Show notes:
Timestamps
1:08 Tips for broadcasters entering the podcast space
07:32 How to establish relationships with podcast platforms
12:01 On specialization within podcast marketing teams
15:01 How to develop your podcast audience on a budget
18:15 PR as a podcast marketing channel
25:57 On turning things around when your audience growth is stalling
30:00 Podglomerate’s podcast launch/takeover framework
Key ideas:
Tips for broadcasters entering the podcast space
– Linear content doesn’t always translate well to podcasting.
– Linear radio listeners tend to skew older. Podcast audiences are younger and more diverse. This should inform the content strategy across channels. You can’t just recycle content.
– Radio and podcasts tend to be consumed at different times. This dictates the ideal time to release episodes. Radio consumption peaks during breakfast and commute, but it’s totally different for on-demand audio.
– Radio has more constraints: it must be produced for precise time blocks. There are regulations about the type of content that can be broadcasted.
– Example of radio content repackaging for podcasting: offer raw/uncensored interviews in a podcast format and encourage listeners to check out that long-form content. This is a great way to re-engage with your audience, get them to consume more of your content, and anchor on-demand in their habits.
– Podcasts and smart speakers take a growing share of the audio pie. Broadcasters must train their radio audience to follow them and find them elsewhere.
How to establish relationships with podcast platforms
– Think about what you can give to your cross-promotional partners. It’s a two-way street.
– Identify your entry points at these companies.
– How? Search on LinkedIn (looking for people working on the editorial team at Apple Podcasts, for instance).
– Once you’ve identified the right contact person, do your research to find the common interest, the commonality.
– You can also offer to assist them with something they’re working on.
– Find the unique angle about your shows that will spark the editorial team’s interest (see Pride Month for Private Parts).
Resources to do your research:
– Podcast newsletters like Podnews & Inside Podcasting.
– Listen to podcasts on podcasting.
– Follow podcast influencers on Twitter.
– Maybe the people you want to connect with are thought leaders. They might publish content like articles and blog posts or appear as speakers in webinars and conferences.
– Free options to reach out: LinkedIn or Twitter DMs
– Rocketreach is a great paid option to find the contact info of relevant people at these organizations if you want to send emails.
Three important points:
– Reach out in an authentic way
– Don’t spam. You don’t want to “yell in their inbox for attention.”
– These relationships take time to build. Start networking now.
On specialization within podcast marketing teams
– In 2014, Babbel already had someone in charge of the relationship with app stores
– As the podcast industry matures, similar functions start to appear in podcast marketing teams
– As mentioned, building these relationships takes time. A shortcut consists of working with agencies like Podglomerate and leveraging the existing relationships they have built with major podcast platforms.
How to develop your podcast audience on a budget
Answers from previous episodes:
– promo swaps
– submitting your show to Castbox and Overcast
– Leveraging your assets: social media accounts, your newsletter
Joni’s take:
– Where is your audience going for news, information, and entertainment? You must first identify and research your ideal listener (age, region, interest). This will determine your marketing strategy.
– Even if you don’t have a marketing budget, you’re still investing your time, so spend it wisely.
– PR (more on that below)
PR as a podcast marketing channel
– Public relations: pitch your show to media outlets: TV shows, newsletters in your niche, etc.
– Example: a podcast on business might want to reach out to the team at The Hustle. Other daily newsletters: Morning Brew, The Skimm
– To increase your chances, build a nice, compelling pitch deck and reach out to the person most qualified in the target organization.
– Show that you’ve done your research with a very targeted message. Here are examples: point out previous instances where they covered the host of your show, the topic, or a similar podcast.
– MuckRack is an excellent tool for finding journalist’s contact info
– Pitch your show/episode on HARO (Help a reporter out)
Podglomerate’s podcast launch/takeover framework
– Work out an ideal listener profiler to center the strategy around.
– If the show is already running, gather podcast audience data and ask yourself, “Is it (still) the audience I want to go after.”
– Use podcast analytics platforms to gather the audience data from: Voxalyze, Spotify for Podcasters.
– If the show is not yet produced, they get a brief on the content and biographical information on the host and the guests that will help them identify:
1) the talking points the host can be positioned on for earned media opportunities
2) the right media outlets and cross-promotional opportunities.
– It is critical to have an open communication line between the editorial/production side and the marketing/publicity/audience development side.
– ideally, marketing should be involved before the show is even recorded so they can help advise on how to bake marketability into the show itself (e.g., intros and outros)
Resources:
Where to find and follow Joni and Podglomerate
– Joni’s LinkedIn profile
– Joni’s Twitter profile
– Joni’s Nieman Lab contributions
– Podglomerate
Newsletter mentioned:
Tools mentioned:
– RocketReach
– MuckRack