Getting more Spotify streams for your podcast is a common goal in the industry today. Spotify, being the biggest podcast platform right now, is a must for podcasters to grow their audience.
However, some shows experience plateaus in the platform. If you’re one of these podcasts, this article will be great for you. We will discuss below the different podcast strategies and tips that will help you get more Spotify streams for your podcast in 2022.
So get your notes ready, and let’s get right into it.
10 Ways To Get More Spotify Streams For Your Podcast
The following strategies will help you get more streams for your podcast on Spotify. These are proven ways that are used by big podcasts on the platform to gain more listeners and have more exposure for their show.
1. Be Active Outside of Just Spotify Streams
The well-known podcasts on Spotify are not on Spotify alone. They leverage multiple social media platforms to get their show in front of their target listeners. Social media has been the key for brands and businesses to be closer to their audience than ever.
Social media platforms are where people get to discover new podcast shows. The current algorithms of these applications are so smart that they can suggest shows or content tailored to the users’ interests.
I can’t tell you how many shows I’ve discovered and streamed because of the different algorithms from various social media platforms. And most often than not, these auto suggestions are on point too.
This is why you need to be active on these social platforms. Create content, display your knowledge, and share snippets from previous podcast episodes. Tools like Wavve do this easily for you.
Doing these things will help you get more exposure and convince people that you are worth listening to.
2. Optimize Your Spotify Stream for Podcast SEO
Some people think that SEO is only for written content. But Google and search engines have evolved so that they can optimize whether the link is a blog, a podcast episode, or an eCommerce store. This is why you can see some advanced Shopify SEO services, blog SEO, SEO software, and more.
We all know how vital search engine results are. If you land on the first page of Google, it’s a game-changer for brands because their exposure and visitor count will go through the roof. This is why it’s so important that SEO should be included in your strategies.
Now you might ask, “How do you do SEO for podcasts?”
Well, here are some strategies:
A Conduct Keyword Research
Keyword research in the realm of SEO is a must. Because if possible, the keywords you’ve chosen should be part of your title, meta description of your podcast, and other aspects of your show.
There are a lot of keyword research tools that you can utilize. The most ideal keywords to target are those with high search volumes. But the best keywords would be the ones with high search volumes with low competition. This enables you to target a popularly searched term or phrase that only a small number of brands are competing for.
Provide Timestamps
Timestamps make your podcast show scannable. Your audience will appreciate it if you timestamp your show because it tells them when you will discuss certain topics in your show.
This is great for listeners who only want to hear specific discussions from your guest or you. These people don’t listen to the whole podcast, which isn’t all that bad because even in written content, these people exist. They just scan the content and look for the answer to their question or curiosity.
Optimize Your Podcast Title
When people see your content in search engines, your title will be the first thing they’ll be reading. So make sure to create a title that’s concise and specific. Also, you want to communicate clearly to your audience what your topic is about through the title.
3. Invite Valuable Guests on Your Podcast
One of the biggest podcasts in the world takes in various guests from different fields. The Joe Rogan Experience has become the top podcast show because Joe Rogan talks to different individuals from different niches and industries.
This shows how important inviting guests are. But you don’t need to follow the route of getting guests from different backgrounds. If you want your podcast to target a niche, you can stick with inviting guests from your industry.
Having guests around is a great way to give a fresh perspective to your audience. They get to hear ideas coming from a different individual.
Because if you’ve been a solo show for too long, your audience will already know your take on certain topics. This might not entice them to listen to your show over time.
There will also be times that personal brands will contact you if they can sit as a guest on your show.
Don’t be afraid to hand-pick guests. It’s your show anyway. If you want quality, pick those who can bring the most value.
4. Clip Your Spotify Streams
We all know how videos have taken the industry by storm. It has been a game changer for business marketing, education, support, webinars, and advertisements. But did you know that a video trend has disrupted the podcast industry too?
It’s what they call “clips.” You can clip the most interesting parts of your show and turn them into video clips. You will then use these clips as marketing content for your show. There have been a ton of podcasts that use this video marketing trend.
Clipping scenes from your show has been a great way to hook listeners because bite-sized content doesn’t take much time to watch. This acts like a sneak peek of what’s to come.
For those filming video along with your audio, this tip is easy. However, even if you just stream audio, tools like Wavve can help you easily turn audio into video clips.
Podcast clips are perfect in today’s consumer landscape because not only do people want short-form content, but popular social media platforms have created features for this purpose only.
Right now, you have TikTok, Instagram Stories, and Youtube Shorts – specifically built for short video clips. If these multinational companies see the value of clips and have created features to support that, you should be jumping into this trend too.
5. Create Written Content From Your Spotify Streams
Although videos are all the craze right now, don’t underestimate the power of written content with images. This applies to podcasts too. Some podcasts create a written version of each episode and post it on their website.
