How to Promote a Podcast for Business: 9 Tactics to Consider in 2024
Congratulations! You’ve launched a business podcast. Now, how will you promote it? Just because you launched a show doesn’t mean that listeners will flock in droves to download your audio content. Nope. You launched a new brand, and need to build awareness. In this blog post, you’ll learn how to promote a podcast like a pro. We’ll share 9 strategies and tactics to consider as you grow your show in 2024:
Optimize episodes for search across all platforms
Enable buyers to listen, watch, and read your podcast content
Use a showcase page as a publication channel on LinkedIn
Offer an email subscription for the podcast
Do guest interviews on other podcasts
Ask guests to amplify your content
Publish 5-10 min clips to YouTube
Engage co-workers on Slack
Outreach to ideal listeners
How to Promote a Podcast for Business:
First, you need to make sure your podcast marketing strategy aligns with your business goals and objectives. Without that, your promotion efforts may not yield the results you want and your podcast idea could be among the 80% of shows that fade away and become inactive. Below are some tactics to consider to promote a podcast for business:
Optimize episodes for search across all platforms
I use keyword research as an input when coming up with episode titles and descriptions. It’s not the only input, but it adds to the framework of the conversation.
Sure, optimizing your podcast episodes helps you get discovered on platforms like Spotify and Apple, but it can be used as part of a broader optimization strategy across platforms. Think of it like this: in 2013 you went to Google to search for something online. Today, people search on TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Apple, Spotify, their Slack communities, the list goes on.
If you target the right keyword at the source of your content, you can optimize for search across all platforms.
Enable buyers to listen, watch, and read your podcast content
We’re human. We all learn in different ways. I’ve ran several LinkedIn polls over the last few years about which format my connections on LinkedIn prefer. Each time the results are split:
When a podcast is the source of content, it can be turned into a blog post. This way, it can be read (and indexed for search). The transcript fuels pull quotes and body content. On that blog page, embed 2-5 minute video clips and a full episode media player. This way, users can read, watch, or listen to the content all in one place.
If you want to learn how to promote a podcast effectively, you’ll need to be able to repurpose a podcast into different text assets. Tools like Wysper can help get you started. Simply upload an audio file and generate starter copy for LinkedIn posts, emails, show descriptions, episode titles, and more.
Use a showcase page as a publication channel on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the premier channel for B2B and professional services firms. So how do you promote a podcast on LinkedIn? One effective way is to create a “showcase” page through your company LinkedIn page. This provides a dedicated channel to publish shorter 1-2 minute video clips. And you can invite connections to follow the page. Here’s an example from the Breaking BizDev company page on LinkedIn:
Offer an email subscription for the podcast:
Earlier, we talked about how buyers consume information in different ways. People also have different preferences in the channels that deliver information. Some prefer social media, some subscribe on Apple or Spotify. And some prefer a digital communication channel that’s been around for more than 50 years: email.
Yeah, 50 is right. I had to double check that myself, too. Ray Tomlinson is generally recognized as sending the first electronic mail, between two different computers on the ARPANET, in 1971.
For example, a weekly newsletter is a content marketing framework that nurtures ideal customers who may not yet be in a position to buy your B2B software product or inquire about your professional services. This is made possible by adding native value in subscriber inboxes, establishing conversion points, and deepening engagement. See the illustration below.
Anyways, here’s the bottom line: offer a subscription that delivers your podcast content directly to the inbox. If you want to see an example of how email can be deployed, subscribe to my free course on how to launch a business podcast below:
Do guest interviews on other podcasts
Wondering how to promote a podcast with people who already listen to podcasts? One of the best ways is to reach them on other podcasts. This is why podcast guesting should be part of your podcast promotion strategy.
If you’re a podcast host, reach out to other podcasters in your industry or niche. You’ll probably be able to land some guest interview spots. Hosting a podcast is a signal that you’ll be a good guest.
When you’re on the show, make sure to mention your podcast name a few times or tell stories from conversations you have on your podcast. This way, you naturally weave in a plug into your guesting content, encouraging listeners to check out your show.
Leverage guests to amplify your content
If your podcast is an interview-based show, there is mutual benefit for both the host and guest to promote the podcast. This can be done by sharing on social media, emailing episodes to contacts, linking to podcast episodes in blog content, and many other ways. When this happens, the host and guest are exposed to each-other’s audience, amplifying their reach.
The key is for hosts to find guests that add value to their audience. Guests typically want to find podcasts whose listeners fit a target profile. When there is a good fit, it usually makes for good content.
Publish 5-10 minute clips to YouTube
Want to know how to promote a podcast on YouTube? Launch your show as video-first and publish full episodes to YouTube. Or, you can publish shorter, 5-10 minute clips about specific topics. For example, my YouTube channel highlights business podcasters who gave interviews on my show, Podcasting in Professional Services. Once those videos are published, I embed them on my website and blog and work them into Twitter and LinkedIn promotion cycles.
Between 2019 and 2020, I co-hosted a podcast called The Visible Expert with Kelly Waffle. In this video, Kelly and I speak about the various ways the podcast made an impact on the business and our target listeners:
Engage co-workers on Slack
In my experience learning how to promote a podcast, I found Slack to be an underrated distribution channel. Shortly after you launch, your fellow employees are some of your biggest advocates. Especially the sales team. They want your show to be a success because they believe—in time—the podcast will generate leads.
So help them help you promote the show!
Create a slack channel for your podcast where you post about new episodes.
When you post about new episodes, share a few variations of social copy that your team can borrow to promote the show on their personal accounts.
Share screenshots when social media conversations start to take off, encouraging the team to jump in and add comments
Encourage the team to share when clients, sales opportunities, leads, prospects, or other potential buyers mention the podcast
Create a library of video assets and starter copy. Link to this from time to time to remind teammates about this repository. Encourage them to use this as a resource if they want to post and or share.
Reach out 1:1 to target listeners
In the end, how to promote a podcast boils down one-on-one interactions. Go “door-to-door” and spread the word about your podcast. Depending on how you’ve positioned your podcast, your target listeners may also be your target customers. The podcast then becomes an integral part of your sales nurture, and provides content for sales enablement.
Start by reaching out to friendly contacts in your network. People you trust AND would be an ideal listener. Establishing and engaging with a core group of listeners can have massive benefits down the road.
If your podcast is positioned to solve a particular problem, try searching for keywords relating to or describing that problem on social platforms like LinkedIn and X. Then, engage with users and start conversations.
Make an Impact Faster: Learn How to Promote a Podcast with Red Cedar
I believe there is incredible opportunity for more B2B and professional services firms to use podcasts to fuel their content marketing strategy. But there needs to be a champion willing to push this rock up a hill internally. If that’s you, simply reach out and let’s start a conversation to see how I can help.
