🗒️ End of Year Marketing Essentials
Or your to-do list for the next four months
👋🏽 Shreya here! Let me be the umpteenth person to wonder – how is it September ALREADY? The only thing marking the seasons for me right now is how far Halloween is from this day.
Speaking of, and this is totally a spoiler, but Wil & I have something SO fun planned for October for you folks. Well, it’s fun for us but it might be a bit spooky for you! Anyway, let’s not skip ahead to October just yet.
The beginning of September is probably a good time to narrow your focus when it comes to your podcast marketing. You’ll want to channel your energy to what’s efficient, effective, and essential.
Today, I’m sharing the five end-of-year podcast marketing tactics that should be on your to-do list.
🎙️ Pitch to end-of-year podcast lists
Listeners of all genres and intensities look forward to these lists. What’s more; non-regular podcast listeners also give these a once over to see what’s new in our world. Being on an end-of-year can go a long way to boosting your listenership. In a past life Two years ago, Lauren and I covered how to pitch yourself to these lists. (We’ll probably be back with an update on this issue so keep your eyes open for that!)
🔥 Set up feed warmer campaigns
Feed warmer campaigns can make sure that your listeners still have you on their minds, even when you’re out holidaying. Schedule feed swaps and relevant reruns for when you take a break. Bonus: you get to support other podcasters in your community by dropping your episode on their feed, so they can take a break too! Need help getting started? Check out Arielle Nissenblatt’s step-by-step instructions on how to set up a feed warmer campaign.
📅 Align your content to the season
You’re probably already planning on doing this so I’m sorry to beat the drum here! But just as a reminder, try to align your content with the season itself, be it spooky or jolly. However, don’t force an alignment. If the nature of your podcast does not naturally allow this seasonal flow, that’s okay! You could instead make a bonus episode of podcast friends that do this well. That way, you can share seasonal content with your listeners AND ask for shoutouts in return.
🔬 Take a look at your analytics
Yes. Please. Now is a GREAT time to start looking at what’s been working and what’s not, marketing-wise. Take a look at those promo swaps and interview appearances you did. Did they result in increased numbers? What changes in listenership did you not expect? How can you use these results to plan next year’s marketing strategy?
📢 Communicate your plan
It’s all well and good to plan breaks and feed warmers but you need to share this plan with your listeners! They can get turned off by unexpected interruptions in the scheduled programming. Let them know your plan, dates and all, in advance.
Above all: be kind to yourself! These next four months can feel like a blur. So here’s an unsolicited (yet hopefully helpful) reminder to do as much as you can do, while honoring the season of hibernation.
⭐ More Magic:
Our friends at Ausha have published a detailed guide on how to make the Spotify algorithm work for you. My biggest takeaway: keep optimizing your descriptions and publishing regularly.
Oxford Road and Podscribe published a white paper on the optimal ad load on podcasts. Check out the Recommendations section for a neat graphic that shares how to optimally distribute your ads within an episode.
Dystopian audio drama Our Fair City is relaunching with remastered audio! Just look at this premise of the show. How can you not be excited for it I mean:
From their website: Our Fair City is set in the dystopian future of Hartford, Connecticut. Outside is a frozen wasteland and inside is a largely subterranean city governed by HartLife. Once an insurance company, HartLife is now “all the life you’ll ever need.”
The Sleep with Me podcast is using AI for good (of audio and entertainment). Their new mini-series is a surreal fictional recap of The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart.
It’s inspired by the famed 1990 series finale of Newhart which revealed that the entire show was a dream. Creator Drew Ackerman is using AI hallucinations of ChatGPT to add a unique spin to his dream analysis — it's a rare case where AI not being particularly accurate might enhance the final product, instead of detracting.
On Podcast The Newsletter, Lauren has started sharing how she found her the podcast she’s recommending. I, for one, think that’s pretty cool!
🌃 From The Desk of Tink
My sleep is almost always impacted by the changing of seasons. And Midnight Facts for Insomniacs has been truly helpful combating that. Best friends, research nerds, and comedians Shane Rogers and Duncan MacEwan dive into everything from the scandalous history of megachurches to the wild world of PETA to eerie tales of ghost towns. My personal favorite episode covers delicious video game scandals.
Although I am not ready for summer to end just yet, Wil is ready to talk about shudder podcast endings. They return next week with more.
Until then, stay joyous.
Shreya
The first link under "More Magic" doesn't seem to work. Any chance to post it somewhere else?