Hey there, podcast hosts! Do you want tips to help you master podcast growth in 2021? Well, we’ve got ‘em! 13 to be exact! And we’re dishing them out freely today!
We’re talking about strategies that are aimed at helping your podcast enjoy expansion in every area! If you’re wanting to double your base of loyal listeners, you want to amp up your niche authority, or you want to find new ways to land guest spots or sponsorship deals, then you’ve come to the right place.
Check out these 13 super simple, but seriously effective ways to help you master podcast growth in 2021
1. Polish Your Niche
I’m sure you’re already aware that picking the right niche is one of the first steps to undertake when you’re starting a podcast. But in a time when podcast growth in general is sky-rocketing, you can’t stop there. If you want your podcast to enjoy a steady upward trajectory, you should be polishing your niche. This simply means getting to a place where you have a razor-sharp focus of who you are and what your podcast is all about.
The more you “polish” your niche, the more your understanding of both your topic and your audience will grow. This will continually put you in the perfect position to consistently match your content to the needs of your audience.
It also means that you’re perfectly positioned to continually build authority within that niche. Not only will this help make your show stand out from the crowd, but it can also open you and your podcast up to so many incredible opportunities! From sponsorship deals to podcast guest and guest speaker engagements, the possibilities are endless!
Related read: 8 Ways To Strengthen Your Niche Authority
2. Amp Up Your Audio
When it comes to podcasting, high-quality audio will always be a winning strategy! So it should come as no surprise that if you’re looking for tips to master podcast growth, one of the top strategies is to make sure you’re consistently getting great audio.
Yes, you can work some editing magic once you’ve captured your recording (and you can check out some of our editing engineers top tips here:10 Editing Tips To Increase Your Podcast Sound Quality) but if you want that beautiful, rich full sound of world-class podcasts, it all starts with where you record. And to help you nail that each and every time, check out this really great post put together by Redfin. Redfin reached out to podcasting experts (including us!) to share the best tips for creating the perfect podcast room in your own home. Check out: Creating a Podcast Room? 10 Expert Tips to Help You Get Started.
3. Fill Up Those Guest Spots
Tip Number 3 for mastering podcast growth is to start filling up those guest spots with some top-notch guests! Guests are great for a number of reasons. First and foremost, great guests help bring your show to new audiences. If you do your research, and pick guests who have loyal audiences – whether from their podcast, their blog, or their business – you’re sure to have many more ears tuning in to catch that beloved guest on your show. And, if you’ve put in the work and created a great podcast, they’ll turn into a loyal audience for you too!
But guests can also help you grow by helping you expand your authority within your niche. When we see people we trust and admire appearing on a particular podcast, we view it as a stamp of approval for the podcast in question. And with that stamp, your niche authority grows!
Bonus Tip: Landing guest spots on other top podcasts for yourself is another way to grow your show! Appearing on other podcasts, particularly well-established ones within your niche, is firstly just a really great way to grow your audience. You get to flex your expertise and showcase your personality to an already established audience, and soon, you could see your audience growing quite considerably.
But appearing on other podcasts helps you grow your podcast in another effective way, too. It grows your authority! And besides a growth in audience numbers and download figures, authority growth is something all podcast hosts are after!
Related read: 10 Tips For Landing Guest Spots On Popular Podcasts
4. Start a Newsletter
Fun Fact Alert! Did you know that emails have the highest return on investment when compared to all the available marketing channels, and, if that’s not enough, they are at least four times more effective in reaching your target audience than social media sites, like Facebook!
These are just some of the facts that make starting an email newsletter a fantastic strategy for those looking to seriously grow their podcast. Whether you’re looking to simply grow your audience base, or you’re looking to grow your partners or sponsors, an email newsletter can help you do that effectively! And this is because emails are still the most direct channel we have to connect with our audience. So, use that channel to help your podcast grow!
Related read: How To Successfully Grow [And Retain!] Your Mailing List
5. Pick Up on Promotion
Your podcast is essentially a product. And as in any successful business, active marketing is necessary in order to showcase your product – your podcast – to the world.
Knowing how and where to market your podcast is so important, and why it’s vital that podcast hosts have solid marketing strategies in place. So in order to maximize your podcast growth, you’re going to need to get some brainstorming happening in order to find creative and effective ways to promote your podcast. You need to craft a roadmap of how you’re going to get your show’s name out there so that you can create a whole lot of buzz around your podcast.
