How I Grow My Podcast Without Instagram

How I Grow My Podcast Without Instagram

I didn’t delete Instagram on a whim. I’d been thinking about it for a while after listening to an episode of About Progress called The Practice of Attention. That episode made me realize just how much of a drain Instagram had become on my mental health. And once I started paying attention, I also noticed something else: the people buying my offers weren’t coming from Instagram. My Instagram followers, for the most part, weren’t listening to my podcast or purchasing my services. So I went Instagram-optional last summer, and eventually, I pulled the plug for good.

Here’s what I’m doing instead and what’s actually working.

Pinterest is my main marketing platform, and it has been an absolute game-changer for sustainable podcast growth. Here’s the thing about Pinterest that makes it different from Instagram or TikTok: it’s more of a search engine than a social media platform. Pinterest users are on the platform to find something and take action — not just to scroll. That means my content keeps working for me long after I post it. In the past year, I’ve grown my podcast by 74% and gained more than 200 email subscribers, largely thanks to Pinterest. I batch my pins for the week (sometimes multiple weeks) and then I don’t have to think about it again. That’s the kind of podcast marketing strategy I can actually sustain.

Not sure if Pinterest is the right fit for your show? I made a free checklist to help you figure it out — grab it at the link below!

Threads is the only social media platform I’m still consistently showing up on, and I genuinely love it. Here’s why: it’s just words. No B-roll, no music, no editing. I can schedule out an entire week’s worth of posts in about 20 minutes. And the people on Threads? They actually talk to you. I’ve made real friends, landed podcast guest opportunities, gained new listeners, and even gotten clients — all from comment conversations on Threads. If you haven’t tried it yet, I really recommend hopping on and seeing how it feels.

Podcast guesting is another one of my go-to podcast tips. It’s not an overnight strategy — most of the time you’ll see a bump in downloads and maybe some new email subscribers when an episode goes live. But the real magic is in the relationships. When you connect with another podcast host, you become someone they refer when the right person comes along. And occasionally, the results are massive. A few years ago, I guested on Three and 30 Takeaways for Moms and walked away with 100 new email subscribers from a single episode. When your topic, your audience, and your freebie all line up perfectly — it can be extraordinary.

Email marketing is the strategy that actually closes my sales. I send two emails a week — one to nurture and sell my offer, and one to let my list know about the latest episode of the Friendly Podcast Guide. Almost every single sale I make comes directly from email. It’s the one platform where I’m talking directly to people who already know and trust me, and I get to write those emails whenever I’m in the right headspace and schedule them in advance. It’s a beautiful thing.

Links & Resources

• Free “Is Pinterest Right for Your Podcast?” checklist
• About Progress episode, The Practice of Attention
• My podcast guesting episode
• My episode with Whitney about podcast experiments

Connect with Me

• Follow me on Threads
• Follow me on Pinterest

Unedited Transcript

I deleted Instagram off of my phone and I haven’t seen any dip in my downloads, and my offers are still selling. Hey, I’m Andy Smiley, and I’m obsessed with helping you grow your podcast without letting it rule your life. I share strategies that actually work, the stuff I wish someone would’ve told me sooner.

And conversations with the smartest podcasters I know. I’ve been alluding to the fact that Instagram isn’t a good fit for my podcast marketing for a while now, but a couple of weeks ago, I finally pulled the plug and deleted Instagram off of my phone. In this episode, I’m gonna tell you why I did it and what marketing strategies I use instead.

The last strategy I talk about is the one that I use to close almost all of my sales.

But I will say that Pinterest is my favorite strategy. I’ve been using Pinterest to grow my podcast for the past year, and the results have honestly gone above and beyond what I expected. In the past year, my podcast has grown by 74%, and I’ve gained more than 200 email subscribers.

But here’s the part that still kind of blows my mind. I deleted Instagram off of my phone. It was honestly just taking a toll on my mental health. And even though I deleted Instagram off of my phone, I haven’t seen any sort of drop in my downloads. That is the beauty of Pinterest.

I’ve been able to grow my show without having to show up every day, I batch all of my pins for the week or sometimes for multiple weeks, and then I don’t have to think about it again until it’s time to batch more pins. If you’ve been feeling exhausted trying to be everywhere at once and not seeing your podcast growth match the effort you’re putting in.

Pinterest might be the missing piece to your strategy, but it’s not right for everyone. So I made a free Is Pinterest right for your podcast checklist to help you figure out if it makes sense for your show. You can grab it at the link in the show notes.

I deleted Instagram off of my phone on St. Patrick’s Day. There wasn’t any like special reason that I did it on the holiday. I had just been thinking about it for a while because of a podcast episode that I heard on about progress called the practice of Attention, how to stop scrolling in a Distracted World. I’ll link to that episode in the show notes so you can go listen to it if you want to. This episode helped me realize how much of a drain Instagram has been on my mental health, and I knew I needed to make a change. So I woke up on that Tuesday morning and decided there’s no better time than the present, and I deleted Instagram off of my phone. It wasn’t a huge shock to my podcast marketing strategy because I hadn’t been using Instagram consistently to promote my podcast for a while, because last summer I realized that my podcast was getting way more traction from Pinterest than from Instagram, and I went Instagram optional.

