0:03 - Why Sending “New Episode!” Emails Won't Grow Your Podcast
2:58 - Why Your Podcast Should Be at the Top of Your Marketing Funnel
5:41 - Use Reverse Psychology to Convert Email Readers into Loyal Listeners
11:06 - Understanding the Two Types of Traffic That Drive Podcast Growth
12:30 - How Your Podcast Builds Trust and Shortens Sales Cycles

Accelerate Your Podcast Growth with Strategic Email Marketing

Sending an email blast every time you release a new podcast episode might seem like the right move, but it could actually be hurting your podcast's growth. But when you finish reading, you'll know exactly how to share the type of podcast content your email list wants to read — resulting in higher open rates and increased downloads. #winwin

So if you’re ready to learn how to use your podcast to get more people subscribing to your email list (and vice versa), read on.

Why "New Episode!" Announcements Fail

I hate to break it to you — but sending "New Episode!" emails to your list won't do a thing to grow your podcast. (UNLESS you do this first).👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Something I hear all the time is, "I send an email to my list every time I publish a new episode, but...

→ it's having ZERO impact on my downloads
→ my open rates are going down
→ people are unsubscribing (!!)

...I guess nobody reads their emails anymore!?

And I’m like, nah dude. It’s because your email list already knows you have a podcast. AKA it's kinda like trying to sell your program to your own clients. In fact, it’s totally normal that your subscribers are peacing out because they're getting zero value from you copying your show notes into the body of an email and saying "Listen Now"! ✌🏼

But with one simple tweak, there IS a way you can provide tangible value to your readers AND increase listens on your podcast.

[Now look, what I'm about to share with you isn't a cure-all. But we've tested this pretty extensively, and every time we do it this way, we see an uptick in downloads].

The Little-Known Strategy: Reverse Psychology

So here's the strategy no one else is sharing, for free: write your "new episode" emails as if your reader was never going to listen to the episode. ...I can already hear you shouting from the other side of the internet: WAIT A MINUTE COURTNEY. Don't we want them to listen to the episode??

Of course we do. But remember when you were a kid and you didn't want to eat your vegetables, and your mom was like "Oh, no, guess you better not eat those. Might turn you into a superhero. Or make you invisible. Or make you see in the dark. Guess we shouldn't eat them." and you were like NO WAIT ... takes a bite… LOOK MOM I CAN RUN LIKE A CHEETAHHH!!! (Or is that just how it works in my house?)

It’s a little something called reverse psychology. When you use it inside your emails, your readers will be RUNNING to click that "Listen Now" link. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Highlight a Problem or Challenge

For your email, identify one problem you know your ideal listener faces and that you unpack fully inside your episode. HINT: The more specific you can be, the more effective this will be. Notice how right now I'm focusing on one hyper-specific issue: low engagement when sending a 'new episode' email.

Step 2: Show Them You Have the Solution

Demonstrate that you have a solution, but don’t give it all away. For example, let’s say you teach three steps inside your episode. Reveal the first one in the email and then tee up steps two and three with a link to listen.

Step 3: Give Value in the Email Itself

My golden rule for any email I write is that it should offer value just from reading. If I only tease content and say "go listen," you probably wouldn’t see a reason to stay subscribed.

Step 4: Leave Something to Be Desired

If I gave it all away in the email, you wouldn’t have a reason to listen to the podcast. So while I’m providing value, I’m also setting up the action I want you to take by creating a legit reason to listen to the episode.

Understanding the Two Types of Traffic for Podcast Growth:

Understanding your traffic types is crucial:

• Driving Traffic TO the Podcast: Use strategic content across platforms to direct cold audiences to your show.
• Driving Traffic FROM the Podcast: Once listeners are engaged, direct them to your programs, email list, or other offerings.

You decide which traffic type to focus on first based on your immediate goals—whether that’s growing your listener base or converting listeners into leads.

But either way, you’ve got to remember that your email subscribers already know, like, and trust you. This means they are part of your warm audience. As I’ve learned the hard way, “In order to grow your podcast, you’ve got to get your show in front of cold audiences — not warm ones.”

So keep in mind that while this email marketing strategy isn’t a core podcast growth strategy per se, it will help you nurture your email subscribers much more effectively and when done right, it’ll lead to an increase in listens to your podcast over time.

So Before You Send Your Next “New Episode!” Email…

Remember that nobody joined your email list to get spammed with “New Episode!” alerts. But when you take the time to craft emails that actually offer something of value and use reverse psychology to pique curiosity, you’ll be able to drive more of your subscribers straight to your podcast.

Next Up:

In the next episode, we’re diving into the difference between hitting 'publish' vs. launching a podcast — or in other words, the difference between being virtually invisible to your listeners, or popping off on the charts and grabbing the attention of your perfect listeners worldwide. If you’re thinking about launching a podcast or if you’ve got a podcast that hasn’t shown a significant increase in downloads over the last three months, don’t miss it!