When it comes to building a podcast audience, I’m a big believer in the power of being proactive when you’re first starting out.
Of course, we all want the new listeners to come rushing in of their own accord, but to get to that level, we first have to build up a critical mass.
Achieving that critical mass falls solely on us.
What that number is will vary for each of us, depending on our niche and the specific members of our audience. Regardless, I generally like to think of 150 people as a good initial benchmark to shoot for.
Note that this is not 150 total downloads. This is 150 unique people who are engaged with your show.
If you’re starting from scratch, this might seem like a lot, and it is, if you’re simply putting new episodes out, posting about them on social media and expecting your audience to trickle in.
But that’s not how audiences are built and so that’s not what you’re going to do, right?
The thing about building up a 150 person core audience is that this is a small enough number of people that you should be able to do one-to-one outreach on your own to find these people and pull them back to your content.
But before you start reaching out to people, you’re going to need to hone your pitch.
Hone Your Pitch
Your goal is to craft a single, compelling sentence that clearly communicates the value of your show so that when you tell one of your target audience members about it, they jump immediately to “I have to listen to this!”
Make sure to clearly address these questions:
- Who is it for? (This should be hyper-defined and niche)
- Why should they care? (What’s the change your content will create in their lives?)
- What do they do next? (How can they engage with the content?)
Position your show to be the single answer they’ve been looking for. But remember, no one likes a door-to-door salesman who only talks about their product.
Present your show to people you know it would benefit, people who will thank you for sharing it with them, and who would be disappointed if you hadn’t.
The only way to understand who falls into this category is to get to know the people you’re talking to before you make your pitch.
So once you’ve honed your sales pitch, it’s time to get to know people
Audience Outreach
While you probably don’t want to personally be door-to-door selling (so to speak) forever, when you’re first starting out, this is exactly the fastest way to build your initial tribe.
It’s also the most uncomfortable which means most people won’t do it. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work.
Online Communities
Start by hanging out in Facebook groups, subreddits, Twitter chats, forums, or anywhere else your target audience congregates and engage with people.
Once you’ve observed and got to know some people in the community, reach out to them individually to say hi. Mention that you heard them asking about x or y in the group and tell them how you just released a podcast on the topic. If they’re interested, send them the link to your show.
Note, that this method is about reaching out individually, not spamming the group en masse. If your show is good, converting just a few of the right people into listeners will help it spread throughout the community as they pass it along by word of mouth.
Cold Email
Another underrated method of building an initial podcast audience that I love is through cold email.
Again, a lot of people are uncomfortable with the idea of it so they won’t do it, but what I love is that it’s a numbers game. If your pitch is good and you’re reaching out to the right people, you can be fairly confident that the more emails you send, the more your audience will grow.
As with everything else we’ve talked about, the goal is not to be spammy. Don’t presume that you’re doing people a favour by reaching out and pitching your show (even if you know that you are).
Give yourself a plausible reason for reaching out and presenting your show. Tell them you’re starting this podcast and would love some feedback on one specific aspect to make sure it’s most helpful to people like them.
Say that you look up to them and really respect the work they do and you really want to make sure that you’re creating something of value that will help the people who listen to it. Flattery goes a long way.
Remember that people are busy, so if you can make your ask of them brief, giving them a timestamp to a certain section, asking for quick feedback on your website homepage, or the cover art, or any other element of your show that they can check out in a few minutes.
The goal is not to convert them to a listener on the spot, it’s to pique their curiosity enough that they check out the rest of the show on their own.
Tell Everyone You Know
Lastly, reach out to people you already know but who might not fall into your target audience and tell them that you’re starting this podcast. Give them your one-sentence pitch and ask them if they know anyone who falls under your target audience.
If not, no sweat, hopefully, your pitch is concise enough that they’ll remember it if they ever do meet someone who could benefit and you and your show will be the first thing that comes to mind.
If they do know someone who might fall into your target audience, ask for an introduction.
One last time. The goal is not to simply meet this person and pitch them on your show. Don’t be spammy.
Get talking to this person and find out about them, their situation as it relates to your topic, and what content would actually be most helpful to them.
People are much more likely to follow someone who actually puts that kind of care into understanding and empathizing with their audience.
Get Selling
Like I said, the thing I love about person-to-person promotion is that you can clearly see the correlation between the number of people you talk to and the number of listeners you pull back to your show.
The more targetted you are in your outreach and the more compelling your pitch, the higher your conversion rate will be, and vice versa.
That said, be prepared for single-digit conversion rates. This is not the best strategy to grow your audience forever, but when it comes to building up your initial base and establishing that critical mass, this method gives you a roadmap to simply do the work and see the results of your effort.
Now get out there and start hustling up an audience.
Every Sunday I send out an exclusive article on how to use podcasting to build an audience and grow your business.
No opt-in, no checklist no bribe. But hopefully a new perspective, encouragement, and maybe even some occasional wisdom. It’s something I’m proud to create and I’d be honoured to share it with you.
Jeremy travels full-time, loves long-distance cycle touring, and will always look back on the day he finally saved up enough money to buy the Millennium Falcon Lego set as one of his proudest achievements. He believes that the way to grow sustainable businesses is by leading with heart, vulnerability, and helping your people be and become their best selves.
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- Podcast Promotion & Marketing Are Different (Here’s How to Use Each Effectively) - March 10, 2021
