A successful podcast goes hand-in-hand with good marketing. This has never been more true, in 2025, there are over 4.4 million podcasts for consumers to listen to. So, it’s up to you to find ways to stand out.
Don’t worry, we’re here to help; we’ve compiled a list of 20 marketing strategies that will help distinguish your podcast, extend your reach and engagement.
If podcasting feels overwhelming, working with a Podcast Agency can simplify the process. Instead of testing countless marketing strategies, an experienced team can help you focus on the right ones, ensuring your podcast reaches the right audience, not just a big one.
Even with a smaller listener base, the right listeners can turn into meaningful business relationships. By building an organic content system that drives real demand, they’ll help you maximize ROI while you focus on what matters most, having valuable conversations.
1. Social Media Marketing
Starting with the most obvious, yet possibly most effective method of advertising, social media. You have so much room for creativity with the platforms and types of content you upload.
Here’s a few ideas to get you started:
Pin your episode in your posts, bio, or stories.
Tease the next episode. You can post an audio/visual snippet, a photo of you and your guest, or the thumbnail. Make sure you create some excitement over each week’s topics!
Create images with powerful quotes. You can do this on Canva and then upload it on your socials.
Reshare the podcast episode. Upload a couple of posts on multiple platforms to maximize your exposure.
Talk about behind-the-scenes. You can do this on your Instagram story, giving your followers an exclusive insider-view.
Create 15-second soundbite clips. This gives your social media audience a chance to see what your podcast is all about.
2. Run Social Media Giveaways
Social media giveaways are a unique way to connect with your audience and expand your reach.
People get excited about winning a prize, regardless of what it is. You can offer things like a free subscription, merchandise, or exclusive content. Just make sure that the prize relates to your brand!
You can host your giveaway through one of your social media platforms. Be sure to promote it through your podcast, website, and other streams of communication (newsletters, paid ads, blog, partnerships). In order to enter the giveaway, you may establish a couple of requirements (e.g. following, reposting, liking, commenting), each of which can help you generate more engagement and buzz around your brand.
3. Create a Podcast Trailer
With the rise of bite-sized videos like Reels and Shorts, a podcast trailer is an excellent way to introduce your show to new audiences. It offers an inside-view, while showcasing your brand and capturing the hearts of your audience.
Here’s a step-by-step guide that will help you create a captivating trailer that will attract new listeners.
4. Invest in Paid Ads
Paid ads are an effective way to reach your target audience; although, they’re of course budget-dependent. If you do have room for these investments, you can purchase paid ads through social media.
By creating Facebook ads, you can target relevant demographics and better reach specific communities, age groups, or occupations. If you have the time, you can even take your targeted ads a step further:
For example, Facebook can differentiate between people who have indicated they’re already interested in podcasts, versus those who haven’t. From there, different ads can be shown to these two groups, making it more personalized and enticing to the viewers.
You should also consider using sites like Google AdWords that will make your ads less invasive and obnoxious (from a user’s experience). Instead of an ad appearing on a website’s landing page or as a social media post, it’ll appear at the top of search results when the user is looking for something.
One final thing to consider: paid ads are quite distinguishable as ads, and unfortunately many users will intentionally ignore them, so make sure you create something that will stand out!
5. Optimize your Website
Make sure that you have a website where listeners can find you! If done right, this can be a hub for your show. Otherwise, you can create links that bring users directly to each episode (through platforms like Spotify or Apple Podcasts). This will make it even easier for people to find your podcast and will level up your SEO.
6. Start a Mailing List
Create a newsletter for your podcast! It will foster deeper connections, a sense of community with your audience, and will increase your engagement, leading to additional revenue.
Get your listeners to sign-up for email notifications, then you can stay in-touch between episodes (offer exclusive sneak-peeks about upcoming content, events, or campaigns). You can also use this as a chance to announce the release of new episodes or elaborate on podcast-topics and your guests’ background.
Pro tip: Make sure each newsletter has a call to action (CTA), meaning that you are making clear suggestions to your readers. This can include things like watching a new episode, checking out a social media post, reading your blog post, or purchasing your merch/products.
