Spotify is one of the largest mainstream podcast streaming platforms in the world. While Spotify is primarily known as a music streaming service, more and more people are its wide range of podcast channels. People can easily find their favorite podcasts on Spotify and enjoy its user-friendly UI and seamless UX.
Given that Spotify has become a viable podcast app, small businesses and brands are looking into starting a podcast marketing campaign using this platform. But, how can content creators and digital marketers best utilize Spotify for their podcast marketing strategies? To give you a better idea, here is a quick rundown on how to create a Spotify podcast channel as well as some tips on how to best use Spotify podcasts for marketing.
How To Start A Podcast On Spotify
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Starting a channel and uploading your podcast episodes on Spotify is a relatively easy process. With a couple of simple and easy steps, you’d be able to start sharing your podcasts on Spotify and begin your podcast marketing campaign.
Step #1: Prepare your podcasts
Before you even think about starting a Spotify podcast, the first thing you need to do is to create your podcast. Spotify has a list of requirements that you would need to have and meet to create an account and publish your episodes. From a marketing point of view, it is important to have at least a handful of completed podcast episodes ready for upload before you create an account and start promoting and advertising your channel online.
First and foremost, you should already have a finalized podcast channel title. Ideally, it should be something that reflects either your brand or niche which allows audiences to find your channel easier.
Aside from that, determine all the important details and information about your podcast such as the category it belongs to, the primary language used, as well as the podcast description. Also, include a 1:1 cover art that is in either JPEG, PNG, or TIFF format.
When creating your Spotify podcast channel, it is important to note that your recording should be set at a high bitrate MP3 format or in MP4 with AAC-LC. Aside from that, channels are only able to upload episodes lasting no more than 12 hours long.
Step #2: Create a Spotify Account
Once you’ve prepared your podcast, you can now start your application by creating an account first. All you need is to answer a form and sign up to create an account for your Spotify podcast channel.
Step #3: Choose a podcast hosting channel
While Spotify is known for its numerous podcast channels and episodes, the platform itself is not designed to host podcasts. Instead, Spotify provides access to podcasts that are hosted on a different platform.
Despite this, Spotify has a dedicated podcast hosting platform known as Anchor.fm. This platform includes hosting features such as recording episodes, editing audio, as well as Spotify sharing. It also comes with an array of details and tools that can help with audience analysis.
There are plenty of other podcast hosting platforms available online. Some are available for free while others require a monthly or yearly subscription. This is where you would mainly upload your podcast episodes and then simply link them to be visible on Spotify.
Step #4: Link your podcasts to Spotify
Once you’ve uploaded your podcast episodes on the hosting platform of your choice, the next step is to link it to your Spotify account. All you would need is to find and copy your podcast’s RSS link. Each of your podcast episodes would have a dedicated RSS link which allows Spotify to locate and host that specific recording.
To start the hosting process, go to Spotify for Podcasters and log in using your Spotify account. Then copy and paste your podcast episode’s RSS link. Spotify would need to determine that you own that recording through a simple verification process.
Step #5: Insert your podcast’s details and information
This step allows you to create a podcast channel that would be visible on Spotify. Once Spotify has determined that the RSS link is valid, it would need a channel to which the episode would belong. All you have to do is to plug in all the necessary information about your podcast such as your location, the primary language, your hosting provider, and the podcast’s primary category and subcategories.
After that, you can submit your podcast for a final review and Spotify would host your podcast once it is cleared. Keep in mind that the review process can take a few hours and that Spotify doesn’t notify you when the episode goes live on their platform.
Tips To Improve Podcast Marketing Performance
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Identify and focus on your target audience
One of the benefits of using podcasts for marketing is that it is an effective way to build a solid and loyal community. Generally, podcast listeners follow channels that they are interested in or find value in. So in order to bolster this relationship, it is important that you determine who are your audience exactly.
Knowing what your audience likes and dislikes as well as their preferences allow you to create content that is designed particularly for the interest and entertainment of your audience. Once you’ve established a relative community, your podcast would have a good enough foundation to start branching out to reach new or a new target audience.
Promote using various channels and networks
While podcast marketing is fairly new, there are still thousands of other channels and episodes you need to compete with. One of the most effective ways to promote your podcasts is to promote them on different online platforms.
Social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and even TikTok are best at reaching large and diverse audiences. Also, consider expanding your social network by collaborating with other podcast channels. Whether you invite someone to your channel or you appear on someone else’s, you get to be heard and seen by audiences other than your own.
Optimize your podcast channel
Search engine optimization has long been a practice in the digital marketing industry. However, not many know that podcasts can be optimized in order to boost their online visibility. Consider keyword research when making your podcast title, episode titles, and descriptions. Aside from that, add transcripts and podcast chapters to make your episodes more valuable based on search engine analytics.
Bottomline
Using podcasts for marketing provides digital marketers with a brand-new tool to advertise and promote their brands and businesses to a different audience. However, podcast content creation is not an easy process. Especially if it’s designed for marketing purposes.
One solution to this is to hire virtual assistants and have team members assist with your tasks. Given that virtual assistance is a remote work industry, all they would need is a good internet connection to help with your podcast marketing campaigns.
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