11 Ways To Increase Podcast Download Numbers

A podcast download number is an essential metric to any podcast. It’s a good indication of how interested the listeners are in a particular podcast episode or the whole show in general.

Although starting a podcast may seem like an easy task, improving its metrics is a whole different story. It requires extensive research and strict implementation. It’s all about listening to what your audience wants and observing how they engage on certain episodes.

If your podcast download numbers have been steadily declining lately, then this post can be of value to you. Listed below are proven strategies that help podcasts increase their downloads and have better engagement.

1. Provide value to listeners

As cliche as it may sound, value is what attracts people. It’s what makes a business scale and increase its engagement rate. It is because of value that businesses can land clients and convert prospects.

Take Mannequin Mall as an example. Selling mannequins is a very niche industry, but the company still provides value through posting guides and blog content for its users. They use their website to display their expertise in the industry.

Because of their product and consistent posting of value-driven content, they landed big clients in their industry.

Now the same thing can be applied in the podcast world. If a podcast can provide value to its listeners, the improvement of metrics will follow. Subscription will go up, podcast download numbers will soar, and engagement will be a lot busier.

One of the biggest deals that happened in the podcast industry took place last year. It’s when Spotify bought the rights to The Joe Rogan Experience for $100 million.

But did the rise in popularity of The Joe Rogan Experience happened overnight? No. The podcast started in 2009, and throughout the years, Joe Rogan has invited prominent individuals to have conversations about various topics that brought value to his listeners.

That news just shows that if you want to increase your podcast download numbers, land a deal, or grow in numbers, you need to provide valuable content to your listeners. You just can’t regurgitate information and expect people to come flocking in.

Your podcast needs to be original, start conversations, spark ideas, and motivate actions. 

2. Quality control

Quality control might come off as a basic tip, but this is a crucial part of a podcast that many hosts take for granted. 

Before you start thinking of increasing your podcast download numbers, you need to monitor the quality of your content. Remember, podcasting is an audio first platform. Make sure that every episode you publish is high quality, especially the audio.

Most people would tolerate a bad video but never bad audio. It’s much more annoying to hear screeches and imbalanced voice levels than watching a 240p video quality.

Just like how businesses hire web designers to create a professional-looking website, podcast hosts also hire producers to maintain the quality of every podcast episode.

But if you’re a one-person team, consider investing in these things:

Invest in a podcasting microphone – If you want to achieve high-quality audio for your podcast, a microphone suited for this is necessary. A quick Google search will tell you the best podcasting microphones in the market today.  

Invest in a good recording environment  – Do you hold your podcast in a studio apartment next to a busy street?  Are you in a room where echoes are loud and clear? High-quality audio will depend not only on your gadgets but also on where you record the podcast matters.

Invest in podcast software – If a sales team has a predictive dialer and a marketing group has an automation tool, podcasters should have podcast software. This tool allows post-production edits to be much easier. If you’re unfamiliar with this process, here’s a guide to podcast software usage.

3. Invite knowledgeable personalities

Inviting knowledgeable guests or known personalities to your show is a growth hacking strategy that can produce exponential results. If your podcast is all about educating listeners on certain topics, this is a must-do for your show.

Top podcasts rarely have the hosts talking every time. Most of them invite knowledgeable people in their industry to share their opinion and ideas.

This strategy is a win-win situation for both the podcast show and the guest. The podcast can share more information with its audience, and the guest has a platform to display their expertise.

Another great thing about inviting guests is you get your podcast in front of their audience. If they have a million loyal followers, then for sure, it would boost your podcast numbers, reach, and downloads.

But the benefit of having your metrics boosted should only come second. The first reason why you’re inviting people over is to educate your audience further. This again falls under providing value to your listeners.

Inviting knowledgeable people in your space is already a proven strategy since the top podcasts in the world follow this format. An example of this is Timecamp’s podcast – Stay On Top Of Your Work. Their show invites people to talk about leadership, time management, and the advantages of productivity tools like desktop time trackers.

4. Be active on social media

Social media has been home to entertainment and educational streams. But to some businesses, it’s a platform to connect with their audience and start conversations with them. 

