Yearning to grow your podcast audience? Not sure how to do it?
Whether you’re just starting your podcast or a seasoned podcaster with a couple of seasons under your belt, you need to market your show. However, it is crucial that you acknowledge the marketing tactics that will work better for your podcast regarding the type of content and your target audience.
Now, where do you start? There are tons of ways you can promote your podcast. But in this article, our primary focus is Instagram.
Instagram is a growing and active community. This digital platform has billions of active users—some use it for fun and others for business.
But how can you leverage this platform to your advantage?
Here are the most tactical strategies you can use to grow your reach, expand your audience, and create a healthy and loyal audience for your podcast using Instagram.
Key Takeaways:
- Use Instagram features like stories, reels, and feed.
- Come up with a branded podcast hashtag.
- Repurpose your podcast episodes as Infographics.
- Announce your Guests.
But before that:
The Need for Great Content.
Everyone can create content. But what sets you apart is how unique and good you make yours. Great content can turn your podcast brand into a household name. So, as you set up your podcast, you must strategize, avoid the sporadic presence and create a podcast that will add value and engage your audience.
And if you’re unsure of how to create a podcast with great content, we have a detailed course to guide you: Free B2B Podcasting Mastered Course.
The Need for Great Bio.
When people land on your Instagram page, they want to know what you’re all about and the value you’ll give them if they follow you. This is why you need to beef up your bio.
In the bio, you can add a short description of who you are, your achievements, and what you offer (you have a limit of 150 characters). But amidst all that, be sure to leave a link to your podcast since Instagram allows you to insert a clickable link.
You can also create a LinkTree on your bio. This is a link that leads to a landing page that contains multiple links relevant to your business. For instance, you can include a link that leads to a page that has several of your podcast links.
A great bio attracts more traffic to your website.
Tips for building a loyal audience to your podcast using Instagram.
1. Use Instagram Features.
Instagram gives you several formats to post your content. Each of these formats serves a specific purpose. These are:
A. Instagram Stories
Launched in August 2016, the stories feature is dedicated to allowing its users to capture the snips and in-betweens of their life. This feature helps tell a bigger and richer story that individual photos cannot provide. Stories automatically delete after 24 hours but can be saved in the highlights section.
The feature has over 500 million daily users. 1/3 of the most viewed stories are business related. So, to take advantage of such an opportunity, take a behind-the-scenes story to keep your audience in the know, post at least once a day, and use stickers to ask questions and run polls.
Additionally, the “swipe up” feature on stories allows you to add a clickable link. However, you must have surpassed the 10,000 follower milestone to access the feature. But, if you are below that, you can always mention “link in bio” when posting the story.
B. Instagram Reels
Instagram reels can be viewed for a more extended period. This is because they are directly shared with your grid.
This IG feature helps create brand awareness by pushing your content to the endless feed of reels and the explore page.
Since reels are not lengthy (90 seconds), you can only include little information about yourself, what your podcast is about, the value the audience will get, or a few tips and tricks in your niche.
Uploading your podcast teaser in your reel is also a great way to reach your audience. To make it more fun, you can use the Tik-Tok style trends and popular music (if you don’t have audio).
As much as you’ll mention your podcast in the short video, it’s also important that you add a call to action. This way, the people interested in joining your fan base can easily join your team.
If you are hosting a guest, you can do a simple reel together and upload it to both pages.
C. Images and Videos in Feed
Composing a beautiful image is good for capturing the eyes. But, when it comes to marketing your brand, aesthetic beauty isn’t enough. The key to establishing a loyal audience is using images that captivates and engages your followers. And to achieve this, you’ll need to compose beautiful images that create emotional associations with your brand.
You can create an engaging image announcing your upcoming or published episodes with this information.
When it comes to videos, there are podcast clips you can share on your IG feed. This could be some interesting behind-the-scenes footage of your guest setting up, a teaser of the podcast, or a video of you getting ready to record.
Whichever activity you’ll be engaging in, make sure you show more of your personality. This way, you can attract new listeners and also build stronger relationships with your loyal audience.
2. Come up With a Podcast Hashtag.
Instagram shows your content to people in your circle. But how can you engage more people? — Hashtags!
Including hashtags in your posts, stories or reels is another important aspect when promoting your podcast. However, to make great use of it, it’s important to conduct thorough research on the most suitable one.
For instance, a hashtag with millions of users has high competition. This means that your post will end up buried within seconds.
So, using a hashtag with lesser competition, especially if you’re a new account, might be the trick you dearly need. However, do not go overboard. Understand what to use and what not to.
Tip: You can create your podcast’s hashtag, i.e., #podcastersofinstagram, and ensure you include it in every post or story. Make it unique!
3. Repurpose your Content into Infographics.
When sharing any type of content on social media, your main goal is to give value to your followers.
Instagram Infographics are posts that contain multiple images that can be accessed by swiping left. Infographics are easy to understand, visually engaging, and memorable. 67% of B2B marketers create them. They have a high response rate regarding niche and content searches.
So, how do you create these images or texts?
- You can share a how-to help post that walks your followers through each step of what your podcast is about or the topic you’ll be covering.
- Share information that can’t fit in just one slide, using carousel posts.
- You can also share a list of tips or tricks that add value to your audience.
By repurposing your podcast content into eye-catching infographics, you increase your chance of positioning yourself as an authority in your niche. And if the viewer finds value in the IG content, they will gravitate towards other platforms they can find more of your content– in this case, your podcast.
4. Announce your Guests.
It’s inarguably essential to, once in a while, bring a guest on board. They not only make the show interesting but could also help promote the whole podcast.
An influential guest, for example, already has a following. So, once you’ve invited them, you can create a teaser video, a story, or a ready-made post for them to publish on their Instagram page. This method can help you leverage your guest’s fans and draw them into your community.
On the other hand, you can use the same posts to show your fans that the specific person will be featured in your podcast. Include some accomplishments the guest has and briefly describe who they are. Ensure you tag and recommend their podcast too.
Building a loyal audience to your podcast using Instagram.
Building a dedicated audience for your podcast takes time. But it can be faster and easier if you have Instagram in your podcast marketing toolbox. Once that is done, build your strategy with your targeted audience in mind and always put out great content.
Most importantly, don’t forget to implement some of the tips we’ve highlighted above in your strategy.
