When seeking to grow you podcast audience you may consider many options. One such option is targeted public relations. If you are the host or producer of a small podcast you may think that this is beyond your budget or skill set. Quite often, this is entirely untrue, though it may be out of your comfort zone. There are many public relations techniques which work very well to grow the audience and community of a podcast. Some of these techniques include targeted attendance of public events, press releases, blogging, and goal-oriented social media management.
Attending targeted public events that are relevant to your audience can be a great way to network, attract the attention of relevant or interested communities, find new guests, and spread the word about your growing podcast. Whether it is attending business conferences and handing out cards or fliers with your website address on them, or mentioning it to new faces at a mixer after a conference, attending these events can expose new people to your podcast, and every interested party is a potential life-long listener.
When forming a new podcast in your area of expertise, you may wish to send relevant media a press release to announce your arrival to the podcasting genre. Likewise if you have a new, exciting, or influential guest, or a specifically informative episode, you may wish to issue a press release to inform interested media in this special episode. This can help you in several ways. When you release a press release you are drawing media attention to your podcast. If they like it, or even if they hate it, they may be inclined to write a story about your podcast, drawing in potential listeners from this exposure. In addition, you may have just made a media member a fan of your show, and created a lifelong ally in the press!
Blogging and goal-oriented social media management gives you a chance to interact with the community you intend to appeal to. Whether your podcast is a long-standing staple of your focal area and genre or you have a new podcast looking to find an audience these public relations tools can be massively beneficial for your podcast. When blogging or being active on social media with the goal of creating awareness of your expertise in an area you are essentially undertaking a free process that exposes people to your opinions, views, or message. When people listen to your message, they may be inclined to respond, and start a conversation, or re-post your material, furthering your reach and influence. These are all beneficial things, as driving conversation contributes to the community you hope to influence and furthering your sphere of reach allows you to influence others with your expertise, or a targeted message.
In conclusion, public relations is an effective, and often free, tool for growing your listeners, and blogging, press releases, and event attendance are cost effective ways to spread the word.
