Launching your show is only the first step in making a successful show… so make sure you do it right.
Your show launch is the first impression of your show for your audience, so setting up your show for success means having a show launch plan. That includes all of the marketing activity you simply have to do to be noticed.
We know that keeping track of all of the different pathways to marketing your podcast is tough, and we are here to ease all of your marketing woes. Before you begin following this guide, please also have all the below points ticked off your list:
Now that these four are out of the way, here is a complete show launch plan that you need to follow once you sort out your audio:
Deadline: Around 8 weeks before launch
Ideally, you would have already figured out the title for your show before you hit the record button but if you haven’t – now is the time to start thinking about it. Start by looking at the charts for your category and thinking about how your show can a) stand out and b) compete with the biggest titles in your genre. Then think about your audience when you are looking for a compelling title and don’t forget to make it search friendly. Then you can begin on your artwork. Follow our golden rules for podcast artwork to get you started and don’t forget to create all assets for your Apple Podcasts page, as well as episodic artwork.
Deadline: Around 7 weeks before launch
Now that you have your artwork – think about your description. You need to make sure that you include all of the most relevant details about your show (like the host’s name if they have a big following!) and that the description sounds enticing for new listeners. Get someone to read your podcast description a few times before you commit to it. Include any socials you will set up and try to keep your description informative but concise.
Deadline: Around 6 weeks before launch
With your artwork and description of the show ready to go, start working on your landing page for the pod. This needs to include the podcast’s RSS, information on the pod and the host, breakdowns of the podcast’s eps, a ‘contact me’ page, imagery from the show, your transcripts and all relevant links to your show, your social and anything else you might have relating to the podcast. This page will act as a home for your podcast beyond your hosting provider, and it can also help you with any launch PR, so making it SEO-friendly will help you with search results.
Deadline: Around 6 weeks before
Create all of your social channels ahead of launch. This would include Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, FB, LinkedIn, and X. Remember: you don’t need all of the channels, so focus on your strengths and abilities. What you want is to put out quality, engaging posts about your show (especially video). And if you are posting about the show online, ensure you are using podfollow to connect your audience to your podcast.
Deadline: Around 6 weeks before
Think about what you need to do to launch your show – is it video assets? Is it organised host reads? Is it PR? You want to list everything out and give yourself the best chance of being discovered through multiple touchpoints. If you are thinking of using paid spend to boost your show, like performance marketing or spot ads/host reads, you will need to book those ahead of your launch to guarantee placement. Give yourself enough time to figure this out before you launch.
Deadline: At least 6 weeks before
Traditional press and media require a pitch at least 6 weeks before your launch date to make sure they know the podcast is coming. This has to do with print cycles and other articles that might be on their agenda, so the easier you make it for the press to cover your show – the more chances you have at being featured. The same goes for Podcast Outreach – you want to have enough information about the show to start approaching other shows for cross-promo, but don’t leave it to the last minute if you want the activity to start at launch. For PR, ensure your press release and pitch has all of the usual points that a journalist might want: an episode to listen to, a show trailer, a description of the show, an enticing reason why the show must be covered, link to your RSS, your show artwork and any other elements that you think might be useful. Apple and Spotify also need a pitch at least 3 weeks before launch, so don’t sit around on this and get started as early as you can.
Deadline: Throughout!
At launch and beyond, keep track of your analytics. You want to try to align any of your spikes in downloads with the corresponding marketing activity that helped you get there so have a list of the different press clippings, social posts or paid promo to help you do that.
Of course, there is so much more to a podcast launch than just these 7 points – but these would help your show to launch with some splash. If you want more support and need more details to make it big in the podcasting world at launch, why not talk to us?
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