It’s every content creator’s dream to grow their podcast and reach a bigger audience. A wider listenership means more sponsorship opportunities, more engagement, more chances to share your content with the world, and more opportunities coming your way in general. Growth is also a sign that what you’re doing is working. Your growth is a sign of success. So it’s important to keep track of your growth and make adjustments as you go. Knowing the best strategies for how to grow your podcast is going to be invaluable to your continued success over time.

As you can already tell, growing your podcast is a necessary skill to become a better podcaster and make your way into the podcast community. Though it can’t be daunting to navigate the podcasting industry with no prior experience, let alone to focus on steady growth. That’s why today’s article is all about how to grow your podcast. Keep reading for our favorite tips for growing your listenership!

How To Grow Your Podcast

Know who your listeners are.

If you don’t have a clear vision of your listeners in your mind, then you’re doing something wrong. You have to know your audience before you can grow it! According to podcasting market reports, during 2021, the number of monthly US podcast listeners will increase by 10.1% to 117.8 million. With so many new listeners, you need to have a clear idea of which of them will be attracted to your show. Picture your ideal listener in your head, the one who can get the most value out of your content. Then learn everything about them! Know what bloggers they follow, what shows they watch, the businesses they love, who they’re listening to and engaging with already. That way you will be able to connect with your listeners on a deeper level because you understand them.

Make a website for your show.

You’re going to need a place to link to other than podcast directories. So create a website to promote your episodes, provide information about you and who you are, link to your social media, and add a contact form. You want listeners to be able to dive deeper into who you are and be able to connect with you more. So a website is a great place to put everything you want to showcase together and allow for people to connect with you.

Analyze the data and use it to strategize.

Sometimes in order to figure out how to grow, you need to look at what is already working. So if you want to kick your podcast growth into overdrive, start looking at your data. Look at what episodes got the most downloads. Consider which episodes gained your show the most subscribers. Take all the data into account and do more of what is working. On the flipside, you’ll also be able to see what listeners engaged with the least and do less of that. If you need to learn how to measure your growth, read this post on how to measure your podcast performance.

Make the most out of SEO.

Every podcast directory, like Apple podcasts, uses search engines to show listeners the best matches for their podcast interests. So you need to get clear about who you’re targeting your podcast to and act on it! Include keywords from your podcasting niche in your show title, podcast episode names, podcast show description, and individual episode summaries. But don’t keyword stuff either, it’s all about naturally providing value. Use these posts for writing the absolute best titles, descriptions, and episode summaries:

Include a call to action at the end of every piece of content.

If you don’t offer your listeners the opportunity to take action, then you won’t build a community with your audience. And there are a million reasons why building a community is key for growth, as explained in THIS episode of Pretty Smart. So you need to step up your game with a call to action at the end of every podcast episode, podcast description, and social media post! This can be an invitation to subscribe to your podcast, rate your podcast, or read the latest blog post on your website. Do it however you want! As long as it encourages listeners to keep engaging with you and your content, it will contribute to steady podcast growth.

Utilize social media.

Promoting your podcast on social media is a super efficient way to notify your audience of the content you’re putting out. Plus it gives your audience a chance to share your content and do your marketing for you! So get creative. You can use Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube, TikTok, the list goes on and on. We personally love making short videos or Instagram Reels showcasing fun or impactful snippets from shows. Take a look at our Instagram Reels and IGTV for examples of promotional videos to promote your shows. You can also of course do the typical social media posts announcing new episodes, encouraging your audience to ask questions for upcoming guests, or asking for feedback in general.

Be consistent.

Consistency is key to growth. Your audience needs to know when they can expect new content from you, and know that you’re serious about podcasting. If you don’t put out new episodes on some sort of schedule or consistent basis, listeners aren’t going to plan to tune in or have your show top of mind. Even worse, if you check out and don’t post new episodes for a while, they’ll think you’re not serious about creating a valuable podcast. So be consistent and get on a solid, reliable recording and posting schedule!

Craft opportunities to connect and engage with your audience.

Podcasts that engage with their audience often grow more quickly. It’s no wonder why since everyone prefers a content creator who feels more like a friend than a random voice on a few audio files. So be open with your listeners and engage with them on a regular basis! You can start responding to every comment on social media platforms or create a group on Facebook for everyone to join. There are several ways to do this, so pick the one that works the best for you! Just be sure to be yourself with your audience and connect with them in a sincere way. If you don’t know how to brand yourself for an audience, listen to THIS episode of Pretty Smart where Jessica Zweig gives a personal branding masterclass. You’ll learn how to engage with your listeners by being your most authentic self!

Book guests for your podcast that people want to hear from.

Booking great guests is definitely an efficient way to draw people into your podcast. If you’re booking guests that people want to hear from, they’re more likely to tune in. Especially if they aren’t familiar with you yet. So interview other podcasts, business owners, influencers, celebrities, etc. Interview people with inspiring stories or a strong audience of their own. If you need help booking guests, read this post on how to book guests for your podcast.

Network with others from the podcast community.

Networking is key to growth! By putting yourself out there within the podcast community, you can find podcasters from your niche and collaborate with them. Networking leads to bigger opportunities, like guest starring in someone else’s show or doing a social media promotion together! Try joining a facebook group or following other podcasters on social media channels. Initiate conversations with them and offer to collaborate in the future! It’ll help your podcast reach a wider audience in the long run!

Don’t make monetization your sole focus.

Yes, monetization is important. However if you make it your sole focus right off the bat, listeners will feel it. You want to make adding value your sole focus in the beginning. When you have listeners, monetization will come. And when you’re ready, you can easily learn how to monetize your podcast quickly. Learn more on creating a business empire and earning higher-than-ever incomes on THIS episode of We Met At Acme.

Create additional content or offers for your audience.

Your followers will increase if you create free and valuable content on top of your weekly podcast episodes! That’s because you’re giving them an additional reason to keep up with you and tune in to your show. So think about how you can offer value or push for engagement outside of the show. Maybe you mention you’re offering weekly tips and tricks through a newsletter, depending on your niche. Or you offer a discount code for everyone tuning in to a specific episode with a specific product mentioned. As long as it adds value and complements what you put on your podcast, it can be any type of content or offer you want!

What are your favorite strategies to grow your podcast?

Those are our tried and tested ways to grow your podcast listenership faster! If you follow these tips, your podcast will see steady long-term growth. It’s all about making the choice every day to put in the effort and show up for your audience. Maximize every growth opportunity and you’ll start noticing the results! Are you trying to grow your podcast? What have you tried so far? Let us know in the comments. That’s all for now, good luck growing your show!