The Foolproof (almost) Guide to Podcast Marketing

If one of your podcasting goals is to have someone (actually, a BUNCH of someones) decide to listen to the thing, it’s time you began thinking about marketing. Unless your name is Justin Bieber or some other ridiculously well-known and vacuous celebrity, there’s a good chance that simply uploading a podcast will not bring oodles of downloads. You’re going to have to let people know it’s out there. Here are a few tips to further that end.

Are you sick of hearing “create great content” yet?
The bottom line is that nothing replaces great content. With crappy content, even the best marketing in the world won’t build an audience. We’re serious about this. Without compelling content, nothing else matters.

Get the technical bits right
Sure, you can cobble together your own podcast feed from the ground up, and it might be fine. But you need to be absolutely sure that your RSS feed is up and functioning as much as humanly possible – shoot for 100 percent. The reality is that a potential listener is probably not going to give you a second shot if he or she runs into technical difficulties in accessing your podcast. With thousands available at our fingertips, it’s way too easy to move on the next one. If you have any doubts about your technical savvy, check out Feedburner on the web for an all in one third party solution. Your best bet is to make the subscription process VERY easy – one click or less. Jason Hartman reminds you that using the WordPress platform allows for the easy creation of podcast feeds.

Don’t rely on Google
To even have a chance of standing out, your podcast needs its own dedicated website, preferably with the word “podcast” worked into it – something like MySillyPodcast.com works great. The reason is that Google doesn’t index audio and video files the same way as it does text, leaving you at a high risk for obscurity unless you take matters into your own hands. Make sure the text on the website includes descriptive keywords you want to focus on.

Figure out who you’re talking to
Put some thought into drilling down to the exact demographics that represent your anticipated listener. Believe it or not, the world is not your market! Few brands can boast a global product, but don’t worry. Even a small slice of the tsunami that is today’s Internet traffic can make for a very successful podcast.
Obviously, this isn’t everything there is to know about podcast marketing, but it’s a start on the right foot. (Top image: Flickr | LevelTen_Colin)

The Speaking of Wealth Team