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October 27, 2025 13 mins

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Join Brian and I as we discuss how to implement three proven promotional strategies for growing your podcast audience. We share practical tips, tools, and a simple mindset for steady audience growth. 

Check out PodMatch when you're ready to start collaborating with new guests. 

For podcast advertising, check out Buzzsprout Ads, Podcast Addict Ads and Pocket Casts Ads

If you have questions about preparing for your podcast, email us at support@buzzsprout.com

Have a topic or question we should address on a future episode? Text us or email the Buzzsprout Podcaster Success Team at support@buzzsprout.com

Keep podcasting!

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Cara Pacetti (00:00):
Welcome to Podcasting QA, brought to you by
the people at Buzz Sprout.
I'm your host, Cara Pacetti,and I'm bringing you the best
tips and strategies to keep youpodcasting with confidence.
I'm really excited abouttoday's question because it is a
question that we get often.

(00:20):
I get asked when I'm working inthe support inbox or even just
talking to podcasters.
And that question is, how do Ipromote my podcast?
How do I grow my audience andget it in front of more
listeners?
And the reason why thisquestion is exciting and the
reason it gets asked a lot isbecause there's a lot of great
answers and a lot of greatmethods for promoting your

(00:42):
podcast.
But for today's episode, I wantto keep it simple and I want to
give you three strategies thatare low-hanging fruit, easy to
implement, and just to consider,no matter what stage of
podcasting you are in, these arejust some strategies that are
worth giving a try to promoteyour podcast.
So another reason I'm excitedabout today's question is that I

(01:05):
am not alone.
I have brought in a friend andteam member to help me answer
this question.
Brian is here with me, and heis a podcaster success
specialist here at Buzz Sproutand also the host of the
fast-growing podcast calledFandom from Afar.
So, Brian, thank you so muchfor helping me out with this
today.

Brian Johnson (01:26):
Hey Cara, thanks for having me.
This is like you said, this isa common question.
So I think this will be fun todiscuss.

Cara Pacetti (01:31):
All right.
So every year, the PodcastMarketing Academy surveys
podcasters and they voluntarilycomplete the questionnaire.
In 2025, there were 311podcasters that responded to
this survey.
And the results showed thatadvertising, collaboration, and
social media were the top threemethods of promoting podcasts.

(01:53):
So those are the ones that Iwant to cover today.
I want to start off first withsocial media.
There was another category inthis survey that showed us the
regularly used social channelsfor podcasters to promote their
podcast.
And the top being Instagram,LinkedIn, which is on the rise,
and Facebook at about 50%.
Of course, all social mediachannels play their role in

(02:16):
podcast promotion.
But Brian, can you share sometips and specifics when you are
promoting your podcast on socialmedia channels?
Maybe some etiquette as you aresharing about your podcast?

Brian Johnson (02:29):
I think with social media, you have to think
of each platform a littledifferently.
Like I think there is a littlebit of nuance when it comes to
marketing your podcast onInstagram versus LinkedIn.
So, for example, you mentionedI have a basketball podcast.
I don't use LinkedIn becausethat's just not the right
platform for me.
If you have a podcast thatrelates to your business, I

(02:52):
would say LinkedIn should beyour top choice to promote on
there.
So there is a little bit ofnuance.
I don't want podcasters tothink of all social media as the
same.
Obviously, there's a differentdemographic on Instagram than
there is on Facebook, than thereis on LinkedIn.
And so you can use differentmethods for each platform.
You don't have to have just oneplan for all social media.

(03:14):
And so one thing I alwaysrecommend is try and make it
engaging.
Try and draw the audience in.
And we have tools on BuzzSproutlike the Visual Sound Byte or
on Instagram, you can share thestories.
Something to make itinteresting and specific to that
episode.
Be intentional about whatyou're posting and don't just

(03:37):
shotgun approach and just put ageneric link out there for
everyone to see.

Cara Pacetti (03:42):
I love that.
And as a social media user andscroller myself, I will say,
even if it's a podcaster that Ilove, if they just are throwing
out episodes, it becomes almostredundant and I miss it.
My brain just flies right pastit.
But if I hear an audio clip orI read something that is
actually solving a problem thatmaybe I'm thinking about, I'm

(04:05):
much more likely to click onthat link and head over to check
out that episode because I justI want to hear more.
It's answering a need.

