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๐๐ป Your Holiday Marketing Plan ๐
๐คธโโ๏ธPodcast marketing: let's have some fun. ๐
Hello, hello!
As we quickly approach โletโs circle back to this in the new yearโ season, itโs a cool time to think about your podcastโs plans for the holidays. Time to consider questions like: are you going to be taking any time off? Will you be running any special content? What should your audience expect from you and vice versa?
Letโs talk about all the possibilities for this wonderful time of year.
If you take one thing from this
Communication is key. Whether youโre taking a break or running some special content during this time, tell people! Keep your audience in the know and promote any unique plans.
Letโs get to it!
First things first
If youโre planning to make any changes to your content or your publishing schedule, tell your audience. Thereโs absolutely nothing wrong with taking a break and letting yourself rest so that youโre ready to go for the new year. But you donโt want to leave your audience hanging if youโre planning to take a break. Later on weโll also share some ideas for how you can take a break without a break in your feed.
If youโre planning something special, get your audience hyped up about it! Make sure they know to still tune in for what you have in store. Plus, if you are planning something special, this makes for a great opportunity to put some press out about it. Newsletters love to feature when a podcast is doing something unique or notable.
So, whatโs the plan?
A break without a break in your feed
๐กIdea #1: Partner with some other shows to setup some feed swaps
If youโve been following us for a while you know we LOVE feed swaps. They offer great opportunities to partner with shows that might be bigger than yours and audiences that are very aligned with your content.
A feed swap is when you and a show youโre partnering with drop an episode of each otherโs show into your feeds. Each host should record an introduction for the episode to tell their audience what itโs about and why they think the audience will love it. When done right, with thoughtful audience alignment, feed swaps can be really powerful.
Whatโs great about setting up feed swaps during the holidays is that it keeps your feed active with new content for your audience, but doesnโt take as much work on your end so you still get a little break. If youโre able to coordinate 3 or 4 feed swaps, you could have the whole month of December covered! Now, you might be thinking โwait a second, then my feed is going to get too crowded with other peopleโs content?!โ Hereโs another great thing about feed swapsโ they donโt have to be forever. You and the other show could both agree to keep the episodes in your feed for a limited time, like 30 days.
๐กIdea #2: Re-air some of your most popular or notable episodes of the year
This is another great low-lift option because youโre using what youโve already got. To make the most of this, you might consider re-recording a new intro for each episode that talks about why youโre airing it again, anything notable or related that has happened since the episode originally aired, or a favorite part you want the audience to listen for this time. If any of those episodes also featured guests, subject matter experts, or mention of other podcasts, let them know and tag them when you post about it. Itโll give them something to share on their channels and help spread the word!
Special Content
๐กIdea #1: Your own year end list
People love a listicle. Theyโre shareable, a fun listen and a great way to spread the love. Whether itโs people or podcasts within your niche or just some of your favorite podcasts in general, putting together an episode like this can introduce your audience to some things they might love and open up opportunities for you. By mentioning some of your favorite podcasts you open up an opportunity to connect with those podcasts when you send them a note telling them they were featured!
๐กIdea #2: A themed mini series
Whatโs a theme, problem, feeling, or question that your audience might be thinking about at the end of the year or around the holidays? Build some special episodes around that for a very timely and pitchable series that could give you an extra promotional boost. If itโs a slow time, newsletters might be hungrier for interesting things to feature and youโll be ready to help them out! Remember, newsletters love a unique hook.
๐กIdea #3: A round up of your favorite podcasts you partnered with this year
Itโs similar to the year end listicle, but itโs like saying to those shows โI loved working with you, hope we can do it again in the new year!โ Your audience gets a mini podcast recommendation episode curated by you and you nurture your podcast partnerships for more possibilities next year. Plus, if you tell the other shows about it, they might share the episode with their audience and help give you a boost!
โจ Bonus โจ
Remember to also include some pitches to year end lists as part of your holiday marketing plan! We shared some tips for doing this in the last issue.
๐ชMore Magic ๐ช
๐ฐ100 podcast marketing tips ๐
โก๏ธThe swap database is liveโก๏ธ
โ๏ธ Listen to Tink's Call-In Show (& how it can help you market your podcast) ๐ช
From the Desk of Tink
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