7. Create QR Codes
QR codes will make your podcast even easier to find. It removes the hassle of having to type and search for your online content. Plus, they’re a cheap and flexible way to draw more attention to your show.
Creating your own QR code is quite simple, you’ll first have to find a reliable QR code generator software. After inputting the podcast URL, you can customize the colour and pattern of the QR code so that it matches your brand. Before you start printing, make sure you test it out.
It’ll only be successful if it actually works!
Now you need to get them out into the real world and into the hands (and hopefully smartphone cameras) of potential audience members. Think of popular places or media outlets in your area.
You can also purchase advertising space on a billboard/flyer or put it on useful objects (like a coaster or shopping bag).
Once it’s up and running, you’ll be able to see how often people are scanning your barcode, and whether it’s leading to more views.
8. Transcribe the Audio
Transcription is an excellent way to enhance your podcast SEO. After all, Google is more adept at interpreting text rather than audio. Thus, making transcripts a valuable tool for improving your podcast’s visibility for relevant keywords.
In addition to making search engines better understand your content, transcripts will also make your content more accessible to hard-of-hearding audiences.
By using services like Rev and Fiverr, you can streamline the entire process. You can choose to have a full transcript or selected excerpts. Also, you can copy portions of the transcripts to include in the show notes/episode overview, on social media, in a blog post, or through a newsletter.
9. Convert Your Transcripts into Blogs
You’ll improve your SEO by transforming your transcripts into blogs. If you already have a written transcript, this process will be quite easy, and worth the extra effort.Unfortunately, you can’t just upload the transcript word-for-word, because we don’t write the same way we speak. So, you’ll have to go through and make revisions, changing the tone of the dialogue and tweaking the format.
For example, you should consider making the following changes:
Removing filler words
Determine your keywords that will help you rank on Google, and place them strategically in your blog post
Add headlines and subheadings
Condense the stories and summarize the dialogue. You’ll want to sum things up in a way that leaves readers wanting more. That way, they’ll be drawn to listening to your podcast
10. Convert the Audio into a YouTube Video
It takes a lot of work and effort to create podcast episodes, so if you can find ways to repurpose the content, then use it to your advantage. By posting the live version of the episode, you’ll appeal to broader audiences and viewers who prefer watching their content.
There are also a few benefits of posting episodes on your YouTube channel:
Video to share on social media (for marketing clips)
Automatic transcription
SEO benefits
Videos are 53x more likely to rank on the first page of Google search results!
There are a variety of tools that can help you convert audio (.mp3) to video (.mov). iMovie is a popular choice for Mac users and Microsoft Movie Maker is supported for PC users.
In addition to using the live interview footage, you can also insert video clips from free resources like Videvo and Pexels.
Also, make sure that you include a captivating thumbnail that relates to this episode’s content.
11. Submit your Podcast to Podcatchers and Aggregators
Podcatchers are apps that can host your show. You’re likely familiar with Apple Podcasts, which is the most popular podcatcher for IOS users.
In addition to getting your podcast on the most well-known sites like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube Podcasts, there are many other podcast-player apps that will increase your exposure to listeners.
Here’s a list of a few popular ones that you can check out:
12. Promote your Show in Online Communities
Search for virtual communities that host discussions about your niche. The most popular places to check are Facebook, Reddit, Quora, or Instagram. When you come across these forums, find ways that you can add value to the discussions.
But, be careful with your approach, you can’t just swoop in and start advertising your podcast. Otherwise, you may be removed or banned from posting. Instead, you’ll want to focus on engaging and connecting with others. Once you build trust and rapport with others, selling your product becomes easier and feels more natural and sincere.
13. Work With Influencers
By partnering with social media influencers, you’ll gain exposure and brand awareness. Don’t settle for influencers with many followers; instead, you’ll want to be selective, choosing someone with expertise in your industry and who aligns with your brand and values.
As a general rule: make sure that your partners’ followers will overlap with your target audience. This way, you’ll capture more interest and engagement on your social media, podcast, and website.
Note, influencers are known for having close relationships with their followers, so they’re more likely to trust the endorsement of your podcast when it comes from this dependable source.
There are many ways that you can partner with other brands or influencers. As a podcaster, you can invite these influencers to be guests on your show, collaborate on branded content, or by sponsoring their social media posts.
