#034: Getting Listeners without Social Media

One of the biggest misconceptions in podcast promotion is social media is the only way to get new listeners. I'm here to tell you, this simply isn't true.

In this episode:
(3:30) - The power of word-of-mouth recommendations and referrals to drive listeners to your podcast.
(6:15) - How to make your podcast more searchable on podcast apps, including optimizing your podcast title, episode titles, and episode descriptions.
(9:15) - When to reach out to blogs, news sources, and contributor platforms to get featured and how to get your podcast on the podcast lists your future listener will find from Google Search.
(12:15) - How to provide an exceptional guest experience that encourages guests to share their episode and recommend your podcast to their audience.

Other episodes mentioned in this episode:
Ep. 8 - How to Pitch Your Podcast to Anyone in 30 Seconds
Ep. 19 - Podcast SEO: Your Guide to Higher Rankings

Shop my Podcast Guest Templates here:
https://podcastsforprofit.com/products/podcast-guest-template
(This template is fully customizable in Canva.)

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Creators & Guests

Host

Morgan Franklin

Morgan Franklin is a podcast producer, strategist and educator. Since 2020 Morgan has founded and produced multiple top ranking podcasts from the health industry to beauty. Featured everywhere from Good Morning America to Martha Stewart Living Morgan's passion and knowledge for branding and podcasting have helped countless business owners and brands grow their impact and bottom line podcasting. Morgan is the Founder of Podcasts for Profit and Morgan Franklin Media, in addition to host of Podcasts for Profit with Morgan Franklin.

What is Podcasts for Profit with Morgan Franklin | Podcasting Strategy for Podcasters?

If you’re ready to create a podcast that will align you with experts in your industry, position yourself as a trusted leader and create another source of revenue for your business you’re in the right place. Podcasts for Profit will help you create and grow a podcast that cuts through the noise of social media and speak directly to your target audience. Stop letting the algorithm determine your social marketing strategy. Stop letting trends dictate the kind of content you’re able to create. Hosted by expert podcast strategist, producer and educator: Morgan Franklin, Podcasts for Profit is your step-by-step guide to creating a podcast that will transform your business, opportunities and life.

Morgan Franklin: I think that
there's a really big

misconception in podcasting and
personal branding and business

in general, that social media is
the only way to grow. If you

don't have a big following or
audience on social media,

nothing else is going to work.
And this simply is not true when

I look at my own monthly revenue
and my clients that pay me every

month and have a standing
contract. Do you know how I met

100% of those clients? It wasn't
social media. It wasn't a cute

little video that I made on
Tiktok. It was in person and

virtual networking. It was
talking to people and sending

those follow up messages and
introducing myself and getting

out of my comfort zone to tell
people what I do. 100% of my

monthly revenue from ongoing
clients in 2024 came from

networking of some kind. But
what does this have to do with

podcasting, and specifically
growing your podcast. I'm

telling you this to remind you
that there is more than one way

to skin a cat. If you can grow a
business without social media,

you can definitely grow a
podcast audience without social

media, and in this episode, I'm
gonna tell you exactly how to do

it. Hello and welcome to podcast
for profit. My name is Morgan

Franklin. I'm a Podcast
Producer, strategist and

educator. This podcast will help
you create and grow a podcast

that cuts through the noise of
social media and speaks directly

to your target audience. If
you're ready to create a podcast

that will align you with the
experts in your industry,

position yourself as a trusted
leader and create another source

of revenue for your business.
You're in the right place. Let's

do an exercise together. I want
to take just a moment. We're

gonna breathe in and hold it and
breathe out and think about how

you find a podcast. That's it.
Let's say that you have a long

road trip, or you're about to
start cleaning your entire

house, or, like me, you have
about 200 hours of mindless

labor left on your Halloween
costume, whatever it is, you

need to find a new podcast. How
would you go about finding this

podcast to listen to? Seriously,
how would you find this podcast?

