Marketing and Sharing Your Podcast
How many of you have already recorded your dream podcast episode, but you’re feeling unsure of how to cultivate your listeners, engagement and community?
Welcome to the final installment of this podcasting series on the Female Founded Blog where we’ll be answering all of your questions on sharing your podcast with the world!
If you read last week's blog post, you know we sat down with Kristen Stegall, founder of her own podcast and video production company, Novice Studios.
We decided to include even more of her top podcasting tips, and this time they’re all about sharing and marketing your podcast so you can reach the right audience.
Finding Your Audience
Just like anything in the business world, your podcast can’t (and shouldn’t) be for everyone. It’s nice to say that anyone and everyone can be interested in your knowledge and expertise - but then you have no direction on how to appeal to such a wide-reaching and diverse audience. When you narrow down your audience, you’ll find listeners who will not only benefit from what you have to say but will connect with your mission and vision on a deeper level.
To start catering to your target audience, find your niche. What makes you stand out? If you have an industry-based podcast, it might be a little easier to identify the specific group of people you are talking to.
If you’re still having some trouble, conduct some market research by sending a survey to your audience. Who are they? What do they want to listen to? More on that here.
The Podcast Launch
Before you launch, you need to create a recognizable brand for your podcast. This includes cover art, a signature song, and an intro and outro for each episode.
Your cover art should be a unique photo, graphic, or combination of the two so there is a visual component connected to the voice your audience hears.
And to complement your unique voice, include a good song with your podcast. But, when integrating your signature sound, there are a lot of copyright rules that limit what music you can use (we wouldn’t want to be stealing someone else’s intellectual property, would we?). Kristen recommends finding a song on AudioJungle where you can buy a song you like for a pretty cheap price.
On top of getting all of your listeners to be humming your intro song on the daily, one of the best ways to solidify brand awareness is to make your iconic intro and outro. Whether your listeners have been with you since the beginning or they stumbled upon your 37th episode, introduce yourself, the name of your podcast, and a quick overview of what your podcast is about. You can be as creative as you want with this!
If you’re new to editing and want to streamline your process, Kristen recommends having your intro and outro each edited with your music and saved as separate clips. This way, you can use the same clips for each episode and don't have to spend too much time editing in your software.
Also, be sure that each part of your branding embodies the tone and theme of your podcast!
When you launch your podcast, it’s important to have a podcast trailer. A trailer is a 3 to 7-minute preview about you, your background, and what people can expect from the podcast. In this trailer, you’re introducing yourself and your podcast to the world. Let it be a solo episode, but if you have a co-host, include them, too!
Is your podcast feeling real yet?
Promoting Your Pod
One of the best ways to promote your podcast is to (you guessed it) think ahead!
If you have the opportunity to be a guest on someone else’s podcast, think about what you have scheduled for your business during or after that episode is posted. Is your guest episode going live in April, and you just so happen to be launching your product a few weeks afterward? Be sure to talk about that on the episode to drive interest and traffic to you.
Simply planning to publish your podcast on all of the major platforms is a great start, but the work doesn’t stop there. Promoting your podcast through social media (even personal accounts!), newsletters, blog posts, and other podcasts is a major must! This enables you to connect with your current and future listeners in a lot of different ways.
Don’t forget to reply to comments, ask for reviews and always post about new episodes!
Podcasting is a Long Game
Creating a podcast is an exciting venture for everyone, but we want to be real with you. Don't expect to have hundreds of thousands of listeners overnight.
Kristen told us that podcasting is a long game but definitely still an opportunity for business exposure.
Podcasting is a tool that is not focused on immediate growth, but rather one that emphasizes your own credibility. Your podcast is your own authority marketing platform. When people see that you have a podcast, they will automatically set you up as a professional.
One final piece of wisdom (arguably the most important) from Kristen is when you plan, record, and share your podcast, come from a place of service. Be authentic in your message and why you want to share it. With a real desire to inform, educate and inspire, you’ll certainly leave a lasting impact on your listeners.
Find Kristen on the Novice Studios Website and on Instagram!
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