14. Cross-Promote Your Show on Other Podcasts
Cross-promotion is another way you can partner with key-players in your industry. It basically means that you’re partnering up with other podcast hosts to promote each other’s shows.
This is a great way that both shows can mutually benefit. And, there’s a few ways you can go about doing it:
Shoutouts/ad swaps: taking the time to verbally promote each other’s podcast in your shows
Collaborative giveaways
Content collaboration: meaning you’re guesting on each other’s podcast
15. Be a Guest on Other People’s Podcast
Reach out to other podcasters in your niche and ask to be a guest on their show. As you may already know, it can be quite challenging to find and secure guests for regular, weekly episodes. So, this proactive approach will be greatly appreciated by other hosts.
Plus, this exposure will help you reach more diverse audiences. In successful cases, you’ll gain new listeners, engagement, and brand awareness.
Tip: on the Apple Podcast Listing Page you can select specific categories (like news, business, science, technology) that will help you find relevant podcasts.
16. Attend Relevant Meetsups and Events
In-person networking is not entirely a thing of the past. Face-to-face interactions are still valued and a great way to make deeper connections with other attendees. So, look out for conferences, meet-ups, and local events related to your podcast niche.
Talking about your show with like-minded individuals will raise your brand awareness and could lead to valuable feedback and insights. Make sure you come prepared though, bring business cards with you.
17. Create Merch
Another way to promote your podcast is by creating merchandise for your listeners to wear/use. This strategy works well if you’ve already built strong connections with your audience.
It takes time to gain a loyal following, so if you’re just starting out, merch may be something to consider further down the line.
Example: How I Built This by Guy Raz
Guy Raz hosts a podcast that discusses the success stories of entrepreneurs and innovative companies. He sells a variety of products ranging from clothing to water bottles, stickers, and even Christmas ornaments. His podcast merch is successful because of his large, dedicated fanbase.
18. Take your Podcast on Live Tours
This is another promotion tactic that works best if you already have a dedicated fanbase. Live shows are a fantastic way to connect with your audience on a deeper level. It’s incredibly rewarding to receive support from your audience members who are engaged and eager to ask questions in the Q&A/Meet and Greet.
Even if you don’t have a huge following and aren’t able to sell out an entire arena, going on tour is still possible! Make sure you analyze your listener trends and determine where most of your loyal fans reside. From that point, look for smaller venues and ensure you have enough assets to travel, plan, and host these shows!
19. Encourage Audience Engagement
People take ratings and reviews quite seriously, especially when it comes to dining-out, though for podcasts it matters too. Positive reviews will help you build credibility, establish your podcast’s reputation, and attract new listeners.
At first, it may feel a little unnatural to ask your audience for their feedback. But, if they love your show and are tuning in every week, then chances are, they’ll want to share their thoughts with you. Try asking them to leave a like and/or comment at the intro or outro of your episodes.
It doesn’t end here though, you also should review this feedback to see what things your audience is enjoying and what you can improve on. Of course, be wary of what you read, as people can leave pointless-negative comments that you’re better off ignoring.
20. Ask Listeners to Recommend your Podcast to Their Peers
Despite the rise of technology and online marketing, word-of-mouth continues to be a powerful influence on many consumers. In fact, 90% of consumers are more likely to trust a brand that was recommended by others. And 25% will avoid a brand if a friend or family member has a negative experience with them.
So, don’t underestimate the power of enacting this! Simply ask your listeners to tell a friend, family member, or colleague about your show. Don’t overdo it though, asking too many times can come off as needy and annoying. Instead, save your suggestion for the end of the episode, in the outro.
Well, that was a lot of information we threw at you. So, in this lengthy list of strategies, there ought to be at least one promotion tactic that can benefit your show.
Keep in mind, to grow your podcast and increase your audience engagement, you’ll always need to be creative with your marketing strategies. Let us know what your current go-to marketing tactics are!
By: Emily Nyikos
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Jony Studios is a content marketing agency specializing in B2B podcasting and audiobook services. They have worked with many clients, from startups to larger organizations such as Penguin Random House, Amazon, University of Waterloo, Freakonomics Radio, and many others.