It doesn’t only help with content marketing, but it acts as another content type Google can suggest when someone searches for your topic. If people see that your written content is informative and engaging, they might give your podcast a try.
Content writing has been part of many digital marketing initiatives by big brands and businesses. They incorporate this for the simple reason that it works. People love to read content, whether that’s short-form or long-form content.
This is another way podcasters get more listeners to their Spotify stream.
By bringing value to people, they will be more intrigued and interested in what you have to say. This works especially if you have a call to action at the end of your written content, which can help boost your lead generation.
6. Be Unique With Your Content
Putting in the extra effort to be unique with your content can bring benefits to your podcast. If you’ve done great at it, you can get more Spotify streams and followers.
You might question what aspect you need to be unique in? Well, you can be unique in how you do your show.
For instance, you can include background music that blends well while conversing. That small addition might be enough to hook people to listen to the show from start to finish.
Another way to be unique is how you repurpose your content. Some, as stated, provide a snippet of the show or post a short video clip highlight of it. But you can also think outside the box and be creative.
An animated waveform audiogram of something engaging the guest said just might stop the scroll long enough the earn a click. It’s engaging content to look at because the style is something you don’t see every day.
7. Engage With Your Audience Online
Many podcasters believe that if they post their episodes online, that’s all the work they need to do. But if they’re aiming for a bigger goal of increasing Spotify streams, a lot more effort is needed.
One way you can increase your number of listeners would be to stay active and engaged online.
Don’t just keep posting content – it can sometimes do more damage than good. Take some time to answer questions and engage in the comment section.
Doing this shows that your brand is accessible and real to your audience. And when they see this, they’ll feel more comfortable engaging with you as well. Seeing you interact with people is a great help for your podcast.
For example, suppose you can provide informative answers in the comment section or on your social media. In that case, people who perceive these conversations as something valuable will be intrigued to listen to your podcast episodes. They’ll want to learn more about what you have to say on certain topics.
8. Focus on Quality Over Quantity
We’ve all heard of this saying, but it’s a cliche for a reason. It’s a phrase that applies to many aspects of life that podcast shows should also follow.
In podcasting, you’d generally want to follow this rule because it gives more benefit to your business. You don’t want to make an episode just for the sake of having something to release this week. If you’re doing it for that reason, it will show in that episode. You will lack enthusiasm and may sound forced.
Quality Spotify streams are the ones listeners tell you benefited their lives in some way.
When listeners take away something informative from your podcast, they won’t hesitate to share your show with their network. That’s free word-of-mouth marketing right there.
If you’re releasing episodes once every two weeks and making sure it is top-notch, then your audience will be willing to wait for it. Especially if it is highly valuable to them.
If done well, the wait can actually build up excitement in your community.
9. Aim to Be Better on Every Episode
If you’re still starting, not everything will be high quality. You will be making some mistakes too. Listing down these realizations will help in knowing what to improve on for future shows.
You can invest in better microphones, a studio, a camera, and much more. Having bad audio quality can annoy your podcast listeners. So investing in improving the quality of your show as you continue your podcast journey will help to attract more listeners and earn more streams.
Improving doesn’t just cover the technical aspects. If you observed that your recent show was a bit boring and the overall conversation was dry, list down how you can make it more engaging next time.
You could also find improvements in how to better blend in your ads. For example, you could experiment with finding the best place to insert an ad break in your Spotify stream. Where can it naturally fit and not break the flow?
The overall way you converse with your guest can also be improved. If you think you could have extracted more valuable information from your guest, think about what questions you could’ve added to your program.
When improving on every episode, think about all aspects of your podcast.
10. Follow Spotify Guides
If you’re not aware yet, Spotify has a page for podcasters where they help with various aspects of streaming a podcast on their platform. They have many articles to help you with the basics like how to start a podcast, manage your podcast, and many more.
There are also technical topics that they discuss. They can help you explain why your podcast isn’t appearing in Search, help you understand listener and follower data, and help you promote your podcast on Spotify.
This webpage is full of rich articles that can help you reach your podcast goals. If you have further questions that they haven’t tackled yet, you simply contact them to find what you’re looking for.
Conclusion
These are some of the ways you can get more Spotify streams for your podcast in 2022. It’s not going to be an easy route, but it’s always a worthwhile experience to build your audience organically.
For starters, it’s always a good idea to be active on social media platforms because there’s a high chance that’s where your target audience is hanging out. Be active and engage with them. Start conversations and give free tips that you have learned along the way.
If you’re looking for a platform to easily repurpose your audio content into video for various social media platforms, Wavve has easy tools to help you with this endeavor.
Burkhard Berger is the founder of Novum™. Follow Burkhard on his journey from $0 to $100,000 per month. He’s sharing everything he learned in his income reports so you can pick up on his mistakes and wins.