Does TikTok Really Help Grow Your Podcast?
Does tiktok really help grow your podcast?
“How do I use tiktok to grow my podcast?”
This is the million-dollar question in every podcaster’s mind as of late. As the co-founder of BIPOC Podcast Creators, a community of Black, Indigenous and people of color in podcasting, I get this question almost weekly from one of our members.
We know that video makes a great impact on social media, and that creating video content on tiktok can yield impressive engagement. But up until recently, I had not been able to find any hard proof from podcasters who were actually seeing increased downloads directly from their tiktok videos. Until now…
In an episode of the Buzzcast podcast, the hosts shared a success story from a podcast hosted on their platform. This podcast had thousands of new downloads after having a tiktok video go viral. “Sure, that seems easy enough”, you might say sarcastically. I hear you. Going viral is not something you can easily replicate, but the most interesting point from this success story is not in the immediate downloads the podcast got, but the sustained amount of downloads that they saw over a longer period of time. I’m talking MONTHS after the video went viral.
Impressed with this success story I asked myself:
How did this podcast create viral content?
How did this podcast successfully convert tiktok viewers into podcast listeners?
How did this podcast keep their listeners after the first spike?
In this summary, I list seven takeaways that I learned from this podcast’s strategy, that will help you make better decisions about how to use TikTok to grow your podcast audience.
ONE - The TIKTOK video gets the viewer hooked.
In the example above, the podcasters tell a story in less than 60 seconds, with images and voiceover that keeps you hooked to find out how it ends. The TikTok algorithm loves this type of content because it keeps people on the app, and if you help them keep people on the app, they will help your video get more views.
TWO - The video connected with their ideal audience so TikTok kept pushing it to more similar audiences.
This is the magic sauce of viral content. Not only is the video keeping people’s attention, the video is so niche and topic-specific that it’s landing perfectly with their ideal audience. Another winning TikTok combination: landing content with people who will want to follow you and become fans of your content.
THREE - the Video says “if you want to hear the full story go over to our podcast”.
There was no link to the podcast on the video, because TikTok won’t let you do that. Instead, the creators mention the podcast at the end and encourage people to hop on over to the profile and check out the pod. This might be intentional, or could be done on purpose. Remember what I said about TikTok wanting people to stay in the app as long as possible? If you encourage them to check out your profile, it keeps viewers on the app, which is another signal to the TikTok algorithm that your video should be shared again and again, and again.
FOUR - They re-told the entire episode story in 60 seconds - cut a whole new clip, not just grabbed a sound bite.
The creators didn’t simply re-edit a sound bite from the podcast and slapped some images on it. They made a whole new piece of content for the TikTok audience. They tell the story in a fast pace, with stock images and don’t leave the audience hanging without a resolution at the end. Instead - they give the TikTok audience the entire cliff’s notes version, which turns a lot of casual viewers into intrigued audience members who will want more of this type of content. The result of these first four steps is the beginning of converting a TikTok view to a podcast download, starting with: a new follow and coveted profile visit.
FIVE - The podcast artwork is the podcast profile image.
Once you get a portion of those video viewers to check out your profile, they might not click on your external links, but they will remember the name of your podcast, if it’s prominently displayed, along with the artwork. I think that biggest challenge with podcasters seeing a true conversion on social media campaigns might be due to the lack of branding cohesion between the channels. This is a little tricky to explain, but stick with me.
I will use myself to illustrate this point. I have a TikTok account, but this account is @Maribel_QS, it’s not the name of my podcast and my profile picture is my face, not my podcast artwork. Now, this is a conscious decision because I don’t use this account to promote my podcast. But let’s say you don’t know me and you end up seeing one of my videos where I tell a great story that I shared on a recent podcast episode. You might click on my profile, but you’ll get lost because you won’t see the brand cohesion between the content I shared and my podcast. Why? Because the name and artwork are not displayed in my profile. So the brand association with my podcast won’t be very clear, and you are less likely to remember later that I have a podcast worth listening to and that you should follow it, because you won’t even remember what it’s called.
SIX - The premise of the podcast is clear and leaves no ambiguity on what the audience can expect.
Why was this podcast able to sustain a significant percentage of their new-found listenership? Because the show delivers on the exact premise they shared on TikTok. They gave their TikTok audience a taste of what the show is about, and they delIvered the exact same type of content inside the podcast. The show is consistently delivering on a very specific topic, the description is clear about this topic, and the audience begins to rely on this. Doesn’t it piss you off when you waste your time listening to a podcast that has nothing to do with the topic that was promised? Yeah, it makes me angry too, and I immediately unfollow. Which is why no honorable mention on any list or viral video will ever yield long-term results if the creators can’t figure out how to keep new listeners engaged.
SEVEN - The podcast creators know their audience.
Rule number one of content creation (regardless of medium) KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. You can’t make content for everyone, no offense, but not all people like what you find interesting. The creators in this example of success have a very clear understanding of the type of listener who wants, no, CRAVES - this type of content. And whether or not the show is produced perfectly, this level of connection with their audience is impressive. Turn your audience into fans and they will be the ones doing half of the promotion work for you.
These are my seven steps on how to use TikTok to grow your podcast. Let me know if you have any questions. You can find me on TikTok, instagram, and Twitter @Maribel_QS.
TLDR version: Be compelling and consistent in the content you use to promote your podcast on TikTok. If your videos are constantly delivering the same consistent message, the audience will trust your content, and eventually convert to podcast listeners.
Special thanks to Taja Lindley (BIPOC Podcast Creators Member) for sharing this episode of the Buzzcast podcast with me. :-)