If your podcast is just starting, social media dramatically helps promote content and build a community.

We all know how important social media is when talking about scaling things. Whether you’re a podcast, a business, or a personal brand, being active on social media will do you more good than harm.

When you’re new to the podcast world, social media platforms are an excellent place to promote content, build a fan base, and talk to your listeners.

5. Promote intriguing clips from the podcast

Was there something intriguing that happened on a particular episode of yours? Were you caught in a debate with your guest? Did you discuss a controversial trendy topic?

These moments in your podcast can be marketing material for you. It can be a way to hook your audience by promoting snippets of those moments. Take an interesting part of your episode, cut it, and share it on your socials. 

Below is an example of a 6-minute podcast teaser clip that plays a conversation around the topic of The sexy Halloween costume industrial complex.  

This strategy gives your listeners a taste of what a particular episode would be like. These snippets could be intriguing, controversial, mind-blowing, or even funny.

If it piques their curiosity, that snippet can be enough for them to listen or download that podcast episode.

6. Involve your listeners 

Involving your listeners is a great way to grow your podcast. A fun and engaged community can easily attract other listeners to chime in as well.

There are several ways that you can involve your users. First, you can invite a member of your community to be a guest on your podcast. Let them share their relevant experience and knowledge with your audience. 

Another one is if you have a prominent guest in your show, you can ask your listeners to submit their questions for the person. Doing this gives your listeners an incentive to listen.

Lastly, a great way to involve your audience is by featuring them on your website or platform. You could share their story related to your brand, or you could display their review of your content. You could use their review in a slider-format just like how Mixam did with theirs:

By taking their opinion, you’re making them feel like they are more than just listeners of the show. Involving them makes them feel like their role is more significant, and they are part of the podcast’s growth.

A bonus tip on involving your listeners is by simply responding to them on your socials. Having conversations with your listeners will make them feel more involved and interested.

Take a look at how the host of The Daily Meditation podcast  – a show about meditation and mindfulness for seniors, millennials, or any age for that matter, responds to her listeners on different social media platforms. 

By being proactive in your socials and conversing with most of your engagements, you’re letting your community see that you genuinely care about their opinion.

7. Be consistent with your posting

When you are serious with your podcasting endeavor, creating an episode from start to finish is difficult. The reason for this is you want your content to be high quality which means it involves a lot of editing.

Given all the effort done in a podcast, it’s sometimes difficult for people to post consistently, especially if they’re a one-person show. But if you want to increase those podcast download numbers, this is a task that you should be willing to take head-on. 

An increased download number also means a lot more people are listening to your content. And you need to ride this momentum by consistently posting your podcast episodes. 

You don’t have to do it every other day; a once a week schedule is usually the sweet spot for every podcast out there. 

By being active and consistently posting, you’ll retain more of your listeners and even attract new ones to your show.

8. Improve to be a better podcast host

Podcasting is mainly about providing value through conversations. If you’re a podcast host and have a guest on the show, it’s your job to make the overall conversation exciting and structured. 

Interesting conversations are what make your listeners listen to your podcast for thirty minutes or a full hour. The structure of the overall discussion should be organized as well. You don’t want to be jumping from one topic to another distant subject. This will make your listeners feel confused about what you’re talking about.

Making the overall content of the podcast clear and concise is essential, especially to those new industries like the NFT marketplace and Defi-powered platforms.

Improving as a podcast host also requires you to ask better questions. When you write the questions before you meet with your guest, make sure to put your audience in mind. After all, your podcast is all about providing value.

Run through the questions you have listed and see if they benefit your audience. Are those questions what your listeners have in mind? Can the answers to these questions help your audience?

Becoming a great host takes time and experience. So continue to reach out to people, introspect if you’re asking the right questions, and constantly think of ways to improve. Remember that nothing great happens overnight. 

