Boost Your Authority with Podcast Community
What makes a strong podcast community? Is it the same as the audience for your podcast? Well, there are some significant distinctions. Your podcast audience consists of folks who listen to your podcast.
Whereas a podcast community consists of folks who listen to you, eagerly follow, and keep up with everything relevant to your show.
In general, someone in your podcast audience isn't necessarily in your podcast community, but those in your podcast community are in your audience.
Why do you need a podcast community?
Your target audience is your top-notch PR team. Therefore, you need to consider the power of word-of-mouth as a marketing technique for your podcast. You can pay for as many social media advertisements as you want.
However, a genuine person recommending your podcast to a friend is a more solid strategy to gain new subscribers. It's much easier than trying to reach them yourself.
Allowing your audience to interact with you and each other will make them feel more important. This increases your show's total value and chances of being recommended to their friends.
The positive involvement from your listeners is essential if you want to expand your podcast audience. It's one thing to have a certain number of downloads for your episodes; it's a whole different ball game to generate buzz about the content you're working on.
By providing a podcast community for your loyal fans, you are converting a passive listening experience into an active one. Rather than being a one-time broadcast or download, your podcast brand becomes a center of activity.
How can you build a podcast community?
You can do numerous things to try to grow your podcast community and authority. Some are relatively straightforward, while others involve a little more work.
Let's start with the fact that you should inspire your audience to listen regularly. This will pique their interest in your podcast, leading to them joining your podcast community.
You can communicate with them frequently if you've motivated them to listen to your podcast regularly.
For example, you can utilize polls and surveys on social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter to gather input on what they're into and want to hear in your future episodes.
If they take the time to respond to your questions and surveys, make sure you take what they say seriously and consider developing podcast episodes about what they want to hear.
Having these personal interactions with your listeners can help you earn more loyal customers and encourage growth in your community. By not shying away and taking control of the situation, you show your current and potential listeners that you care.
Here are tips that can help you get started building your podcast community:
Get Your Audience Engaged
Audience engagement aims to connect your listeners to the show and each other. After all, according to Webster, “a community is a setting in which individuals can feel a sense of kinship with others as a result of sharing common views, interests, and goals.”
The more opportunities your audience has to engage with you and their fellow listeners, the stronger the sense of community will become. There are various strategies to engage your audience:
- Start an “exclusive” Facebook group – it's vital to provide opportunities for listeners to communicate with you. However, creating a space for them to interact with other listeners is also essential. The simplest way to accomplish this is by creating a forum or Facebook Group for your podcast. It allows listeners to find their voice, share their opinions, and form relationships.
- Give shout-outs to listeners – your private Facebook group will be useful here. Make an effort to participate in and interact in the Facebook group discussions. You'd be surprised how often these conversations will spark ideas for new episodes. And when that happens, make a point of mentioning the major players in the discussion on Facebook. This is an excellent approach to make your listeners feel recognized and connected to your show.
- Answer listener questions – never forget that you started your podcast because you're the expert on your niche! It's essential to establish yourself as an authority on the topic of your podcast, and answering listener questions is a fun way to do so. You can gather questions in that private Facebook group, on other social media platforms, and via email. Make time at the end of each episode to answer listener questions, or dedicate one episode per week to that purpose.
Root Your Show (and Podcast Community) in Value
It's obvious when your efforts are rooted in value. You don't appear to be someone looking to make a transaction but rather someone looking to make a massive impact on the world.
Being honest and being a constant light of guidance to individuals who find you will make you stand out and help your brand rise. The purpose of podcasting is to become a resource people turn to for education, entertainment, and solutions to their issues.
As a podcast guest (and host), you may make your efforts more valuable by promoting yourself as a resource to podcasters before, during, and after you appear on the show.
This demonstrates that you're not just attending an interview to sell something but that you're invested in the success of that podcast because your skills and expertise are part of your portfolio.
The more people discover that show, the more chances you have for your message to be heard, propelling you to the expert status you aim for!
You can easily spot an individual with a transactional mindset because they're just concerned with their profits and are entirely unaware that serving others and adding value to the world helps others improve and positions them for massive gains.
Maintain an Authoritative Presence
Not everyone will embrace the buzz! The good news is that your well-produced, informative podcast can serve as the pudding (where the proof is). When people hear your genius, your authority rating rises a notch or two.
