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Good morning Indie podcasters! I have revamped the podcast Twitter this week and will be experimenting more with content systems for podcasters. Watch this space.
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How to Get Your First 10,000 Downloads with a 3-step Marketing Funnel
Today, I will show you exactly how I took my wife and I’s podcast, Generally Spooky History, to its first 10,000 downloads.
Unfortunately, most people don’t have a system to attract new listeners. And building it in the hope people show up is not a good strategy.
So, I will show you the three-step marketing funnel that took my podcast to its first 10,000 downloads and beyond.
- Find people to listen to your show
- Get them to your show page
- Get them to listen to an episode
January 2022 is when we implemented this system, and things started to take off.
If your marketing efforts feel like a lot of shouting into the wind, this is the guide for you.
1. Find people to listen to your show
First off, social media. Do you need it? Sure. It’s a great way to stay connected with listeners but not the most efficient way to find new listeners.
Instead, I’ll tell you about our two-part approach to getting people to the show page: Trailer swaps and word of mouth.
Trailer Swaps
People who listen to podcasts like yours. That’s your target audience.
If you have a D&D podcast, you want to get in front of people who already listen to D&D podcasts.
Now, this might feel like a closed door. You’d be stealing their listeners. But what’s lovely about podcasting is it’s not a winner-take-all game.
As Danny Brown points out:
So you can work with other podcasts by playing each other’s trailer at the start of an episode. This allows you to share audiences, and everybody wins.
If you don’t already have one, your trailer can be a quick 30 seconds explaining who you are, what your show is about, and how people can find you.
Organizing trailer swaps is simple. It’s another case of you don’t ask, you don’t get. Make a big master list spreadsheet of all the podcasts you think might be interested and start reaching out.
You might want to start by interacting on social media by leaving comments, or you can go straight to an email asking if they’re interested in a trailer swap.
Not everyone will say yes, that’s okay. What’s important is that you put yourself out there and ask. Come in with a mindset of helping other people grow their shows. “I’d love to set up a trailer show with you to help you grow your show.”
The beauty of it is that once the trailer is baked into their episode, you have a marketing channel for the entire life of their show. Whenever anyone listens through the back catalog and listens to that episode, your trailer is doing the work for you.
Growth on autopilot.
Word of Mouth
Word-of-mouth marketing is King in the podcasting world. According to podcast marketing legend Jeremy Enns, it’s a show’s biggest source of growth.
But to have your listeners telling their friends, you need to have listeners, right? True, but you can start off the chain reaction.
Talk about your podcast to everybody and anybody who will listen:
- Your best friend from school’s mum
- Your own Facebook page
- Your house painter
- Your Uber driver
- Your Cashier
- Your barista
- Everyone
Those are all people who I’ve told about my podcast. But for the first nine months, I kept my podcast like a secret. Embarrassment? Awkwardness? Afraid to put it out there and get laughed at? I felt it all.
But once I broke the seal, I found that people thought it was awesome I had a podcast. Sure, a few people would ask, “What’s a podcast?” but I’d happily explain. These first few listeners you bring in are the start of the snowball of your show. Because you never know who’s going to listen and become a fan.
If you follow these two channels to get your show in front of listeners, you almost can’t fail. But our work isn’t done. This gets people to your show page. We need to optimize and turn these window shoppers into listeners.
2. Set up your profile for success
If someone lands on your show page and it’s unclear what your show is about, they’ll leave again.
You’ve only got a few seconds to hook them. Make sure your podcast title, description, and episode names are all clear.
Podcast Name
Your podcast name is set in stone, and that’s fine. But if your podcast has a short name, consider adding on what type of podcast it is
- All for one – a running podcast
- Swords ahoy – a DnD podcast
- Skelingtons – a true crime podcast
For Generally Spooky History, the name hints at what we talk about, but it’s not clear that it’s a Scottish history podcast. Plus, there isn’t room for a hyphen. So, I made sure our description made what we do abundantly clear.
Description
Most people won’t click “show more.” So you want that first sentence to show precisely what you do.
That’s why we made our show say “Scotland’s history” as the first words. Make it easy, don’t get clever, and say what you do. Then, people will know if that’s what they’re looking for.
Then, yes, you want to write the rest of your podcast description. But that first line is the make or break: spend the most time with it.
Episode titles
Some people will skip the About section and start scrolling through your episodes. For these people, the episode titles need to provide intrigue while giving a flavor of what you do.
We don’t want clickbait “You’ll never guess what host John talks about in this episode…” because no one cares about John enough to be curious. Instead, focus on clearly identifying what you are talking about.
I like a straight forward two-step approach
Subject + hook
“The ghosts of Jedburgh castle jail”
The subject is Jedburgh Castle Jail. The hook is talking ghost stories. Easy.
Assume someone landing on your page knows absolutely nothing about your show and needs all the help they can get to start listening.
Again, not everyone will go from your show page to listening. That’s how funnels work. All we can do is set up for success to capture as many people as possible. I like this approach because it’s again a one-and-done.
Next, we can build habits into the show to turn listeners into fans.
3. Set up your show to capture listeners
Every single episode you release will be the first episode someone listens to. This means that in every episode, you need to briefly explain who you are and what you do.
Here’s a template you can steal:
Hey again! It’s (your name), and this is (your show). We talk about (your topic), and If you love (the thing that makes you different), then we’ll get on like a house on fire.
Which looks like:
Hey Again! Kieran here with my wife/co-host Eilidh, and this is Generally Spooky History. We talk about Scottish history, and if you love deep dives and listening to ghost stories, then we’ll get on like a house on fire.
In our early episode, we spent 10 minutes chatting before diving into the story. I cringe at it now and regret all those listeners who will land on those episodes and not know what is happening. But you live and learn.
Now, new listeners can listen to an episode and know exactly what they’re getting in for.
TLDR:
- Find potential listeners by organizing trailer swaps and telling people about your podcast
- Optimize your profile to make it clear what you do
- Introduce your podcast in every episode, so listeners know why to hang around
The actual download numbers will be different for everyone. Some people will get 10,000 downloads in 3 months, others in 24 months. So many factors go into it that it’s no use comparing.
Make sure your podcast is set up for success so people can find it and start listening.
Community Wins
Totally Tanked are closing in on a massive 200,000 downloads!
Answers for Gen Z have officially launched there podcast. Welcome to familiy.
Highscores High Stakes Celebrated their one year podversary. Congrats!
If you have a win, you want to share it with everyone. Hit reply!
How I Can Help You
1) Free 5-day Podcast Marketing Fundamentals Course – Learn the basics of what it takes to grow a popular show, get more listeners, and earn more money from your podcast. The five day email course is totally free
2) The Template Vault – Learn how to grow your podcast on autopilot. Get fill-in-the-blank templates to set up your podcast’s foundation for growth, success, and making money.
3) Podcast Marketing Coaching– I am an experienced podcast coach, and I want to help you master your podcast marketing. Check out my full list of services and discover how we can work together.
4) Recommended Tools– These are the tools I use to grow my podcast. I focus on tools that improve quality and save time.
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