15 Powerful Strategies New Podcasters Should Know

Podcasts are an excellent way to share information, motivate someone or create brand perception. Hence, the consumption of podcasts has skyrocketed during this lockdown. Everyone is participating in the race of creating good content for the audience in different ways. Hundreds of new podcasters are now launched with new ideas and aspirations to make a difference. 

With this rise, there is loads of content available to guide you on how to start your podcast. But what is the secret recipe of creating a wonderful podcast show? How can you increase your audience reach? How can you effectively use it as a powerful content marketing tool for your brand? 

Your podcast is your chance to be heard. To help you in your podcasting journey, we bring you top 15 very important lessons that any aspiring or current podcaster must know if they want to become successful in this industry.

15 Powerful Podcast Strategies

1. Turn low competition into golden opportunity

Podcasts are a fairly new market and the competition is low. Its huge potential is still untapped. The competition is pretty low. So, start early and dominate the space by being one of the first players with your own unique content. Make your move now and establish yourself as thought leaders to keep ahead from catching-up competitors. Learn how you can start your podcast journey with Hubhopper Studio.

2. Choose the topic your believe in

It is important to identify your expertise. You can only flourish in the subjects you strongly believe in. Your journey starts with the selection of the right topic and niche for your podcast show. You really have to be passionate and wise enough to choose something that really grabs at heartstrings or interests an audience. To select a topic/niche you love, consider following things:

• What are you good at? Which subject can you speak articulately about?
• Do you have enough sub topics to cover in this?
• Is it trending already? Or what are the latest trending topics?
• Who are you speaking to? What are their demographic details?
• What is your target geography?
• What podcast format suits you? There are various formats like solo monologue, conversational co-hosted, the panel podcast, or non-fictional format.
• Would you need any additional support like writing episodes scripts, voiceover, etc..?

Once you know what you want to speak about, it is easy to collect information you want to share with your listeners.

3. Be a thought leader with a clear voice

You need to be a thought leader with a clear and loud voice. If you want your listeners to follow you then consider these things:

• Be the subject matter expert. Gather in depth knowledge about your subject.
• Learn about your audience. What are their problems? What are they looking for? What can you offer them as solutions?
• Talk about what is relevant and add your own unique style to the content and the show?

Always focus on your audience and the content you are creating. Together they will make your show a successful podcast show.

4. Charm your audience with great content

Don’t forget if your content is attractive then listeners will stick around to see what is coming next. Your content will define your popularity of the podcast show. Curate it with complete devotion to your theme. Smart content is what will keep your audience coming back for more. When you create your content, please remember the following things:

• Make your content relevant so that the listeners relate to it.
• There should be some key takeaways of your podcast.
• Divide your content into proper episodes.
• Generate curiosity in the audience so that they should be excited about your upcoming podcast shows.
• Make your podcast interesting by adding some witty style content. 
• Engage with the audience by asking them relevant questions.

5, Be consistent

One of the most common mistakes that new podcasters make is giving up too soon. Just like any other media, growing a podcast will also take time. It is an ongoing process that requires patience to build trust and credibility with your audience. You don't create a loyal listener base in 2 or 3 months! Consistency pays off. Ask any popular influencer out there about their experience with making content consistently over years and they'll likely have some advice for how it won them viewership one viewer at a time.

"Be consistent!"

6. Publish at the right time

A good time to post a podcast is when you know most of the people will be listening. If they have no chance to listen, there's not much sense in putting it up at all.

You need to be strategic with your timing in order to make sure you're successful. For example, if I post a podcast at 10 am and my viewers can't listen because they are busy for the next four hours, then 30% of them will never see it again! So instead I should broadcast when most people are listening: When they know that their listeners have time to tune in and enjoy it.

