How to promote a podcast: 10 practical tips

Audiences love podcasts. It’s a proven fact. Over 75% of Americans have heard about podcasts and close to 60% have listened to one. And you probably don’t even need us to give you these statistics to convince you. We’d bet you’re within that 60% with a favorite cast for every mood. 

If you’re a podcast creator yourself, then we know you believe in the movement. And for that, we applaud you. Podcasts are an art form on the rise. 

But like anything gaining popularity, it becomes increasingly difficult to stand out as competition grows. While many would like to listen to all the podcasts they can get their hands (or, rather, ears) on, there’s only so much time in the day and a wealth of enriching, enlightening, humorous, or emotive content to stream. 

Help audiences find you by learning how to promote your podcast with the following 10 marketing strategies. Your content is worth a listen, which is why we’re helping you connect with your future fans. 

10 great podcast promotion strategies

You don’t need to have a degree in content marketing to grow the popularity of your show. Many of these grassroots podcast marketing tactics require a bit of time or planning and a touch of creativity. And if you’re already making your own original content, we know you have the creative touch that will help your promotional strategies soar. 

1. Promote on social media

Social media: it’s where many of us get our news, keep up on our friends and family, and discover the content we want to listen to or watch. Leverage your social media accounts to announce your new audio project or fresh episodes to your followers. Then, do some cross-promotion across the social media channels where you have a presence. If you have the budget, you could also consider teaming up with influencers to help reach an even wider potential podcast audience in your area.  

2. Launch your show with at least 3 podcast episodes

You’re making great content that will hook your listeners. But don’t leave them hanging by launching just an episode or two, even if you plan to release future episodes at an interval. Let new podcast listeners get a solid idea of what your program is all about by starting with the first three episodes and using some of the other promotional tactics in this list to have them coming back for more in the future. 

3. Submit your show to different podcast directories 

People look beyond the top podcast platforms, like Spotify and Apple Podcasts, for content. Be sure to host your show on as many platforms as possible. Here are a few additional directories we recommend checking out: 

• Google Podcasts
• Stitcher
• TuneIn
• Amazon Music
• Audible
• iHeartRadio
• Podchaser
• Pandora
• Podcast Index
• Listen Notes 
• TuneIn Radio

4. Ask your fans to subscribe

If you want your show to rank higher on the podcast platforms, then it’s time to build your subscriber base. Spend a couple of seconds during the episode reminding your fans to subscribe. It also benefits your audience members, as podcast apps will download new episodes of the show automatically, and they won’t miss out on any of your premium content. 

5. Create a podcast website

Supplement your audio content with visual and written pieces. Having a website gives you the perfect place to get poetic about the content of your episodes with show notes, publish original images for each episode—perhaps even by trendy guest artists—and provide new listeners with easy access to the audio content itself through links to your podcasting platforms. Adding an “About” page will help your audience connect to you and might improve your SEO. You might want to add merchandise if your podcast is taking off or open a discussion forum for fans with lots to say. Plus, you can add a button that fans can use to sign up for your newsletter. 

6. Invite podcast guests and leverage their followers

There are podcasts about virtually every topic under the sun, so there are surely other podcasters out there interested in your niche content. Invite some of your favorites to participate on your show as the headliner for an episode, their followings might just come over to your podcast as potential listeners. Your content is likely similar (at least topically) to the guests you invite, so it’ll spark interest among the fans of your guests’ show. 

7. Be a guest on someone else’s show

Apply the same logic about inviting a guest to your show, just in reverse. Contact hosts of podcasts in your same subject area, and see if anyone would be willing to have you on to talk about an aspect of your interests on which you’re an expert. This will double as a strong promotional move for your show while supporting them. 

8. Start a newsletter

When we love a product, service, or show, we want to be the first to know when there’s a new launch. Enter: the newsletter. During your episodes, take a minute to remind your followers to sign up for your email list. Direct them to your website to sign-up to stay in the loop. 

9. Create audiograms

Use what you’re good at to gain more followers. Take clips of the best of your shows and share them as teasers on your social media platforms so that your followers get an idea of what your podcast is all about. You’ve already put in the work to make awesome content. Now, show it off. 

10. Get a bio link tool

The best way to keep everyone happy, get some money coming in, and reach your target audience is with a bio link tool like Linktree. It gives your existing audience the option to choose the content with which they’d like to interact and makes sure you aren’t losing people through a stagnant or irrelevant link in your bio. Some of the top podcasts that use Linktree are Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, Chelsea Handler’s Life Will Be The Death of Me (the 23rd most popular podcast on the planet), and Krista Tippett’s On Being. You can also use Linktree to promote other causes like charities you support, press on your podcast, a Patreon, merch, and tickets for your live shows.

Pro Tip: Use the Podcast Link App to get more listeners and subscribers. Simply add a link to a podcast on a supported platform (Spotify, Stitcher, Apple or Google Podcasts) and Linktree will find and show your visitors everywhere it’s available to stream as well as recent episodes. Your visitors can find, listen and subscribe to the podcast on their preferred platform and even see recent episodes to jump straight to what they’re interested in and get a glimpse of the podcast’s topics.

How do Podcasters use Linktree?

Add a link to your bio today

Any questions on how to use Linktree? Slide into our DMs on Instagram, or send us a message when logged into your Linktree.