Your podcast has built a small following, but after producing months-worth of episodes, you’ve realized that your following isn’t growing. The numbers have plateaued. If you want to expand your audience in a competitive market, you should follow these practical tips:
Get to Know Your Audience:
Before you worry about getting more listeners, you should get to know the audience you already have. Finding out who you’re already connecting with will give you a better idea on how to broaden your reach.
You can use a digital marketing insights and reporting dashboard to evaluate your podcast’s current audience. You can stop by Morphio.ai to see how their algorithms analyze website traffic to determine the rate of visitors and what segments they can be separated into like age, gender, country and city. Morphio will show you exactly what demographics you are reaching and missing, and this data is essential for executing a successful marketing strategy and growing your audience numbers.
Audience segmentation is just one of the key performance indicators (KPIs) that the Morphio platform looks into to better inform clients about their online reach. Dashboards like these offer technical competitor insights, which shows your current performance and progress in comparison to similar podcasts. They will track your SEO improvements and give you clear reports about your online visibility and positioning alongside these specific branded competitors.
When you’re dealing with a saturated medium like podcasting, you’ll want to keep a close eye on your competition. Receiving regular updates on their online engagement will make it easier for you to form a lucrative marketing plan that separates you from the crowd and catches the attention of new listeners.
Engage Listeners:
Listening to a podcast doesn’t have to be a passive experience. Encourage people to interact with the latest episode so that they can forge a stronger bond with your product. When you build that excitement with listeners, they’re more likely to share and recommend your podcast with their social circle.
One tactic is to incorporate games, trivia or debate into your episodes. For instance, the hosts of the podcast BackTalk set aside five minutes per episode to debate about pop culture. Their topics span from what movie deserves the Best Picture Award to who is the best member of the Golden Girls. Listeners are asked to vote for the righteous victor. It’s an effective hook to drive engagement and create buzz around the podcast.
Use Social Media to Your Advantage:
If you aren’t using social media, you are effectively keeping your podcast a secret from the world. You can rapidly increase the reach of your podcast with apps like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Make it easy for someone to stumble across your work when scrolling through their feed.
If you do have social media, use it to your advantage. Apps give you more opportunities to engage with an audience and build brand loyalty. The Dungeons & Dragons podcast Not Another D&D Podcast shares the fan art it receives on its Instagram account. The tactic shows that the hosts appreciate their listeners and it encourages more people to join in on the fun.
It’s difficult to be heard in a competitive field, but all is not lost. By figuring out who you’re connecting with, you’ll be able to market your brand better. By using engagement tactics on your episodes and social media accounts, you’re guaranteed to hook listeners. When you follow all of these steps, you’ll see those audience numbers grow.