Normally, as podcast listeners,
we're going through a cycle of a

few different things. The first
one being we've asked around,

and whether that's on social
media or through our work or

school week, we're asking the
people around us, Hey, have you

listened to any good podcasts?
And we're writing those titles

down, or we're trying to save
them on our nose, or struggling

to remember them later. If
you're like me, I'm always

trying to remember what was that
podcast that podcast that

somebody told me about? It's
either that or we've had a

suggestion forced upon us,
right? I am definitely that

friend. I am so annoying I
cannot like something just a

normal amount. I'm either 1,000%
obsessed over this thing or I

have never heard what you're
trying to tell me about. In my

experience, a lot of podcast
recommendations, and first time

podcast listeners come from word
of mouth from your friend

telling you, hey, you should
listen to this podcast. There is

truly no better advertising than
a referral, and that is true for

most professional settings, and
it's definitely true for

podcasting. I know in this
episode specifically, we're

talking about how to market and
grow your podcast off social

media. So I'm sorry to bring
this up, but I want to remind

you to share your reviews.
Anytime anyone says anything

nice about your podcast, put it
on full display on your social

media, on your website, wherever
you can. We trust consumers more

than we trust the Creator, so
make sure you're always showing

off your fans and followers and
plus, it makes them feel so

good, like you know how it feels
to be recognized by the people

that you love their work. So
give your listeners that same

opportunity. Okay, but let's say
that you've asked around and you

called your friend that listens
to literally every podcast, and

no one has any recommendations
for you. The next most common

way, at least, for me, to find a
new podcast to listen to is in

app. I open Apple podcasts, I
open Spotify, I open good pod,

whatever it may be, and I'm
searching for a topic, or I'm

looking around on the charts to
see what looks good and what I

might want to listen to. So
let's stop right there, because

this is something too many
podcasters are just glossing

right over. And if I'm going to
be honest, I did in the

beginning too. We think that we
can just promote our way out of

being unsearchable on a podcast
app. And that simply is not

true, let's say, and this is an
easy example for me, because one

of my podcasts is in this
category. So I can speak to it.

You have a podcast about nursing
homes, long term care, senior

living and how to pay for care
over the age of 65 riveting

stuff. I know if that's what
your podcast is about, someone

better be able to type in senior
living and your. Podcasts pop up

in the first four podcasts, they
better be able to type in long

term care, and your podcast is
right there. If your podcast is

for quilters, let's say your
listener better be able to type

in quilting, and your podcast is
the first one to pop up. I have

a whole episode about this, and
I'll link it for you in the

episode description, but it is
episode 19 of this podcast, and

it's called podcast SEO, your
guide to higher rankings. As

some of you might know if you've
listened to the podcast before,

I worked in SEO as my first job
straight out of college, so I'm

very familiar with it, but you
know, over the past year, I've

learned a lot of things that are
specifically pertinent to these

apps that you need to know that
is not just standard SEO. So

definitely give that episode a
listen if you are trying to grow

organically on either Google or
in the apps. But since we're

here, here are a few things I'd
start on today if I wanted

someone to open Spotify and type
in podcasting, for example, and

this show pop up, which, by the
way, it does not to brag, but I

do know what I'm talking about.
The first thing is, you're gonna

want to look at the title of
your podcast. Does this podcast

name have any words in it that
anyone would be searching for. I

know I've said this before, and
I'll say it again. SEO does not

reward creativity, but God, I
wish it did. The next thing is,

do the names of your episodes
have anything to do with what

you're talking about? Are there
any words in the titles of your

episodes that have anything to
do with what your listener might

be typing in that search bar,
because you have two

opportunities here. You have the
ability to rank for your show

and the name of your show, and
then also for your episodes. So

you need to be showing up at one
or both of these after that, I

need you to go back and
transcribe every single episode,

and I know that this is not
going to be fun. It's not fun to

do it every week. It's not fun
to do a backlog. And you might

be thinking, well, Morgan Apple
podcasts and Spotify will

transcribe my episodes. And
while that might be true, the

rest of the hosts are not doing
that, and I can speak from

personal experience, when I
forget to transcribe an episode,

it will impact the rankings that
I have and the searchability for

that episode on both Apple
podcasts and Spotify, which both

tell me that they are
transcribing my episodes. But

why are the episodes not ranking
that I don't transcribe? Riddle

me this. So anyway, I do not
trust Apple podcasts or Spotify.

