Best Podcast Marketing Tools [Free & Paid]

Once you launch a podcast, you’re probably going to want to start growing your audience. And I imagine that is what led you right here to this blog. There’s a lot of ways to grow a podcast audience, some organic, some involving paid advertising, and some approaches that fit snugly in a middle ground.  You’ve got to find the best podcast marketing tools for your approach. If you are not sure where to start, these insights from brand podcast marketers may help.

Now, to give you some tips for growth, we are sharing some of our own team’s favorite podcast marketing tools. From creating eye-catching podcast promo graphics to tracking your show’s growth, there’s a variety of free and paid options to boost your reach and impact. Below are some of the best tools to help you promote, track, and grow your show.

The Best Podcast Marketing Tools

Headliner

When it comes to creating catchy promo graphics and videos, or podcast social media posts, Headliner is our go-to tool. This tool allows you to create shareable audiograms.

What’s an audiogram? Videos with a static image or looped video and soundwave to share a piece of audio on a largely image-based platform.

Headliner makes it easy to grab key clips from your episodes, adding subtitles and branding elements for a visual impact. While originally offering audiograms fit for Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn, it now even offers a full episode feature to export to YouTube.

With a free version available, it’s one of the best free podcast content marketing tools out there. If you want more advanced features, such as automation for your social media posts, there’s also a paid version.

Podchaser

Think of Podchaser as the IMDb of podcasts, it has a wealth of information on the top listened to and niche shows alike.

Podchaser allows listeners to discover your podcast, leave reviews, and follow your updates. In this sense, it is great to make sure your show is listed and can receive reviews.

It’s also an excellent place to find collaboration opportunities with other podcasters. The platform’s "Creator Credits" feature gives you more visibility as it links to other shows you've worked on or collaborated with. But you can also use this to search the guests who have been featured on shows similar to yours and reach out to them. Cross-promotion and popular guests are both really great tools to grow your podcast (often even for free). Podchaser can massively help you out here.

In short, it’s a must-have tool for anyone serious about podcast growth.

Ausha

Ausha is a fantastic option that almost does it all when it comes to podcast marketing. This platform has tools for distribution, managing listener feedback, social media, and newsletter creation, and podcast search engine optimization.

Not only does Ausha have a long list of possible tools for creation, but it also offers an analytics dashboard. This can give you great insight into your audience’s growth and engagement.

They have a free version that gives you limited access to their tools, otherwise paid plans start at $13/month.  These plans include a little of every tool, which can be a bit of a negative aspect. Even if you plan on only using their social media tools, you’ll pay the same price to use all tools. On the bright side, this gives you the chance to experiment with all their growth tools and see what works best for your show, without investing in multiple platforms or tools. 

Podcast X-Ray by Bumper

Understanding what works and what doesn’t can be tricky, but Podcast X-Ray by Bumper makes it easier. This tool really looks into your podcast's analytics, showing you where and when people are tuning in to your show and…when they are dropping off. With this information, you can fine-tune your content to keep your listeners engaged.
But, more than just looking at your show… Podcast X-ray lets you search any show. Check-in on your competitors and find out where they may be leaving a data-driven gap for you to take up. 

The best part: this is totally free.

Podsqueeze

If you are looking for a tool to do it all - check out Podsqueeze. This AI-powered tool helps automate your podcast production, post-production, and marketing. A few of their features include a summarizing tool for show notes a transcript creator, an automatic podcast clip maker, and an audio enhancer. This is a great tool for creating repurposed content like social media clips or blogs.

There is a free version available which allows you to test all of the features. Then paid plans start from $11/ month.

Rephonic

We’ve already mentioned collaboration can be a great way to grow.  Rephonic makes it easy, and a little more fun. Search for your show, and Rephonic gives you a 3D movable map of podcasts that are directly linked to you. This tool offers insight into your audience overlap, making it perfect for targeting the right shows for guest appearances or cross-promotions. Like Podchaser, Rephonic helps you discover which podcasts to connect with. It’s worth checking out for anyone looking to expand their podcast's reach.

However, the price is something to keep in mind. There is a seven-day free trial, then plans start at $99 a month.

PodEngine

Speaking of collaboration, another tool to have on your radar is PodEngine, PodEngine is a platform that can seriously help brands measure and grow their presence through podcasts.
It’s got tools for tracking brand or name mentions, identifying interview opportunities, and analyzing sentiment over time, making it a super valuable resource for podcast marketing.

They have a limited free plan, but then full access starts at $83.33/ month.

LinkFire

LinkFire is a great free tool for spreading the word about your podcast. They allow you to create unique podcast links, one that allows your listeners to find the show wherever they listen to podcasts. It also provides you key analytics to track growth, know who is clicking, and where they go to listen. 

Dedicated Podcast Website

This might seem obvious, but a dedicated podcast website is crucial for growth. I know, I know, it isn’t a “tool” per se. But it’s worth mentioning again, and again.

Many podcasters overlook this, but having a central hub for your show gives listeners an easy way to find all your episodes, updates, and information about you or your guests. It also helps with SEO, making your podcast more discoverable on search engines. You can add links to platforms like LinkFire to direct listeners to their favorite podcast apps. A dedicated website can also host a blog, giving you more content to promote and share, and more SEO leverage, all of which drives traffic and engagement.

Final Thoughts on the Best Podcast Marketing Tools

Whether you're using free podcast content marketing tools or you're investing in paid options, there are plenty of options for you. But before you invest, set up a growth strategy, and decide where you want to direct your efforts. In the end, these tools are all designed to help you grow your audience, market your show, and track its success. By taking advantage of their potential in your podcast marketing strategy, you’ll set yourself up to just keep growing. 

If you need some extra help growing your podcast, why not look to an agency for help? Lower Street’s team includes expert podcast marketers who know exactly how to create a strategy unique to your show. Send us a message, we’d love to help grow your show.