Brian Johnson (04:13):
Absolutely.

Cara Pacetti (04:14):
The next strategy that I want to go over are
collaborations.
So a collaboration is basicallywhen two or more podcasters,
creators, or brands producecontent together.
In my opinion, this one seemsreally fun.
So some of those examplesinclude featuring a guest on
your episode.
That's a collaboration.

(04:34):
Maybe you just insert a clip oftheir podcast into your episode
and they do the same for you.
That's an option.
A fun one that I love is theepisode takeover.
And so you record a fun littleintro and you say, Hey, this is
Cara from Podcast and QA.
And today Brian is gonna beyour host.

(04:55):
He's taken over, y'all enjoy,and then I sign off and he has
the full episode for that day.
So that one is super fun.
It makes it very engaging.

Brian Johnson (05:05):
I love those examples.
Like I would say, collaborationis by far my favorite form of
advertising.
It's it does take some work,but I think the results can
really help your audience build.
And I think the examples thatyou gave are great.
And just my piece of advice forany sort of collaboration is it

(05:26):
may take some time to build therelationship to get to any of
those points.
You can't just message some ofthe bigger podcasts out there
and be like, hey, let's do anepisode takeover together.
And they're gonna be like, uhno, if you ever get a response
at all.
And so don't be discouragedthat you can't do all of these
right away.
It it is gonna take some time.

(05:47):
Like maybe you're just reachingout on social media and
building that relationship, andthen you're kind of on their
radar.
That's my biggest piece ofadvice with collaboration is
take your time.
Like you're you're not gonnaask someone to marry you on the
first date.
So don't ask for an episodetakeover when you've never
spoken to that person before.

Cara Pacetti (06:04):
And I think two parts to add to that.
You have to believe in yourcontent.
Is your content worth adding tothe podcaster that you are
pitching this to?
And the answer is yes.
The other part of that is makeit a win-win for that podcaster.
Make sure that you are shapingyour pitch in that way.
You are letting them know aboutthe value, and then just really

(06:26):
believing in your content soyou can take that step to go
ask.
Like Brian said, you may getsome no's if if it's new and you
may not may not know thatpodcaster well.
What is it in sales for everyno?

Brian Johnson (06:38):
You're one step closer to a yes.

Cara Pacetti (06:40):
There you go.
For every no, you're one stepcloser to a yes.
So uh have courage, pitch it asa win-win, and have fun with
it.
That's that's the biggesttakeaway.

Brian Johnson (06:48):
I think that's a great point.
You don't want to come acrossas desperate where you're you're
like, my podcast is doingterrible and I need you to save
it with your audience.
Like that's that's adding novalue to the other side.
There's there's no way they'regonna say yes to that.
I have an example of kind ofhow I used both social media and
collaboration for my podcastthis summer.
One of my favorite basketballpodcasts, I heard that they were

(07:10):
doing a kind of a promotionwhere if you became a Patreon
supporter of the podcast, thenyou would get to be a guest on
the podcast this summer.
And so I signed up to be aPatreon supporter.
Then I got to be a guest on hispodcast.
We had a great time, and I wasactually invited back two other
times.
And so it's just one of theexamples that a small step can

(07:32):
lead to things that you don'teven expect to help build your
podcast.
And I'm excited to see where itgoes.

Cara Pacetti (07:37):
That's amazing.
What a neat example.
So thank you for sharing that,Brian.
If you are a little intimidatedabout code calling and reaching
out to podcasters tocollaborate with you, there's an
amazing tool out there calledPodmatch.
So Podmatch is a website thatallows AI to match you as the

(07:58):
podcaster with any guests basedon similar interest.
And it's very easy to use.
You can either sign up as apodcaster searching for guests
or as a guest looking to beinterviewed by a podcaster.
If you are interested instarting there, I'll link that
in the show notes.
That removes the intimidationof asking somebody that you may

(08:21):
not know that well, and willmaybe get the ball rolling.
And then, like Brian, now thathe's been a guest on somebody
else's podcast, he's got thatconfidence now and he can
continue that.

Brian Johnson (08:32):
I didn't realize how much fun it would be.
It's a great deal to be aguest.

