These common blunders can sink your show launch… so here they are and how you can avoid them.

Launching a new show is like starting any new business or a venture – you need a plan, perseverance and a lot of patience! Becoming an overnight podcasting success never feels that way for the people in the thick of it, and for good reason too. They likely invested a lot of time, energy and all of their creativity into making the show a hit. And you should too, so here are 8 mistakes you should avoid when launching: 

  1. Forgetting About Your Target Audience: Any launch should have one goal in mind – how do you reach your target listener? Failing to identify who you are making the podcast for and how you are trying to reach them could mean mismatching your content with your audiences and failing to see any engagement with your show.
  2. Being Too Broad With Your Messaging: A podcast is most often trying to solve a problem for the listener. So ask yourself, what problem is my show going to solve? And how does it do that? And then hone in. Having too many messages in your marketing materials can be confusing and alienating, so stick to that one answer.
  3. Thinking about Marketing Last: Give yourself some time to plan your launch push. You need at least 3 weeks to pitch yourself to platforms, so don’t sit on it and get to work as soon as you can. You also want to make sure you aren’t neglecting your marketing material’s quality so don’t leave it to the last minute.
  4. Not Claiming Your Show: Make sure all of the possible channels that you need to promote your podcast are actually yours. Claim your show on Podfollow, all socials and all other platforms that require it – set up appropriate accounts and make yourself a website. Trust us, you need one for people to find you! Don’t ignore the power of SEO in content creation.
  5. Not Setting Yourself Apart: You have to differentiate yourself from your competition. Especially during the launch of your podcast, make sure to give people a good reason to listen to you vs another show. Growth for everyone is behind us – so be clear about why you stand out as the best pod to sit on someone’s podcasting app.
  6. Thinking You Don’t Need a Network: Having a solid podcasting network is a huge benefit. Go out there and speak to similar shows to yours in size and genre – making friends is always nice, but its even nicer when they can provide you with some free promo and love, too.
  7. Making Your Visuals Boring: Make sure to make your artwork and any assets bright and clear. If you have a branded podcast, don’t lean too much into the brand and instead make the show stand out with vibrant colours and pictures of people’s faces. Don’t skip on episodic artwork too – you need for every episode to serve as a reason for the listener to come back to you.
  8. Giving Up Too Soon: Launching a show is hard, and it is hard to marketing your brand new podcast at 100% when you don’t even have that many episodes out yet. But don’t give up. Most shows find success through consistency and patience, and you need to keep at it every single day to make sure no one takes your precious listening spot. 

Still not sure where to begin with launching your podcast? We’ve got you.

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