Whether you’re just getting started or you’ve on your 100th episode, you likely still want to know how to promote a podcast. On this episode of the Q’d Up Podcast on Podcasting, John and Jay (PodVader) talk about the podcast marketing techniques you should be using and how you should be using them to get the best results.

There are a million things you could be doing but there are a few tried and true methods to boosting your downloads. Whether it’s simple cross-promotion within your genre, using podcast SEO to improve your traffic on specific keywords, or even using a video podcast to leverage the engagement and searchability of platforms like YouTube, the guys break down the myths and realities of podcast marketing.

Show highlights:

Introduction

Podcast marketing: How to promote a podcast (2:14)

Jay and John discuss an article from Jeff Vidler that covers the top-five ways people discover new podcasts. 

Podcast marketing: Cross-promotion (3:32)

One of the top tips for how to promote a podcast is simply to get your podcast on another podcast. However, it’s a little more nuanced than that and Jay talks about what things you should be looking out for when doing any cross-promotion as a part of your marketing strategy.

Podcast marketing: Make great content (8:06)

It might seem like an obvious answer but making good content is key to marketing your podcast. Boring podcasts with terrible audio and low-energy hosts don’t move the needle no matter how well you market it in other ways. Jay breaks down some of the ways you can make your podcast remarkable.

Podcast marketing: Social media strategy (9:08)

Simply putting your podcast on social media isn’t enough and a recent study says social media ads are just 1% of how users found new podcasts. That means you need to come up with a better social media strategy. Jay and John explain how the different platforms require different needs and hit different audiences.

Podcast marketing: Podcast SEO (12:24)

As we’ve covered in previous episodes, good podcast SEO is the foundation of marketing in this era. People search for the things they’re interested in and if your podcast comes up, they’re more likely to click and listen. It’s a more organic way to get listeners over time without having them feel like you’ve peppered them with ads.

Podcast marketing: Video podcast (13:08)

It might seem counterintuitive to put your audio podcast on a video platform, but as Jay and John explain, video can be a great marketing tool depending on how you use it. However, Jay notes some pitfalls when doing things, especially when it comes to attracting sponsors.

Podcast marketing: Blogs (15:42)

The more places people can find your podcast, the better. As John and Jay detail, by using a blog to have your show notes and other details, you’re really leveraging SEO to better effect.

Using Google Alerts to promote your podcast (16:38)

A recent article written on Jacobs Media Strategies shares the importance of Google Alerts for radio stations. As Jay notes, it can still be just as useful as a part of your podcast marketing strategy. The guys go over the Google Alerts you should have set up right now.

How long after publish do people listen to podcast episodes? (23:32)

Triton Digital presented at the Podcast Business Summit and one of the things they shared was information on when podcast episodes are listened to. As Jay and John point out, it will depend on the genre but there can be quite a long tail that will alter how to promote a podcast

Programmatic advertising in podcasting (31:17)

Reflecting a bit back on last week’s episode, Jay explains what programmatic...