But you don’t need to start your brainstorming from scratch! We’ve got some ideas. Just check out the next three strategies…
Related read: How And Where To Promote Your Podcast In 2021
6. Embrace Social Media
Ah, social media. Love it or hate it, social media is really one of the best ways to promote your podcast. Why? 1. Because you can share so many different types of content! This means you can create and share eye-catching visuals and fun videos which can help to create higher levels of engagement with your followers. And 2. Because there are so many social media users, you can significantly grow your podcast listenership through tapping into your target audience on social media.
7. Create a Trailer
Another, often overlooked, way to expand the reach of your podcast is to create an amazing trailer for your podcast! Trailers work so well as part of your growth strategy because they can quickly give listeners a taste of what they could get access to if they subscribed to your podcast. Your trailer can be used on any and all social media platforms as a way to promote your show to a wider audience. You can embed your trailer on your website so that your readers can be introduced to your podcast.
But you can also use a slick podcast trailer as an easy way to expand your reach. By asking other podcast hosts within your niche or related niches to purchase ad spots where they play your trailer on their show, you’ll be gaining a bigger audience.
Related read: How To Create An Effective Podcast Trailer
8. Branch Out Into Video
Launching a video podcast could be just the strategy to help you explode your podcast (in the best possible way!) and experience some serious growth! According to this survey conducted in 2019, 43% of monthly podcast listeners say they went to YouTube for podcasts that year, ahead of both Apple (34%) and Spotify (23%). Meaning that you could seriously grow your podcast if you look to YouTube as your next platform.
YouTube has over 2+ billion users. And the stats show that users watch more than a billion hours of video on YouTube every day. And if you can position your podcast to receive just the teeniest portion of that, you’ll have some serious podcast growth on your hands!
9. Network!
Networking is such an integral part of doing business today! And in the podcasting industry, networking is just as important! Effective networking enables you to make connections with potential guests, sponsors, or even clients.
You never know what connections will lead to amazing opportunities down the line, and you also never know what genuine friendships might develop! Look for podcast events you can attend, whether online or in person, join relevant Facebook groups, or get active on LinkedIn.
10. Keep the Quality Content Coming
If you want to master podcast growth for the long haul, there is no better way to do it than to keep the quality content coming! Content is, and always will be, king. The slickest audio, eye-catching podcast artwork, or fun social media images, although all playing an important role, will only get you and your show so far. If you’re wanting your podcast to be one that continually grows it’s listener base and consistently hits high download numbers, it’s your content you need to put the focus on.
11. Diversify Your Content
Master your podcast growth by diversifying your content! Turn your podcast episodes into an awesome blog, share snippets and hot takes from your guests via TikToks or Instagram reels, or go one step further and turn some of your most popular content into your very own course! Finding new ways to share your content is a sure-fire way to experience some exponential podcast growth.
Related read: 6 Effective Ways To Repurpose Your Podcast Content
12. Boost Your Podcast’s Discoverability
Podcast discoverability is exactly as it sounds – it’s taking the necessary steps to make it easy for potential listeners to discover your podcast. Which is exactly what we’re aiming for in order to achieve that podcast growth! And so understanding ways to up your podcast’s discoverability is vital to the growth of your podcast audience and the ultimate success and longevity of your show.
Your main priority when it comes to discoverability is making sure you’re hitting certain SEO (search engine optimization) marks. This is what will help your show “show up” when people are looking for content your podcast can provide. And three simple ways to boost your SEO are to make sure you transcribe your podcast episodes, you’re creating great show notes, and, in general, you’re boosting your podcast’s web presence. (Diversifying your content into blogs, etc. as the previous point suggests is a great way to do this!)
For a more in-depth look at ways of boosting your podcast’s discoverability factor, check out this post: Top Ways To Boost Your Podcast Discoverability.
13. Make Your Podcast More Accessible to More People
And lastly, how do you grow your podcast? By simply making it more accessible to more people! And you can do this in many simple ways! (We’ve got a whole post on the topic of podcast accessibility! You can check it out here: Podcast Accessibility: Why And How To Make Your Podcast More Accessible) From providing transcripts to creating video episodes with subtitles, you can bring the joy of podcasts to more users, which is great for the industry, as well as being beneficial for your podcast.
Closing Thoughts
As a podcast creator, one of your main goals (besides putting out that high-quality content, of course) is to continually grow your podcast in every area. You want to see your audience increase, your reach expand, and your sponsorship opportunities multiply. And these 13 strategies are exactly what will help you master podcast growth in 2021.
