After months of planning, recording, and editing your B2B podcast, you are finally ready to launch. Your episodes have earned a good amount of downloads, but you’re ready for more. Podcasts are largely spread through word-of-mouth, but how do you gain enough initial traction to get people talking?
Below are some tips on how to better promote your business podcast.
Experiment with Marketing
One of the easiest ways to see which promotion method works is to test different marketing channels. Digital promotions often direct the viewer to your podcast via a URL that is activated upon clicking. At the end of that URL, attach a tracking link that specifies on which channel they found your show (ex: /instagram or /web_ad). By tracking this digital footprint, you can easily see what marketing tactic is converting the most passive viewers into active listeners. Google Analytics is one of the most popular web analytics tools, and they have a great interface for tracking campaigns. This tutorial by Orbit Media Studios should help you set it up easily!
Consistency
Create a schedule for posting and stick to it. When launching your podcast, upload the first three episodes so that listeners have more content to choose from. Then, determine how often you’d like to post and on which day. Look at similar podcasts, identify when they publish, and use that as a base. From there you can use your own analytics to determine if it is working and if you need to adjust.
Cross-Promotion
Podcasts are all about community. It’s easy to focus on your community of listeners, but don’t forget about the community of pre-existing B2B podcasters. Talk to more-established business podcasters for advice and form relationships in order to cross-promote: you mention them on your podcast and they mention you on theirs. This exposure could be anything from a brief mention and link in their show notes to having you on as a guest! Established listeners will be more willing to give your podcast a listen if they know it has the endorsement of a podcaster they trust.
Internal Promotion
Utilize your employees and friends. Have them rate episodes, leave reviews, and share on their own social media pages. Podcasts with more ratings and reviews are recommended by podcast directories more often. This also makes your podcast seem more established. Listeners who visit your show can see that there is already a following, which might entice them to listen.
Add Value with Social Media
Social media is a great way to connect with your audience and alert them to new episodes…but that shouldn’t be all your social media pages are doing. Create content that is engaging and sparks discussion. Turn the conversation towards your listeners. This shows your audience that you care about more than just listener metrics. You are interested in what they have to say, how they respond to your content, and how you can grow using this information.