Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Social Media for Promoting Your Podcast

So, Monday October 4, 2021. Also known as “Facebook Is Down!” day, when Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp all went offline due to a server issue.

Cue the immediate flocking of people to Twitter, as they looked to see if it was just for them or if others were having issues too.

As a result, messaging app Telegram also crashed as users rushed from WhatsApp and overloaded the Telegram servers. Man, this Monday was not fun for so many people!

And yet… This is a perfect example of why you shouldn’t rely on social media for promoting your podcast. Heck, why you shouldn’t rely on social media full stop, and exert more control over your podcast’s outlets.

Why Your Website and Email Marketing is Key to Podcast Growth

When it comes to promoting your podcast, I’ve said time and time again that you need a website for your show and, ideally, combine that with email marketing.

Sure, podcast apps are the preferred resource for many podcast listeners. But they can also have issues, as the bugs over the summer with Apple Podcasts proved.

Depending on the technical comfort of your listeners, apps could also be preventative when it comes to how listeners consume your show.

• They may not want more apps on their phone
• Their data plan might be restrictive
• They may have firewalls on their phone that prevent apps from being added

This is where a website comes into its own. Since you can’t promote your podcast on social media, you still need a place where your episode is easily accessible and shareable.

Facebook down? No matter – your site is there with its podcast player, ready to be listened to at any time. And now, with people looking for something to do since Facebook is out of commission, now would be a perfect time to listen to the latest episode of your favourite show (there’s your marketing update right there).

You can easily take advantage of social media being down, too, by sending an email to your subscribers saying something as simple as, “You know what’s not down? My podcast. Listen now while waiting for social media to come back online!”

Example. Let’s say I’ve just launched a new episode, but social media is down. No worries – all I need are my podcast host (Captivate) and their podcast player, and my email marketing software (AWeber). Embed, post, share via email.

Simple. Quick. Effective.

So, yes, by all means, build your podcast marketing on social media, and around podcast apps.

But don’t forget to build your platform around your owned content (website and email marketing), because you never know when rented land (social media) will close down.

• Converse with your social media connections and look at ways to have them sign up to email
• Tag these subscribers as social media, so you can send direct emails related to the platform (Twitter, Facebook, etc) they came from
• Continue to nurture the social media connection and ideas they’d like to see in your segmented email

Do this, and the next time social media takes a big dunk you won’t be too concerned, because you know the valued connections and relationships, along with podcast listens, are just an email away.