6 Great B2B Podcast Promotion Methods

In any given week, 80 million Americans listen to a podcast, 80% of whom give an ear to most or all of an episode. With only 850,000 podcasts available online, podcasting is far from fatigued. When it comes to podcasts produced by brands, podcasting is a tactic far less utilized by B2B companies compared to B2C counterparts, giving your business lots of space to grow.

But just because a podcast is created, doesn’t mean listeners will find it. Don’t underestimate the power of a great podcast marketing strategy to help your content reach the right audience. Putting your podcast in the ears of the right listeners can mean using a variety of marketing tactics. B2B podcast promotion and marketing tends to be the last thing people think about after devoting so much time and energy to the production process. Producing a quality podcast is just the start; syndicating and promoting are critical to building loyal listeners.

If you are looking for ways to drive more awareness and listeners for your podcast, or if you're just getting started with planning your podcast, here are six B2B podcasting best practices we recommend to build your listener base.

6 B2B Podcast Promotion Strategies

1. Organic Social Posts

Once you create a podcast episode, it would pay to tell your audience that it is out or coming soon. You can achieve this by posting on your owned social sites, like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, preferably twice per week. It also doesn't hurt to post about past episodes, especially if you have many new followers who are unfamiliar with your older work.

When writing organic social posts, never forget to include hashtags. Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn posts gain some propulsion when hashtags accompany them. The tags can be industry-specific and can have the word "podcast" in them.

If you're posting on Pinterest and Instagram, ensure the images speak about the podcast episode. Tools such as FeedPress can also help post new episodes to social sites as soon as they are out.

2. Paid Media

While organic social posts may do quite well, paid media does even better. This can include pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, display ads, and branded content.

With paid social channels, you can select your target audience with criteria like job title, industry, geography, and more. Once you choose your audience and set your budget, circulate your content within 48 hours of releasing your new episode and keep these ads active for a few days longer depending on your overall budget and how it fits into your larger podcast marketing strategy.

3. Syndication

Syndication refers to how your listeners get new episodes of your podcast show. Before going into how to syndicate, you must get a good podcast host and valid RSS feed. It is also advisable to have at least two episodes before syndicating.

If all is in order, you need to get your podcast episodes on iTunes and Spotify. If your B2B podcast makes the New and Noteworthy section in iTunes, you are onto something. Other directories to put your episodes on include Google Play and Pandora.

Registering your podcast episode with a paid directory is worth trying. The listener statistics are different on paid directories, but vary with each podcast show. The top three paid directories to check up on are ACAST, SoundCloud, and AudioBoom.

Most importantly, encourage listeners to leave a rating and review on the episode. Ratings and reviews go a long way toward increasing the performance of your podcasts.

4. Email Marketing

Building a subscriber list is one of the surest ways to keep a loyal audience. Be sure to notify your listeners of each new episode, and if you have a broader CRM list, consider how to make them aware of your podcast on a regular basis (for example, can you include a link to the latest episode in your monthly customer newsletter?).

In your email body, be sure to include what's in it for the listeners: key takeaways from the episode, the length of the episode, and if relevant, include the name of the guest(s) on the podcast.

It's also a good practice to include a link to your B2B podcast show in your email signature. The average listener tunes into eight different shows every week. . Unless you want your show forgotten, remember to send emails regularly.

5. Partnerships

Having guests mention their show, book, company, service, or product on one of your episodes is one of the cheapest B2B podcast promotion methods. In advertising, this practice has a name: cross-promotion.

Partnerships work on a quid pro quo basis – you offer your partner something to make a marketing gain. Naturally, you want to engage a partner who has a larger audience or a small but high-value audience. The partner features in your show, and you star in theirs.

Of course, the partner must have qualities that won't hurt your show, such as a perspective, a story, or product that's going to be of interest.

6. Dedicated Website Landing Pages

Search engines don't crawl audio content. That's why creating a website landing page filled with competitive keywords is a good idea.

You can also further promote your podcast on your website by including a blog filled with transcribed podcasts. If this method interests you, ensure your podcast introductions (intros) and "outros" have keywords so that you can transfer them to your blog.

When creating content for your podcasts, it is important to keep your audience in mind. Don't go edgy for the sake of going edgy. It might seem like a really good idea to bring on an entertaining interviewee or to try something new. However, it might not be a good idea to do so if the content does not make sense for your unique audience. In other words, you should hold B2B podcasts to the same standards that you hold other forms of marketing content.

With a smart strategy that focuses on creating content that speaks to your audience, you can utilize B2B podcasts to enlarge your reach and, ultimately, your bottom line. Remember to define success and what you want your voice to be in the market, and make use of your podcasts to deliver a unique take on the conversations that are taking place within your industry.

Get Marketing Right with B2B Podcasts

Podcast marketing is ripe and ready to put your business name out to the world. Looking to get started? A B2B podcast agency can support you through the process of strategy formulation, branding your podcasts, and producing and promoting your episodes.

Already have a podcast but looking for support in how to promote your podcast’s next episode? Let's talk!