Taylor Swift. Whether you’re a “Swifty” or not, you must admit she is a master in marketing and branding. Taylor Swift has created one of the world’s most renowned brands and has amassed an incredibly loyal following. But what can podcasters stand to learn from this pop-culture icon? This blog post explores the top 10 Swift-inspired podcast marketing tips podcasters can use to help market and grow their show.
1. Fearlessly Promote Your Podcast
If you’re looking to grow, you need something to market it in addition to making great Content.
Our top podcast marketing tip from Ms. Swift is to fearlessly promote your podcast! Getting your podcast active on social media is one of the easiest ways to grow its reach. Social media, especially video platforms like TikTok, is one of the top ways listeners report finding and engaging with their favorite podcasts.
Starting up social media efforts can seem daunting. However, it doesn’t have to be a lot of extra work. Creating podcast clips is a great way to market your podcast! Podcast clips repurpose your existing work and can help lengthen the life of show discovery. By creating podcast clips, you are making an additional touchpoint with your audience that allows you to showcase the best your podcast has to offer.
And, if you’re looking for an even easier point of entry to the digital world – you can upload your podcast to YouTube! YouTube is the number one platform for podcast discovery. It consistently beats out audio-first platforms, like Spotify, as a discovery mode.
Bonus podcast marketing tip: upload to YouTube
A bonus podcast marketing tip? Upload your show to YouTube.
While YouTube is traditionally an audio-first platform, plenty of options are available to podcasters that don’t require leaping into video production.
As Google continues to phase out Google Podcasts, more and more is being done to help support podcasts in YouTube Music. YouTube offers an automatic RSS ingestion service for podcasts. The service helps publish audio podcasts onto YouTube using metadata in the podcast’s RSS feed.
Audiograms may be the perfect solution for podcasters still interested in getting their audio-first podcast onto YouTube and want to reap the benefits of video content!
Companies like Headliner offer solutions to create Automatic Audiograms. These require a few minutes to set up but function as a “set it and forget it” type tool afterward. Like YouTube’s RSS ingestion, Automatic Audiograms use your podcast’s metadata to help upload podcasts to YouTube. The key difference, however, is that YouTube’s web-based and mobile app supports audiograms as video content.
Creating audiograms also gives podcasters more control over content SEO and presentation. Podcasters can create branded templates highlighting the show’s brand, and audiograms allow podcasters to leverage categories and keywords. Adding these fields helps boost podcast marketing by allowing podcasters to be more intentional with their SEO.
2. Speak about your podcast
Excuse the pun, but listeners are enchanted to meet you!
Nothing creates buzz like targeting eager ears in places you know they already are. Guest or sponsor other shows! It’s a great way to connect with an engaged audience and get in front of new ears.
To get on shows, try tapping into your network. Leveraging your existing connections is an easy, free way to help you land your podcast in front of an existing, engaged audience within your niche.
If you’re starting out or are having trouble finding the perfect pairing, services like PodMatch can help. PodMatch is an excellent tool that automatically matches you with other shows.
One final way you can get your podcast out there is through Sponsored Content. Sponsored Content is a paid form of podcast marketing. It is more fluid than other forms, but it typically includes paying for ad placement, host-read ads or shoutouts, and co-branded Content.
3. Don’t leave comments on “Red”
Aka, engage with your audience!
Engaging with your audience is a crucial aspect of creating a successful podcast. Asking for feedback can provide valuable ideas and insights to help you improve your Content. Additionally, encouraging your audience to interact with your podcast through comments, reviews, and referrals can help foster a solid and loyal following.
It’s important to actively engage with your audience by responding to their feedback and questions and asking for feedback regularly. This will not only help build a strong relationship with your listeners but also grow your podcast and keep your audience engaged.
4. Lean into the numbers – it’s not a Suburban Legend!
A podcaster’s wildest dreams? Data!
As a podcaster, using data to inform your decisions is crucial to the success of your show. By analyzing your podcast’s data, you can better understand your audience and tailor your Content to their preferences and behavior.
Look at metrics such as average listening time, drop-off points, and episode popularity to gain insights into what Content is working and what isn’t. This information can help you adjust your podcast’s format and Content to keep your audience engaged and coming back for more.
Use your data to inform your marketing strategy. By understanding where your listeners are coming from, how they discovered your podcast, and what channels are most effective, you can optimize your marketing efforts and attract new listeners.
Using data to inform your podcasting decisions, you can create a show that aligns with your audience’s wants, needs, and behaviors, ultimately leading to increased engagement, growth, and success. Digging into your data can help inform your podcasting decisions and align with your audience’s wants, needs, and behaviors.
5. Build your podcast’s reputation
Are you ready for it?
Call it what you want, but branding is not just a buzzword. It is an essential component of your podcast’s success. A well-defined brand strategy can help you differentiate your podcast from others in your niche and create a solid emotional connection with your listeners.
