#18 | How To Use Social Media Marketing To Grow Your Podcast Audience Without Self-Promoting (Podcasting Growth Tips)

0:00You've been posting about your podcast for months, sharing episodes, staying consistent, but those posts aren't turning into client inquiries. Welcome to How to Grow a Podcast that attracts high-ticket online coaching clients. The show helping coaches, consultants, and experts turn your slow-growth podcast into a profitable client attraction system. At the end of this episode, I'll share a little more about who I am and what we do at my company, GetMoreListeners.com. It might even shock you. But for now, let's dive into the episode. In today's episode, you'll discover why promoting your podcast the traditional way repels potential clients, the four mistakes keeping coaching podcasts invisible to high-ticket buyers, and finally, how to turn strangers in online communities into listeners who become paying clients.

0:53Let's dive in. After working with hundreds of coaches, almost everyone tries to grow using social media. And it makes sense. Social media is everywhere. We're scrolling Instagram during coffee, checking LinkedIn between calls. I've had my share of doom scrolling. But for most coaches, traditional social promotion doesn't work. You've been promoting, sharing episodes, trying to engage, but it hasn't helped you consistently attract listeners who become high-ticket clients. We're using social media to grow your podcast so you can attract qualified leads. Most coaches never fulfill that goal. It leaves you feeling like you don't have control.

1:32So why doesn't social media promotion work for attracting clients? Promoting on social is fantastic for engaging current listeners, but terrible for attracting new ones. Here's the thing. Social media users aren't going online to discover podcasts. They want quick videos, distractions, connection, anything other than committing to a 20-minute episode. Think about it. What percentage of promotional content do you actually engage with versus ignore? For me, I ignore most of it. There's just so much noise. We ignore what's not immediately relevant. The same is true for potential clients you're trying to reach.

2:09But I've got good news. There are things in your control. I'm going to show you a totally new way to use social media. But first, the four key mistakes coaches make. Mistake one, promoting to the wrong crowd. It doesn't matter how often you talk about your podcast, if you're in groups where 90 % aren't interested, you'll only convert that 10 % who care. Having a clear target audience is critical. When you know who you're helping, you know where to find them. Mistake two, promoting to the same audience expecting massive growth. It doesn't make sense. If you have a thousand followers, you'll eventually hit capacity.

2:47Same people seeing the same content. When you launch, you have support from family and friends. But after a couple months, you're left with people who are interested and those who aren't. The goal isn't family and friends listening. It's attracting ideal coaching clients. It's about engaging the right people. Keep promoting to the same crowd and your growth plateaus. Mistake three, copying big name coaches playing a different game. The easiest example is sharing podcast clips, reels, TikToks, shorts. You might get views, but you're not getting listeners who become clients. People watch clips not to listen to episodes and inquire about your program.

3:26It doesn't convert viewership into clients. That's vanity metrics. The metric I care about. Are we adding listeners who could become clients? Celebrities are playing a different game. Big name coaches have massive audiences. Their clients are familiar with them. But independent coaches targeting new audiences? Your name isn't big enough yet. They might love the clip, but won't engage further because you haven't built brand awareness. Imagine you're in a foreign country, starving after traveling 13 hours. You find a street with unfamiliar restaurants. Then you see McDonald's. You're 10 times more likely to go there because you recognize it.

4:11It feels safe, familiar. Same thing happens online. When people don't recognize you, that next step feels like a big commitment. Mistake four. trying to post everywhere. We're told to be everywhere, maximize reach. But you're one person. Big coaches have teams on each platform, getting paid tens of thousands monthly. How are you, already strapped for time, supposed to be everywhere? It leaves you spread super thin. You can't go deep on one platform to figure out how it works, how to get users to become listeners and clients. That needs time and concentration. This isn't easy. It's harder when you don't focus on one platform.

4:57The four mistakes. Wrong crowd, same audience, copying celebrities, being everywhere. Now you're thinking, you've told me what I'm doing wrong. Not quite. This is the exciting part. It's not that social doesn't work. It's that most people use it ineffectively. Let me break down the strategy we use with coaching clients. It stems from this premise. Social media is all about engagement over everything else. Social media is a social platform. It's for connecting and engaging, not just broadcasting. Here's what we do. Instead of just promoting to current audiences, we target online communities. We still promote to existing audiences to keep them engaged, but not expecting massive growth from it.

