Have you started a podcast or a small business? Are you using podcasts or videos as part of your audio marketing strategy? Do you use Instagram or any other social media channels to promote your website or blog? If not, then it is time you returned to the drawing board.
Instagram has the highest engagement rate of all other social media communities and delivers a high return on investment. The best content is a mix of visuals and audio.
In this two-part blog series, we’ll discuss why Instagram is a great avenue to promote your podcast, as well as some of the best ways to do so.
Why Instagram Is a Great Social Media Platform
Instagram has a daily user base that doubles what it once was in 2015. One report noted that about 80% of Instagram’s users access the platform daily, while 55% admit they check their feed several times per day. Thus, this platform is one of the most successful ways to market a small business or a website.
In 2020, 80 percent of the time spent on social networking happened on mobile devices. As a podcaster, mobile users are your most valuable audience. As a result, podcasts are taking off: people are more mobile than ever, they travel a lot, and the widespread use of smartphones and 3G/4G mobile Internet access allows them to stay connected everywhere they go.
So How Does One Promote Their Podcast on Instagram?
If you’re looking to promote your podcast on Instagram, there are many things you can do. Particularly, these first two methods should be in your audio marketing strategy:
1 – Cross-Linking on Bio
This guidance applies to all marketers, regardless of what they promote on their Instagram accounts. Podcasters must include links in their profiles as well.
Why is this step necessary? Well, Instagram does not work like Facebook or Twitter. It is focused on visual content, and the text options are minimal. Followers can only see your Instagram name and any links you include in your bio. This makes Instagram a prime platform for podcasts as a means of connecting with fans who might not otherwise tune in to your show.
A great way to do this is by telling your podcast listeners that they can find a link to your podcast within your bio. Also, if you link this regularly to promote each new post, your followers will notice it and get used to searching for it every time they open the Instagram app on their mobile devices. You should also be careful to only link to your podcast feed and not your website homepage, as this could cause people to bounce before they have even heard any of your episodes.
Finally, we recommend managing your links with an external service like Bitly. They provide concise links and some useful analytics that will help you measure your click-throughs and gauge the overall behavior of your audience.
2 – IG Stories
Instagram Stories is one of the most recent features offered by Instagram. It allows for a quick and fun way to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours, based on the assumption that this format will incentivize the sharing of more exciting content.
Gary Vaynerchuk, a famous entrepreneur who promotes his podcast and videos through Instagram Stories, has succeeded with this method. Another feature of Instagram Stories is that once you have at least 10,000 followers, you can insert a link to your podcast and encourage people to “swipe up” on the Story to listen.
Make Instagram Part of Your Audio Marketing Strategy Now
The numbers don’t lie: Instagram is one of the best platforms to promote your podcast and gain new listeners. Always use your profile’s Stories and main page as the host of your links so that people can easily catch the latest episode, even if it’s on-demand!
Better still, combine Instagram and Promoly in your audio marketing strategy! We help innovative brands promote their audio over email and social media by tracking recipient engagement, driving more features, pushing more sales, and getting your brand noticed. Start now—no credit card required.
Stay tuned for part two of this blog series!
