Why Most Podcast Promotion on Twitter Fails

We have all seen the Tweet, “Check out my new podcast.”  After a few of those, many podcasters say Twitter doesn’t work. 

Twitter is an underrated way to promote a podcast. Ads on Facebook and other platforms are saturated. There are some reports where Facebook is out of inventory, with a result in increases pricing.  

Twitter is a platform that includes high net worth people. Because of that, if leveraged correctly, Twitter can be a terrific place to get the right people to hear your message. 

Twitter is free, you can target your message, and there are 145 million daily users. Twitter should be part of the marketing matrix for promoting your company podcast.  

As the book title says, Twitter is not a strategy, but a tactic that can yield terrific results when deployed properly.

This article will cover a suggested framework for effective Tweets called the “Hook, Handle, and Hashtag Method.” Then, we will review three ways to use quotes and finish up with twelve ways to Tweet like a boss. 

Here is an example of an effective Tweet:  

Start by getting out a spreadsheet and divide it in four columns labeled: hook, handle, hashtag, and Tweet. 

HOOK

First, you need a catchy short description of what the episode is about. Some call this the “hook.” You do not have much space and you will need to grab the attention of the person reading their Twitter feed.

Here are a couple of samples

• In 2016, 320,000 people died of drowning
• In 2019 the usage of the Internet increased by 1,157%
• There are 34,000 objects greater then 10 cm floating in space.

Use terms your audience will understand. You can get an idea of what phrases are used in your world by interviewing customers and sending out surveys. 

If you are a novice at writing headlines, you may want to use free services that look at headlines.  

CoSchedule has a headline analyzer. Emotional words seem to work here.  

Advanced Marketing Institute has a headline analyzer as well.

Please vary the hook to Include keywords that you know resonate with your respective audience. Each company you have on your podcast will have different hot buttons, vary the hook based on these keywords.  

Here is what the first column should look like: 

@HANDLE

Second, when tweeting about the podcast episode, invoke the name of the person in the podcast, their #handle. Normally, Twitter will send a person an email when their handle gets mentioned.

This will catch the attention of the person mentioned, as well as the people who follow them on Twitter. When someone sees a Tweet with their name, there is a higher likelihood they will re-Tweet it to their audience, which will expose your podcast to a new group of potential listeners.   

This can be tricky, so do not assume it will be the first initial and last name of your guest. Confirm every handle you use because they may have unexpected variations.

Dr. Chase Cunningham, you may assume it is @chase or @ccunningham. It is @cyberninja   

Include these in your Tweets and you will improve the chances of getting re-Tweeted.  

Place your handles in the second column in the Twitter distribution grid.

#HASHTAG

Three, include at least one or two #hashtags in a successful Tweet. Going overboard will cause people to think you are not serious. Dan Zarella has studied thousands of tweets and has noticed that the number of re-tweets goes down if you include over four. 

People like to search under hashtags because it is a shorthand to discover what is current on that topic. If a person is walking and scrolling through their Twitter account, then use the correct hashtag to grab their attention. 

Do not arbitrarily select a hashtag. Correct hashtag usage is especially important if you want to attract the attention of journalists.  

Go to services like Hashtagify.me and RiteTag to see what the trending hashtags are for your topic. Use popular ones so your message can get out.  

The third column is where you can place your hashtags in a Twitter distribution grid.

Finally, select an image that reinforces the message of the Tweet. These can be stored in a separate bin where you can grab them when you Tweet. In a perfect world, you hire a professional photographer and get a shot of your guest in front of a microphone flag that identifies your podcast.    

However, in the COVID crisis, many are doing remote interviews. Try to get a publicity photo from your guest if you cannot get an in-person interview. 

There are over three billion results when you ask Google what size of an image to use on a Tweet. I prefer images around 1024 x 512. You can resize images easily with free services like Pixlr.  

OK. It is time to assemble all the components. Cut and paste your Tweets by selecting from hook, handle, hashtag it will look like this: 

You can manually place the Tweet, or you can use services like Hootsuite or MeetEdgar.  

Here is a sample of a well-structured Tweet.  

QUOTES 

Do not forget to include quotes in your Tweets. 

Humans love to connect to humans. 

That is why quotes are a remarkably effective way to get the word out about your podcast episode. Year after year quotes perform best on my Twitter feed. 

