When it comes to podcasting, do you ever feel like you’re the one at the beach with the baby floaties while everyone else is strutting surfboards?
You’re not alone, and that’s precisely why you need to know these non-traditional podcast promo strategies that you can put in action TODAY!
Below, we’re digging into the importance of these unconventional strategies, and I’ll share the importance of adapting to changes and maintaining an open mind when thinking about unconventional podcast promotion strategies.
Ready to arm yourself with the necessary knowledge to make your podcast stand out in the competitive audio world? Let’s go!
Importance of Unconventional Strategies
Podcasting is no longer a fringe medium; it’s mainstream, and hosts are everywhere. As a result, those old promo strategies aren’t as effective as they used to be. The sea of podcasts is vast, and your target audience has thousands of options to choose from. So, how can you efficiently boost your podcast’s visibility and reach?
Here’s where unconventional strategies rise to the top. By offering something different, going against the grain, and embracing the unexpected, you’ll get noticed in fresh ways and new spaces where listeners aren’t used to seeing podcasts. The below unconventional strategies can help you reach a fresh audience, cleverly engage listeners, and make a name for yourself. Let’s face it – some of the ol’ traditional strategies just don’t hit the spot anymore.
In a nutshell, unconventional strategies for promoting your podcast can help you break through the noise, market your business well, and grow your listener (i.e., potential customer) base.
My Favorite Unconventional Promo Strategies
Leverage Social Media in Unexpected Ways
While using social media to share about your podcast isn’t a new idea, there are unconventional ways to use it to make your podcast stand out. I love to see behind-the-scenes footage or when hosts hold live Q&A sessions to connect with listeners and create relationships. Instagram reels or TikTok videos also provide fun snippet teasers of your podcast to tempt listeners in.
Partner with Complementary Podcasts
I love this strategy for helping you tap into new audiences to grow your listener base. Getting booked as a podcast guest on shows that align with your content is an ideal way to cross-promote each other’s work and benefit everyone. I start by making a list of potential collaborators, listening to their content, and then starting a conversation if I feel they’re a good fit.
Host Contests and Giveaways
Hosting contests and giveaways can spur audience interest and engagement. The trick, however, is to make it unique to your podcast. Depending on your niche, you could make it an essay contest, a craft contest, or even award prizes for the most creative social media post sharing info about your show. In terms of prizes, you could offer your book, one of your services, or even a shoutout on your show.
A Killer Email Newsletter
An engaging, content-rich newsletter that goes beyond the usual “new episode” announcements can elevate your podcast promotions to another level. You can include show notes, sneak peeks, or listener testimonials. You can even make your newsletter interactive, polling your audience, hosting a Q&A, or adding a video can also keep your listeners engaged and looking forward to the next episode.
Strategic Partnerships with Other Podcasts
Look out for non-competing podcasts that align with the interests of your target audience. By forming strategic partnerships, you can cross-promote each other in creative ways. You could host podcast swaps, where each host a special episode on the other’s channel, creating fresh and engaging content while reaching a larger audience.
Social Media Challenges
You CANNOT ignore the power of social media! A really successful way to promote your show is to start a social media challenge related to your podcast and incentivize participation—think along the lines of catchy hashtags, tagging, and sharing, combined with an exciting prize or giveaway your audience will love. This type of activity promotes interaction with and amongst listeners and expands your podcast visibility.
Live Shows and Community Events
If there’s one thing people love, it’s being part of unique experiences. A fantastic way to draw in new listeners is to organize live performances of your podcast or host community events centered around your podcast theme. Let your listeners meet you, the voice behind the mic, and bond with other listeners. This allows you to create a fantastic community, encourages word-of-mouth referrals, and really builds listeners’ loyalty.
Gamification of the Listening Experience
Gamification is the word on everyone’s lips at the moment – all sorts of businesses are getting in on the act to attract more customers to their businesses. I’d definitely recommend incorporating games or competitions into your podcast in a way that makes sense. For example, you could reward listeners for completing a podcast series, create a quiz based on your podcast content, or invite listeners to contribute content for a chance to be featured. The gaming element builds a more engaged listening experience, helps the audience feel connected, and keeps your audience coming back for more.
Unconventional Shows That Have ROCKED
Some pretty amazing shows out there have successfully boosted their listener numbers using non-traditional podcast promotion strategies effectively. They really show how outside-the-box thinking can supercharge your podcast’s growth and audience engagement.
The Bright Sessions: Live Shows
Popular audio drama podcast The Bright Sessions increased its audience reach by staging live shows. Performances were recorded and later released as bonus episodes, giving more content for listeners and attracting new ones who had attended the live sessions.
Two Dope Queens: Booking High-Profile Guests
Two Dope Queens turned heads by booking high-profile guests like Jon Stewart. While this might not seem unusual, the podcast was strategic in attracting listeners from diverse demographics and successfully integrated itself into different cultures and environments.
StartUp Podcast: Personal Narrative
The StartUp Podcast applied a unique method of telling a personal narrative to resonate with listeners. The podcast is all about starting a podcast company, and the meta-story engages listeners on a deeper personal level. They succeeded by turning their brand story into a storyline that got people hooked.
Sleep With Me: Specially Targeted Promotional Method
The Sleep With Me Podcast is designed to help people fall asleep. They leveraged a unique promotion strategy of contacting bloggers who had written about insomnia or sleep issues, offering a solution to their readers and thus reaching out to a very specific target audience.
Do What’s Best for Your Listeners
Using a creative, non-traditional means of promotion to stand out in the saturated podcast landscape is going to make a HUGE difference to the popularity of your show. Innovative promo methods help you attract a new listener base who might not otherwise have been able to find you.
Implementing creative podcast promo strategies brings a fresh perspective and helps you to engage new and existing audiences in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Which of these strategies are you going to try today to make a significant positive impact on your podcast’s reach and popularity?
Non-traditional Podcast Promo Strategies FAQs
What does a non-traditional podcast promo strategy mean?
Non-traditional podcast promo strategy refers to unconventional and innovative methods of promoting a podcast, beyond general techniques like social media marketing, email newsletters, or web advertisements. They attempt to capture the interest of potential listeners in unique, fresh ways.
How to implement a non-traditional podcast promo strategy
Implementing a non-traditional podcast promotion strategy could begin with exploring your target audience’s habits and preferences outside of their podcast consumption routine. Use these insights to come up with unorthodox channels or methods of promotion that have a high chance of reaching your audience. It might involve partnerships, interactive content, community building, or other creative ideas.
How to measure the effectiveness of non-traditional promo strategies
Measuring the effectiveness of non-traditional strategies is similar to measuring traditional ones. Metrics like listener growth rate, listener engagement levels (such as shares, comments, reviews), and conversion rates (such as subscriptions or purchases) can be useful indicators of success. It could also be audience feedback or the extent of filling a previously unaddressed need.
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