3 social media platforms to support your podcast marketing

You’ve got a great podcast, but how do you promote it? It’s one of the top questions that podcasters of all experience levels think about, and social media can be one of the best ways to capture new listeners and engage your current audience.

That said, there’s no universal “best” or “right” strategy when it comes to social media marketing. Your platforms, content, and strategies will be different than other businesses or podcasts based on your audience, topics, preferences, and the current social media landscape.

But to help you decide, here are a few social media platforms worth considering.

💻 Related free training: How to launch a podcast from scratch

Pinterest

Pinterest is a strong (yet underrated) platform for podcast marketing. In particular, it’s a great social media platforms for podcasts that talk about health, lifestyle, blogging, online business, food, and a number of other topics.

But I hesitate to call it a social media platform because I see Pinterest as something much bigger:

A search engine.

Pinterest users are looking for something with more purpose than most of us scrolling on TikTok or Instagram. They want recipes. They want DIY crafts. They want Instagram marketing tips.

And if your podcast addresses any of Pinterest’s most popular topics, it’s the perfect place to find new listeners.

Instagram

Instagram remains one of the most popular social media platforms for users of all ages. The platform is continually growing, and because usage and engagement are high, Instagram continues to be a great social media marketing platform for podcasters and online business owners.

To share just a few examples, you can post carousels, reels, or use Instagram stories to announce new episodes to your audience. (The clickable Link sticker is a great option in Stories to send people directly to the episode.)

You can also tag your podcast guests on Instagram. This gives your audience the option to follow your guests, and some (but not all) guests might reshare your content, which can help you reach a wider audience.

Facebook 

If you video record yourself while taping your podcast then you are able to use that content multiple times. Not only can you upload the podcast to your website and onto podcast directories, but you can also use the video content on Facebook and other platforms.

This allows you to utilize video in your podcast marketing. You can post the video to your Facebook, or even better, you can connect with your audience on Facebook Live.  This gives your dedicated fans a chance to listen to the podcast as you’re recording it live — meaning they get to listen to the parts that you might edit out later. This is an extra perk for those who listen to your Facebook Live, thus giving people an incentive to watch. 

If you haven’t gone on FB Live before, it’s easy! You can stream directly to the Facebook followers of your FB business page, group, or personal profile from your iPhone, Android, or laptop webcam. You can incorporate the audience into your Live by asking questions and responding to comments in real-time. This makes the experience interactive for your audience and makes your podcast even more personal. 

3 social media tools for podcast marketing

There are so many social media scheduling tools, how do you know which one to use? I’ve used them all and I’m going to share the three best!

 1. Sprout Social 

Sprout Social is exactly what you need in a scheduling tool. It makes it easy to plan and post content on several social networks. Instead of having to switch back and forth between different platforms, you can publish on several different platforms at once. 

For example, you can post to Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook at the same time. This is a major time saver! I can’t tell you what a relief it is to plan content weeks ahead of time and be able to post simultaneously. It streamlines your social media efforts (except live streaming, of course), which leaves you free to focus on other parts of your podcast. 

2. CoSchedule 

All the scheduling tools claim to save you time. That’s the whole point. CoSchedule really delivers on this because it integrates with WordPress, so you can schedule blogs to WordPress and post content on social media at the same time. 

CoSchedule also offers a comprehensive “Top Content Report”, a breakdown of engagement and social shares. This is AMAZING because it lets you see, with real data (as opposed to simply feeling like a post is doing well), what content is resonating most with your audience. 

CoSchedule gives a special emphasis on content. You can track social performance, which is important, but the tool also gives you the opportunity to recycle and reuse the best performing posts automatically. The “ReQueue” feature refills your social media feed and capitalizes on your popular posts.

3. Tailwind

I’ve already talked about how awesome Pinterest is for gaining new listeners. But it can be a major time suck to post pins. What if there was a way that you could schedule your Pins just like you schedule other social media posts? 

Enter Tailwind, one of the most popular Pinterest scheduling platforms. It can help you create, schedule, and publish Pins on a regular basis so you don’t have to spend all day everyday posting. 

What should you post?

Now that you know what platforms and social media tools to use, the next logical question is: what should you post? Once you have a podcast, you need to promote it on your social media channels. 

Podcast marketing is slightly different than promoting a blog or a consumer product. You need to speak to your audience. 

I suggest creating images of the catchiest quotes from the episode and related graphics that are optimized for each platform (e.g. square for Instagram, vertical for Pinterest). For Facebook posts, you can also plan direct links to your website or Apple Podcasts. If there’s video, be sure to use that as well!  The more content you have, the better you can promote your podcast. 

Images 

Images are an important part of your social media content. Don’t pick one stock image and think you’re set for all your podcast marketing needs. I like to create at a minimum, a normal thumbnail for the podcast (cover art is important!), a horizontal image for each episode, and a vertical image for Pinterest. 

When you create an image for Pinterest, it helps to start by researching keywords related to your podcast topic. What images grab your attention? What other images are doing well on Pinterest, and what would you be likely to click on? Keep in mind that people tend to be drawn toward “happier” images and that Pinterest users are more likely to pin images without a human face. 

Since Pinterest is a visual medium, think about what kind of images you can use to capture interest so that people will click on your Pin. 

Bonus: Use Canva to design your social media graphics

So you know you need images, but how to make them? Canva is a free tool that is one of my top social media tools! It is so easy to create fun, beautiful, professional-looking images using this software. Instead of spending all day on Photoshop or Illustrator, Canva makes it effortless for those of us without design degrees to create beautiful images.