How to Grow Your Podcast Without Using Social Media

Did you know you don’t need social media to grow your podcast and reach new listeners? It’s true. Podcasting may have a social side, but you don’t have to build a new social media presence to market (and monetize) your show.

But how do you grow your podcast without using social media? Easy — podcast SEO, aka podcast search engine optimization. Like Google and Pinterest (another of my favorite platforms), podcast directories like Apple Podcast or Spotify also serve as search engines, but more on that later.

As always, you can listen to the related episode on Moms Who Podcast here:

You Don’t Need Social Media to Grow Your Podcast

And, as busy moms, you don’t have time to show up on every platform that exists in the hopes of driving a few new listeners to your show — you’re probably already struggling to find time to record your episodes, much less market them.

You don’t need another Instagram account, you don’t need another email newsletter, and you don’t have to repurpose every episode into NEW content (although you can if you don’t want to create content from scratch). But the message here is that social media is not a requirement to grow.

Instead, you can use podcast SEO and a bonus marketing plan: guesting on other podcasts (or welcoming guests on yours)!!

What is Podcast SEO?

Podcast SEO is a type of SEO helps your show and episodes show up in podcast directories when listeners search for keywords related to your podcast. For example, someone may look up podcasting tips or podcasting, and my show “Moms Who Podcast” will show up in search results.

Another good example of podcast SEO is my client’s show, the “Blogging and SEO Show,” which shows up when listeners search “blogging” or “SEO.” The same applies to the titles of your episodes and your episode show notes — even your audio can help you rank for keywords!

The people searching for these keywords may have never heard of you (or your show) before, but thanks to using podcast SEO, you’ve introduced yourself into their world (without using social media).

Podcast SEO also sticks around for a long time, so you can continue to attract new listeners to your episodes and show for months — even years — after it’s published.

If you want to optimize your podcast for SEO and attract new listeners to your show, check out these three ways to improve your podcast’s visibility.

Growing Your Show With Guesting

Both welcoming guests on your podcast and becoming a guest on another show are great ways to welcome new listeners to your audience. Guesting on a podcast allows your guest to provide value or even feedback (you can bring your own clients onto the show; I have!) that your audience would love to hear.

Being a guest on someone else’s podcast allows you to introduce yourself to a new audience, one that’s aligned with your offers and the value YOU have to provide. 

Finding a guest can be a bit tricky. Still, if you do the research and truly pay attention to the value they can provide — or you could provide on their show — you’ll find that most podcasters are down for the swap, making it another great opportunity to grow your audience and podcast without socials.

How to Keep Growing Your Podcast When You Can’t Find Time to Show Up

If you’re still struggling to grow your podcast even without the use of social media because you don’t have time to build a strategy or share your episodes once they’re recorded because you’re spending too much time on editing and publishing, it may be time to get help.

Consider working with a podcast manager (hi! That’s me!!) or finding support in a community like the Moms Who Podcast Community, a low-cost, close-knit membership for women who want to start, grow, or launch a podcast!