, um, your networks to their networks.
Speaker:So it's a really important thing to be doing and then
Speaker:following what they're doing.
Speaker:Make sure they tag you in, make sure you comment and like their posts on
Speaker:whatever platform it is, because that's a really great way of getting that in.
Speaker:I think the other way of getting new listeners in and extending
Speaker:that reach is actually being very selective in who you target.
Speaker:Now there are, again, there are so many of these big ticket strategies.
Speaker:I want to be more focused.
Speaker:I think you want quality people coming to expand your reach of the program.
Speaker:So to do that, why not find people that you want to connect with in some way,
Speaker:shape, or form that you've either been blocked from doing it, or you haven't
Speaker:had an excuse to do it and use the podcast as an, as a reason to do that.
Speaker:Hey, I know we don't know each other or, Hey, I know you're
Speaker:an expert in this field.
Speaker:I thought you might be interested in this episode and I'd love your
Speaker:feedback and then follow up with it.
Speaker:What did you think?
Speaker:Did you get an opportunity to listen?
Speaker:Would you like to be on the podcast?
Speaker:Would you like to have an opportunity to discuss some of the issues on there?
Speaker:All of those kinds of things.
Speaker:Natural conversation starters.
Speaker:Again, it is a non threatening way.
Speaker:To get to those people.
Speaker:And I think that is really important because it's going to give you that
Speaker:quality opportunity to open doors that might not otherwise be open to you.
Speaker:And I'm going to go back to the podcast guest scenario.
Speaker:That is definitely a big opportunity to open doors.
Speaker:I've had conversations with plenty of people as a result of a podcast that I
Speaker:would never have had the opportunity.
Speaker:To talk to them in the past, some of them have just been amazing people,
Speaker:and I've been able to cherish and build on that relationship since then.
Speaker:And that's a fantastic thing to be able to have.
Speaker:I've had guests on my program, on my other program, Biz Bytes, for
Speaker:example, that, um, I know charge huge amounts of money for a consulting.
Speaker:Uh, you know, on a daily basis, let alone for, for, uh, you know, spending an hour
Speaker:with you and they'll do that for free.
Speaker:So you get a whole lot of information from them for free as well.
Speaker:So there's some gain for you and that's a quality relationship that you can build.
Speaker:Being based on someone that you want to engage with now, they may or may not want
Speaker:to become clients of yours, but remember again, they're opening up their networks.
Speaker:So be targeted with some of the people that you might have on because it, it is
Speaker:their clients that you may want to get to.
Speaker:And as we all know, you going in.
Speaker:up to some person and saying, Hey, would you mind just sending an email out and
Speaker:posting on social media to all of your database to say how wonderful I am?
Speaker:They're not going to do it, but will they share a podcast that features you?
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:They will.
Speaker:They're some of the big ticket.
Speaker:Ideas, I think are most critical to it.
Speaker:Now, of course, there are these other ways that you can start looking at it on mass.
Speaker:Now, there are plenty of groups that are out there, be it on Facebook
Speaker:and LinkedIn and other places.
Speaker:You can look at Reddit and you can look at Telegram.
Speaker:The list kind of goes on where there are groups that you can post, Hey.
Speaker:You might be interested in my podcast.
Speaker:Now be careful.
Speaker:There are a lot of people in those groups that are just there to spam you.
Speaker:As a result, every time I've tried it, you end up with 20 people
Speaker:wanting to connect with you.
Speaker:That's saying, Oh, I noticed your podcast.
Speaker:Hasn't got as many downloads.
Speaker:How about we give you a whole heap of downloads and again, you're kind of
Speaker:buying nonsense with that and you're being spammed with them is my general feeling.
Speaker:So my advice to you is to be cautious in where you post and use that.
Speaker:But certainly there are a number of directories out there
Speaker:as well that you can utilize.
Speaker:I think those techniques are important, but it's also about what you get right
Speaker:in how you post your episodes one by one, getting the titles right for
Speaker:SEO purposes, making sure you've got metadata in there in the podcast as
Speaker:well, making sure that you've got a great image that's going with your podcast.
Speaker:All of these things open up the possibilities of new people finding you.
Speaker:And this is where I'd get to one last particular focus.
