Mastering Podcast Promotion: Building Your Audience with Luvvie Ajayi (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: What up, it's Luvvie here, back to you with Podcasting 101 with Google Podcasts and PRX. This episode is a biggie. I'm here to offer some wisdom on how you're going to reach your audience, and spoiler alert, it's going to involve you putting yourself out there. To start, think back to the person you're trying to reach with your podcast, the specific person. For nearly all the steps in this episode, I want you to keep that person in mind. You're going to need a few things, a short summary of your podcast with info about key themes and ideas, you, the host, how often it'll come out, and what the listener can expect to hear. This is probably eight lines max, and you'll want a one-sentence tagline that quickly tells what your show is. This is what's going to hook most people to listen, so put some effort into it. You'll be using it everywhere. For example, my show's tagline is, join New York Times bestselling author, me, and side ass sorceress, Luvvie Ajayi, as she rants on all things pop culture and society. You also want to have your show logo and name locked, and if you can, get some head shots and write a bio. It'll really help you out down the line. Once you have these things sorted, you'll be ready to build some platforms. First, a website. This is the hub for your podcast. It's where all your episodes, social media links, all of it, can live in one easy-to-say address. For example, my site is www.rantsandrandomness.com. Some podcast hosting services can help create a website for you. Second, social media. Create accounts for your podcast. Keep those handles short and memorable. A lot of podcasters use Facebook groups as a way to build community. Others use a hashtag on Twitter or Instagram. Third, a newsletter. A newsletter is a lot of work, but it can be a great way for you to build a community around the topic you're covering. You can include info about how you develop your stories or the guests you're talking with. You'll be in the right mindset if you approach all these platforms as places where you can engage with your audience, rather than just places to blast out news of your work. Set goals to post regularly and keep them. And a word about merchandise. Buttons, stickers, t-shirts, etc. all are part of building your brand. Keep in mind the best merch usually relates to your podcast. If your podcast is about cycling, think water bottles for bikes or car air fresheners for your podcast about road rage. Cool, fun, and not crazy expensive is what you're looking for. Okay, now that you've got your platform set up, it's time to prepare for the launch of your podcast. Keep a list of folks that you think will dig what you're doing and have a larger platform to shout out your work. You may ask them to post on social when you launch, or even better, have them be a guest on your show and post about their appearance. You can also try paid advertising on social media, which can be targeted for people you think will be interested. When it's launch day, hold a listening party at a local venue to introduce your friends and community to your podcast. Attend conferences and meetups to spread the word about your show beyond your network. And use social media. That is the easiest touch point. Shout from the rooftops about how excited you are about your new project. There's a lot to be done to build an audience. When you're starting out, you might be trying a lot of different ideas. Figure out what works, then be consistent with it. It's going to take some time to build your audience, but it'll be worth it. You know what else is worth it? Money. And that's what Sean is going to tell you about in the next episode. You do not want to miss that.