1. Establish Trust as an Expert in Your Field

Talk about what you know, and speak confidently about it. Once your listeners realize they can bank on the solid information you're providing them, they'll trust you. People buy from the companies they trust. Make sure to keep your podcast relevant to your brand, and listeners will be able to easily associate the quality content with the quality of your brand.

2. Keep Your Content Relevant. 

Want to drive traffic to your podcast, which essentially drives traffic to your brand? Talk about things that are relevant to your business, your listeners' needs, and current events. Tie the information to what's going on in the world right now, and you'll draw more listeners. By keeping the content fresh, you build a relationship with the listener, because you're living in their world. You're meeting them where they are. You will establish a community among your listeners. A popular true crime podcast has created such a tight-knit community, listeners have used their intro music as their ringtone, or have placed stickers bearing their logo on their laptops and car windows. When two listeners discover each other in a crowd, they become instant friends based on the common ground of their interest. You can do this with your podcast simply by helping meet the need of your listeners where they are in their lives right now.

3. Keywords Are Your Friend.

People need to know how to find your podcast, and the way to make this easiest is to use a strong description. When listeners are looking for a podcast that align with their interest, they will open up their podcast directory (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, etc) and type a keyword into the search bar. They'll instantly be rewarded with shows and specific episodes that match their keyword. Writing a tight, well-worded podcast description is imperative in order to be found by your listeners. They want to find you. Make it easy for them by including keywords in your podcast description as well as the show notes for each episode. Your podcast description should answer the main questions about your brand, such as: Who are you? Who is my audience? What is my podcast primarily about? 

4. Funnel Your Online Branches.

If you have any online presence at all, you likely have more than one "branch" of content. In the same way that a river with multiple streams lead back to an ocean or lake, so your streams of online presence should flow right back to you. Social Media alone has multiple branches (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc). Podcasts, videos, and blog posts are different streams of content output, as well. A smart business marketing move would be to tie them all together. Mention your LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media profiles in each of your podcast episodes. Post your episodes on each of your social media profiles. Talk about your YouTube channel on your podcast episodes, and vice versa. Instead of scattering out your content hoping to reach potential customers with various platforms, funnel them all back to you and your brand by referencing all your other branches. By doing this, you are funneling them all together into a smooth-flowing river that carries every listener/viewer/follower right back to you. Pro tip: note the podcast episodes that garnered the most interest, and re-share them. 

5. Consider Adding Video.

There are a lot of visual learners out there who peruse YouTube videos when they want to expand their knowledge in the field of their interests. You would be surprised how often that leads the viewer to a podcast, and recruits them as a new listener. Not only does video allow your customers and podcast listeners to see your face and see your passion through your expressions, it also broadens your potential reach. Capturing a video recording while you record your podcast episode is so easy these days with quality smartphones. Tripods for your phone can be purchased for just a few bucks. It's simply hitting two birds with one stone without much extra effort. 

6. Invite Guests to Be On Your Show.

Interviewing guests on your podcast keeps the content fresh and colorful. It can inspire new future episode ideas for yourself, as well. Many podcasters who start out with a one-person-show are often surprised to find that the episodes in which a guest is interviewed are often their best hits. It's a great way to enhance the expertise of the content, and encourages even more trust in your brand. It opens opportunities to be featured in their platforms as a guest (podcast, blog, etc.) and quickly turns into cross-promotion. Allow them plenty of airspace to talk about what they know, which will make them want to share that episode on their own social media. This is an excellent, organic way to drive more traffic to your podcast. Pro Tip: When inviting someone to be a guest on your podcast, let them know in advance the specifics of what you'll be discussing. Remind them that your listeners will be made aware of their brand, product, and services, and will likely result in more followers for them.

7. Monetize Your Podcast.

Monetizing your podcast once it has reached a good point of growth can be a great way to boost your income, but it's something that needs to be navigated carefully. Be sure to only allow sponsorship from brands that are relevant to your business and your listener base. When a company sponsors your podcast, they are trusting your brand, which further proves to your listeners that you are trustworthy. A wise choice of sponsorship (at least in the beginning) is to seek out businesses who have already sponsored other podcasts. They will already be established with podcast advertisement, and their familiarity with the value of podcast advertising will be an asset.

8. Offer a Discount to Listeners.

This is where the rubber meets the road. Invite your listeners to become customers by offering them a discount code specific to the podcast. Sharing rich content unique to your brand, having guests on the show, and having your episodes sponsored are all great, but don't forget to mention what you can specifically offer! When you promise a discount to podcast listeners, you give them a call-to-action. A discount gives them an even better reason to buy your product. Why not increase sales while having fun and providing entertaining content?

Podcasts are versatile and fun, and can go a long way to enhance and grow your business. With a little planning and creative thought, you can make your podcast go to work for you.

Happy Podcasting!