Cara Pacetti (08:36):
Yeah, absolutely.
So collaboration, anotherstrategy, very fun.
Again, very easy to startimplementing right away.
The last point of strategy thatI want to talk about is podcast
advertising.
Advertising is basically payingto get your podcast in front of
listeners.
Brian, can you tell us a littlebit about podcast advertising

(08:59):
in general and kind of what toexpect?

Brian Johnson (09:01):
Yeah, so a big piece of advice with podcast
advertising, especially whenyou're paying for it, is to set
your expectations.
And just like with anymarketing, podcast marketing is
going to be you're paying to getyour product in front of
people.
You're you're never gonna beguaranteed that they're going to
follow your podcast or or evenlisten to an episode, but you
are getting in front of them.

(09:21):
And that's that's the importantpart.
It's just like when you'redriving down the highway, you
see a billboard, you may pass byit 20 times before it kind of
clicks in your head, and you'relike, ooh, I do want that
chicken sandwich.
And you pull off to the sideand go get it.
So it's never gonna be aninstant gratification, but it is
something that does work.
I just always want to encouragepeople to set expectations that

(09:43):
are realistic for that becauseCarrie, you and I see it in the
inbox all the time that apodcaster's done some sort of
marketing and they're just notseeing the results.
And we just have to encouragethem.
That's that's normal.
That's that's just kind of partof advertising.

Cara Pacetti (09:55):
Thanks, Brian.
Setting expectations is greatadvice when you are starting off
with paid advertisement.
It's hard because it's aninvestment for you.
And so, like anything, you wantto see the return quickly, but
just keeping in mind thatadvertising is a long-term game.
And the more that your podcastis getting out there in front of
people, the more likely thelisteners are to subscribe.

(10:17):
I wanted to share a couple ofoptions for paid advertising in
the podcasting space.
So, Podcast Addict and PocketCast both have opportunities for
paid advertisements on thosedirectories.
The price ranges depending onwhere your ad is placed, but
both are a static image.
And then when the listenerclicks on that static image, it

(10:38):
will take you to a details page.
You'll get a little bit moreinformation about your podcast.
We offer Buzz Sprout ads.

(10:59):
And so you can pay to advertiseyour podcast in Buzz Sprout.
Brian, do you just want toquickly kind of tell us how it
works with Buzzsprout ads?

Brian Johnson (11:07):
Oh, absolutely.
It's a great opportunity to getin front of a targeted
audience.
And what I mean by that is youyou purchase your ad, Ron, and
then what BuzzSprout will do iswe match your ad based on your
podcast categories with otherpodcasts that have those same
categories.
And so we're trying to set youup for success.

(11:28):
We we want your ad to belistened to by people that will
possibly listen to your podcastby matching those categories.
You're getting in front of anaudience that's already
interested in that subject.
And so hopefully they'll clickon the link and then check out
your podcast as well.
If you haven't checked it outalready, I'm sure we'll have uh
more information in the shownotes.
And uh I think Cara might bedoing a future episode.

(11:49):
So a little teaser there foryou on Buzz Sprout Ads.

Cara Pacetti (11:52):
Yes, uh more to come on Buzz Sprout Ads, but
yeah, it's a great feature.
And so if you're interested inany of those options, those are
great starting points for paidadvertising.
So to recap, we've gone throughthree strategies: social media
sharing, collaborations, andadvertising.
Again, I hope this is just aquick takeaway to get your mind

(12:13):
thinking of your next steps forpromoting your podcast.
If you have any questions forthe podcaster success team about
any of these strategies forgrowing your audience and
promoting your podcast, reachout to us.
Uh, you can reach me or Brianor any of the other podcaster
success team members by emailingsupport at buzzsprout.com.

(12:33):
Um, if there's a question thatyou'd like me to answer on a
future podcasting QA episode,just click the send us a text
link in the show notes.
And I'd love to get thatquestion answered for you in the
future.
Thank you, Brian, for all ofyour awesome input.
I really appreciate it.

Brian Johnson (12:48):
Oh, thank you for having me.
This was fun.

Cara Pacetti (12:50):
Yes, this was really fun.
And it's always fun to getbehind the microphone.
Usually we're helping thepodcasters and we get to play
the podcaster role today.
So it's been really fun.
Be sure to join us every Mondayto kickstart your week.
Thank you so much forlistening.
And as always, keep podcasting.
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