Podcast audiences continue to grow. During 2020, the medium saw an impressive 17 percent increase in total listeners. If you’re a podcaster, this is probably very welcome news. However, attracting those new users to your content can be tricky.

Fortunately, there are a few effective strategies that can lend a helping hand. By focusing on tactics that reach out to relevant audiences and make your content easier to find in search engines, you can attract new listeners.

In this article, we’ll look at why new listeners can be key to your podcast’s success. Then we’ll cover three essential strategies to help you grow your audience. Let’s go!

Why Attracting New Listeners Is Essential

You probably already know the importance of having a large podcast audience. A loyal listenership is valuable, but you’re probably hoping to expand as well. That makes new listeners indispensable to your long-term success.

In addition to growing your audience, new listeners are necessary to sustain your current listener count. Unfortunately, that number will almost certainly shrink over time.

An ebb and flow of fans is to be expected. It’s not always a cause for concern. Nevertheless, a steady stream of new listeners can help avoid a worrying dip in downloads.

Your download numbers can be significant to your income, too. If your podcast is sponsored, you’re probably paid according to how many times your episodes are downloaded. As such, every new listener has the potential to put money in your pocket.

Finally, new listeners can add value to your old ones. A growing community provides more people to build connections. Your fans might engage with your podcast more if there’s a dynamic group to join them.

How to Attract New Podcast Listeners (3 Essential Strategies)

Here are three ways to start attracting new listeners to your podcast!

1. Partner With Other Podcasters

No two podcasts have the same audience. However, you might have a colleague with a similar target demographic. You can both attract new listeners by working together.

For example, you might join an episode as a featured guest. The next week, they can do the same on your show. This can enable you to reach a similar yet distinct pool of potential listeners, and is a clever way to add variety to your content.

We recommend that you look for a partner in the same niche with a different focus. If you run an everyday fashion review podcast, for example, you might want to work with someone who specializes in more glamorous outfits.

It’s also important to make it as easy as possible for your colleague’s listeners to find you after the episode. Factors like a catchy show name or a memorable tagline can make a big difference. These are even more convincing reasons to build a recognizable podcast brand.

If you want to find partners on a larger scale, you could always consider joining a podcast network. Each podcast is essentially independent. However, they work together to promote each other and grow their overall audiences.

Nevertheless, podcast networks can come with some limitations. You may have to trust your advertising to another person or work underneath a producer. As such, we encourage you to carefully consider if this is the right approach for your show.

2. Promote Your Podcast on Social Media

It’s hard to deny that social networks are a big part of our society. They impact podcasts, too: 60 percent of people find new podcasts through social media.

Given this data, marketing your podcast on social networks can efficiently attract new users. Fortunately, you don’t have to be an advertising expert to do this successfully.

Using eye-catching images can be a simple yet effective strategy. This is especially true if you pair the visual content with a convincing tagline, like the Lore podcast’s Facebook page does:

However, you should also consider creating soundbites for each of your episodes. This will give potential listeners several accurate samples of your work.

On the other hand, using your most popular episodes might also be a smart approach. If you have frequently shared or complimented bits, they may be a better way to draw in social media users.

Finally, you might want to promote your podcast more permanently as well. We suggest that you include a ‘best of’ playlist in your social media bios. This makes your highest-quality work easily accessible.

3. Prioritize Your Site’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of creating content that’s likely to rank at the top of search results. You may have seen this term used mainly for text-based formats, but SEO for podcasts is also important.

New listeners might find your show by searching for related terms. The higher up you are in the search results, the more likely a user will discover your content.

One way to boost your podcast SEO is by titling your episodes with the keywords you want to rank for. Mike Birbiglia’s podcast, which features a new comedian every week, does this by including names at the very beginning:

Another way to improve your search rankings is by providing transcripts of your podcast. As a bonus, this will also make your content more accessible, which can also help attract more listeners.

Furthermore, video versions of your show can also help boost your rankings. You don’t need to shift mediums entirely, but even an occasional video can help you reach more people.

Finally, having your own podcast website can give you the freedom to control ranking factors, such as post slugs, categories, and internal linking. Thus, it can also be an integral part of improving your SEO.

Conclusion

A loyal group of listeners is an essential part of any successful podcast. As such, finding new people to join your fanbase is probably a priority. Fortunately, you can attract new users by using strategies that connect to relevant audiences.

In this article, we showed you three ways to attract new podcast listeners:

1. Work with other podcasters to promote each other’s work.
2. Promote your content on social media platforms.
3. Invest in simple SEO boosting strategies.

Once you’ve attracted your new listeners, consider welcoming them to your site with one of our high-quality WordPress podcasting themes!