With no audience, zero marketing spend, and no past experience, my podcast, Generally Spooky History, has grown to 130,000 total downloads and over 10,000 downloads per month.

How?

By committing to word-of-mouth marketing. My wife/co-host and I agreed that to succeed, we need to make our podcast the absolute best it can be. That way, our listeners will love it, and they’ll tell their friends.

Slowly but surely, it will spread out from there, allowing our biggest fans to become our marketing department.

Here’s what we did to ensure our podcast spread like butter over toast.

Focus on the quality of your podcast

You don’t tell your friends when you listen to a podcast, and it was fine. You tell your friends when you listen to an incredible podcast.

My podcast didn’t manage that from day 1. But we committed to getting better each time we sat down to record. Eilidh worked on making better scripts, and I worked on improving the sound quality and being a better co-host. Actively decide to improve and commit to it one step at a time.

Make a podcast so good they can’t ignore you. Then you won’t be able to stop people from telling their friends.

Remember, the first mouth is yours

A problem remains. How do you get your first listeners who are going to spread the word for you?

I won’t lie to you. If you had an audience, this would be easier. But you don’t, and that’s okay. We’re starting the only way we know how: By telling a friend and asking if they like it.

If they love it, you ask them to tell a friend. Then you find somebody else to tell.

I told my house painter I have a podcast. I told my doctor. I told some dude at the gym I was chatting with. If somebody asks me what I do, I don’t tell them about my job, I tell them I have a podcast.

Sure, it feels a little embarrassing at first, but you’re proud of what you’re making, right? Good! Shout it from the rooftops.

My mum listens to our podcast and has been telling her friends about it. Now there’s a collection of the mums of my school friends who’ve all listened. A few follow us on Instagram too. That’s wonderful. It’ll keep spreading from there.

Understand who will love it and who will hate it

If your podcast is made for everyone, it’s made for no one.

You have to know exactly what sets you apart. That way, you can make it for the people who will love it and shun the rest.

For example, we do the deep dive into Scottish history. We regularly hit 3+ hours discussing a single topic because we go on tangents and chat the whole time.

Our five star reviews read along the lines of “love how much detail there is, and all the chat”. Our one star reviews read, “too much chat. Can you make them shorter?” No we can’t sir.

We’re here to serve the people who want the deep dive. We tell our listeners, “If you’re looking for the brief overview, go somewhere else. We’re here for the badass listeners who want the deep dive”.

This lets our listeners know who they are. And so when they’re talking about podcasts, they have a clear descriptor to tell people. They can say, “If you like a deep dive, check out Generally Spooky History.” And so it spreads from person to person.

Get into the vocabulary of influential people

My wife has been interacting with one of the biggest Scottish influencers for years. Yesterday, we had him on the podcast as a guest co-host.

It was a ton of fun, but here’s what was most interesting. As we chatted, he mentioned knowing some of the other biggest names in Scotland’s blogging/podcasting scene.

We got on well, had a good time, and became friends. Now, our names are in his vocabulary. When he’s attending events and chatting to people, our name will come up. The connection, both professional and personal, is rewarding in itself. But I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t glad for the publicity.

This one takes time, but we’re all just people making things on the internet. If there’s someone you’d love to work with one day, shoot out a message saying hi.

Ask listeners to tell their friends

The Mile High Fi podcast does this the best. At the end of each episode, they have a series of calls to action, including an ask to tell a friend, a family member, or an enemy about the podcast. Or to send a friend a specific episode you think they’ll like. It’s a classic case of you don’t ask, you don’t get.

Calls to action don’t have to be pushy and in your face. Mile High FI even turns theirs into a joke, making it entertaining in its own right. The listener gets extra entertainment, and they get to ask listeners for help.

And guess what? People who love your podcast will want to help. They want to get involved and share the journey with you. Asking them to tell a friend is the perfect way to do just that.

Final thought

Waiting for word-of-mouth is one option. But the more you can do to ease the process, the more success you’ll have.

Aim to make the best podcast you can. Nudge people into sharing it for you. And capture as many people as you can from person to person. Do those, and your podcast will spread itself.

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.