If you are a podcaster trying to monetize your podcast, then this article is for you.  In the media industry, your revenues depend on what advertisers are ready to pay you which in turn depends on the minimum number of listeners for each episode of your podcast. So apart from the quality of content (which is most important) the only other thing that keeps you up at night must be how do I keep increasing my listener base and make them come back for more.

Before we dig into how to increase your reach, let us look at standard on-going advertising rates in the industry. 

A 15-second Pre-Roll commands $18 per CPMs (listens).

A 60-second Mid-Roll commands $25 per CPMs (listens).

A 30-second Post-Roll commands $10 per CPMs (listens).

You can calculate your podcast advertising income here >> http://www.midroll.com/podcasters/

Here are some of the things that would help you in increasing the reach of your podcast:

1. Work with existing podcasters

Learning from other podcasters, who have considerable experience can be extremely valuable to growing your reach. Instead of viewing them as competition, seek out podcasters who are willing to help. Try and gather feedback from them about how you can make your podcasts more appealing to your audiences. Also try to utilize their reach by appearing on their podcasts or having them appear on your podcast or by having them mention about your podcast on their show.

There is nothing better than tapping into an already curated audience. If you can make this happen, it can provide you an immediate reach to a gold mine of audience.

2. Work with influencers

There is a reason why influencer marketing is so popular. It’s because it can work wonders. There are multiple ways in which you can tap into influencers to increase your podcast’s reach. Below are a few.

  1. Reach out to influencers on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook notifying them of your new episode and asking them to check it out. If they like your episode, they can repost on their profile which will increase your reach.
  2. Interview influencers for your podcast and when these influencers share their interviews that will increase reach for your podcast.
  3. Reach out to micro influencers and engage in paid influencer campaigns to promote reach for your podcast.

3. Make your podcast available on all consumption channels

Today, there are multiple ways in which you can reach your listeners. Having your podcast available on traditional consumption channels such as phones and computers is no longer enough. More and more people today are consuming podcasts via smart speakers. You can use tools such as VoxxUp to make your podcasts quickly available on smart speakers such as Alexa.

4. Supplement your podcast with other formats of content 

Any media strategy works best when supplemented with a variety of content. Try supplementing your podcast with a short video, blog post or even an infographic. Each content format will help you reach a different set of audience and create awareness about your podcast. Also having multiple formats will make your content more searchable and increase the probability of audience stumbling on your podcast.

5. Social campaign planning 

Carefully plan social media campaigns around each of your episode launches. If you have created videos, blogposts and infographics, make sure that you create excitement around your episode launch by posting all this supplementing content on social media. Also plan your social media influencer campaigns around the same time of your episode launches. Done correctly, a well-planned social campaign will help you significantly improve reach.

6. SEO 

Think about SEO for podcast descriptions in a way that you think about SEO for a blog. Create a description that matches with the users’ intent when users look for a podcast. What would listeners search for when looking for a podcast like yours?  Utilize the right keywords in your description depending on what people are searching for. Make use of Google keyword planner to get the right keywords.

7. Make your podcast available on all the podcast directories

The more places your podcast is available on, the better your chance is to reach your audience. Google some well-known podcasts and see which directories they are appearing on. Be sure to submit your podcast to all these directories. Some of the popular places for podcasts  are tunein.com, podchaser.com Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, and Stitcher.

8. Work with podcast media organizations to promote your podcasts

Reach out to writers and publishers in the podcast space to write about your podcast. Popular podcast publishers include podnews, hotpodnews and PodcastHost. Each of these media organizations have a considerable reach within the podcasting space. See which organization suits your podcast best and try reaching out to editors / writers there.

Try out these tips and let us know how it affects your listener base. Do share your feedback with us at [email protected].

Happy podcasting!