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Like anything else, if you want people to listen to your podcast you’ve got to spread the word.
There’s no harm including a QR code or write-up about your podcast in your print magazine or e-newsletter. But if your goal for the podcast is to engage with new audiences who aren’t engaging with your existing channels, you can’t stop there.
1. Try Streaming Ads
Since regular podcast listeners are likely to engage in other forms of streaming audio, investing some digital advertising dollars on platforms like Spotify or Pandora can help grow your subscriber base. I first encountered Blue Ridge Energy’s “Unplugged” podcast when I heard an ad between innings of an Atlanta Braves game I was streaming on the MLB app. Jacob Plunkett from Blue Ridge recorded a podcast episode with me about how they promote their program.
While Pandora, Spotify and iHeartRadio are all happy for you to spend some of your advertising budget with them, some smaller utilities have struggled to reach the minimum buys because of their audience size.
2. Create Social Ad Snippets
To create social media teasers, we have good results using a program called Audiogram. We upload audio and, using a custom design template, highlight key clips from episodes in a visually engaging video. You can opt to include a picture of your guest in the design or focus on your podcast’s brand. Here are two versions we’ve used:
Audiogram template with guest name:
Audiogram template with guest image:
Recording video of podcast interviews unlocks many more social sharing options. “The StoryConnect Podcast” posts video podcast versions to YouTube. Our podcast recording studio, Riverside, generates short video clips from each episode, formatted vertically with captions and branding, to use as social reels/stories. Don’t have Riverside? OpusClip uses artificial intelligence to pull the best social clips from a video, too.
Riverside Magic Clips Example:
OpusClip Example:
Especially if your episodes have guests from your community — either geographic or industry — audiograms and video-driven social snippets for your podcast episodes are great content for your guests to reshare in their network. Be sure to tag the guests when you post the episode and make it easy for them to share!
To try and break out of your existing audience, spending a few dollars each month on promoting those posts to your desired audience is money well spent.
3. Generate Search Success
Podcasts can be great content for search engines. For now, search engines — Google, Bing, etc. — can’t search audio content, but they will search titles and transcripts of podcast episodes posted to your website.
Search engines like fresh, authoritative content on websites. Episode transcripts, also called “Show Notes,” can fit the bill to bump you up the search result rankings, especially when someone in your area is searching for something related to a topic you’ve covered.
Beyond that, most podcast players make more popular shows more visible. For that reason, it pays off to ask your listeners, coworkers, family members and neighbors to rate and review the show positively.
4. Ask for an Audience
Even if everyone is not going to listen to every minute or even every episode, there’s still significant value in getting into their feed so they see your brand and your episode title. Make a point to ask folks to subscribe to your podcast when you interact with them at annual meetings and community events.
To mix things up at your annual meeting, maybe record a live episode on stage or in a highly visible “mini studio.” We always get a bump in our subscriptions and listening metrics after the live episodes we record at StoryConnect, and we’ve learned that microphones and headphones usually attract attention at a booth.
Lastly, occasionally ask your listeners to recommend the podcast to their friends. If you don’t sound too desperate or do it too frequently, asking your listeners is free and may help multiply your audience.
Want more ideas for promoting your pod?
Download Pioneer’s e-book, “How to Stream Stories with Podcasts.” The guide is geared to help utility and broadband communicators tell stories through podcasts. We’ve packed the guide with peer perspectives from a dozen Utility Pioneers across the nation. Our award-winning podcast production team also shares insights on how to plan podcast content, editing tips, ways to amplify audio stories and how to measure success.
Get the guide: