How to Grow Your Podcast

Tips from podcasters on Anchor on how to grow your podcast

One of the questions we get asked most frequently is;

Who better to answer this question than Anchor’s creators? We surveyed our podcasters to bring you this guide to growing your audience

Publish early, publish often

Give your audience what they want — more episodes of your podcast. There’s nothing more frustrating than finding a podcast you love, only to run out of episodes to binge.

Publishing consistently is the key to growing your podcast. Our data shows that podcasts that publish at least once a week are more likely to build an audience of loyal listeners.

Another data point — the most common days to publish a podcast are on Tuesdays and Fridays. Give your audience a great story to start their week with, or an awesome interview to dive into over the weekend.

Share your hard work

Tap into your existing network by sharing your new episodes on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You probably already know that Twitter is a great place to discover and share podcasts, but many of podcasters told us they built their audiences using Instagram.

You can share snippets of your podcast using Anchor’s transcription tool, or use an app like Headliner to overlay audio clips onto images — perfect for sharing your podcast on Instagram.

Be our guest

Appearing as a guest on a friend’s podcast is another way to introduce a whole new audience to your show. We’ve seen a ton of growth from podcasts that have cross-promoted each other, or publish cross-over episodes.

If you’re looking for someone to cross-promote your podcast with, join the Anchor Community on Facebook. Each week, we invite the Anchor community to request cross-promotion with other podcasts.

Put your audience to work

Don’t be shy about asking your listeners to leave you a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. Getting positive reviews on Apple Podcasts helps your show get discovered by new listeners, the same way you’re more likely to visit a restaurant if it’s well reviewed online. Ask your followers to be specific about what they love about your show. The more positive reviews, the better.

Haven’t started your own podcast yet? Check out our handy How to Start a Podcast guide for tips and tricks on how to make something awesome with Anchor. And as always, we’d love to hear your feedback, via email or on Twitter.

How to Grow Your Podcast: Part 1 was originally published in Anchor on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.