How to Build a Podcast Audience

You’ve probably heard it again and again – podcasting is growing! With the introduction of podcasts on YouTube, advancements in podcasting tools, and the overall audience increasing, it continues to be a good time to start a podcast!

If you’ve just started your podcast, then you may be wondering how you go about building an audience for it. There are plenty of actions you can take besides just posting episodes and hoping for the best!

Don’t Be Afraid to Stand Out

The most popular podcasts share quite a few similarities (no, not just in content!) Successful shows are typically the ones where the hosts put in a good amount of effort to create them. This effort extends beyond their creative names and seeps into their consistency.

Start with a strong foundation to build your podcast upon. Be passionate about your subject, spend time crafting your show with both quality audio and content, create eye-catching artwork and intriguing titles, and put in as much effort as you can to artfully cultivate your vision. A podcast created with love and care performs better than those created with no passion.

Struggling to figure out what a strong foundation means? We cover this and more in our blog post on how to start a podcast. These tips will help you to create the podcast of your dreams!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Another key ingredient to building a podcast audience is reaching people as far and as wide as you can. Your listeners won’t be able to find you if you make it too difficult to discover your show!

Firstly, you want to make sure you’re distributing your show to as many listening platforms as you can. A listening platform (also known as a distribution platform) is an online catalog like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, etc. that streams your podcast from your hosting platform to the whole world. You want to make sure your show is at least distributed on the most popular platforms.

Alongside distributing your podcast, it’s a good idea to engage with your audience in multiple channels. Share your show through popular social media sites like Instagram and Twitter (X). Encourage your followers and friends to share your show with their networks to spread your reach. And be sure to create content that they can share! There’s a wide variety of shareable content you can create like audiograms, infographics, blog posts, video clips, and more that make excellent social media content.

And don’t underestimate the power of tried-and-true marketing strategies like SEO. Use keywords in your content, including your episodes, to reach the right audiences. But don’t stop there! Creating an accompanying website for your show helps to boost your search engine rankings, and allows your listeners to engage with you in a myriad of different ways (like adding comments and reviewing your show!)

Some of RedCircle’s own podcasters have created accompanying websites with email newsletters to keep their audiences up to date on their content. Not only are they keeping their show top-of-mind for their audience, but engaging with them in a more personal way which can help to foster a community.

Be loud and be proud!

Make Friends

Networking and collaborating with others in the podcasting community can be a great way to grow your audience. Not only can you learn new tips, but you can also help your fellow podcasters grow alongside you with features like Cross-Promotions. Successful networking can also lead to opportunities like guesting on similar shows (and inviting the host back to yours!) Sharing audiences benefits both parties, so it’s an ideal way to grow your audience.

You can meet podcasters from all over the industry at events like Podcast Movement or Podcast Movement Evolutions, Podcast Summit, She Podcasts events, and way, way more! Don’t forget to bring along business cards or even fun stickers so folks remember you and your show!

Want even more advice on building an audience for your podcast? Look no further than our other blog posts!

If you’re interested in starting your own podcast or taking yours to the next level, then sign up for a RedCircle account today!