7. Submit your podcasts to different directories

One of the most important steps to increase your podcast's reach is making sure you’re doing everything in your power to get it into as many ears and devices as possible. You should submit it to as many directories as possible or in other words, aggregators. There are a lot of options that Hubhopper Studio brings like Amazon Music, Amazon Music, Spotify and Gaana for example.

You might think you are just a small fish in the sea of podcasts but with this simple step you can start to attract more listeners and grow your fanbase. For other podcast directories, Hubhopper Studio generates an RSS feed that can be shared on other directories!

8. Cross-promote with fellow podcasters

One of the best ways to increase your followers is to collaborate with other podcasters in your niche. You may either invite them on your show or be a part of their podcast and promote your collaboration on social media and lure the combined audience. After all you have followers; they also have theirs - so why not occasionally try some merging? 

All you need to do is mention them in one podcast episode or share their episodes with an email list. They'll return the favor by mentioning you back on a future show – it's as simple as that. Alternatively, you could also include quote, images and snippets that they might be able to post on their social networks like Twitter or Facebook.

9. Get more love on social media

Social media can be a great way to promote your podcast. There are loads of activities that you can do on social media like:

• Share trailers of your upcoming episodes on social media. You may create 15-second sound bite clips of upcoming episodes, tease them up until the release of the next-episode.
• Share updates when the episode first goes live by tweeting or posting on Facebook and tell them about the inner content. 
• Go live for Ask me Anything to engage with the audience. 
• Make quote images in Canva or Pablo that link directly back to your podcast for easy access. 
• Share key takeaways of your podcast episode.
• Be a part of the community who talk about the subject of your podcast.

Social media is an open and powerful channel. Use it to your advantage and make the best use of it to attract a larger number of listeners. Don’t shy away from trying your hands on social media. 

10. Use video podcasts to attract the untapped audience

Video podcasts are getting attention these days because of the visual element. It can then be shared on social media for better reach and bringing in new audiences.

You can post these video podcasts on platforms like YouTube or Vimeo. This will increase the probability of attracting a larger pool of audience. It will give you twice the exposure.

11. Inspire your audience to take action

It is important that you help your audience subscribe, rate, and review your podcast. Therefore, include timely pop-ups (try overdoing it) to get the message across quickly and in an easy visual way (stars). Leaving a rating also helps you in analyzing good content from great content quickly with no confusion on what's best for your audience.

Get creative when asking for reviews! Offer giveaways or contests as incentive so they can spend more time giving feedback about their experience listening to podcasts like yours.

12. Create a dedicated website

Hubhopper Studio offers an easy-to-use micro website tool that lets you create personal websites for free. You can further promote podcasts and share information regarding the upcoming episodes. This will help your podcast to increase discoverability and let people reach you directly through your website. It will also help you in achieving better SEO. 

13. Run a giveaway

People like receiving free stuff and this could work for your benefit. You will get more leads – so why not organize a giveaway where people can receive something relating with your brand? For instance, if your podcast is about habits and productivity, it might be worth offering consulting time as the prize!

14. Be a guest on other podcasts

Just like movie stars hit the talk show circuit to promote a new film or politicians travel the country before an election, you can head out on a podcast tour and make guest appearances on podcasts in your niche. Many other podcasters are likely to appreciate proactive outreach from someone who is interested in promoting their own work. When they take up your offer of being interviewed for promotion purposes it will be a great publicity opportunity that helps build awareness about what YOU do!

15. Get ranked in search results

Ranking your podcast for SEO is easy. It all comes down to good writing and following search engine best practices like including specific keywords in the post title, tags, meta description or content of articles on a blog page. One way you can improve your ranking with valuable show notes that anyone will want to read!

One tip: adding relevant links back into any article's text also helps an article rank higher than it would without them.

Conclusion

Make yourself heard through your podcast. Make it count and make sure you care deeply about what you are saying because there’s a reason so many podcasts fail quickly. But that doesn't mean yours will have the same fate. Do more than turn on the mic and start talking by these 15 hacks for great content in order.