Ways to Promote Your Podcast when You Don't Love Marketing

Hi everyone!

Today I was scrolling on Reddit when I saw someone asking if there were other podcasters who didn't love the marketing part of creating a podcast. Now, I've just graduated with a degree in communications, so you'd expect me to love marketing. And I do, sometimes. But it mostly means I have seen how tedious and unmotivating running a brand page on social media can be. Those 7 likes, mostly from friends, aren't really something to keep you going, I know!

So today I'm sharing some things you can do that will help you gain attention and listeners, but aren't the typical things that you may think of!

1. Submit your podcast to other pages

There are countless people looking for new podcasts every day. So naturally, there are special Instagram pages that cater to this audience. On Instagram, there are many pages that review and/or share podcasts or their trailers. Like with Facebook pages, you can message these pages directly with a message sharing your podcast and explaining why you think it would fit their page. This can be a basic message that you change up slightly every time you send it out. 

On Facebook, you have the added medium of groups. Become a member of groups specific to your podcast topic (like the group: History Podcasts) or general groups for podcast recommendations. There, you can network with other podcast lovers.

2. Use your Instagram page as a website

A social media page doesn't have to be active. Especially an Instagram page can be like a website: a way for people to find you. Have about 9 good, solid posts up about who you are and what your podcast is. Then: if you feel like it, post a story once in a while. One thing that helps people discover you is if you interact with content of your niche. Is your podcast about art? Follow and interact with pages (the smaller the better!) Of museums, art lovers, artists, etc. You can find quality small pages via hashtags.

3. Use keywords in your podcast text

This is a part of SEO. Yeah, this sounds a little intimidating, I know. It doesn't have to be, you don't have to work as an SEO expert. Search Engine Optimization is a process that makes your website show up higher in search engines. It is a complicated process (otherwise there wouldn't be experts involved!), however, you can take some simple principles to rewrite the text of your podcast to make it more search engine friendly! This will also help people looking for topics on Spotify, etc. find your podcast!

1. Think of what your ideal listener would google, write down the terms.

2. You can now use a keyword suggestion tool online to generate a longer list of terms that a listener may be searching for.

3. Write a spontaneous text that includes as many of these terms as possible. Especially make sure you use synonyms or related words for your main topic. Example: If your podcast is about childhood stories, you might also want to use words like anecdotes, adventures, tales, etc.

4. Utilize Pinterest

Pinterest, as a website, has incredible SEO. They show up in search engines quick and high. You can use that! Create a corporate account and pin your episodes. Make sure to include those keywords from tip 3. These posts on Pinterest will show up in search engines, via which listeners can find your podcast! Pinterest is a handy tool in general. If you'd like, you could follow some people in your niche, interact with the posts and make your own boards. All of this will help your pins show up higher in search results. 

5. Create related and personal content

Your first instinct is probably to make content related to your podcast. Short clips of the podcast, an introduction, episode recaps, posts about your new episode, etc. And that's valuable content, but it's usually not the content that persuades new people to give your podcast a chance.

So what kind of content would convince someone that your podcast is worth their time? Content that builds trust in your ability to entertain them. If your podcast is a comedy: post some sketches about the topic of your podcast. Is your podcast about a specific topic of interest? Share your knowledge in Facebook groups! Always using the username of your podcast, of course (pro tip, use the word podcast in your username, so people know that you are a podcaster!). This way, you get the name of your podcast out there and you build online connections with your ideal future audience, who are now way more likely to check out your podcast when you mention it.

6. Plan AND LIMIT your marketing time

I know it feels like you could spend all day on marketing. Truth is, you could! But it is not necessary. Focus on the quality of your podcasts, that is what is most important. This will help you get word-of-mouth marketing, which is worth much more than any Instagram post you could ever make!

Well, that was it for now. Let me know if this was helpful and feel free to share your own tips in the comments!

Want to save this on pinterest? Here is a picture!