Here at We Edit Podcasts, we’re on a mission to help you and your podcast achieving your podcasting hopes and dreams. And part of that mission involves arming you with strategies to promote your podcast on all types of platforms so that you can expand your audience, grow your reach, and help you build that healthy podcast community.
The strategies we’re sharing today are specifically focused on using Instagram to promote your podcast, but before we get into those, we need to cover a few Instagram Basics that apply to all Instagram accounts that want to successfully reach their target audience.
1. Beef Up Your Bio
Make sure that your bio tells your followers exactly what you and your podcast are all about. Feel free to add some personality and your unique flare (as much as you can squeeze into 150 characters, that is!) but be sure to include the link to your podcast! It’s the only place you can insert a clickable link, so don’t pass up the opportunity to direct your followers to your show!
2. Do Some Hashtag Research
Hashtag research is the key to any Instagram promotional strategy. Remember, you’re using your account to expand your reach and grow your podcast audience, as well as strengthening the relationship with your loyal listeners. But those who follow you will likely already be a part of your podcast audience. It’s those who don’t know you yet that you want to reach. And that’s where using the right hashtags comes in. Do your research to find those niche hashtags that will appeal to your target audience, and mix those in with some of the “bigger” podcast-related hashtags. And then change these up as your reach grows!
3. Create High-Quality Content
Remember, Instagram is a visually-based platform. And you get more followers by creating the content they want to see. So no matter what you share, you need to be sure that your posts are of the highest quality, but most importantly, you want to be sure that they are appealing to your intended audience. You can create some top-notch content but if it’s not going to catch the eye of your target audience, your Instagram strategy will not yield the results you want. Make sure you do your research to know what your target audience is looking for, then deliver the high-quality, eye-catching goods they’re after!
Related read: 7 Tips for Creating Great Podcast Content
And now that you’ve got the basics down, let’s look into some super-effective strategies for using Instagram to promote your show and grow your podcast audience!
1. Share Podcast Clips
As you’re using your Instagram account to let more people know about your awesome podcast, it follows that your first strategy should be to share some clips from your podcast. Now these could be anything from your podcast trailer, (these can be a great addition to your show! Check out the post we did on podcast trailers here!) snippets from past episodes or a sound bite or two from the next episode you’re about to drop. One of our favorite ways to share clips from our favorite podcasts is to make use of audiograms. An audiogram is an audio clipping that has been converted to an animated waveform and placed on top of an image, which can then be shared on your Instagram account. They are a great podcast marketing tool for a variety of platforms and they are also incredibly easy to make, thanks to sites like Headliner, Wavve, and Audiogram. These sites do all the heavy lifting for you, and they’re super user-friendly, allowing you to easily select your desired audio clip, choose from multiple styles and colors of waveforms, and upload your desired background image. The sites even transcribe the audio for you, making captions and subtitles a breeze. These eye-catching audiograms expose potential listeners to sound bites of your podcast, and once they’ve heard your content, no doubt they’ll be subscribing to your show!
Related read: How To Use Podcast Audiograms To Engage Your Audience On Social Media
2. Share a Variety of Videos 
Instagram is a great platform because it showcases all types of content. It was made for static images, it’s great for audiograms, but it’s also a fantastic platform to share video content. So Strategy 2 involves sharing a whole of variety of content to your feed. If you film your podcast recording for your YouTube channel or video podcast, you’ve got reels (pun intended) of content you can share across your Instagram feed! These could be some fun footage of you getting ready to record, setting up with your guest, or even other “un-podcast” related videos. As long as the content caters to your target audience, even if it is not directly related to your podcast, it will still be expanding your reach. If your show is one that often features some great guests, get them in on the action and create some fun behind-the-scenes videos which you can then share on your feed. Whether it’s you and your guest getting ready to hit record, or some spontaneous clips from you being out and about doing everyday activities, all of this can be a hit on the Gram. (Does anyone actually say that IRL?) If you can use your Instagram account to show even more of your personality, you’ll not only be able to build stronger relationships with your loyal listeners, but you’ll also be able to attract new listeners to your show.