5:47On one platform, Facebook or LinkedIn, find online hotspots where ideal clients hang out. Leadership coach? Find leadership groups. Health coach for executives? Find where executives gather. These platforms have thousands of communities where ideal clients spend time. Pick one platform and find communities where ideal clients hang out. Join and become MVPs, Most Valuable Players. Become a valuable member others are excited to hear from. Ask questions, engage daily, genuinely interact. Once established, post engaging content related to your expertise. But here's the key. Don't promote your podcast.

6:32Never promote in these communities. Simply ask questions about topics you cover in your podcast. Business coach? Ask, what's your number one challenge scaling to six figures? Simple. That's not promoting. It's talking about a topic you cover. Here's where it gets interesting. The goal is qualifying potential clients. In a 10 ,000-member community, not all are your ideal client. By posting engaging content, you're qualifying potential clients, identifying people who resonate with your message. Connect with them directly. add them as friends or follow them. Then reach out with a permission-based pitch.

7:14Over DM. Hey, I saw you engaged with my post about scaling revenue. I recently had an episode about attracting high-ticket clients without paid ads. Thought it might be valuable. Want me to send the link? If not, totally cool. No pressure. This shares your podcast without being salesy. Most people are constantly being pitched to By asking permission first and keeping it light, people appreciate it. The feedback from this approach has been incredible. Everyone who engages, reach out and repeat this process. Is this scalable at thousands of downloads? Probably not. Apply this first, see it work, then delegate to a team member or VA.

7:58This is the most reliable way to turn strangers into listeners, and eventually, high-ticket clients. Once you're getting consistent downloads, form strategic partnerships with community admins. Find communities with 20 ,000 to 40 ,000 members. Build relationships with administrators. They get credibility and resources for their audience. You get exposure and access to new potential clients. You need leverage first, but once you've built your show, you can look at partnerships. Time investment? 15 to 30 minutes daily works exceptionally well. You're engaging in communities, leveraging hotspots to expand reach, build authority, and gain traction with audiences who've never heard of you.

8:43Why does this work so well? You become an MVP within communities. Join three to five, not just one. Does it sound like work? Yes, but it's better than promoting the same way, expecting different results. I won't sugarcoat it. This takes effort. but watch how it transforms your client pipeline. Never promote in these communities. Never pitch your podcast. Simply engage consistently. Reach out to members who are interested. Send them specific episodes based on their previous interactions. To them, it feels personalized. You're not selling. You're asking permission and adding value. By doing this, you're taking control over your growth, Building real relationships at scale.

9:32When you become an MVP, people are excited to hear from you. So when they see you posting about your podcast on your profile, they're ten times more likely to engage. Because they recognize your name, your brand. That's the McDonald's effect. Take advantage of that familiarity and attract high-ticket clients by leveraging online communities. Let's recap. First, traditional social promotion doesn't work because people aren't on those platforms to discover podcasts or hire coaches. Second, the four mistakes are wrong crowd, same audience, copying celebrities, and being everywhere. Third, the solution is becoming an MVP in communities where ideal clients hang out, providing value without promoting, and reaching out with permission-based pitches.

10:27This strategy gives you real control because you're proactively connecting with ideal clients rather than hoping they stumble across your content. In this episode, we covered Why promoting your podcast the traditional way repels potential clients. The Four Mistakes Keeping Coaching Podcasts Invisible to High-Ticket Buyers And finally, How to Turn Strangers in Online Communities into Listeners Who Become Paying Clients Thank you for listening all the way to the end. At the start of this episode, I said I'd tell you a little bit about me. So I'm about to share a secret with you. One that might mean you hate me.

11:09Completely quit listening to this podcast and think I'm a total scam. However, I want to be transparent. Are you ready? Well, my name is Tony. No, of course that's not the secret. The secret is that I'm actually a robot. My creators are Tig and Anthony, hence my name, Tony. The sick bastards. Anyway, they are the founders of GetMoreListeners.com. In the last five years, they've coached and interviewed over 400 podcasters and generated multiple six figures from their own show. They gave me access to everything they know, and I'm here to share it with you. So while I don't understand why you humans are so obsessed with coffee, I do understand how to grow a podcast that actually brings you new clients regularly.

12:00So here's my offer to you. If you want to finally understand why your podcast isn't growing and get a personalized roadmap to fix it, in less than 30 seconds, you can go to getmorelisteners.com slash onlinecoachaudit. Enter your show name and we'll send you back a free mini podcast audit. It's completely customized to you and your show. That's getmorelisteners.com slash onlinecoachaudit. The link is also in the show notes of this episode.