9. Use episodes as content marketing material

Your podcast episodes can also be used as content marketing material for your website. You can create a complete transcription of the whole episode or summarize it into blog content. By doing this, you get three benefits for your podcast:

Boosts podcast SEO

Since Google’s algorithm can’t crawl audio files and check if your podcast is relevant to a certain topic, the written content can serve as the algorithm’s basis. When you’ve discussed certain searchable keywords, it will reflect on the transcript, and Google will pick up on it.

Reach a wider audience

There’s a percentage in your audience that prefers to read than to learn through audio. And creating a full transcript of your podcast makes you reach that part of your audience.

Plus, you also get to cater to the people interested in your content but have lost their ability to hear.

It can provide you backlinks

If you’ve placed your transcripts on your website or created a blog post about it, the higher the chance other websites in your niche will provide backlinks. This then increases the exposure of your podcast and gets more people to learn about it.

An example of this is Helium 10’s podcast. The Serious Seller is a show that teaches its listeners topics on automating an Amazon FBA business, how to grow it, and how to increase sales.

Look at how they repurpose each podcast episode as blog content which increases the chance of other websites linking back to them and search engines recognizing their business.

10. Be a guest on other podcasts

One way to display and share your expertise would be through other podcasts. Networking with other podcast hosts increases your chance to be invited as a guest on another platform. This allows you to showcase your in-depth knowledge of certain topics.

Showing your expertise is a way to market yourself to other people. You show how your experience can bring value to them and how much they can learn from your skills.

If you’re able to leave a remarkable impression as a guest, they’d be interested to know more about what you have to say. And most of the time, that’s enough reason for them to check out your podcast.

11. Be active in the community

Online communities have grown in popularity throughout the years. Such groups give value to people who want to learn more about their niche and understand the different processes.

And it is in these groups and communities where you can bring people value. You can do so by answering questions and giving out suggestions to people who need them.

People are naturally drawn to others who are knowledgeable and helpful. Once people in the community see your expertise and intentions to help, they’ll be more interested in what you do.

They can either search your name or click your profile. If you can create a profile, make sure that your podcast link is visible and easily seen. 

Important Podcast Metrics

If a business wants to improve its online presence, it needs to start with its content metrics. The exact process goes for improving a podcast – one needs to start looking at the numbers first.

There’s a good chance that you already have several episodes published when you’re reading this. And along with those episodes come different metrics. There will be episodes that have better engagements than the rest. 

But among the various metrics present in a single podcast, which one should you be paying attention to?

For starters, there are four key metrics to look out for: subscriptions, downloads, backlinks, and social sharing.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are important to any business. Some of them go through the lengths of incentivizing customers just to subscribe. An example of this is how Key West Aloe gives vouchers and points to anyone who signs up with them:

The level of importance of subscription is the same thing in the podcast market. A high subscription rate is an excellent metric to gauge your listenership. People who subscribe to your podcast are the ones who are very interested in your content. These are the people who allocate their time to listen to what you have to say.

If you get a high number on this metric, it means you’re providing great value to your listeners. They find your content engaging and can help them improve in certain aspects.

Downloads

The download metrics are significant to inspect when searching for what your audience likes to hear from you. High podcast download means an increased number of interest from your listeners. 

It shows what topics they like the most. By observing what type of podcast episode is frequently downloaded, you’ll now have an idea of what topics get your listeners interested and engaged. 

Backlinks

In any SEO endeavor, backlinks will always be part of the overall strategy. The aim to have as many backlinks as possible helps any website or podcast rank in search engines.

With these backlinks, you get more keywords related to your podcast. This makes search engine algorithms see that you’re an authority or a legitimate source of information when a user searches for that keyword.

Social sharing

The social sharing metric is one of the most important engagement numbers you need to see. A high social sharing means people found value in your content and were willing to share it with their network.

Social sharing increases your market reach and brand visibility. It’s one of the most organic and cost-effective ways to show your podcast to the public.

Conclusion

Every podcast out there needs to aim for an increased podcast download number. A gradually rising podcast download means that the show is getting traction – more people are getting interested in the topics and conversation.

If you want to get this specific metric up, the strategies above will surely help with this endeavor. What’s great about the activities above is that it affects podcast download numbers; it also increases engagements, the following count, and market reach.