It’s one thing to start a podcast. That takes work.

Then, you need to maintain it by recording episodes.  Sometimes, those episodes might have interviews with industry experts. Then you have to deal with scheduling, episode promotion, etc.

But do you know what’s harder work? Promoting the podcast to grow. This is a long-term strategy, but if you take steps to implement it each week, your podcast will grow.

How to Grow a Podcast in 5 Steps

1. Promote each episode and have your guest promote the episode too.

Podcast episode promotion is pretty important. Some things I do every time I post a podcast episode are: I share it on social media. This means Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. (Yes, I create a pin for each podcast episode.)

I also create images and videos to entice people on social media to click to learn more. For this, I use Canva and Headliner.

I email my list with a teaser of the episode and a link to download it.

I share the podcast link with my guest in an email the day the podcast is published.

Everyone should share a podcast episode with their audience if they’ve been a guest on a podcast. It’s not only considerate to the podcast host, but it also increases your authority and credibility. 

For this reason, you should ask your guest to share it with their audience and make it easy for them to share it on their end. When your guest shares your episode with their audience, they are introduced to you and your podcast.

The average podcast listener subscribes to seven podcasts, so this increases your chance of someone new tapping that subscribe button after they’re introduced to you.

2. Be a guest on other podcasts.

This one is a biggie. I already told you the average podcast listener subscribes to seven podcasts, so it’s obvious why you should be on other podcasts. People who listen to podcasts are different from people who consume other forms of media… different in a good way.

These people are more invested in themselves personally and professionally. I’ve gotten messages on Instagram from people who have said things like they just heard me on a podcast and can’t wait to listen to mine.

 

They found out about my podcast because I make it a point to nonchalantly bring it up in conversation.

Plus, podcast hosts like inviting other podcast hosts on. You speak the same language and it’s easier to help each other out. So, you need to be getting on other podcasts to share your expertise and grow your brand.

3. Have a guest advertise your episode.

Lots of people go the advertising route to grow anything, podcasts included. But instead of you spending money to promote your podcast, why not ask your guest to promote the podcast episode they’re on and give them the funding for the ad spend?

This is what it looks like: If I have Pat Flynn as a guest on my podcast, I’m going to want him to share it with his audience. His audience is bigger than mine and would make for great leads to my PR agency or Podcast Clout.

So, I’m going to give Pat $500 to promote the episode on his Facebook and Instagram page. This way, his listeners are downloading my episode to hear from him – someone they already know, like, and trust. By default, they will get to know, like, and trust me since I’m the podcast host, and will hopefully, stick around and subscribe to my podcast. It’s a little different take on advertising podcast episodes, but a lot more effective.

4. Make sure your podcast is in all the places.

All the places don’t just mean one place where people listen to podcasts. I use Libsyn to host my podcast.  When I started with Libsyn, I made sure to inquire with them to ensure my podcast is easy to find in all the places people listen to podcasts. For that reason, Become a Media Maven can be found in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, and others.

I want my podcast to be in the most popular places people listen to podcasts – that’s Apple (70%), then Stitcher (10%). I also ensure that when I share podcast episodes on social media, I am sharing all the places people can find my podcast and sometimes even list them out.

5. Include links to your podcast in all the places.

All the places don’t just mean on social media. But while we’re there, please share it repeatedly on social media. Repeatedly. So many people make the mistake of sharing an episode just one time.

Social media is a constantly moving feed, so you need to make sure you’re sharing it repeatedly for this reason. I like to use Agorapulse for this sharing and scheduling.

In addition, someone who just starts following you today did not see your post about the podcast you were on last week, so you need to remind them!

I also add a link to the main page on my website that has all of my podcast episodes in my email signature.  When people make their way over to that main page, they will not only see all previous episodes but also buttons that take them to the individual podcast platforms for easy subscribing.

How to Grow a Podcast

There are many ways to grow a podcast. These are just five ways.

For more podcasting tips, tricks, and strategies, make sure to check back here on the Podcast Clout blog. If you want to jump on the second strategy and make podcast guesting a regular marketing avenue, then be sure to check out how Podcast Clout works by clicking here.

It’s designed to save you time in building a custom podcast pitch list that only includes top, relevant podcasts.