You must define your brand identity to create a consistent look and feel for your podcast. This includes elements such as your logo, color palette, typography, and tone of voice. Once you’ve defined your brand, you can extend it to all your podcast’s touchpoints, including your website, social media profiles, and promotional materials.
Having a consistent brand identity helps build trust and recognition with your listeners. It also makes it easier for them to remember and recommend your podcast to others. Building a strong brand reputation can also help you attract sponsors and advertisers looking for an engaged and loyal audience.
So, a well-crafted branding and marketing strategy can make all the difference in helping your podcast grow its audience and establish a big reputation.
6. Long story short…
Expanding your podcast’s reach and growing your audience requires a multi-pronged approach. To achieve this, consider promoting your podcast across different platforms. This will create additional touchpoints and avenues for people to discover your podcast.
We want to stress that venturing into multiple channels doesn’t mean you have to be everywhere, just in the places that make the most sense for you and your audience. This helps create more meaningful interactions while fostering engagement, not just creating Content for the sake of creating Content—and not to mention extra work.
Promoting your podcast across different platforms creates invisible strings that boost discoverability and serve as a reminder for your existing audience. When you build a strong presence across multiple platforms, you can stay top of mind with your audience and keep them engaged with your Content. This can lead to increased listenership and open up monetization opportunities.
Leveraging an omnichannel approach helps ensure your podcast meets your listeners where they already are. It helps create additional touchpoints for people to discover your podcast and stay connected with your audience.
7. seven… Make merch
Merch – it’s a wearable form of podcast marketing.
Creating and selling merchandise can be an effective strategy for increasing your podcast’s visibility and revenue. It gives your listeners a way to show their support for your show and can also serve as a marketing tool to attract new listeners.
By offering merchandise, you give your fans something tangible to associate with your podcast. Items like t-shirts, stickers, or tote bags can be designed with your podcast’s logo or catchphrase, making them instantly recognizable to others. When your listeners wear or use these items publicly, they advertise your show to a potentially new audience.
And, if you’re lucky enough, a particular celeb may wear it out and about.
8. Show your podcast some love
Try investing in paid promotion to boost your podcast and expand your reach. With paid promotion, you can leverage targeted advertising to get your podcast in front of new potential listeners interested in your Content. This can help you increase your visibility, attract more subscribers, and ultimately grow your audience.
Paid promotion comes in many forms and can be tailored to fit your specific needs and budget. You can advertise your podcast on social media platforms, the web, or other podcasts!
Investing in paid promotion can take your podcast to the next level. You can grow your podcast’s reach quickly and effectively by targeting new listeners.
9. Be a Mastermind
You’re not on your own kid. You’ve got AI!
If you are looking for ways to work smarter, not harder – try using podcasting AI tools. You can automate podcast marketing tasks like transcription, audio editing, and even social media promotion using podcasting AI tools.
Podcasting AI tools can also provide valuable insights into your audience’s listening habits, preferences, and engagement levels. By analyzing play counts, downloads, and listener feedback, you can make informed decisions about improving your podcast’s Content and distribution.
Podcasting AI tools, like Headliner’s Eddy, use AI to create clips and create every little bit of everything you’d need to upload and market your podcast. With Eddy, podcasts can get social media captions, blog posts, podcast clips, AI-generated art, show notes, and more.
Utilizing podcasting AI tools can save time, improve the quality of your podcast, and grow your audience more efficiently. Thanks to podcasting AI tools, you’ll be cranking out Content faster than Taylor writes songs!
10. the (tran)script
transcribE your podcast! adDing transcripts to your poDcast boosts your accessibilitY, seo, and user experience.
Transcriptions are most commonly known for their accessibility benefits. But did you know they are also powerful tools for search engine optimization (SEO)?
Search engines can crawl transcripts, making your Content more easily searchable and discoverable across the web and YouTube. Transcripts contain relevant keywords that help you rank for various search terms and intent. Adding a transcript increases the likelihood of your podcast rendering in a search, especially if uploaded to YouTube.
Transcripts also enhance the overall user experience for your podcast. They allow your audience to easily follow along with your Content and reference specific parts of your podcast. Transcripts are also helpful for individuals needing help with accents, technical terms, or complicated vocabulary, like if you have a fiction podcast. By providing transcripts, you can ensure that your Content is inclusive and more accessible to a broader audience.
Podcast marketing tips, Taylor’s version
Swifty or not, we can all take a page out of Taylor’s book. These 10 podcast marketing tips can be used by every podcast – big, small, video, or audio.
Like Taylor, podcasters can do a lot to create those invisible strings that bring listeners back again and again to their podcast. But, unlike Taylor, you don’t have to be everywhere at once (unless you have over 105 million listeners, you may have to change it up a little). Investing your time, energy, and money into the platforms that make the most sense for you and your audience and allow you to create multiple touch points is the most impactful thing you can do for your podcast’s growth.
By investing time, energy, and money into the platforms most relevant to their listeners, podcasters can create multiple touchpoints and achieve impactful growth for their podcasts.
