Marketing through partnering with (or promoting) other platforms

Last night, I had to take a long drive, but because we're only a week away from the official start of summer, my car was covered in bugs by the time I got home. I didn't want to leave the car that way, so I took it to the car wash this afternoon. The wash was easy to find because of the signs they have all along the road. I also knew that their vacuums were free to use because they promote that too. They even made sure I knew about all the upgraded packages and services they offered while I was there. And while I was vacuuming my car, two employees greeted me and talked to me about their favorite cars and what they liked about the style of mine.

The experience was good. My car is cleaned, my floors are vacuumed, and I can tell you more details than you would want to know about that business. Their promotional efforts are clearly working for them.

When you're building an online platform, you need to think about promotion as well. In fact, many podcasters, bloggers, and writers will tell you that promoting their content is one of their biggest struggles and ongoing mysteries. It's possible you may feel the same way. Maybe you've been creating content for a while, but it's struggling to gain traction. Maybe you're just starting out and trying to build an audience. Is there anything you can do to help jumpstart the process?

I'm convinced that one of the best ways to quickly and affordably spread word about your platform is through partnering with and promoting other platforms. Let me suggest several ways that can be done.

Become a podcast guest

One of the little secrets about hosting a podcast is that hosts are always looking for great guests to feature on their shows. They're looking for people with interesting stories and an ability to communicate a message that will inspire their audience. Reaching out to hosts, getting to know them, and offering yourself as a guest can be a great way to partner with someone else. You can do this as a traditional guest or you can make yourself available to co-host an episode of a show. In the process, you'll inevitably have the opportunity to share more about your platform and the content you create.

Invite others to be a guest on your show

And if you host a show, it's also wise to invite others to be guests on your show. As you do so, you'll be able to promote their content and services, and after the recording is finished and the show is produced, your guests might share it with others.

I recently experienced the benefit of doing this. After promoting someone through an interview on my show, she shared that content with her audience and gave a huge boost to my platform. Downloads, views, and subscribers increased, and I'm still reaping the benefits of that weeks later.

Promo swaps

Another simple way to generously spread the word for one another in the world of podcasting is through promo swaps. This is where you play a promo for another show at some point during the course of your show. Often, these are done in the pre-roll. In fact, just a few months ago, I was approach by another podcaster who asked to do this, and I agree. We both spent a day promoting each others' shows to our audiences.

Guest blog posts

Guest blog posts are another great way to help promote others and enjoy a little promotion yourself. This is something I offer frequently, especially when others are creating content that fits really well with my content.

Ironically, even though this can be a great way to cross-promote each others' content, only about half the people who have agreed to do this have followed through with actually sending me something to share. I'm guessing that's because it takes longer to write a blog post than it does to record a brief promo.

Newsletter shout outs

A few months ago, I was reading my friend's weekly email newsletter. Several paragraphs into the newsletter, I read my name and a full-fledged endorsement of my platform. I was surprised and grateful. How do you think it would make someone else feel if you did this for them? Do you think they might also be likely to help promote your content?

Host a webinar together

In March 2020 when much of the known world was abruptly shutting down, various groups and businesses realized this was an opportunity to serve people in new ways. One company that I have worked with in the past (Servant Keeper) organized a webinar for church leaders to help assist them with the process of attempting to host services remotely. I was invited to participate in this webinar and to briefly share some principles to help encourage church leaders who were feeling concerned and unsure what to do. In the process, my content was shared with at least 1,200 other people.

With that example in mind, can you think of a webinar you might be able to host with another content creator? You can promote the event together while at the same time, promote each others' content. This could be a very effect way to factor the principles of generosity into your marketing efforts.

Hosting an online summit or live event

I'm also familiar with examples of people hosting online summits and live events where they invited hosts of other platforms to present their ideas and speak. I just experienced this with Podfest who allowed me to speak on a panel at their most recent in-person conference. I also just received an invitation to submit a speaker proposal for their online conference that's coming up this fall.

In the process of offering that to me, I have also been vocal in sharing about Podfest and the work they're doing. They're promoting my content and I'm promoting theirs. It's a big win/win.

Wrapping up...

In my experience, there has been no harm from being generous with my platform. It seems like any time I have been generous to others, that generosity has come back to me many times over.

If you're struggling to gain traction for a newer platform or if you're in need of a boost, this might be a very effective approach to consider.