It’s not uncommon for podcasters to hit a wall after several months (or even weeks) of recording. Even if you haven’t hit a wall, it can feel like there’s a barrier in the way of growing your audience and taking your show to the next level. In an ever-changing world of content creation, there are things that you can do to continue improving your podcast.
Book Interesting Guests
If you have an established audience, then you’re likely doing something that your audience enjoys. They like the sound of your voice and the content that you’re producing. However, a change of pace is nice sometimes. You can bring in subject experts and others that have to do with your niche to give your audience another voice to listen to.
In addition to providing a different perspective on a topic of discussion, your guests will provide extra promotion. Even if you have a large audience, it can always get bigger. Encourage your guests to promote the episode on which they make an appearance.
Add Video
Give your audience a new way to consume your content. While some podcasting platforms will create an automated video version of your podcast with a waveform against your artwork, you can add more value with your own video. Yes, adding this medium can be intimidating. However, you don’t need to have the latest and greatest equipment to get it done. Use your camera phone as a video camera and synch up the audio from your podcast with the video using basic video editing software.
An important part of adding video to your podcast is making the viewing experience unique to those who watch it. Add creative images, infographics, video clips, and other pieces that will add value to watching an episode of your show. If you have a merch shop for your show, screen record yourself scrolling through some of the products you sell. This makes it easy for your viewers to see what exactly you have and where to find what they might like.
Use Social Media
You don’t have to have a lot of followers on social media to leverage the platform into audience growth. Research into trending hashtags and topics can get thousands of fresh eyes on your show. You can use services like Headliner and Audioburst to create episode clips to easily share on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Give social media users a preview of what your show is about to drive listeners. Keep in mind, it only takes one or two social media posts to get big and you could get your show in front of tens of thousands to millions of potential listeners.
Get Your Listeners Involved
People like to feel like they’re a part of the creative process. This is evidenced by fans of movie franchises or TV shows who present fan theories or alternate storylines. You can give your listeners the opportunity to feel like they’re a part of your show by giving them a piece of your platform. Invite listeners to contribute to your show by making an easily accessible mailbag where they can submit topic ideas they’d like to hear or general questions. This can be as big and complex as having it built into a website with a submission form or as simple as making your social media directly available for listeners to direct message you.
Expand Your Niche
An important part of content creation is targeting a niche. You need to pick an area of expertise and stick with it. This means that you’re not jumping topics like growing an herb garden in your kitchen to reviewing the flaws of Liam Neeson as a father in “Taken”. However, you can tie gardening topics in with books and movie reviews. You can expand your niche by taking topics from other areas and bringing them back to your theme. The broader you can make your audience with a unique approach to your niche, the more potential you’re going to have for growth.
Use What’s Working
Don’t be afraid to listen to other podcasters in your niche. Listen to what’s working for them and find a way to re-create that content in your own way. This doesn’t mean steal content from anybody by any stretch of the imagination. Draw ideas for content from other creators and make it fit the theme of your podcast.
You can take a listicle that another podcaster has created, give your own parameters and criterion for making it on the list, then share your opinion. For instance, the “top 10 Christmas movies of all-time” list has been done thousands of times. You can provide your audience with bullet points for what you think makes a great movie. So, while a movie like “It’s a Wonderful Life” is tops on one podcaster’s list, it might not scratch the top 100 of yours. The list you make could be vastly different than what someone else has already done.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for ways to grow your audience, it’s important to find ways to continue to grow your podcast in creative ways. The world of content creation is fluid and if you don’t make changes to accommodate changes, you could be left sinking to the bottom of it all.
