🎤 Podcast Advertising Options (Issue 174)  March 29th 2024

Ch-Ch-Changes

My background is in the entertainment business and, unfortunately, substance abuse is very common.

Two things I know about creative people, which may affect this:

1. Creative people are sensitive.
2. It's very hard to share your work with the world, because it opens you to all kinds of criticism.

As a podcaster, you may relate to these things. And I'll have more thoughts on the audio edition of this newsletter.

I bring up substance abuse, because I was just talking to a friend of mine who's in recovery and he mentioned how he was living before he finally decided to get clean. And there's a part of what he said that I think you'll relate to as a podcaster ...

"There was a part of me who wanted to get clean. But there was another part of me who was happy with the status quo. As bad as things were, I was comfortable."

Are you comfortable with how things are with your podcast? For most podcasters, the answer is yes, even if they'd like to change something.

Change is hard—it gets us out of our comfort zone. But here's something for you to consider ...

Small hinges swing big doors.

Little actions add up. And if something you attempt doesn't move you in the right direction, you can always go back to what you were doing previously.

Here are 10 "small" things you can try that can change the direction of your podcast:

1. Engage with your audience on social media (and elsewhere) to build a community around your podcast.
2. Collaborate with other podcasters or guests to tap into their audiences.
3. Optimize your podcast’s title and description for SEO to improve discoverability.
4. Create visually appealing cover art to make a strong first impression.
5. Promote your podcast through teaser clips or highlights on platforms like Instagram or TikTok.
6. Ask listeners to review your podcast on platforms like Apple Podcasts to boost visibility.
7. Offer exclusive content or early access to episodes for subscribers to foster loyalty.
8. Utilize email marketing to keep your audience informed about new episodes and exclusive offers.
9. Participate in podcasting forums and groups to network and share ideas.
10. Experiment with different formats, episode lengths, or topics to keep your content fresh and varied.

You don't have to do them all right now. But do start to make something happen. As David Bowie said, "Turn and face the strange."

A couple things about advertising for you in this issue of Big Podcast Insider. One about growing your podcast via buying ads and something else about your opportunity to sell them.

Questions about podcast growth? Need help? Reach out to me via Mastodon, Bluesky, or Threads.

David @ Big Podcast