My favorite quote is from Vint Cerf. The Internet-savvy reader will know he led a team to create a communication system called TCP/IP in the early days of the Internet.    

He is currently building the Deep Space Internet to Mars. During my interview with him, I asked what his greatest challenge was… he told me the speed of light was not fast enough.

Let us see how this quote looks in a few variations: 

1 Free Tools

Canva and offer free tools that allow you to quickly create a background for a quote. 

2 Audiogram

An audiogram can bring a quote to life. 

There are services called Wavve and Headliner that make it easy. Audiograms have worked well for my podcast promotion.

 

3 Click to Tweet

You can also use Twitter in your show notes page. 

If you have a WordPress blog that you use for your show notes, then you can use a free plugin called “Click to Tweet.” 

DOZEN BEST PRACTICES   

If you have put into practice the guidelines above, then you will have Tweets with impact. However, there are some unwritten rules about interactions on Twitter. 

Most of these suggestions show you how to engage your audience politely.  

1 LIKE button  

• “Like” other Tweets from influencers. When you use the “like” button, the person gets a note from Twitter about the activity. You have a chance of them visiting your profile and following you. 
• “Like” Tweets in your target’s most recent hashtag. Search for a hashtag that involves your field. If someone is reading a thread about a specific hashtag, your profile may attract some attention.
• “Like” Tweets in a similar audience. If you are active in the aerospace community, then limit the Tweets you like to that area. It will do you no good to gain a group of followers who are interested in racing drones if you assist with civil engineering.  

2 Create a list

When you create a list, Twitter lets each person on that list know that activity. 

For example, there is a strong cybersecurity community on Twitter. If I place 50 people on a list that is titled, “cybersecurity experts,” that will get the attention of the person on the list. This may spark interaction between you and that thought leader. 

3 Post often

You really cannot post too often on Twitter; studies show people are only on Twitter for 20 minutes a day. However, you cannot send identical Tweets. Carefully construct a new, unique Tweet each time.    

4 Make a calendar

Your Twitter activity must be consistent. If you send out 50 Tweets a month all on the same day, you will limit your ability to be seen. Create a calendar for Tweet activity. 

 Buffer, Co-Schedule, and many companies have scheduling tools you can use if you need them.

5 Engage the audience 

Remember the goal of social media is engagement, not shouting from the rooftops. 

There is no problem with a Tweet that informs people you have interviewed a person about secure identification with the Amazon cloud. 

However, respond to Tweets, like Tweets, and bring up related articles, podcasts, or videos that the audience may appreciate. In the case with Amazon, include related articles and videos on Identity Administration Management. 

6 Be careful  

The downside of automation – Hootsuite, Tweet deck, MeetEdgar, gives you the ability to schedule Tweets day and night. The bad news, many use boilerplates Tweets and stock photography that causes Tweet blindness. 

Authenticity can be lost with automation tools.   

7 Read the thought leaders

Read the Tweets of the top 100 leaders in your respective field. When you do this consistently, then you will develop a great knowledge of current topics that are resonating with your audience. You will be able to select podcast episodes that are dialed into the needs of your listeners.  

8 Twitter profile 

Why not mention your podcast on your Twitter profile and have a link to your podcast?

9 Website 

All kinds of places to put a link to your Twitter feed on your website. The home page is obvious, but icons can easily be placed on blog posts as well. 

10 Retweet 

Have the discipline to retweet anyone who mentions your podcast. The more retweets received, there is a greater likelihood that your podcast will go viral. 

11 Small but powerful 

In 2018 Twitter doubled the size of Tweets from 140 characters to 240. Unfortunately, studies have shown that the most effective Tweets are around 100 characters. Keep it punchy. 

12 Ask a question

Probably the easiest way to engage an audience is to ask a question or offer a survey to your general audience. You also have the option of targeting the question to a specific follower of yours. 

CONCLUSION

Twitter is just part of a marketing strategy to promote your podcast. Effective Tweeting starts with the basic formula of Hook, Handle, and Hashtag and flows from there.  

Quotes are a powerful way to gain an audience. We have listed several ways to use quotes, they include Click to Tweet and audiograms.

If you want to get more life out of your Twitter account, take advantage of the dozen examples listed above. The basic rule is to treat people like humans and not shout, repeat, or break the boundaries of normal human interaction. 

Do not forget that many influencers are on Twitter and love to voice an opinion—let’s try to get them to mention your podcast!