Starting A Podcast In 2018: Everything Ad Agencies Need To Know Pt 2

Want to know everything there is to know about starting a podcast? You’ve come to the right place!

This is a two-part blog, where Part 1 outlines what you need to know to make a podcast, and Part 2 reveals how to get it listened to.

If you’d like to skip back to the beginning (a very good place to start), you can read Part 1 here.

Part 2: The best strategies to promote your podcast

So, you’ve come up with a topic for your podcast that you know your people will want to listen to. You’ve got the equipment and started planning the episodes.

Now what?

It’s time to start thinking about how you’re going to attract your audience. Sadly it’s never as easy as ‘build it and they will come’…

“The ‘build it and they will come’ fallacy is the false belief that if you create the right content (be it a website, an article, a video, etc.) your target audience will find it on their own.”  – Kristen, JTN

Below we’ve listed our top tips for getting your podcast noticed by your target audience.

1. Release at least 3 episodes on launch day

Research suggests you should have a minimum of 3 podcasts to launch when you go live. This is because of the phenomenon, “bingeable content”.

Thanks to the likes of Netflix, audiences now expect to have more control over when they view or listen to content.

Releasing more than one episode on launch day will hook listeners who enjoy the first episode, by allowing them to binge on more.

2. Keyword-optimize your podcast listings

While researching for this blog, I came across a story of an SEO expert who made a simple change to a podcast that made a massive difference:

By simply changing the name of a video game podcast from ‘What’s Good Games’ to ‘What’s Good Games: A Video Game Podcast’, the podcast went from not appearing in the search results of the Apple podcasts app to displaying number 2.

This demonstrates the power of keyword-optimizing. Be sure to include target keywords in your podcast’s name and description, as well as each individual episode’s name and description.

3. Leverage your guest’s audience

If you’re interviewing a guest on your podcast, chances are they’re someone of note.

And people of note tend to have their own audience.

Tap into these loyal listeners by asking your guests to share information about your podcast.

*Best practice tip: Do the hard work first, so all your guests have to do is hit ‘share’. You can do this by creating quote images and prewritten tweets for them.

4. Get ratings on iTunes

Buffer Social claims “iTunes is responsible for as much as 70% of a podcast’s listens and downloads.”

iTunes is THE channel if you want to get your podcast seen. But you can’t just drop it there and expect people to find it.

You need to get your podcast as high up in the charts as possible. The higher you are, the more likely it is that your target audience will find you and become loyal listeners.

In order to get into the ‘New and Noteworthy’ section (which should be your goal) you need to get as many downloads and reviews in the first 8 weeks after launching as possible.

There’s a couple of ways you can encourage listeners to help you in these crucial weeks:

• Write podcast related blogs—don’t be afraid to ask outright for reviews and feedback
• AND/OR write podcast related CTA’s into any communications that you’re sending out/posting
• Run competitions/giveaways—‘How to enter? Download Ep. 1 and tell us what you think in the review section!’
• Get everyone in your team to promote it on their social media.

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If you want to ensure your content cuts through the noise in the digital-age and gets your agency noticed, but you don’t have the time, resources or skills to get something like a podcast off of the ground, talk to us.

We’re helping agencies just like yours generate content that entices their audience to share and engage with it, building trust and loyalty and ultimately winning you clients.