What Your Brand Needs for Audience Growth…

Brands create podcasts for a lot of reasons, including consumer education, brand awareness, and a deep-seated desire to flesh their identity out.

Like most of the folks we work with, you probably have several benchmarks you’d like to meet with your own branded show…

But your number one driver should be audience growth.

When we create podcasts for industry-leading brands like Avison Young and American Express, we’re always looking to foster meaningful, lasting connections…

And we’re not looking to connect with just anyone.

We’re here to help brands target and build their ideal audience — a veritable sea of folks who are pre-qualified, value-aligned, and totally invested in their work.

These are the people who will connect with, commit to, purchase from, and sometimes even promote your brand.

Now that we have this covered, we’re left with one simple question…

Once you’ve created your series, how do you target and attract high-value audience members who will stick with you for the long haul — and who will actually benefit from the content in your show?

Let’s take a look at some of the basics.

Think like a broadcaster

Here’s a daunting reality all audio creators should have a firm grasp of…

When you release a branded podcast, you’re throwing your hat in the ring with over 2 million other shows. Long gone are the days when you could select a niche, create a great series, pop it online, and have it go viral.

So, if you want to create a successful series — with a thriving, substantial audience — you really need to be thinking like a broadcasting pro. There are three essential steps you’ll want to check off.

You should…

• Know your audience and what matters to them inside and out
• Conduct a competitive analysis for effective positioning in your niche
• And define clear objectives that will help you facilitate growth

We realize this explanation is pretty “broad strokes.” To learn more about what these steps look like, you’ll want to get your hands on our Ultimate Guide to Podcast Audience Growth.

Promote and market like a pro

Once your team is clear on your overarching mission, your position in this (very competitive) space, and the objectives of your podcast, you can sink your teeth into promotion and marketing.

During this process, there are four key categories you should focus on…

• Messaging
• Visual identity
• Social channels
• And positioning

The plans you make in each of these spaces will cover everything from your visual identity and social media strategy to the types of guests you feature and the kinds of partnerships you create to promote your show.

Again, we walk you through this entire process in our audience growth guide, so if you’re ready to start this step, grab your free copy now.

Strategize and execute effectively

Once you have the first two phases covered, you’ll want to get particular about strategy and execution.

As part of this process, you’ll lay out your plan of attack for earned media, cross promotion, paid ads, podcast directory spotlights, and much more.

The ultimate goal is to create a multi-faceted, targeted plan that will help you find the audience members your brand really needs to attract.

During this stage, you will benefit massively from having qualified marketers on your team — and you should do even better if they have experience (and connections) in the podcast space.

Remember this is content marketing, and podcasts are their own beast at the end of the day, so we wouldn’t recommend partnering with someone whose experience lies largely in SaaS or ecommerce.

You really want someone who knows the ins and outs of spoken audio if you plan to cultivate a successful, prosperous show.

Take a deep dive into audience growth

While we do believe you should work with a qualified podcast production agency to foster optimum audience growth, we’re happy to share some basic tips and tricks.

That’s exactly why we create content like this — and it’s why we created our Ultimate Guide to Podcast Audience Growth.

Yes, the best way to do this is with the help of experienced pros, but your marketing team should also have a grasp on the journey you’re about to embark on.

This will empower you to work effectively and efficiently with any production agency you choose, and it will help you make the most out of your branded show.

Written by Roger Nairn, JarAudio.com. Please subscribe, listen, and share!