How Do You Build A Podcast Audience?

When you have invested time, effort and money into starting a podcast, the last thing you want is for no one to hear it. Yes, starting with a miniscule audience is acceptable and even expected, but you should gain more listeners with each episode.

This point makes sense, but if you do not already have a following, how do you build a podcast audience?

Narrow Your Focus

It may seem natural to talk broadly about your industry if you are a business owner. While it is perfectly reasonable to make your industry the topic, you should narrow your focus. For example, if you sell hygiene products, you could focus on natural and non-toxic products.

This is just an example to illustrate the power of finding your niche and sticking to it. You can always add a second podcast or a mini-series of your existing house if you want to widen your focus.

Consider Your Audience

If you have ever used professional marketing services for your business, you likely have data about your target audience. These details include their age, title/role, industry, pain points, the sources they use to obtain information and their goals.

The good news is, you can leverage this data when planning and promoting your shows. Make sure you include topics that will appeal to them. Do not throw topics against the wall to “see what sticks.”

Find a Good Hosting Company

There is a growing number of podcast hosting companies out there. That said, not all hosting providers are created equal. Simply throwing together a generic podcast for every single person is not going to work.

Look for a hosting company that customizes your podcast, supplies and uses the best tools and software and has the technical savvy to run a podcast smoothly. If you experience technical difficulties, you need a hosting provider that can troubleshoot to resolve the issue.

Keep It Interesting

This tip may sound obvious, but it cannot be stressed enough when it comes to hosting a podcast. No one wants to listen to you drone on endlessly about dull topics in a monotone. This is not your platform to talk endlessly, it is your platform to educate and entertain your listeners.

Mix up topics a bit. You can stay in your niche while finding variation in the topics you discuss. Inviting guests onto your podcast is also a great way to keep it interesting. When you give listeners something a bit different, they will be more inclined to keep tuning in.

Befriend the Competition

We need to clarify what we meant by this. We are not suggesting you befriend your competition; as in, the podcasters who are in your niche. Rather, we are recommending that you make nice with podcasters who have other focuses.

When you befriend experienced podcasters, you can learn what to do and what to avoid doing from them – thereby avoiding making the mistakes yourself and learning the hard way. Furthermore, if there are any crossovers between your niches, you can promote each other. Think about how far this could go in building your audience if you got to know upwards of 10 fellow podcasters!