Related read: The Whys, Whens, And Hows Of Video Podcasting
3. Have Fun With Instagram Stories
Following on from those fun “behind-the-scenes” or “day-in-the-life” videos or sneak peeks comes our next strategy for expanding your show’s reach via Instagram – utilizing all the possibilities of Instagram stories. Consistently adding fun content to your stories will help keep your followers engaged with your content and will help you build and strengthen your podcast brand. Instagram stories really allow you to have loads of fun when it comes to content creation and gives you a fantastic opportunity to inject some extra pizazz and share more of your personality with your community. And one of the real pluses when it comes to Instagram stories is all the creative options available to you. Sure, you can (and should!) share podcast teasers or sneak peeks, but you can also share videos of you trying trending challenges, or use some of the features, such as polls or questions, to really connect with your followers in a whole new way.
Related read: How to Build and Strengthen Your Podcast Brand
4. Share Content About Your Guests
If you often have some dynamic guests that you get to share the mic with, then you already have all you need to put Strategy 4 into place. Another effective way to use your Instagram platform to promote your podcast is to create content that celebrates your guests. Whenever you’ve got a new guest appearing on your podcast, create some content that tells your followers a little bit about them. Celebrate their accomplishments, share some fun facts, or offer some teasers of the amazing content you’ll cover in your episode. Celebrating your guests is a really effective way of expanding your podcast reach as you can leverage your guest’s following and draw them into your audience. This type of content is also just a great way to expose your followers to amazing new people to follow, and can help grow their awareness of all that the wonderful world of podcasting has to offer.
5. Turn Your Content Into Infographics
You can also repurpose your podcast content for your Instagram account by turning it into eye-catching infographics. Infographics utilize a mix of text and imagery, and they have a high response rate when it comes to content or niche searches. As they convey information easily, they are highly shareable, which makes them a really effective for Instagram. They also give tons of value to your followers, which is always what you’re aiming for whenever you share content on any platform. And this highly-valuable type of content serves another purpose as it helps position you as an authority within your niche. And if your followers are finding value in your Instagram content, they will be more likely to gravitate towards other places where you offer even more valuable content, which is when they’ll get hooked on your podcast!
Related read: 8 Strategies to Build Authority in Your Podcast Niche
6. Share Tips and Tricks
Whatever your area of expertise and whatever niche your podcast is aligned to, you will certainly have some tips and tricks you can share! And these can make for some great Instagram posts! These could be standard posts or Instagram stories where you share your wisdom and knowledge. Sharing tips and tricks, or “hack” videos could also be a great idea as a way to indirectly promote your podcast. These types of videos allow viewers to make a connection with you, but they have the added bonus of helping to establish you as an authority within your niche. As you share your expertise, your audience gets to know more about you, that relationship between you and your audience will deepen. And by consistency and creatively sharing your expertise, you will cement your voice as that of an expert. This can also help draw listeners to your podcast as they trust the information that you share and are hungry for more of that valuable content that you provide via your podcast.
7. Share Your Podcast Recommendations
8. Create Brand-Related Content
Lastly, use your Instagram account as a place to share brand-related content. Again, this does not have to be purely podcast-related posts. This could be content that simply aligns to your podcast niche, but it could also just be entertaining content that appeals to your podcast’s target audience, which will all help you establish your podcast brand. Memes, “inside jokes”, relatable Reels, or just plain funny videos will all help make your Instagram account the place to go for fresh, innovative, or feel-good content. By creating a hub of excitement around your Instagram content, you should then be able to channel that into a buzz around your podcast, as your Instagram followers become core members of your loyal listener base.
Closing Thoughts
Instagram offers bucket loads of opportunities for you to promote your podcast and grow your audience. The only real limit is your creativity and innovation! But whether you dabble in all of these strategies, or you come up with your own unique ideas, your Instagram success will boil down to the quality of your content, the relevance of your content, how consistently you share your content, and your level of engagement with your audience. Consistently sharevbrand-related, high-quality content, and regularly engage with your followers, whether that’s responding to dm’s or comments, and your Instagram account will help you create and nurture a thriving podcast community around your amazing show.
