Over the past few years, we have seen a nostalgic return to the audio content in the form of podcasts. This is likely because people are looking for content they can consume while doing other things, such as commuting or working out. And with over 2,000,000 active podcasts and more than 29 million episodes available, it’s clear that this once-niche medium has gone mainstream.
According to Statista, the number of podcast listeners is steadily increasing, and the trend is predicted to continue.
For instance, monthly podcast subscription in 2022 is predicted to be above 28.5 million, steadily increasing over the years. These numbers make it no surprise that paid podcasting is now a major source of income for content creators.
For podcasters, this is good news. But, it also means that the competition is stiffer than ever. So, if you want your podcast to stand out, you need to create informative and entertaining content.
In today’s saturated podcast market, many content creators don’t know how to attract listeners or monetize their podcasts. This article highlights tips below to help you increase your audience and make money from your podcasts.
Guest Podcasting
Your podcasts will get more listeners by simply inviting guests to speak on your podcast and being a guest on other podcasts.
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Guest podcasting is probably one of the most effective ways of growing an audience for podcasts. The main advantage of guest podcasting is that you’ll get to connect with people who are already podcast users. You can charm them and add them to your audience.
The guest naturally brings their audience to your show. If the new listeners find interest in your podcasts, you automatically win them over.
An important tip is to partner with people who are into a similar type of content as you. They tend to bring people who will most likely be interested in your work.
The more influential your partner is, the better. With that in mind, try to interview celebrities and other popular people in your area of expertise as much as possible.
Social Media Marketing
With your target audience in mind, social media marketing is a strategic method of growing your podcast audience. With social media marketing, you can target the demographic you know will be interested in your podcasts.
You can create organic relationships with potential subscribers by hopping on hashtags, threads, and groups associated with your content. These new contacts might visit your podcasts on their own. They might even help you market your content by word-of-mouth.
Video Podcasting
This strategy is getting more attractive as there is more availability of video-oriented social media.
Influencers and content creators are seeing the major benefits of video podcasts. This is evident in the methods of Joe Rogan, one of the most influential people in the world. He is one of the many podcasters that branched out to video podcasts.
This is one of the cheaper and easier ways of extending the reach of your podcasts. All you have to do is just turn on a camera while you record your podcast.
Video podcasting will help expand the reach of your podcasts to platforms that offer video content.
Use the Right Podcast Subscription Platforms
While there are many ways to get your podcast out there, one of the most effective is to make it available on major podcast subscription platforms. Find a podcast hosting and podcast distribution platform to publish your podcast on the most popular podcast directories. This allows potential listeners to easily find and subscribe to your show, making it more likely that your show will be featured in search results and recommendation lists.
Additionally, most platforms provide tools that make it easy to track listener numbers and demographics, which can be valuable for understanding your audience and tailoring your content accordingly. So if you’re looking to reach a wider audience for your podcast, getting onto major subscription platforms is a good place to start.
For instance, a podcaster can subscribe to Supercast rather than outdated big players like a Google or Apple podcast subscription. You’re reaching out to other podcast consumers other than Apple Podcast’s 21% weekly consumers. This puts your channel in a good position to be on the same platform as most of the consumers.
Use of SEO Keywords
A majority of internet users today get their information from Google. Google displays results to these searches by detecting keywords from the web pages
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You can take advantage of this by inserting SEO-friendly keywords in the title of your podcasts. These keywords are usually commonly used words and are easy to insert.
Doing this properly will help bring your podcast to the top of Google searches. And that will naturally increase the number of listeners you have.
Paid Ads
Using the good old-fashioned paid ads to promote your podcasts doesn’t feel attractive. It is, however, a very effective way of reaching new audiences and expanding the reach of your podcasts.
Using Google or Facebook ads might just be your podcast’s strategy to grow.
Monetization
The first step towards monetizing your podcasts is growing your audience. We have highlighted ways in which you can grow your podcasts.
Once that is done, the following steps involving monetization will work seamlessly. The first tip to monetizing your podcast is;
Affiliate Marketing
When your podcast gains popularity, you’ll likely be approached by businesses to help sell their products to people for a commission. Note here that you’ll not be producing or delivering anything. So, just by publicizing a product, you can get a commission of up to 50% of the product’s price. Affiliate marketing is a convenient way to monetize your podcasts and make passive income.
Sponsorships and Advertising
Accepting sponsorships and ads from companies is another option to monetize your podcasts. This strategy is well known since, like clockwork, businesses depend on it to promote their goods as soon as you become well-known. And they will pay you based on your popularity or how far they believe your reach goes.
Coaching and Consulting
Your content can also get you paid by giving one-on-one guides to subscribers in return for a fee. Coaching gives that personal touch to your content. It also helps subscribers better understand your content.
It also has to be interactive, like talking to a therapist. So, there is a quick and direct exchange between the content creator and the subscriber.
Premium Exclusive Content
You can make extra income by releasing special episodes or tapes from episodes to paying subscribers.
This method is about giving special access to your content to select people willing to pay for it. These extra materials may include access to early episodes of podcasts or behind-the-scenes videos.
Just mainly exclusive materials that wouldn’t normally be available are perfect for monetization.
Selling Merchandise
We see all kinds of sold today. To monetize your podcasts by selling merchandise, you need a loyal fan base. Selling merchandise online merchandise earns you money and advertising your podcasts at the same time.
Conclusion
The increase in podcast listeners yearly shows no signs of slowing down. So, if you want to make a name for yourself among other podcasters, I hope you take one or two points from this article and apply it to your work to give it the publicity it deserves.
Feature Image Credits: Pixabay
