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Tips for Marketing Your Podcast.

There is no simple template labelled “How to Podcast.” Some people podcast as a hobby, others as a career, most people are somewhere in between. There are thousands of aspiring podcasters trying to break through to the public. Here are some tips on how to market your podcast series.

Think Entrepreneurially

Whether you run a small independent podcast as a hobby or host a nationally known series, operate like a business. Understand your limitations as an operation. What sets your podcast apart from others? If the point of your podcast is not to earn capital, then what is it? Some creators are just looking to expand their audience, a podcast can work as a functional marketing tool for your brand.

Much like an entrepreneur, a podcaster has to manage their product, release dates, assign value, and market their product. Websites, design, booking guests, hosting platforms, and schedule are all a part of the process. The podcast landscape requires much more than talking into a microphone. 

Be Visible 

There are limitations for an audio medium. If you don’t have an immediately recognizable brand or personality, there is leg work to be done introducing yourself to the public. Aside from creating content that resonates with people, there needs to be a way to connect with your listenership. The logo for your podcast is the face of your podcast, make it interesting. 

Joe Rogan’s hit podcast the Joe Rogan Experience does a great job utilizing Joe Rogan’s face and brand into one logo. The imagery resembles the tone of the show and attaches Joe to his show. In the event that you are not a nationally known celebrity, scroll through the iTunes Top 100 and see what sticks out! Use colors that stand out and make sure you are getting your point across! 

In the same vain, literally be visible within your community. Sign up to be in festivals, fairs, and summits. Interact with potential listeners. There is merit to the brick and mortar approach to marketing. Although your product is completely virtual, real life connections will benefit any production. 

Diversify Content

There are limitations within the audio medium. A podcast can only be found in a handful of places, whereas video content can spread through the most popular arteries of the internet. Developing video content, or creating a video podcast can help listeners and viewers get to know the production in a different light.

In this video, I’m speaking about the value that video content brought when marketing my own podcast series 2100

Videos, pictures, and graphics can help to build out what your audio product looks like. Diversifying content can help bring your podcast to life.

Book Interesting Guests

Guests are a major ticket to notoriety. Booking notable guests with large followings can launch your podcast series to new heights. There is no faster way to access thousands of people than having a celebrity with thousands of followers post about your show. A single retweet can take your podcast to new heights.

Podcasts are Going Mainstream.

In September of 2006, the third season of The Office premiered on NBC, that season went on to win an Emmy and a Peabody Award. September 2019, Pam Fischer and Angela Kinsey of The Office unveiled just the trailer for their new podcast titled Office Ladies.With just the four minute trailer uploaded, the show sits at #1 on the iTunes Podcast charts. Office Ladies has amassed more than 3,000 5-star reviews without releasing a single full episode. 

Likewise, Ron Burgundy has found a second life in the podcast world 15 years after Anchorman was first released. A-List actor Will Ferrell is now a podcaster. Chart-topping rapper T.I. began releasing episodes of his new podcast series Expeditiously” with PodcastOne. Major media companies and podcast players are throwing bags of money at celebrities and putting even more money behind marketing their shiny new content. 

The popularity of podcasts has continued to boom for several years. It was only a matter of time for sponsors and media companies to meet listeners demands. 

Match.com is currently running an ad campaign that features Pitch Perfect’s Rebel Wilson posing as a podcast host. This type of mainstream exposure is great for the podcast industry. It will be interesting to see if Match takes the ad-campaign further and actually produces episodes. That would be a great example of content marketing. 

With the overall segmentation of media in the midst of the streaming wars, media companies are in an arms race for content. The podcast world is following this trend. The environment is ripe for new original content hosted by familiar faces, just make sure not to jump the shark!