Episode 205 | Insider Secrets to a Top 100 Podcast | Courtney Elmer

How to Grow a Podcast Audience: One Little-Known Strategy to Increase Your Listens

When it comes to how to grow a podcast, you’ve probably heard all the typical advice: “Promote every episode on social media,” “Optimize your show for SEO,” and “Get featured on other shows.” But if you want to truly elevate your podcast game, it’s time to dig deeper and think strategically about how to use your existing assets for growth. Here’s a tool you might not be using to its fullest potential—your email list.

But before you say, “But I already send emails to my list when a new episode drops, Courtney!” keep reading. Because I’m not talking about sending boring, stale “new episode!” emails to your list.

I’m talking about turning your podcast into a lead generation machine — and using your email list strategically to grow your podcast is one way to do it. Let’s break it down:

A Double-Edged Strategy

Picture your podcast at the top of your marketing funnel — the widest part. Your podcast’s job is two-fold: first, to attract new listeners every week and second, to convert those listeners further down the funnel — onto your email list and into your programs.

By using your podcast to drive traffic to your email list, you can create a steady stream of new list subscribers. Once they’re on your list, you can keep them hooked and engaged with valuable bonus content, turning them into loyal listeners who are more likely to convert into paying customers or clients. While there are dozens of things you could do to grow a podcast audience, better leveraging what you’re already doing can be a powerful strategy in how to grow a podcast audience effectively without adding anything more to your plate.

Using Your Podcast as a Lead Generation Machine

One of the biggest mistakes that podcast hosts make is thinking that simply sharing their podcast episodes with their email list is the key to how to grow a podcast. While your email list is great for nurturing relationships, it’s not necessarily the best tool for attracting new listeners. Why? Because the people on your email list already know, like, and trust you. They’re your warm audience. To grow a podcast audience effectively, you’ve got to know how to get outside of your warm audience — but that doesn’t mean you can’t leverage your warm audience to boost your listens each week and use your podcast to convert more listeners to new subscribers to your email list.

Here’s How:

Convert Listeners into Loyal Subscribers

1. Create Bonus Content: When you interview guests, record two episodes instead of one. Use the first episode to discuss your guest’s journey and insights, and the second as bonus content with deeper tactical advice. Offer this bonus content exclusively to your email subscribers and frame it as insider content they can’t find anywhere else.
2. Tease and Tempt: At the end of your regular podcast, tease your exclusive bonus content. Something like, “Loved today’s chat with [Guest Name]? Wait until you hear our bonus episode where we get even more tactical on [Topic]. Click the link in the show notes to get instant access!”
3. Use This Exclusive Content as a List-Building Incentive: Make your bonus content so valuable that listeners can’t resist subscribing. This isn’t just about giving away free stuff; it’s about delivering insights and tips that are worth giving you their email address in exchange — and a prime example of how to grow a podcast audience by leveraging exclusive content.
   
   

Increase Listens and Keep New Subscribers Coming Back for More

So, you’ve got new subscribers—awesome! Now, let’s make sure they stick around and stay engaged. Here’s how to leverage this strategy even further to grow a podcast audience:

1. Offer Exclusive Updates and Insights: Send out weekly updates with behind-the-scenes peeks, sneak previews of upcoming episodes, and insights that aren’t available anywhere else. This keeps your audience feeling like insiders and builds a stronger connection.
2. Personalize Your Content: Use the data you gather to tailor your podcast content to what your audience loves. Look for emails that have higher open rates, or more click-throughs than others. This is a key indicator that subscribers are interested in that topic — and you’ll grow your podcast listens when you cover that topic more frequently and from different angles.
3. Encourage Interaction: Ask listeners to reply with feedback, suggest topics, or ask questions that you can cover in future episodes. Getting your audience involved makes them feel valued and keeps them invested in your show.

Doing this not only reduces churn (unsubscribes) on your list by keeping people warm and engaged, it increases the likelihood of them staying engaged with your podcast when you promote new episodes, which over time will grow your podcast listens as well. Win-win.

Why This Strategy Works:

More Engagement: Offering exclusive content and incentives keeps your audience engaged and eager for more. Over the long run, this will help you convert more listeners into list subscribers — a crucial aspect of how to grow a podcast audience effectively.

Better Retention: By focusing on creating valuable content that’s only available to subscribers, you reduce churn and retain your audience better. In turn, your subscribers will be more likely to tune into your episodes each week, increasing overall engagement and listens on your podcast.

Higher Conversion Rates: Engaged podcast listeners and well-nurtured email subscribers will help you convert listeners into customers more effectively, especially when paired with the trust built through your podcast.

Incorporating these strategies ensures that both your podcast and email list work together, creating a powerful synergy that drives sustained growth and engagement. By leveraging the strengths of both platforms, you’ll not only expand your reach but also build a loyal and engaged audience that’s excited about every new episode you release.

By marrying your podcast and email list, you create a powerful growth engine — and this is just one of dozens of strategies we teach our clients to leverage what they’re already doing (in this case, podcasting + nurturing their list) and grow their podcast audience without adding anything more to their plate. Want our full strategy for launching and scaling your podcast or podcast-to-be? Book a free strategy call to chat with our team and see if you’re a fit for PodLaunch. 

Or if you’re ready for more insider secrets on creating a bingeworthy top podcast listeners can’t ignore, hit follow on Insider Secrets to a Top 100 Podcast on your favorite app so you never miss a new episode.

Up Next:

Most podcast hosts tend to think, “If my content is good enough, people will listen and my show will grow.” And sure, content matters — the quality of your content is what *keeps* people listening. But having good content won’t matter if you can’t get listeners to hit play in the first place.

In the next episode, I’m breaking down the five Podcast Content Gatekeepers™ that your listener has to experience *before* deciding whether to hit play. If a listener can’t make it through all five of these gates, they won’t click play — which means they’ll never hear how valuable your content actually is. So if you’re ready to take your podcast from unheard to unignorable, don’t miss it.