10 Unique Ways To Promote Your Podcast

You've made the leap and decided to start a podcast - congratulations! Creating one comes with plenty of decision-making, from choosing a podcast topic to nailing down the format, episode length, structure, and style.

Once those all-important choices have been made and your podcast finally comes to life, it's time to turn your attention to marketing.

The podcast market is more crowded than ever, with over 3.5 million podcasts and more than 175 million episodes competing for attention. Promoting your podcast will help you cut through the noise, attract more listeners, and make sure your content reaches far and wide! Let's take a look at some unique ways to promote your podcast.

Jump to:

• Harness your guests' audience
• Share your podcast on social media
• Speak with journalists to build authority
• Listen to what your audience is saying
• Host your podcast on multiple platforms
• Create a website for your podcast
• Cross-promote your podcast
• Partner with brands that have a similar audience
• Promote your podcast through newsletters
• Get your podcast featured on listings

Harness your guests' audience

As well as enriching your content and providing expert information, hosting a guest speaker on your podcast is a great way to gain new listeners. Fans and followers of your guest speaker will tune into your podcast to listen to them - and if they enjoy the show, they may well stick around.

Bring in guests who sit in a similar niche to yours, and make it easy for them to share the episode afterwards. Provide them with ready-to-go assets like audiograms, short video clips, or social cut-downs so they can post with minimal effort. And of course, the bigger the guest's fanbase, the greater the potential reach.

Share your podcast on social media

Social media is one of the best places to promote your podcast for free. For maximum visibility, we'd recommend sharing clips, reels, audiograms, and quotes across as many platforms as you can. Facebook. X. Instagram. YouTube. TikTok. LinkedIn. The list goes on!

If you don't have time to harness the power of every single channel, focus on where your audience already hangs out. Pick the one or two platforms that will give you the biggest impact, and post consistently there.

Check out our guide to repurposing podcasts for tips on how to get the most out of every episode.

Image source: Instagram

Speak with journalists to build authority

If you host a podcast, chances are you've got an area of expertise. And sites like HARO and Terkel are looking for just that - experts. These sites will match you with journalists who are looking for expert quotes in your niche, and you could be just the person to help them.

Getting featured in a magazine, newspaper, or blog is a powerful way to build your authority, grow your network, and introduce your podcast to a wider audience.

Listen to what your audience is saying

Your listeners are your biggest motivation, so every podcasting decision should be made with them in mind. Tools like Mention and Google Alerts help you follow topics and track conversations related to your niche, while Reddit keyword alerts, social listening on X, and platforms like Brand24 give you even deeper insights.

Being clued up on what your listeners are talking about helps you keep your podcast relevant. You'll be able to jump on trending discussions, answer real questions, and create episodes your listeners are already eager to engage with.

Here's an example of news alerts for the topic of "mindfulness" in Google Alerts:

Image source: Google Alerts

Host your podcast on multiple platforms

Everyone has a favorite platform, but bear in mind that your listeners' preferences may not match your own. To grow your audience, make sure your podcast is available in as many places as possible.

Popular podcasting platforms include:

• Apple Podcasts

• Spotify

• YouTube Music

• Amazon Music

• Pocket Casts

YouTube is especially worth the extra effort. It's now one of the biggest podcast discovery engines, so consider uploading a video version of your episodes. Just don't forget to optimize your titles and descriptions to help your episodes rank higher in search results.

Create a website for your podcast

Having a dedicated website gives your podcast a home base - a place where listeners can find every episode, learn more about you, and explore related content. If you already have a website, add a dedicated hub or landing page just for your show. If not, it's easy to build one yourself with website builders and ready-made themes, or you can hire a designer if you want something more custom.

Image source: Good Life Project

To make the most of it, make sure your site is SEO-friendly. A well-optimized site will help your podcast rank higher in search results and attract new listeners who are searching for topics you cover. Simple steps like clear titles, meta descriptions, and keyword-rich episode summaries can make a big difference.

And don't forget about podcast transcripts and show notes. Uploading transcripts not only improves accessibility but also creates keyword-rich content that search engines love. With AI tools like Transcribe, you can generate transcripts and detailed summaries quickly, giving you more content to share and helping your episodes get discovered.

Find out more in our guide to optimizing your podcast for SEO, or learn specifically about how transcripts boost podcast SEO.

Cross-promote your podcast

Guest appearances are one way to cross-promote your podcast, but if you want to target as many new listeners as possible, go further by collaborating directly with other podcast hosts.

This might mean arranging a shout-out, running a short ad for your show, or even swapping trailers - where you each record a 30-60 second teaser and share it on the other's feed.

Each of these approaches helps you tap into an existing, engaged audience who are already interested in your topic - and therefore much more likely to subscribe.

Partner with brands that have a similar audience

Brands can be powerful partners when you share the same audience. For example, if your podcast is all about cooking, teaming up with a cookware brand can put you in front of food lovers who are already primed to enjoy your content.

Sometimes brands will approach podcasters directly, but there's no need to wait. Reach out yourself and suggest a partnership - whether that's sponsored episodes, co-branded content, or even a giveaway. Done well, it's a win-win: you get access to a new audience, and the brand gets authentic promotion.

Promote your podcast through newsletters

Email marketing may be one of the oldest forms of digital marketing - but it's still one of the most effective. A well-timed newsletter keeps your audience engaged between episodes and drives them back to your podcast.

Tools like MailChimp, Substack, or Beehiv make it easy to send updates to subscribers and track performance, from open rates to click-throughs. Share new episodes, behind-the-scenes updates, or even bonus content to give subscribers an extra reason to tune in.

Aim for a consistent schedule - weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly - but don't overwhelm your list. The key is to stay present without going overboard, so people look forward to your emails instead of hitting unsubscribe.

Image source: Newsletter from the Knepp Estate

Get your podcast featured on listings

The more mentions your podcast gets, the better. Start by submitting your show to popular directories like Podchaser, Goodpods, and Listen Notes, where listeners often go to discover new podcasts.

You can also pitch your podcast to curated lists in your niche. A quick Google search for 'the best podcasts for [topic]' articles will bring up plenty of high-ranking articles. Reach out to the authors and ask if your show could be included. For example, if you run a knitting podcast, target lists like "the best knitting podcasts" or "the best arts and crafts podcasts".

Not every site will respond, but even a handful of mentions on authoritative lists can give your podcast valuable visibility and credibility.

Ready to promote your podcast?

There are plenty of ways to promote your podcast and gain new listeners, and you don't need a fully-fledged marketing team to make it happen!

One simple but powerful tactic is to transcribe your episodes. Transcripts make your podcast more accessible, help your website rank higher in search, and give you ready-made content to repurpose as blog posts, social media quotes, or soundbites for journalists.

Check out our guide on how to transcribe a podcast to get started.