Top 100 Podcast Marketing Growth Concepts

I made the choice in January of this year to 10x my podcasting efforts and engage in 100% offense. It was the best decision I ever made in my life. Up to that point I didn’t take it seriously and if it was difficult for me I would have quit.

I’m 21 years old but despite that I’ve been “marketing” or “branding” on the internet since the age of 11. The last 10 years have been interesting. When I launched my first successful business at the age of 15 I was intuitively launching growth programs and eventually got over 20 million people on our website in 2013 with $0 ad spend.  

I’ve been applying these same skills to my podcast and it shows today. It’s in the global top 100 among NPR, Tim Ferriss, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Lewis Howes. 

“Hanging out your shingle in the podcast directories and chanting “Produce it and they will come!” is not going to cut it in an ultra-competitive market.” - Neil Patel, Humans 2.0 Guest Episode #52

Today I help individuals, small businesses, and organizations not only launch but also grow in a sustainable manner. Here are 7 best practices for growing your podcast.

1. Kevin Kelly’s “1,000 True Fans” 

Before we get any further, you need to understand the concept of 1,000 true fans. 

“A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author – in other words, anyone producing works of art – needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can’t wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

To raise your sales out of the flatline of the long tail you need to connect with your True Fans directly. Another way to state this is, you need to convert a thousand Lesser Fans into a thousand True Fans.

If you keep this in mind throughout your journey, it will keep you on track to fight for your podcast’s success…listener by listener. Don’t ever forget this because there are only individuals in groups of people. 

2. Drive Traffic from Quora to Your Podcast

Most of the internet’s traffic consists of social media, Google, and websites. Unless you know what you are doing with SEO and quality content marketing - odds are your own website ranking highly for a keyword is difficult.

Notice, if you google a question, a Quora link will usually pop up within the 1-4 results on the Google. So what if you wrote the best answer that came up first on Quora. You can effectively rank very high on Google from using Quora and eventually back to your podcast. 

I started playing around with this platform just a couple of years ago. You can not only leverage Quora to link back to your own website to generate traffic and build up your SEO with a high authority domain like Quora. 

I would not recommend writing an answer for the sake of putting in your website link. Try to provide as much useful information relevant to the answer and only if it is relevant talk about your own stuff. Find the categories related to your podcast as well as the podcasting category in general. 

3. Look and See What Other Podcaster’s are Doing 

“It’s not what I’m saying, it’s what I’m doing.” - Gary Vaynerchuk

Check out the work of other podcast hosts and see what they are doing right now, not three years ago. What worked for John Lee Dumas 5 years ago, might not necessarily work for you today. Be sure that you are looking at the marketing environment for today. 

My Favorite Podcast Host’s to Learn From:

• Jordan Harbinger
• Gary Vaynerchuk
• Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project 
• Tim Ferriss 
• Lewis Howes’ School of Greatness
• Mel Robbins 
• Rich Roll
• David Meltzer’s The Playbook
• Tom Bilyeu’s Impact Theory
• Jim Kwik
• Nathan Chan’s Foundr 
• Neil Patel’s Marketing School
• Lori Harder’s Earn Your Happy 
• Dave Asprey’s Bulletproof Radio

4. Write a Larger Themed Evergreen Article

You should never title your article “Podcast Name - Episode 54: Topic.”

I spoke to Neil Patel about transcribing your podcast and he told me the best case scenario is actually to write an article that is evergreen and encompasses a larger concept so you can attract a larger audience. 

Take a look at some of the examples for my written pieces.

• Walmart Employee to Professional NFL Athlete w/ Corey Jackson
• What's a Billionaire? w/ Naveen Jain
• How to Become 500% More Productive w/ Steven Kotler 
• Chip Conley on Today's Intergenerational Workplace Potluck 
• Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is Mostly Wrong w/ Eric Barker

Everyday people continue to read my articles because they discuss a larger branching theme and not only what I’m trying to promote. 

5. Create Micro Content like Videos & Pictures

Perhaps the most common promotion tool for podcasters out there. But, here’s the thing. Most micro content from podcasts SUCK! Poor graphics and videos don’t help anyone and tarnish the reputation of your brand.

We all have to start somewhere. Design is not an area I would recommend you to skimp out on. In today’s content scene it is of utmost important to not only produce valuable content but also good aesthetics.

It is even debatable that micro-content is actually MORE important than the full podcast episode. Why? 

Ask yourself - what does it take for you to be scrolling on social media and find a podcast clip and say “I’m gonna listen to this podcast and subscribe.” It’s pretty rare and difficult to compel someone in that direction. 

People are very busy. Most of us view our time as a valuable resource especially since we can’t get it back. Once you get down this road of thinking, it will plunge you into discovering how important this really is. Why would someone take time out of hanging out with their family & friends to listen to your podcast? 

Imagine if you posted a golden piece of content in 60 seconds that either made them think differently or be a bit more intrigued than before and even find your video or picture valuable enough to share! 

6. Speak at Events & Panels

I recently just started my speaking career. In my short experience I’ve learned that giving a talk and conversing with others after about it is one of the most valuable engagements on earth. After I conducted my first talk on a panel, I not only gained clients in the audience but also got a handful of valuable listeners. 

Speaking enables you to scale the unscalable….1 to 1 communication. You would be surprised to see how fast your podcast can spread from word of mouth from the people you meet to their friends, family and colleagues. 

7. Triple Down on Show Notes

Show notes are the description field in your podcast episode. Most hosts put stuff in their just for the bare minimum. I know I’m guilty of this all the time. But, spending a bit more time and energy in your description can lead you to better results. 

The more words in your show notes, the more keywords Apple, Spotify, and other distribution channels have for ranking you and giving user’s the best results for their searches. I recommend adding a full bio for your guest as well as all relevant definitions and sources for them to learn more. 

Last But Not Least

I wish you the best of luck on your podcasting endeavors. If there's anything I can do to answer a question or two do not hesitate to reach out!

If you’re looking for a technological self-development podcast that focuses all about the human experience transformation in this 21st-century world, you should definitely check out my podcast, Humans 2.0 

If you want more content like this, be sure to follow me on Linkedin.

You can Listen to my podcast, Humans 2.0 on iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher Radio, iHeart Radio or YouTube.