Do your own transcriptions.
Lastly, for our purposes, here,

like I said, I have an entire
episode about podcast SEO linked

for you in the episode
description. But please, please,

please write episode
descriptions that are as

detailed and keyword specific as
possible. If this episode, let's

say, is for quilters about
finding that perfect holiday

fabric, I want every single word
that could possibly be about,

that that someone would be
searching for in that episode

description. And of course, the
episode description is what the

episode is about. That is what
you attach when you are

uploading your file and the name
of your episode, the episode

description is what is going
along with that. Having

visibility on podcasting apps is
one of the most critical ways

that any podcaster will grow and
build visibility for their

podcast. If you need help with
this, please feel free to send

me an email or send me a message
on my website. My email is

Morgan at morganfranklin dot
media, or my website is in the

episode description. I have
hourly coaching options. I would

love to help you out with this.
All right, so let's say we

called our friend who loves
podcasts. They have no

recommendations for us. They
can't tell us anything. We

search Spotify and Apple
podcasts, we have nothing. So

what's next? For me, it is
searching on Google. It's seeing

what other people have to say or
what other kind of

recommendations are out there.
Now, could this lead us into the

social media space? Absolutely,
it could. But honestly, for me,

most of the time I'm looking at
articles. I'm looking at list of

podcast recommendations online.
I want to know what other people

have to say and what their
rankings on these different

podcasts, and what their full,
complete thought is. But how can

you take advantage of this,
especially as a new podcaster,

especially as a podcaster that
might not have a lot of clout on

social media or anywhere else
like you're probably not going

to be featured in any blogs. So
how can you take advantage of

this? Send an email. Send a
message on LinkedIn or Instagram

or wherever you have to do it.
Get scrappy with it. You have no

idea how many blogs and
different news sources, and I'll

say news sources and quotes.
I've sent a message to saying,

hey. Hey, I saw you haven't
updated your list of podcasts

for podcasters Since 2021 My
name is Morgan. I'm Podcast

Producer. This is why you should
feature my podcast on your

revised list or updated list.
Does it work every time? No, of

course not. But has it worked?
Yes, yes. It has. Reaching out

and having that connection with
someone is so powerful. Then the

next time they need a source,
who are they calling? They're

calling you in the same vein as
joining a website like

connectively, which was formerly
Help a Reporter Out or harrow or

quoted and make sure that you
fill out all of the information

to become a contributor for news
and websites. Let me tell you

how this works. We'll stick with
the quilting example. But let's

say that cosmopolitan is looking
for someone that can speak to

quilting in 2025 they are most
likely going to go to one of

those two websites to put out an
open call to contributors with

their list of questions. And
that is when you are going to

come in and make your pitch and
say, Hey, I'm Morgan from Sir

quilts, a lot podcast, blah,
blah, blah, and make sure it is

featured in the article. So your
podcast is featured in the

article. So when someone sees,
oh, they're talking about quilts

and cosmopolitan, that's so
cool, they'll see, oh, oh my

gosh. She also has a podcast
about quilting. That's awesome.

I'm going to follow her. I'm
going to listen to her podcast.

So yes, promoting your podcast
on social media is important for

visibility and social proof, of
course, but in my experience,

meeting people and getting to
know them and telling them about

my podcast has been one of the
most consistently effective ways

to grow my audience. Get
business cards made, have your

podcast information and your
information on one side and a QR

code for them to scan on the
other side that goes directly to

your podcast. And make sure that
you listen to episode eight of

this podcast. Again, I will have
it linked in the episode

description. How to pitch your
podcast to anyone in 30 seconds.

This is a major hurdle for a lot
of podcasters. When they start

talking about their podcast face
to face, they just can't quite

communicate the podcast well
enough to convert that person

that they've just had a
conversation with into a

listener. And that is totally
understandable, so make sure

that you have mastered the art
of quickly being able to tell

someone Hey. This is what my
podcast is about. This is why

you should listen. This is where
you can listen. And most

importantly, if you're trying to
meet people face to face, be in

the places where you can meet
the people who would actually be

interested in your podcast.
Let's say I have a podcast about

Dungeons and Dragons. It's not
gonna do me a ton of good if I

go to a store about book
scrapping, for example, and I'm

passing out my cards. I'm
talking about my podcast. While

there might be a little bit of
overlap in these two kinds of

consumers, what would be great
is if I went to a gaming store

and started talking about my
podcast, that would be much more

effective and much more aligned
to my target audience. So

remember, put yourself in the
situation with the people who

are the most likely to be
listening to this podcast I

produce anywhere from four to
six interview style podcast

episodes per month, and I've met
hundreds of people through

interviewing and getting to know
people through podcasts. Never

underestimate the power of
growing your podcasts through

your guests and through the
community that both you are

surrounded with and your guests
are surrounded by. Your guests

should have such an amazing
experience on your podcast that

they want to tell their audience
about you, about your show and,

of course, about the episode
that they did with you as

podcasters. I know we're busy. I
know it is so hard just to put

out an episode a week, and we
forget to message people or to

follow up, but this really
should be a top priority, making

that guest experience something
that they will want to talk

about. Make sure that you're
giving them customized

promotional material, and you're
supporting their business, and

you're making them feel welcome
and seen. This is everything for

the majority of us. I think that
we do somewhat become aware of

podcasts through social media,
but it's one of those scenarios

that I explained in this episode
that will actually bring us to

subscribe and listen to the
podcast and become a fan. So

don't put all your eggs in the
social media basket, and

definitely don't let having a
small social media presence hold

you back from creating a
podcast, because that's not

usually how people will find the
podcast. Anyways, I'll tag all

of the episodes that I talked
about during this episode in

the. Episode description. Wow,
that is a lot of episodes. You

can shop my podcast template
store for a beautiful guest

questionnaire. If you want to
really uplevel that experience

of sending guests their
questions with a beautifully

crafted PDF that's customizable
in Canva. I'll have that linked

for you. And as always, I can't
wait to listen to your podcast.

Hey, thank you so much for
joining me on this episode. If

you enjoyed the podcast and
you'd like to hear more episodes

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