Many podcast hosts don’t take Apple Podcasts seriously and miss out on the considerable traffic and promotional resources that the Apple podcast platform brings.
In fact, on the one hand, Apple Podcasts has a huge market share and, thanks to the incredible sales of the iPhone, Apple’s Podcasts app is the most downloaded podcast app, with Apple Podcasts ranked #1 with 39.7% of all podcast listeners and 49,500,235 podcast downloads as of October 2022. Spotify currently ranks second with 26.4% of podcast users and 32,852,295 downloads.
For creators who don’t pay attention to, or have never submitted a show to Apple, missing out on Apple Podcasts means you’ve lost at least half your audience. On the flip side, by submitting your show to Apple Podcasts, more people will be able to hear your show thanks to the world’s largest Podcast Directory and the major podcast clients that use Apple’s Podcast Directory.
Apple Podcasts also has a unique advantage in terms of content management. As we all know, Apple Podcasts is the rule setter in the podcast industry, with stricter distribution standards and copyright regulations, which means that content that meets Apple Podcasts’ standards will meet the requirements of most podcast clients, and hosts will only need to consider how to distribute their shows more effectively.
The podcast market is already generating $1.4 billion in advertising revenue in 2021, and podcast ad spend is also growing steadily. Apple Podcasts not only provides creators with a backend for show management and data presentation, but also allows for more complete data analysis of show content with any standard third-party tool; advertisers or brands can use more effective and credible third-party data to help develop delivery For advertisers or brands, more effective and credible third-party data can be used to help formulate strategies and reduce decision costs.
In our ad data tracking statistics, we found that Apple Podcasts users are more efficient in converting ads than users on other platforms, ranging from 8% to 12% higher on average. This data can provide creators with more intuitive pricing reference on the one hand, and analyze user profile and behavior through the phenomenon, such as “whether Apple users have higher purchasing power” on the other.
The difference between Apple Podcasts and other podcast clients is that any creator can submit their show to Apple’s editorial team via an online form or email, and the best ones will be reviewed and featured on the front page (what Apple calls the “view page”). These recommendations are usually reserved for at least one week, which can increase exposure for the show.
Recently, Apple has made a new adjustment to the podcast recommendation mechanism: instead of focusing on institutional producers, the recommendation authority is given to the creators, and everyone can login to the page through their Apple ID and submit a recommendation application. The location. This is definitely good news for podcast creators.
For individual podcast creators, Apple Podcasts’ self-referral channel is still very complicated, which discourages many people.
Step 1: Sign up for an Apple ID
To submit shows to Apple Podcasts, you must have an Apple account, or Apple ID, and you don’t have to worry if you’re an Android user, because the process of registering for an Apple account and submitting shows is web-based.
If you don’t have an Apple ID, you can go to https://appleid.apple.com/account to submit your registration, which is the same process as any other registration. You’ll need to provide your phone number, email address, set up a password, and follow the prompts to get an Apple ID.
Note: The birthday information provided must also be remembered, as it is required to verify your identity when resetting your password.
Step 2: Get an RSS link
When submitting a show to the Apple Podcasts creator backend, you need an important resource – the show’s RSS address. There are two main ways to get it, and you can get the RSS address directly from the platform you uploaded the show to.
Step 3: Submit your podcast to Apple
Go to the Apple Podcasts creator backend at https://podcastsconnect.apple.com and sign in with your newly registered Apple ID to see the New Show or Channel button. For an example of a new show, select “Add a show with an RSS feed”.
Paste your program’s RSS address into the form, then click Next, fill in the necessary access rights, authorization, and other options, wait for Apple to verify that your RSS address is legitimate, and submit it when you’re successful.
Step 4: Wait to go live
Once the program is submitted, it’s time to wait for it to go live. The wait time is usually less than 24 hours.
Note: The above description of “compliance wait” is based on the long-term experience and observations of a third party, and does not represent Apple’s first opinion.
Operation Phase
Step 1: Create promotional materials
Once your podcast is on Apple’s podcast, it’s time to start preparing for the formal operation: self-promote your podcast to Apple’s editors and let them decide whether to recommend it for the Browse page or more promotional resources. As you know, Apple’s design and visual requirements are very high, and most self-promotions fail because they can’t produce material that meets Apple’s requirements.
The criteria for creating promotional materials are publicly available here: https://podcasters.apple.com/support/866-promotional-artwork#shows. Before applying for a referral, it is important to know how to create Apple promotional materials to ensure that you can do so independently.
Through continuous and in-depth communication with Apple, Sound Surge has produced hundreds of conforming promotional materials, and the following lessons learned will help creators do a better job.
The Apple podcast’s recommendations are synced across all platforms, including the iTunes Store, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, etc. Therefore, a large image size is required to meet the resolution and display area of all platforms. Therefore, a very large image size is required to meet the resolution and display area requirements of all platforms.
There is a concept of “safe zone” for promotional materials, and valid content must be placed in the safe zone, otherwise it will be cropped or even rejected.
Respect copyright. Do not use images of unknown copyright, images of others, trademarks, product images, etc., and do not use Apple’s trademarks or product images.
Don’t overload with text. It’s best to provide only the name of the program, rather than putting large paragraphs of text in promotional materials.
Apple’s color standard is DCI-P3 color gamut; be careful not to incorrectly convert to other color standards.
The final submission is a PSD layered file, not a JPG, which is a very easy mistake for newbies to make, so be careful.
There are many other standards, just read the documentation carefully. The above problems are the most likely to encounter, need to pay special attention.
Step 2: Recommend your podcast or single episode to Apple
Once you’re ready to promote your material, go to Apple’s self-promotion page to recommend your show to the editors at https://podcasters-contact.apple.com/promo-request.
After the above content is filled in, select submit and wait for the promotional material to be uploaded.
Once the above steps are completed, you’ve successfully completed a self-promotion of your Apple Podcasts content. Next, wait for the editorial team to review and select your content. According to Apple’s editorial policy, if your show is selected, you’ll usually see your show in the Apple Podcasts promotion in about two weeks; don’t be discouraged if your show isn’t recommended; you can resubmit it in six to eight weeks and the editors will re-evaluate your application.
And during special times, such as holidays and various anniversaries, there may also be a different rhythm of go-live or feature recommendations scheduled.
If necessary, Apple’s editors will contact you by email, so be sure to keep your email open and check it in a timely manner.
Apple Podcasts is currently the only podcast client that provides a standardized, structured, and dedicated channel for self-promotion and communication. Over the past few years, Apple’s editorial team has demonstrated professionalism and respect for content in their communication with creators – they don’t serve specific content or traffic, but rather focus on diversity and promotion of the “podcast” format itself.
