Having a podcast can be an amazing way to reach new audiences and build relationships with existing listeners. 

But once you have started your podcast, it is important to promote the latest episode in order to maximize your reach. There are five key strategies you can use to effectively promote your new releases. We won't make you read through the whole post to find out what they are, though. The top five ways to promote your latest podcast episode are:

1. Leverage Social Media

2. Create an Engaging Blog Post 

3. Reach Out to Relevant Influencers 

4. Harness the Power of Email 

5. Utilize Paid Advertising 

Okay, now that you know the top methods that can help you increase awareness and engagement with your podcast, let's break them down further to help you kick your audience growth into hyperdrive!

Leverage Social Media

Social media can be an incredibly powerful way to spread the word about your podcast’s latest episodes and reach new listeners. However, it’s not enough to post a link and an image if you hope to get the attention of busy people scrolling through their feeds on their phones.

There are a few key steps to consider when leveraging social media for this purpose. 

First, create platform-specific content that highlights different aspects of the episode.

What does this look like?

Well, for Twitter, that engaging graphic and link may be all you need. For TikTok and Instagram however, you will need a spectacular video that draws in the user and hooks them into wanting more.

For example, if you’re posting videos on TikTok, you want to tease them with just enough content to tell them what your episode is about, but leave them with a cliffhanger of some kind that entices them to head to the link in your bio to listen to more.

Don’t Be Afraid to Deliver The Complete Story

While the goal is to get people to listen to more episodes, don’t be afraid to share an entire video of your podcast on Facebook or Instagram. If you choose to go this route though, make sure you include a killer call to action.

• If you liked this episode, please visit our website to catch up on all of our previous episodes

• Sign up for our Patreon to get early access to our next episode

• Join our email list to be the first to hear about our upcoming guests/episode releases

It’s perfectly acceptable to share the whole episode, as long as you’re doing something that leaves them wanting more.

Ask for Reviews and Shares

Encourage listeners to leave a review on iTunes (or other streaming services). Reviews can help boost visibility on search engines and appear more prominently in podcast directories.

And, something as simple as asking for a share of your content can get your show in front of a whole bunch of new potential listeners. This does two things - first, it spreads the word organically. But second, and perhaps more importantly, it tells the algorithms of the various social media platforms that your content matters to people. This in turn can result in you showing up in news feeds more prominently.

Finally, Don’t Forget to Track Analytics!

Your analytics tells you what posts are being engaged with, and what is falling flat. Then, you can adjust your course as needed.

Create an Engaging Blog Post

The power of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) should not be dismissed. Believe it or not, podcasters are still not utilizing blog posts as much as they could to promote their podcasts.

So how do you use blogging and SEO to increase the visibility of your podcast?

There are a few strategies that can help.

Post More Than One Article Related to the Topic of Your Podcast Episodes

Think about the user intent and what they are searching for in Google (or other search engines).

Craft posts that are related to the answers your podcast is delivering.

Then, embed your relevant episodes into each blog post.

Write a Separate Post For Every Episode You Release

You also should write a blog post about the episode itself, and categorize it under “Podcast” or the name of your show.

Your podcast blog posts should be a highly optimized piece of content meaning:

• The headline should be engaging and attractive

• The blog post should include the embedded episode, video if you have one, the transcript, and show notes

• You should also include keywords that are related to your episodes that people will be searching for

• A call to action that persuades the listener to sign up for your email list

When optimizing for search engines, think about what keywords people might use when searching for podcasts like yours. Use these terms in the titles and descriptions of each episode, plus any blog posts or other content related to your podcast. This not only helps get more eyes on your show, but it can also help drive organic traffic from search engines over time.

Reach Out to Relevant Influencers 

Reaching out to relevant influencers can mean:

• Guest posting on blogs: Writing posts on other people’s websites and linking back to your podcast/blog

• Being a guest on other people’s shows: Let other podcasters interview you or be a guest host on their podcast

• Doing “ad swaps”: you share an ad for their show on your podcast and they share an ad for your show on their podcast

• Asking for social media shares

• Even paying for shoutouts

Some marketing gurus refer to this as audience-jacking or crowd-jacking. The idea is you use other people’s people to gain clout for yourself and hopefully, convince people to subscribe to your show too.

Harness the Power of Email 

When it comes to promoting a podcast, email is still one of the best bets.

With more people communicating through text and video messaging services, why should you invest in one some would consider an old-fashioned marketing tool?

Email may not be as flashy or cutting-edge as other forms of communication, but for businesses seeking to maximize their reach with minimal effort and cost, there’s no better option.

Email is a great way to engage potential listeners because it allows you to directly target your audience and tailor your message specifically for them.

You can segment subscribers into different lists based on their interests or demographic information, then send tailored messages that focus on topics they care about most. 

This also allows you to easily measure success with metrics like open rates and click-through rates so you can track which strategies are working best and adjust accordingly.

And, we hate to point it out, but you don’t own your social media following.

If you were to lose your social media handles/profiles/account access, you would have no way to get in touch with your audience. 

With email, however, you can still send a note to everyone on your list because you own that data.

Utilize Paid Advertising 

We saved this one for last because a lot of podcasters get nervous about the idea of paying for promotion. And we get it! It can be scary to pay for visibility.

But, the truth is that paid advertising is a great way to get in front of more potential listeners and increase downloads of your latest episodes.

Advertising on digital platforms like Google, YouTube, or social media allows you to pinpoint the exact demographics you want to target.

You can narrow down the right age range, interests, and locations - helping make sure your ads are seen by the right people.

In fact, you can borrow audiences by targeting your ads to the audience members of similar shows.

Plus, with the ability to track how well each ad performs, it's easier than ever before to adjust and improve campaigns as you go.

Paid advertising isn't just limited to sponsored posts either; there are plenty of other creative options such as podcast segment sponsorships or targeted audio ads within other podcasts that can help spread the word about your new episodes. 

If you have about $10/day to spare, why not give paid promotions a try?

Next Steps

This list was far from an exhaustive one of the strategies you can use to promote your podcast episodes. Others include tapping into podcast networks, attempting to get into mainstream media, hosting events, submitting your show to podcast directories, and more.

The bottom line is this - once you start podcasting, you should always be promoting. The more you sing your show’s praises, the more chances you have to get in front of new listeners.

Keep going, and keep marketing your podcast. You never know where you will find a new subscriber or loyal advocate for your show.

-By Alberto Betella, Ph.D., RSS.com Co-founder. Entrepreneur and tech executive with a track record in building companies and teams from the ground up that totaled over 80 million US dollars in VC funding.