Publishing a podcast can be rewarding in its own right, but it tends to be most so for those who have healthy, engaged audiences. Some high-quality podcasts have trouble gathering momentum and end up struggling with low download counts for months, years, or even longer.
It will always be worthwhile to seek ways to attract more attention to a podcast so anyone who might be interested will become aware of it. Try any of the five following techniques and your podcast should get downloaded more often.
- Arrange for Some Promotion
Many people assume that podcasts with something to offer end up finding audiences quite naturally. There are now so many podcasts being published, though, that many are overlooked despite being interesting and informative.
The simplest, most direct way to increase the downloads for a podcast is to use tools that are designed to make it easy. Podcast Promotion platforms that include everything needed have become available to all and quite simple to leverage.
In fact, it most often makes sense to launch a new podcast with the help of such a system. Having important issues like hosting and analytics accounted for from the start will make gathering an audience a lot easier.
- Get Listed on Every Directory
Fans of podcasts tend to gravitate to sites that catalog and host many of them. While some of these services actively seek new podcasts to list, most of them expect casters to register their new creations.
A bit of time spent getting a podcast listed in directories like the ones associated with Apple’s iTunes and Google’s Play network should always pay off. There are also services that can be used to register a new podcast with many smaller directories at once.
- Be Active on Social Media
The most popular podcasts at any given time inevitably credit some of their success to simple word of mouth. People who enjoy a new podcast are always likely to tell others about it, whether in person or online.
As such, social networks like Facebook and Instagram are particularly useful for podcast creators looking for new fans. Use features like hashtags effectively, and it should become easy enough to identify communities on these platforms to target.
Building a strong presence for a podcast on a major social media network can take some time and effort. Once it becomes established, though, a podcast’s social media page should generate plenty of additional downloads.
- Stay on Schedule
The mere fact that someone enjoyed one episode of a podcast is never enough to guarantee enduring loyalty. Podcast fans can be fickle, especially when they start to feel that keeping up with a series has become too difficult.
One well-established way to make a podcast more welcoming is to publish it on a regular, predictable schedule. That will give fans something to anticipate and make it easy for them to download new episodes as soon as they become available.
- Improve Your Production Values
One surprisingly common reason for listeners to give up on a podcast is inferior audio quality and other technical defects. A podcast that is overly difficult to understand will always make for an unpleasant experience regardless of its merits.
Using a podcast-specific microphone from a respected manufacturer like Shure should make any podcast easier and more enjoyable to listen to. Professional podcasters often spend thousands of dollars on equipment, but amateurs can produce worthwhile results with much smaller budgets.
Try any or all of these five tactics and you should find your podcast download numbers rising. Producing a podcast is often fun, but having others listen to it and provide feedback is even better.