I’ve noticed that the people that buy my offers aren’t on Instagram, or at least they aren’t on Instagram to learn about podcast marketing strategies. So my followers on Instagram for the most part, weren’t the people that were buying my offers or listening to my podcast. So now that you know why I left Instagram, let me walk you through exactly what I’m doing instead. Like I already mentioned, Pinterest is my main marketing platform, and it has been an amazing tool to help me grow my show without wasting my time and energy.

Pinterest works so well as a marketing platform for podcasters for many reasons. First, Pinterest is more of a search engine than a social media platform. Second, Pinterest users are on the platform to take action, not to be entertained.

Like on Instagram or TikTok, if you wanna hear a more in depth episode all about Pinterest, I’ll link the episode I did about Pinterest in the show notes, the only social media platform that I’m still consistently using is threads, which is like Instagram’s version of Twitter.

There are many reasons I love threads. Here are my top two reasons. First threads is just words. I don’t have to find B roll and music and edit it all so that the timing is right. I just type words and then hit post. I can schedule out an entire week’s worth of threads, posts in roughly 20 minutes.

I could never create and schedule that much content for Instagram in 20 minutes. The second reason I love threads is because the people on threads are much more willing to comment on posts and have full on conversations in the comments. I can’t tell you how many people I have met on threads because of a comment conversation. Those quote unquote comment conversations have led to me getting clients podcast guest opportunities, podcast downloads, and real life friendships. I really, really like threads. It has been such a good fit for me, and if you haven’t tried it yet, I recommend just hopping on and seeing how it feels for you.

Speaking of podcast guest opportunities, that is another one of my main podcast strategies. Being a guest on someone’s podcast is a great way to grow your show, but it isn’t one that’s going to bring you overnight success, at least not most of the time.

Most of the time you’ll probably see a bump in downloads and probably email subscribers. That’s what happens to me when a podcast episode that I guested on goes live. But the real beauty of being a podcast guest is the networking that happens when you connect with another podcast host.

When you connect with another podcast host, then the next time they chat with someone who could use your help, they’re going to refer you to them, and hopefully you are doing the same thing for them. I will say that sometimes being a podcast guest can give you massive results. A couple of years ago, I was on one of my favorite podcasts about motherhood called Three and 30 Takeaways for Moms. This was back when my podcast was about helping moms find podcasts for themselves and for their kids. I talked all about how awesome kid podcasts are, and then at the end of the episode, I talked about my Kid Podcast Guide freebie that the listeners.

Could get in the show notes the week the episode aired. I got 100 new email subscribers, 100. Isn’t that crazy? It was crazy to me. So when the topic you’re talking about lines up perfectly with the audience of the podcast, you’re guesting on and you have a freebie that adds value to what you’re already talking about.

You can have massive results

all of the marketing parts of being a podcast guest are great, but. My favorite part is making new friends. One of my favorite podcast people in the entire world is Whitney Archibald. You got to hear from her. A couple of weeks ago on the podcast when we were talking about podcast experiments. If you haven’t listened to that episode, you should really go listen to it.

Whitney and I just talked about why experimenting in our podcast is so great, and some of the experiments that we’re trying right now. I’ll link it in the show notes. I have always been a huge fan of Whitney and her show. So when I was first starting my podcast, I sent her a cold email to have her on my show as a guest.

She said yes, and we have been friends ever since. We’ve gone to podcast conferences together. I’ve had her on my show multiple times as I just talked about, and if I ever have a podcast quandary, she is the first person I call. If you wanna hear more about how to be a podcast guest, I have an entire episode about that too.

I’ll link it in the show notes.

Now I’m gonna talk about the strategy that actually closes my sales. And that is email marketing. I am currently sending out two episodes a week. One is to sell my offer and the other is to remind people about the latest episode of the Friendly Podcast guide. Almost all of my sales come straight from my email list.

I hadn’t even met one of the people that bought my Pinterest VIP setup service. I hadn’t met her online or in person until after she bought it and we hopped on the intro call. Email has been the best way for me to market my offer specifically because I get to write those emails when it’s convenient for me and I’m in the right head space, and then I schedule them out,

it truly is a beautiful miracle that I am eternally grateful for. Just as a quick recap, I don’t use Instagram to market my podcast anymore. Instead, I use Pinterest Threads podcast, guesting, and email. And if you’re ready for a break from Instagram, maybe you should try one of these too.

Do you have a friend that complains about using Instagram to promote her podcast, but she doesn’t know what to use instead? Will you send her this episode? I think it will give her some really good ideas.

Next week, I’ll be walking you through how to get your podcast ready for summer,

summer looks different for most of us, so we need to be ready for that. Thanks for being here, and I’ll see you next week.