Why Your Podcast Needs an Organic and Paid Marketing Strategy

You should really have both, and here are the reasons why

No matter what you read about podcast marketing (or marketing in general), there really isn’t a single right answer as to what works and what does not. Each podcast, each host and each network is different and your audiences will have different expectations, too. But, what we do know is that there is one thing you can do to give yourself the most chance of discovery at launch… and that is leaning into both, paid and organic marketing. 

What do we mean by paid and organic marketing?

Organic marketing refers to all the different non-paid avenues you can exploit to get your podcast seen and/or heard. This includes things like social media strategy, video clips, newsletters, blogs, organic feed swaps, events, and anything else that would be reaching a new audience for your show through unpaid channels. 

Paid marketing avenues in podcasting include running ads across other shows – like spots and host reads – as well as performance marketing activity to get you a sampling audience, and any other paid boosting you might do across social channels to drive traffic to your show’s pages. 

And why do the two work best as a duo?

The reason behind this is simple – the more marketing you do for your show, the more likely you are to succeed. We often talk about the 50/50 marketing to production ratio, and while we know this isn’t always achievable – the goal should still be to get as close to that split as possible.

More specifically though, the reason why they work so well in unison is because organic and paid marketing activity serve very different purposes for your show. 

Organic marketing is there to build awareness of your podcast and to give you brand recognition between a group of people you already know will love your ideas – like your existing social media followers. Paid marketing on the other hand, is all about reaching a wider sampling audience to expose them to your content for the first time. 

This means that while paid marketing might drive more traffic to your podcast quickly, it is the organic activity on your pages, your newsletter, your messaging and most importantly, your content, that will make them stick around. That’s why the two are the most effective as a pair. 

What are some other benefits of organic marketing?

There is a long list of reasons why organic marketing is a crucial part of your podcast discovery toolbox – and those include:

1. The relationship with your audience – responding to comments, speaking to your community, and interacting with your fanbase are all part of your organic marketing activity 
2. It’s cost effective – perhaps first and foremost, organic marketing is free! Utilise all of the tools you have at your disposal like your newsletters, any cross-promo you can do on your site, or your blog or wherever else you can plug your show
3. It helps your long-term growth – Organic strategies like SEO or planning your content calendar for socials will help you to sustain growth over time and give you the space to build on the content you already have to bring more people to your show 
4. An authority boost – organic marketing activity can also be a great way to establish your authority in the subject by amplifying your own voice throughout different channels. Giving the impression of a bigger reach and ultimately, more influence in the space that you occupy 

And what about paid marketing? 

1. Data and targeting at your fingertips – one of the biggest draws of paid marketing is that you can be precise with your targeting. You would want your podcast to reach a specific audience, and you can be clever about the kinds of shows you run your ads across or where you position performance marketing to give you the most relevant mix of people to sample your podcast
2. It’s quick – another reason why paid marketing is good to consider for your show launch is its quick results. Setting up and running a campaign for paid ads is a lot more time-efficient than establishing a year worth of organic content, and it will drive traffic, just remember to always have a bank of organic activity to keep your listeners interested beyond the initial interest from paid 
3. It helps your organic strategy – all paid activity can also amplify your organic efforts. If you are driving people to your social channels for your podcast, you would be able to push your content to more demographics with a mix of paid and therefore ensure your content gets the attention it deserves
4. You can go big – if you are an independent podcaster, you can use a mix of host reads and spot ads to align yourself with bigger shows. This kind of activity would help to establish you as a name in audio and support your aim of reaching more audiences

Do you need some help setting up a marketing plan? At Podcast Discovery, we can help you figure out the right mix of paid and organic to get you to hit the charts at launch and beyond. If you want more support and need more details about our services, why not talk to us?