This month's guest consultant: Hannah Weintraub
Hannah is an award-winning social media professional currently working as the Senior Social Media Manager for Well+Good, the premier lifestyle and news publication devoted to covering health & wellness.
Jade Barber, host of Students of Mind, asks:
Is TikTok a platform that can be used to gain an audience for a podcast? What are the best ways to market a podcast on TikTok?Hannah says:
Absolutely. If you think TikTok is only for teens dancing, think again. TikTok is quickly growing to become an essential part of brand marketing, and can absolutely extend to podcast marketing.
One way to promote your podcast on TikTok is by sharing behind-the-scenes footage from the episode recording. TikTok viewers love getting to pull the curtain back on what goes into making their favourite podcast, TV show, etc. TikTok will also allow viewers to engage with your podcast in a different way since there is the visual component of watching people talk. Start by making sure you are capturing video content from each recording. After each recording, pull out 2-3 clips from the episode (they can be anywhere from 5 seconds to 1 minute long) that you feel will excite listeners. It could be a sound bite you find particularly interesting, an exclusive, and so on. Cut the clip at a part where you think you’ll be able to hook the reader just enough to want to keep listening. At the end of the clip, you can direct them to listen to the full episode, which would be linked in your bio. Get in the habit of creating 2-3 videos per episode release: one before recording to source audience questions; one right after launch to generate buzz and drive initial downloads; and one (or more) shortly after launch to continue the momentum and hear listener feedback/source inspiration for the next episode.
Alternatively, if you don’t record video with your podcasts, you can use TikTok to show the making of your podcast, and build up a community who are interested in podcasting or your specific topic. Show them the steps of recording a podcast (setting up equipment, writing out your introduction), how you go about sourcing your questions/interview subjects, and so on. It doesn’t need to be fancy or exciting; what works best on TikTok is actually showcasing the mundane and the daily routine of it all. Once again, people love to feel like they are part of the process in making something, so take them along for the journey that they don’t get to see when they listen to an episode.
Lastly, if you don’t have an audience on TikTok and are starting from scratch, use the platform to introduce yourself, your podcast, and tell people why they should subscribe. You can also post past episode clips too; this will allow people to determine if they like the podcast and think it’s worth following to learn more.
