The strategic work that makes podcast marketing actually work

There are a lot of elements that must come together to make a high quality, purposeful and successful podcast. Marketing is a key part of that strategic process, but it isn't where you should start.

Look, we get it. It feels like everyone has a podcast and you don’t want yours to get lost in the noise. So before you’ve got much further than an idea, you’re already anxious about whether anyone will listen.

That anxiety often leads to people and business teams putting marketing first: ‘If we can just figure out the growth strategy, the content will follow.’

But that’s like hiring a sales team before you’ve defined what you’re selling. It might feel productive, but you’re solving the wrong problem.

What actually needs to come first

Before you worry about who or how many people will listen, you need to answer this.

What is this podcast actually for? Not ‘we should have a podcast’ but what specific business objective does it serve? Authority building? Client relationships? Thought leadership? Recruitment?

Who is it for? Not ‘everyone in our industry’ but which specific audience? Be ruthlessly narrow. A podcast for 500 of the right people is more valuable than one reaching 20,000 of the wrong people.

Why should these key target listeners care? What value are you providing that they can’t get elsewhere? What makes this worth 30 minutes of their time? What makes it unique? 

If your podcast sounds like everyone else’s in the space, no amount of marketing will help. Differentiation comes from strategic positioning and the quality of the content, not clever promotion. This is why we place so much emphasis on the crucial phase one of our podcasting process - the strategic development. 

Broadcasting is all about broad appeal for a mass audience. One of the key strengths of podcasting is the ability to focus on a niche and serve it uncompromisingly. 

Why strategy makes marketing easier

When you get the strategy right first, everything that comes later becomes easier.

You know exactly who you're targeting and why they should care. You're not promoting "a podcast about sustainability" - you're promoting "the only podcast that talks directly to sustainability professionals about the regulatory and commercial challenges they face daily." That specificity is what makes something marketable.

You know where your audience already is. Not blasting content everywhere hoping something sticks, but going directly to the three conferences, two LinkedIn groups and five newsletters they already pay attention to.

You can articulate your value in one sentence instead of three paragraphs. And when the right people listen, they immediately feel "this was made for me." That's how you build loyalty and word of mouth, not clever promotion tactics.

When to think about marketing

We know how important marketing is but we’ve also learned that focussing too much on it too early in the process is a mistake. So when should you worry about marketing?

After you’ve:

• Defined your strategic foundation (why are you making a podcast? Who is it for? What shape will it take? All of which is covered in phase one and two of our podcasting process)
• Created your first 3-6 episodes (Series 1 of your podcast)
• Proven the concept works by testing it with people in your network
• Established your quality baseline
• Gathered initial feedback

Then you’re ready to think about:

• Growth strategy
• Partnerships and cross-promotion
• Paid promotion (if appropriate for your show)
• Social media amplification

At this point, you have something worth marketing. You know what you’re promoting, who needs it, and why it matters. Marketing becomes targeted, not desperate.

What this actually looks like

In practice, we typically spend the first 6 to 12 weeks with clients on stage one and two work. This covers: 

• Strategic positioning (who is this podcast for and why should they care?)
• Stakeholder alignment (who are the key people involved and what are the business needs?)
• Content development (what are we actually making and how?)
• Production standards (what level of quality are we committing to?)
• First episode creation (proving the concept works and the presenters are on point)

Marketing comes in month 3-4, once we know what we’re promoting.

The result: better podcasts, clearer positioning, more effective marketing when you do start.

The question behind the question

When clients ask about marketing early, they’re often really asking: ‘Will anyone actually listen to this?’

That’s a legitimate concern. But the answer isn’t found in marketing tactics. It’s found in strategic positioning. If you’ve created something genuinely valuable for a specific audience, and you’ve made it easy to find and worth listening to, people will listen. Not millions, probably. But the right people will.

And in business podcasting, that’s what matters.

One of our clients is about to hit a big milestone. They are about to release their one hundredth episode. Their download numbers are modest, but their audience are loyal, engaged and exactly the people this business wants to engage. That’s not a marketing success story. It’s a strategic positioning success story.

If you’re planning to launch a podcast and you’re worried about how to market it, take a step back.

First, get clear on what you’re building and who it’s for. Make something worth listening to. Then think about how to get it in front of the right people.

Strategy first. Production Second. Marketing when we have something proven to shout about. That’s how you build something that lasts.

If you’re thinking about launching a podcast but aren’t sure where to start, take our Podcast Readiness Assessment to identify whether you have the strategic foundations in place, or book a strategy call to work through these questions in detail.