How to Promote Your Podcast on Instagram

Did you know that Instagram has officially reached 2.4 billion monthly users? And out of that billion, more than 500 million users visit the platform and scroll through their feed every day—making it an ideal platform to set up a small business, market a service, or in your case, promote a podcast.

Just think about it. When it comes to driving up your listener count, whether it’s through reaching out to your lapsed users or engaging with a new potential audience, Instagram has the tools and the market.

All you have to do is learn how to maximize the social media platform and promote your podcast on Instagram correctly.

Add Your Podcast Link To Your Bio

The first tip to promote a podcast on Instagram is the easiest: always add a link to your podcast website in your profile.

This advice doesn’t just hold true for those with podcasts, but for all marketers who are looking to promote products or services as well.

Why is this important? Because unlike any other social media platform, Instagram was created to showcase visuals and photos more than copy or text. This means that the places where you can directly link people to a 3rd party site or platform are limited. In fact, your bio may be the only section on Instagram where you can share a hyperlink.

That said, simply placing your link on your bio is really the most basic way to promote a podcast on Instagram.

You also have to craft content that is interesting and engaging enough to entice your followers and viewers to learn more about what you have to say. Besides visuals, remind people if you have to: caption your posts with a call-to-action that tells people to click the link in your bio.

Share Content About Your Guests

Part of the pull of each podcast episode is the featured guest. The more influential, interesting, or popular the guest, the more people will want to tune in – especially if these guests have fans or followers who are not necessarily familiar with your show.

On the flipside, fans of your podcast may also not be familiar with your guests. If you host an interview podcast, it is always a great idea to create content to introduce them to your followers.

Promote your podcast by creating and sharing teasers to the next episode. You could have posts that announce your upcoming episode with a little snippet on what it is going to be about, or have content that features a short background on your guest.

Of course, don’t forget to tag him or her, and if they are up for it, get them to post about your podcast on their page.

Create Teasers For Upcoming Episodes

One way to promote a podcast on Instagram is to create content that talks about what topics you are going to be covering and showcases the highlights of upcoming episodes.

Aside from featuring information about your guests, you can also explore creating posts using interesting quotes from the episode, and invite your audience to chime in and share their thoughts on your comments section.

 You could even create video content by splicing soundbites together and setting the audio against a stationary background.

Keep in mind that standing out on Instagram means finding ways to make your images eye-catching, even if your posts primarily feature text (as with quotes). Don’t just use your podcast cover art.

An amazing and easy trick is to create a template that’s unique to your podcast’s brand and persona, and to apply the same one to each text-based content your share. And you do not have to be a graphic designing whizz to achieve this – all you have to do is download a photo-editing app that allows you to create layouts.

Instasize, for example, has a number of modern fonts and layout options for you to choose from. The app also has a great border tool with fresh designs, so you can play around with the backgrounds of your images and create a frame you can use and color-coordinate, depending on the nature of your posts (ex. blue frame or background for quotes, orange features for guests, etc).

Know How To Use Hashtag for Your Podcast on Instagram

When social media was just starting out, “hashtag” was a buzzword used by many. But when it comes to marketing your brand or getting your name across a wider audience, knowing how to use it properly definitely comes in handy.

First of all, create your own hashtag and use this every time you post or any of your guests share content related to your podcast. This will collate your content into one space, so that each time people click on your hashtag, they are automatically led to all posts related to your podcast.

The use of other hashtags, on the other hand, requires more strategy and research. Start by studying what topics are popular or trending, knowing what your target market is interested in, and finding out which of these intersect with your brand—then hashtag accordingly. If your podcast is all about #food and #lifestyle, figure out which other topics you can connect with, like #travel or #health. This will make your posts discoverable on people’s explore pages, and more reachable to a wider audience. 

A word of caution, though: don’t be too trigger happy with your hashtags. Before using a hashtag, make sure that it’s actually relevant to the post you are sharing. And remember to stay within the optimal amount of 9 to 11 hashtags per post in order to keep engagement rates at its optimal.

Experiment With Instagram Stories

This is one of the hottest new ways to promote a podcast on Instagram!

Out of all the Instagram features, Instagram Stories is one of the newest, but also one of the go-tos of brands and marketers alike–and for good reason. According to this year’s statistics, a whopping third of the most viewed Stories come from a business, which means if you want to promote your podcast on Instagram, posting on Stories is your best bet.

What makes Instagram Stories so great is that it allows you to be more candid with what you share than everywhere else on your feed. Content posted there has a 24-hour lifespan, perfect for sharing quick behind-the-scenes exclusives, clips, or teasers for your upcoming episodes.

This feature also has stickers that let you hold polls and ask your audience questions, which can be especially helpful when it comes to maximizing your engagement with your followers and mining valuable insight as to what your current and prospective listeners might expect from your podcast.

Another nifty feature worth mentioning is that you can also use Instagram Stories to link viewers to your site by inviting them to swipe up.

The catch though is that this is only available to Business Accounts with 10,000 followers or more. This is a challenge for most, but it’s also a good reason to start beefing your content up to attract more followers.

Leverage IGTV As A New Format

If Instagram Stories is a feature, think of IGTV as an arm—it’s a semi-independent member of the Instagram toolkit that allows content creators to share videos longer than the 60-second limit of the average feed.

You might be thinking, “But I already have a podcast, why would I want to bother with another format?” The answer is to supplement your show with a visual counterpart. If your podcast is the main attraction, your IGTV channel could house some spin-off content: behind-the-scenes snippets or interesting commentary that you could share between each podcast episode to maintain the engagement of your audience.

Or you could simply publish portions of your show with a static image. Simply grab a section of your show (or edit sections together) and convert it to an MP4 with a title image that shows your logo, episode name, and URL. This is similar to how you would republish to YouTube.

Invest In Sponsored Content for Your Podcast on Instagram

Of course, having a limited following shouldn’t be a detriment to getting views to your posts. Another option for sharing a podcast on Instagram is to turn your posts into ads, giving you access to better click rates, advanced targeting, and specialized post formats.

Expect to dish out anywhere between 20 cents to $2 CPM (cost per thousand views/impressions) depending on your selected targets. Once your ad is up and running, your post will show up on the feeds of your audience of choice. (You’ll notice ads are sold the same way you would sell an ad on your podcast.)

Much like the swipe up feature of Instagram Stories, turning your post into a sponsored ad allows you to link viewers to your site.

You can follow all the tips mentioned in this article, but at the end of the day, successful marketing and promotion of a podcast on Instagram all boils down to having quality content. Instagram is a photo-sharing social media platform, and people browse through feeds to connect with others through visuals.

So whether it’s through creating content for your profile or sharing posts through Stories, remember to up your visual game and stay engaging when sharing a podcast on Instagram. Listen to your own listeners. Always explore new ways to maximize the platform by studying what your prospective audience wants, and learn from what your competitors are doing to win.

What Are Your Tips for Promoting a Podcast on Instagram?

Have you had any luck promoting a podcast on Instagram? What are your recommendations? Let us know in the comments!