Even if you already have an active podcast audience, most creators consistently look for new growth strategies to find more listeners. Taking the time to expand your audience feels daunting when you already spend so much time creating, editing and producing, so which strategies are worth the effort?

In contrast to indie podcasters, branded podcasts probably have access to a lot more resources. So the first step of finding a new audience would be a visit to your company's marketing department. While advertising and social media marketing are excellent ways to promote your podcast, we learned that word of mouth is much more effective at bringing on those lifelong listeners when it comes to podcasting.

Collaboration takes this ‘word of mouth’ a step further. By working together with other podcast creators or brands, you’re positioning your company as an expert of its own. So regardless of what your podcast is about, you can always benefit from collaborations.

Types of collaboration

The main ways podcasters collaborate are through cross-promotion, creating content for each other, and guesting on each others’ shows. 

Cross-Promotion

We’ve all listened to a podcast in which the hosts chime in to say, “If you love our podcast, then you will definitely like podcast X, so check them out!” It’s one of the most straightforward ways to collaborate. A good old shout-out. All this takes is reaching out to other shows and offering to do a promo swap. After that, you write your copy or ask your collaborators to write the copy in their style. Easy, fast, and effective. This is also really easy to implement when you’re creating multiple podcasts for your brand. You can shout out the other shows from the company. The fact that you attract listeners with your branded podcast shows that people are interested in your brand. Why not try another podcast you create. 

Guest Content

Many branded podcasts have a website to showcase their latest episodes and other content. They’re always looking for new ways to bolster their website, enhance their SEO, and welcome content production help. Write a blog post or an article for their website, and link back to your podcast. This will encourage their listeners and fans to check you out and show that you have authority in your topic. They’ll welcome the free content, and you’ll welcome the extra visits to your website and podcast.

Guest Spots

One of the best ways to bring on new listeners is to be a guest on another podcast. You don’t have to stick solely to podcasts in your field, and you can get creative. Whenever podcasts feature guests that they are genuinely excited about, the audience can tell, and they are more likely to check out the guest’s work. 

As we said before, there’s no better endorsement of a podcast than another podcast being a fan! Remember when we said that word of mouth is the best way to get long-lasting, dedicated listeners? Well, being a guest on a podcast allows you to speak directly with a brand new audience and spread the word yourself! Plus, it will enable you to break from the regular format of your podcast and talk about your work in a new environment.

Where to find a collaboration partner?

One of the easiest ways to find branded podcasts in your niche is to see which podcasts podcatchers (like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.) define as related to your show. These podcasts already share a certain number of listeners with you. 

Think of this as a Venn diagram; you may share some listeners, but there’s a proportion of their listeners who don’t yet know about you! There are also potential collaborators within your social media circles. If you have built a social media community around your brand or podcast, check out what other podcasts your audience is following.
We know that finding collaborators takes time and effort, and sometimes we just want to spend our energy making our podcast rather than conducting ongoing partner outreach campaigns. Audry streamlines the process of finding new collaborators and enables you to hone in on the podcasters that not only have an investment in collaboration but are excited to network with other podcast creators around the world.

About the Author‍

Davine Vleerbos is Content & Community Manager at Audry.