How to Turn Your Content Team into Podcast Marketers

As branded podcasts become increasingly popular, having a team that understands how to grow your content is key. 

At the end of the day, you can have an outstanding podcast, content, and quality-wise, but if you don’t know how to share it with your target audience then… what’s the point? 

Podcasts are unique from other marketing mediums since it’s audio-first, have a much higher length of attention required, and live on audio-specific distribution platforms. And knowing how to increase awareness, grow your listenership, and strategically identify effective tactics will ensure that your branded podcast is on track for success. 

While producing high-quality content is important, without a strategic marketing approach, reaching your target audience and growing your listenership can be a challenge. In this article, we explore how you can transform yourself or your team into effective podcast marketers, leveraging various channels and techniques to maximize the visibility and impact of your branded podcast on your brand.

Let’s dive into how to become expert podcast marketers. 

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Evaluate what marketing channels you have available 

The first step that we always advise podcasters to take is to sit down and make a list of the marketing channels that you have access to. This can be anything and everything that has an audience attached to it, think newsletters, websites, apps, social media, communities, etc. 

Your goal here is to get in front of as many eyes and ears as possible. Even if you don’t think a channel has a direct correlation to your target audience, it still may be a valuable tactic for you to use. 

Word-of-mouth marketing is still among the top ways new podcast listeners discover shows (57%) so even if an audience member within one of the channels isn’t interested in your content, they may have people within their network that are. 

This first stage is all about awareness and is an important aspect of your podcast marketing strategy. Especially if awareness is the goal for your podcast, you’ll want to place a deeper focus on this step. 

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Understand who your audience is and where they live 

Who is the target audience for your podcast? Your target audience could be different from your company’s target audience depending on the goal of your podcast. 

Maybe it’s awareness, building industry relationships, lead generation, whatever it might be, these are all different target audiences. With that being said, you want to identify where these audiences reside. 

For example, if you’re focusing on finding your audience on social media and your podcast caters to newly empty nesters, you’d be much more likely to find them on Facebook than on Tiktok.

Here are some variables to think about when identifying your ideal listener:

• Age
• Gender
• Socioeconomic status
• Education
• Preferences
• Interests
• Fears
• Habits
• Budget
• Social media consumptions

To authentically connect and communicate with your ideal listener, look into different communities, social media platforms, forums, and newsletters. We often see podcasters make the mistake of finding these communities and then turning into a salesperson and urging audiences to listen to their podcast because it’ll give them x value. 

This tactic may work for a small percentage of that audience. Still, the majority of them will immediately be disinterested in your offering or you may be breaking community guidelines and be kicked out of groups. 

We recommend approaching your audience with authenticity in mind. Try to actually connect with them, ask them questions, provide them some sort of value (that isn’t just your podcast content), showcase your credibility, etc.  

This strategy is setting you up to build a relationship with this audience which will make it much easier to convert them to listeners later on. 

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Become familiar with podcast promotion resources 

There are plenty of advertising platforms out there and if you are currently working in marketing or have worked in the industry, we can assume you’ve tried out the popular ones like Google Ads, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram advertising. 

But when it comes to podcasts, you can go the familiar route or you can venture into podcast or audio-specific ad platforms. 

With over 81% of podcast listeners paying attention to podcast ads and 72% having purchased something from a podcast ad, advertising is something no podcast marketer should overlook. 

We encourage you to test these platforms since we’ve witnessed some amazing results from channels. Some of the most popular ones consist of: 

1. Castbox: a Hong Kong-based company that both produces and hosts its own podcasts 
2. Spotify Ad Studio: Allows you to create audio or video ads of 30 seconds or less
3. Overcast: iOS app that downloads and plays podcasts
4. Podcast Addict: #1 podcast app on Android
5. PlayerFM: A podcast discovery and cataloging platform that compiles podcasts from various hosting sites

And then there are podcast marketplaces where you can buy ad inventory on popular podcasts, these include: 

1. Megaphone: Owned by Spotify, Megaphone is a podcast hosting and monetization softwarte as well as an ad network
2. Acast: A Swedish company that provides podcast hosting, monetization, and growth support
3. Podbean: A simple tool to create, promote and monetize your podcast
4. Toronto Podcast Exchange: The Canadian leader in podcast advertising that also offers production and consulting services 

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Master the art of podcast analytics & analysis 

And finally, there’s podcast analytics and analysis. Any marketer will know the importance of this stage in your marketing strategy. 

If you don’t know your data, you won’t know how to optimize your content and marketing strategy moving forward. 

Some places you should be measuring your podcast performance are: 

1. Distribution platform (i.e. CoHost, Simplecast, Omny Studio)
2. Listening apps (i.e. Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts) 
3. Social media channels (i.e. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)
4. Google Analytics 
5. Advertising channels (i.e. Google Adwords) 

Some key metrics for you to be measuring are: 

1. Downloads (Distribution platform, Listening apps)
2. Unique downloads (Distribution platform, Listening apps)
3. Ratings & Reviews (Apple)
4. Average consumption rate (Apple & CoHost)
5. Average listening time (Spotify)
6. Where your listeners work (CoHost - B2B Analytics)
7. Engagement rate (Social media channels) 
8. Impressions (Social media channels) 
9. Clicks (Social media channels) 
10. Website visits (Google Analytics) 

Third party providers, also known as your hosting or distribution platforms, such as CoHost provide marketers with a centralized hub for monitoring and analyzing podcast performance via a range of crucial metrics, including listener demographics, episode downloads, listener engagement, retention rates, B2B Analytics, and geographical insights. 

This comprehensive overview enables marketers to make data-driven decisions, tailor their content strategy, and understand their audience better in order to maximize the impact of their shows.

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Podcast marketers will take your show to the next level

Transforming your content team into effective podcast marketers is crucial for the success of your branded podcast. While producing high-quality content is important, it is equally essential to have a strategic marketing approach in order to reach your target audience and grow your listenership. 

By evaluating the available marketing channels, understanding your audience and their preferences, exploring podcast promotion resources, and mastering podcast analytics and analysis, you can maximize the visibility and impact of your podcast. 

Building awareness, connecting authentically with your ideal listeners, utilizing audio-specific ad platforms, and monitoring key metrics will enable you to optimize your content and marketing strategy, ultimately leading to a thriving and successful branded podcast.

If you’re interested in getting the analytics behind your podcast, reach out to our team today.