After many episodes of delivering the goods, you'll become associated with the area you're an authority on your listeners.
Shift your focus to the present by discussing the most recent news and relevant topics with your audience. If there has been recent news in your specific niche, chances are your audience wants to know more about it. Please share your thoughts on it in your podcast; your listeners will be captivated.
However, how can you build your authority in your niche?
- Have consistent content – to establish your authority in your podcast niche, you must be dedicated to your podcast. The consistency of your podcast content demonstrates your commitment. You're not obligated to publish podcast episodes daily (unless you're like me). All you have to do is establish a content strategy and stick to it. Let your listeners know when they can expect your next podcast, and don't let them down.
- Be dedicated to learning – knowledge is progressive, and to establish yourself as a thought leader, you must continue to learn. Gain knowledge from other podcasts like yours. Take online courses to expand your expertise and read books and publications. This will help to keep your information current and fresh.
- Do your research – you should further research the conversations you plan to bring up in your show. Don't rely solely on your prior knowledge. Your listeners must be able to trust any information you provide to create authority in your field. So put that thinking cap on.
- Answer the questions of your listeners – make sure you answer any questions your audience may have. When listeners raise queries about your podcast on your platforms, responding quickly portrays you as an expert. You can answer their queries in live sessions, in later podcasts, or in writing.
To build meaningful relationships with your listeners and create your community, you must be willing to open yourself and share yourself. Show your listeners that there's a person behind the podcast who cares about helping them reach their goals and experience success. Simply put, be human!
Be The Guest – And Why Not Invite Guests?
Another piece of advice is to appear as a guest on other podcasts. In this manner, you can introduce yourself and your show to a brand-new audience of fellow creators.
As a result, you will network, pique the interest of some of their listeners, and expand your podcast’ community.
Whether you are the guest or the one who's invited, attempt to discover people from a relevant niche to ensure their audience is interested in your show. Always remember that a podcast's goal is to build relationships.
The more appearances you make on other shows, the more you will boost your authority and help you expand your community.
Make sure to choose the individuals you want to work with
To experience measurable growth that establishes your authority in your podcasting community, you must be careful about who you collaborate with. You may believe making as many guest appearances as possible will help your podcast community expand faster. If this is your belief, I have bad news: you're mistaken.
Collaborating with the right people and podcasts is the ideal method to push your efforts to new heights.
And savvy podcasters recognize that they must have more than ‘just someone’ as a guest. They must be confident that your message aligns with their content and will resonate with their target audience.
If you have your agenda and don't consider their (and their audience's) best interests, the final product may have a negative impact on the audience, forcing them to turn off the show and potentially never return.
So, find podcasts aligned with your vision, message, and brand objectives when making guest appearances on other podcasts. Look for hosts who would be perfect customers for your product, service, course, etc.
If you work in finance, guesting on a podcast on health and fitness will not help you. Why? Because that audience listens to that program for health and fitness content, not financial advice.
As a result, it makes more sense for you to appear as a guest on podcasts where your target client listens to finance-related podcasts, financial literacy podcasts, and more.
Producing content, creating material and appearing as a guest on any podcast that will have you as a guest will not help you — rule of thumb: Quality Over Quantity.
More things you can try:
- You can make merchandise for your podcast community to express their support for your podcast, which can also serve as marketing material for your podcast, resulting in a stronger community.
- Provide shout-outs to active members of your podcast community. It demonstrates that you have read their comments and are interested in what they have in mind.
- Send out a newsletter to your podcast audience as well! This will keep them up to date on everything related to your podcast.
One thing I've learned through observing and working with thought leaders, as well as founding one from scratch, is that if you want to grow a podcast community, you must be willing to give.
It may sound cliché, but I had no idea how much time or mental and emotional bandwidth it would take to create and nurture a community when I first started.
I also still needed to learn how much the podcast community would give back to me in return, including some fantastic new relationships, knowledge, insight way beyond the group's scope, and a near-constant supply of inspiration from what individuals in the community are producing and aiming for.
Podcasting is not for those who are faint of heart or those short on time. But, if you're up for the task and willing to fully dedicate yourself to building your podcast community, establishing your authority and podcast community building is one of the most crucial (and rewarding) things you can do for your podcast.
Listen to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur
More Resources from UpMyInfluence:
How to Be An Exceptional Podcast Host