Speaker:And I would say YouTube.
Speaker:And if you are watching on YouTube, hello.
Speaker:And if you're not watching on YouTube, go check out YouTube
Speaker:and subscribe while you're there.
Speaker:Now the reason why I've pushed YouTube so much and so many podcasters do, and
Speaker:why Google shut down Google podcasts and focused on YouTube is very simple that
Speaker:YouTube is primarily a search engine.
Speaker:And so as a search engine, the opportunity to reach your episode
Speaker:of the podcast is much greater.
Speaker:I think that's a really important thing.
Speaker:When you're thinking about getting new people coming to your podcast,
Speaker:you want people who are genuinely interested in what you're talking about.
Speaker:Now I can tell you when I'm recording this and you'll be able to have
Speaker:a look about when it's published, but you might be watching this.
Speaker:Sometime down the track, it could be six months.
Speaker:It could be a couple of years down the track.
Speaker:It could be even be longer than that because that's the great thing about
Speaker:YouTube is that as a search engine, it will bring up content at any time.
Speaker:Now that's one of the key differences with some of the other platforms.
Speaker:The other platforms Spotify, Apple, et cetera, all of those
Speaker:wonderful platforms for podcasting, but they're not search engines.
Speaker:So people are not going.
Speaker:Looking for a topic there and then thinking, Oh, your
Speaker:podcast and I'll go on there.
Speaker:A very small percentage of people might do that, but generally speaking, people
Speaker:are going onto those platforms because they already know a person or a show
Speaker:that they wanted that they want to find.
Speaker:So that means finding new listeners.
Speaker:Or, uh, new clients ultimately for you, YouTube is a great channel
Speaker:to be able to do that because it's constantly out there and doing that.
Speaker:And I think off the back of that, making sure that you've got content
Speaker:that is going up on your website and driving traffic to your website.
Speaker:As we said at the beginning is also important in trying to attract new people.
Speaker:Remember it's about quality, not quantity.
Speaker:Now, it'd be wonderful to think that you're going to get millions
Speaker:of downloads for every episode.
Speaker:And every time you put out an episode, you're going to get a hundred people
Speaker:wanting to do business with you.
Speaker:That would be amazing.
Speaker:The truth is that doesn't really happen for the majority of podcasters.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:There might be a few up there at a very elite level.
Speaker:And quite frankly, most of the people that are putting their hand up to want to
Speaker:work with them are not suitable anyway.
Speaker:They're looking, they might be selling low, low ticket, uh, items on top of it,
Speaker:but you're not going to deal with them.
Speaker:It's about quality, find the right people, find, make sure you're talking to the
Speaker:right audience of people who are going to benefit from what you have to say and
Speaker:the information that you have to give.
Speaker:That is where.
Speaker:I believe that you're going to get the best opportunity for
Speaker:getting new people coming to you.
Speaker:And remember just simply putting your voice out there and sharing
Speaker:the content on a consistent basis.
Speaker:That alone is the biggest opportunity present because you're constantly
Speaker:educating and nurturing your audience.
Speaker:Don't underestimate the value of your existing audience because I think that is
Speaker:the biggest opportunity where you have for new clients to come from because there are
Speaker:people that suddenly consistently seeing you and then want more and more from you.
Speaker:So if that has been of some assistance, please let us know in the comments.
Speaker:And indeed, if you've got other ways that you think are a real
Speaker:killer way of getting, uh, extra traffic for your podcast, sure.
Speaker:Let us know in the comments.
Speaker:We love that.
Speaker:Don't forget to subscribe wherever you are.
Speaker:And of course, a reminder that this is produced by.
Speaker:My team at podcast done for you, where we take care of all
Speaker:the podcasting stuff for you.
Speaker:So you don't need to worry about any of these things.
Speaker:We will do everything from the strategy right through to the publishing and giving
Speaker:you the reels to share on your network.
Speaker:And we can even do more if that's what you want.
Speaker:So contact us at podcast done for you.
Speaker:Just shop as the expert on your own show and let us do all
Speaker:of the heavy lifting for you.
Speaker:That's it from me for this episode of podcast done for you.
Speaker:The show.
Speaker:I look forward to your company next time.
