Somewhere in the world, your future audience members are going about their day not knowing you exist. But at some point, they will come across you and perhaps become your biggest fan. What you never know is how they’ll find you.
So, you must create as many opportunities as possible for an intersection to occur.
One of those ways is with podcast directories. While that may sound complicated, it isn’t. You’re already familiar with some of them, like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Podcasts. A directory is really just a database (or list) of podcasts listeners can search through to find shows they want to listen to.
In fact, 99% of podcasts are consumed via apps/directories. Chartable shows that around 70% of podcasts are listened to on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. That leaves the rest of the directories competing for 30%, and they are vying hard for listeners—people who will become their biggest fans.
Deezer is one of those directories. It has amassed 16 million active users and 245K fans on Twitter. It tweets five to six times per day in hopes of reaching new fans and engaging the ones they have. Isn’t that a community you’d like to be part of? Can you imagine one person finding your podcast through them? How about 1,000?
Anghami is a directory that can help you reach thousands, if not millions, of people you could never reach alone. It serves 15 million in the Middle East and North Africa region of the world. They have a weekly trending chart, podcast of the week, and active social media team that will help you reach a new audience if you’re among their community.
Not only that, but a directory like Anghami can also be a monetization partner. It has an ad-free subscription model that pays a commission to promoters. If your podcast is listed in the Anghami directory, it could be a natural fit to promote their offers as an affiliate and take home a commission.
Adding your podcast to the different directories is akin to hiring people to help market your podcast for you. And while it does take a little time and effort to manually submit to each one, it can be very worth it.
Fortunately, your hosting company probably already broadcasts your RSS feed to many of the directories automatically. And then there are other directories that automatically pull their list from places like Apple Podcasts.
You are likely aware of the big directories, but how about the others in this list of 50?
AFKLoud
All the Elements
Anghami
Anypod
Apple
Audacy
Audio Fiction UK
Breaker App
Caribbean Podcast Network
Castbox
CrossPods
Deezer
Double Twist
Free Podcast Directory
Fyyd
Gaana
Goodpods
HeadlinerFlix
Holonet Radio
Hubhopper
iHeartRadio
iVoox
Jiosaavn
Kradl.io
Lava
Learn Out Loud
Listen Notes
Naija
Podhub
Overcast
Pandora
Plutus Foundation Podcasts
Pocket Casts
Podcast Addict
Podcast Gang
Podcast Guru
Podcast Index
Podchaser
Podhero
Podhound
Podkicker
Podknife
Podlp
Podme
Podopolo
Samsung Bixby
Spotify
The Podcast App
Tune In
UF Podcast Directory
Also, there are a variety of podcast newsletters that specialize in discovering new podcasts for their audience. You can certainly wait for the authors of the newsletters to find you… or, you could accelerate that possibility by subscribing to their newsletters, following them on social media, and engaging with them in a way that adds value to their audiences.
Here are a few to start with:
GoodPods
Podcast Gumbo Newsletter
Podcast Pontifications
I Hear Things
Sounds Profitable
Find That Pod
Earbuds Podcast Collective
DiscoverPods
SmashNotes
Podcast Delivery
Before running off to register your show at all the different directories and/or engaging with newsletters, it would make sense to first take stock of your show. There is no uniformity among the different directories. They ask different questions, need various-sized images, and always want to categorize your podcast in the least-specific ways.
But you do want to make sure you get everything as similar as possible, and the effort it takes to make changes is sometimes monumental. So, make sure you’re clear on what you consider to be the perfect title, description, logo, and categories, and confirm that your social media handles and website are all in alignment.
It would also make a lot of sense to keep track of all the directories you are in, the urls to those directories, and the urls to your show on those directories. You never know when you’re going to change hosts (or something else) and will need to go back to make sure the show is uniform everywhere.
Somewhere in the world, your future audience members are going about their day not knowing you exist. But at some point, they will come across you and perhaps become your biggest fan. What you never know is how they’ll find you.
So, you must create as many opportunities as possible for an intersection to occur.
One of those ways is with podcast directories. While that may sound complicated, it isn’t. You’re already familiar with some of them, like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Podcasts. A directory is really just a database (or list) of podcasts listeners can search through to find shows they want to listen to.
In fact, 99% of podcasts are consumed via apps/directories. Chartable shows that around 70% of podcasts are listened to on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. That leaves the rest of the directories competing for 30%, and they are vying hard for listeners—people who will become their biggest fans.
Deezer is one of those directories. It has amassed 16 million active users and 245K fans on Twitter. It tweets five to six times per day in hopes of reaching new fans and engaging the ones they have. Isn’t that a community you’d like to be part of? Can you imagine one person finding your podcast through them? How about 1,000?
Anghami is a directory that can help you reach thousands, if not millions, of people you could never reach alone. It serves 15 million in the Middle East and North Africa region of the world. They have a weekly trending chart, podcast of the week, and active social media team that will help you reach a new audience if you’re among their community.
Not only that, but a directory like Anghami can also be a monetization partner. It has an ad-free subscription model that pays a commission to promoters. If your podcast is listed in the Anghami directory, it could be a natural fit to promote their offers as an affiliate and take home a commission.
Adding your podcast to the different directories is akin to hiring people to help market your podcast for you. And while it does take a little time and effort to manually submit to each one, it can be very worth it.
Fortunately, your hosting company probably already broadcasts your RSS feed to many of the directories automatically. And then there are other directories that automatically pull their list from places like Apple Podcasts.
You are likely aware of the big directories, but how about the others in this list of 50?
AFKLoud
All the Elements
Anghami
Anypod
Apple
Audacy
Audio Fiction UK
Breaker App
Caribbean Podcast Network
Castbox
CrossPods
Deezer
Double Twist
Free Podcast Directory
Fyyd
Gaana
Goodpods
HeadlinerFlix
Holonet Radio
Hubhopper
iHeartRadio
iVoox
Jiosaavn
Kradl.io
Lava
Learn Out Loud
Listen Notes
Naija
Podhub
Overcast
Pandora
Plutus Foundation Podcasts
Pocket Casts
Podcast Addict
Podcast Gang
Podcast Guru
Podcast Index
Podchaser
Podhero
Podhound
Podkicker
Podknife
Podlp
Podme
Podopolo
Samsung Bixby
Spotify
The Podcast App
Tune In
UF Podcast Directory
Also, there are a variety of podcast newsletters that specialize in discovering new podcasts for their audience. You can certainly wait for the authors of the newsletters to find you… or, you could accelerate that possibility by subscribing to their newsletters, following them on social media, and engaging with them in a way that adds value to their audiences.
Here are a few to start with:
GoodPods
Podcast Gumbo Newsletter
Podcast Pontifications
I Hear Things
Sounds Profitable
Find That Pod
Earbuds Podcast Collective
DiscoverPods
SmashNotes
Podcast Delivery
Before running off to register your show at all the different directories and/or engaging with newsletters, it would make sense to first take stock of your show. There is no uniformity among the different directories. They ask different questions, need various-sized images, and always want to categorize your podcast in the least-specific ways.
But you do want to make sure you get everything as similar as possible, and the effort it takes to make changes is sometimes monumental. So, make sure you’re clear on what you consider to be the perfect title, description, logo, and categories, and confirm that your social media handles and website are all in alignment.
It would also make a lot of sense to keep track of all the directories you are in, the urls to those directories, and the urls to your show on those directories. You never know when you’re going to change hosts (or something else) and will need to go back to make sure the show is uniform everywhere.
September 2022 Issue
