So what does a strong podcast community look like? Is it the same as your podcast audience? 🤔
Well sort of, but there are also some key differences.
Your podcast audience is made up of those that listen to your podcast. 🎧
Your podcast community are those that listen to and avidly follow your podcast and keep up with everything you do related to your show. 🧐
So they’re a bit intertwined but basically, someone that’s in your podcast audience isn’t necessarily in your podcast community, while those that are in your podcast community are in your podcast audience.
What’s that they say, a square is always a rhombus but a rhombus isn’t always a square? 🟦 🔷 😵💫
Anyway, we’re talking about podcasts thankfully, not geometry.
Why do you need a strong podcast community?
Having a strong podcast community can help you boost your number of downloads and increase the overall brand awareness of your podcast. 💪
I think it’s safe to say that one of the ultimate goals of most podcasters is to make sure that their voice is being heard and their message is being spread. 📣
And by having a strong podcast community you have more people that can help you grow your show and increase your number of downloads.
But that’s not all, it’s good to have a support system for your podcast, for raising awareness about your show of course, but also for having a group that you can interact with to get ideas for your show and to get feedback from so that you can improve your show. 👨👩👦👦
Basically, if you have a strong podcast community, you share your podcast with them, and because they support you and appreciate your show, they’ll most likely be willing to share your podcast with their communities, helping YOUR community grow.
How can you build a strong podcast community?
There are many things that you can do to try and strengthen your podcast community.
Some are quite simple, others take a bit more work. 👷
Let’s start off with the fact that you need to encourage your audience to listen regularly.
This will make them more interested in your podcast, which could ultimately lead to them joining your podcast community. 👌
Once you have encouraged them to listen to your podcast regularly, you can interact with them often as well.
For example, use polls and surveys on social media, like Instagram and Twitter, to try and get feedback to see what they like and what they want to hear in your future episodes. 🔮
And make sure that if they’re taking the time to answer your questions and polls, that you take what they say seriously and consider making podcast episodes about what they want to hear.
Create a platform where you can connect with your podcast community
Some examples could be a website, a blog, or a Facebook group.
A website is perfect for posting your podcast episodes, and other related content. 💻
On your website, you can have a place for people to subscribe to your show with their email address.
Tip: If you use Ausha as your podcast host, you have an automatically generated website for your podcast. Or if you have a personal website you can put the link for it there!
A blog is perfect if you like to write articles to accompany your podcast episodes. 📝
You can let your community leave comments at the bottom of your blog posts if you want.
And the most interactive option is to create a Facebook group for your community.
This is great if you want to create conversations with your community and engage with them more. 🗣️
You can encourage engagement between your community members by posting questions and conversation topics that will make them want to respond.
Having a platform where you can communicate directly with your community is also good so that you can tell them how much you value them and their comments and shares. ⭐
Other ways to build your podcast community
Use your podcast’s social media pages to your advantage. 📲
Respond to the comments and messages that you receive. It will mean a lot to your listeners!
They will also see that you’re very involved and appreciate the comments, thus motivating them to join your podcast community.
You can host in-person events that your community can attend, and make them open to new listeners as well! 📍
This will be a great way for your veteran community members to introduce themselves to new listeners and encourage them to join your community.
Host online meetings as well, where your audience can ask you questions, or give suggestions for podcast topics. 💻
This is a great idea if your podcast community is really spread out geographically. 🗺️
Create high quality content
One of, if not the most important thing that you can do to build a strong podcast community, is to create high quality content. 🤩
If the content you’re creating is good quality, those within your community will be more willing to share it with their communities, making yours grow even more!
If the quality of your content isn’t great, they won’t be willing to share it… fair enough.
Also be sure to create various types of content that they can share.
Not just your podcast episode, but also blog posts, videos, and snackable content. 🍿
And post your content regularly 📆 so that your community always has new content that they can share, helping you grow your podcast audience.
Create exclusive content too! 😎
This is a great incentive for listeners to join your podcast community because then they can listen to and read your exclusive content.
Tip: If you use Ausha as your podcast host you have the option to create unlisted podcasts that you can share with certain people through a special link, which is a perfect example of exclusive content.
More things to try:
You can create merchandise for your community, so that they can show their support for your podcast, which could also serve as marketing material for your podcast, leading to a stronger community.
This could include tote bags, hats, or even stickers! 🧢
Give shout outs to active members of your podcast community within your podcast episodes. It shows that you read their comments and enjoy reading what they have to say. 📣
Send a newsletter to your podcast community as well! This will keep them up to date with everything that’s going on with your podcast. 💌
It’s also good that your community can see you’re really invested in your podcast, by sending updates and important information about it.
Invite guests to your show that would be willing to share the episode you’ll record together with their own community.
This will ultimately help strengthen your community because of the added visibility that will come to your podcast. 👀
To sum up
Building a strong podcast community can help you grow your podcast, and feel more supported throughout your podcasting journey. 🏋
It can be hard to start off with a strong community, and takes time, but be patient. ⏳
If you continue to work towards it, it will strengthen over time!
Keep in mind that you’ll need to follow some of these recommendations if you want to see an improvement in your community, it doesn’t normally just happen overnight.
I hope that you have found these tips helpful, and good luck strengthening your podcast communities! 💜
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