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If you’re not posting on TikTok to promote your podcast, you’re seriously limiting your podcast growth. TikTok has a staggering 1 billion active users. By posting videos on TikTok, you can convert any one of them into a potential viewer.
In this article, we show you examples of famous podcasts that have used TikTok successfully to grow their audience. We’ll also show you examples of videos they made and how you can make similar videos for your own TikTok channel.
Let’s get into it!
Why should you use TikTok to grow your podcast?
Creating TikTok videos isn’t that hard: you can use tools like Riverside's text-based editor and Magic Clips to make these clips in no time at all.
Here are some more reasons why you should use TikTok to grow your podcast.
The virality factor
While it’s hard for podcasts to become viral, it’s not the case for TikTok. The platform frequently pushes content to new users, especially if the video is good.
By constantly putting out the best bits of your content, you increase the chance of at least one of them going viral. The people who watch that video may be then tempted to listen to the original episode. And if they like the episode, they might convert into long-term fans of your podcast!
The hook factor
Suppose a friend of yours sent you an hour-long podcast episode to check out. He’s been very excited to share it with you as the topic is very interesting to him. But unfortunately, it’s only mildly interesting to you.
Would you watch the whole episode?
Chances are, most likely not.
(Unless you’re an exceptionally good friend with tons of patience!)
But now, what if this friend sent you a TikTok video? Would you be more likely to watch it?
Probably yes. TikTok videos last only 30 secs to 5 minutes long, and it’s easy to commit to watching them. And later, you may be intrigued enough to watch the whole video.
TikTok videos have the ‘hook factor.’ They’re ideal for the short attention span of most modern-day people. These videos show the most interesting stuff of the podcast, not the silences and boring ‘get to know you’ moments. This makes them more likely to ‘hook’ folks in.
Pro-tip: Stop sending long videos to your friends, especially on a topic they’ve little interest in. It would be a better practice to send them snippets of a video.
For instance, if you want to send a YouTube video, consider sending them YouTube Clips, which are 5-60 sec snippets of the full video.
Audience interaction and engagement
One of the biggest downsides of podcasting is that it doesn’t let creators engage with their audience. There’s no comment space, no like button, and no ‘community’ page.
TikTok, on the other hand, has all of these. Creators can respond to fan comments, which then makes them more likely to check out the podcast.
Improved discoverability
The TikTok algorithm can make your podcast discoverable to users interested in similar topics, resulting in more people discovering it.
TikTok have any podcasting features?
According to The Verge, TikTok has begun inviting select creators to upload podcasts onto the app. The new feature allows them to upload entire episodes via an RSS feed and link them to their short-form clips.
However, this feature hasn’t been rolled out to all users, and there’s not a lot of chatter about it on the internet. While TikTok may be testing out this feature, it’s unfortunately not a guarantee this will be a permanent option in the future.
9 Successful podcasts on TikTok and what to learn from them
Crime Junkie
Crime Junkie TikTok followers: 81.2K Followers
Crime Junkie is a weekly true crime podcast that debuted in December 2017. Every Monday, the hosts Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat cover a different crime. Expect the usual true crime themes like murder, serial killers, and missing persons. Episodes can last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
TikTok examples: Ashley Flowers and Brit Flowers have a unique approach to their TikTok account. The two hosts have a strong fan following, and they use their TikTok medium as a way to connect with fans.
In the below video, Ashley and Brit connect with their fans through a Q&A. Towards the end of the video, there’s a recommendation to check out the Crime Junkie fan club, where a longer version of the Q&A is posted.
There's more to learn from these two hosts though. For example, they know how to have fun and incorporate fun games and challenges into their TikToks. There's a video of them playing a game of ‘What’s in the box?’. This video is a fantastic example of why the hosts have such a huge fan following: they have such a fun side to them. Try to have fun during filming your podcasts. People enjoy videos that tickle their funny bones.
The two are also great at promoting their merchandise and you'll find some videos where they do this in an engaging way. If you command a strong fandom, definitely consider making a merch store and promoting it on TikTok!
New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce
New Heights TikTok follows: 2.9M
The Kelce brothers, Jason and Travis, are star NFL players who have ventured into the world of podcasting with their show "New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce."
This podcast blends sports analysis, personal anecdotes, and the unique perspective that comes from being at the pinnacle of American football.
Jason Kelce, center for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Travis Kelce, tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, bring a blend of humor and insight to their weekly discussions. They delve into the intricacies of football, their personal experiences in the NFL, and a variety of other topics that interest them, from pop culture to family life.
TikTok examples and what to learn from them:
Below is a podcast clip where Jason Kelce brings on camera two of his adorable daughters. It’s no surprise that this episode gained 16.6m views.
If people are fans of you, bringing on your family members or pet on camera is always welcome; people relate to you more, and it makes you seem more personable and likable.
Another thing to take away from the above clip is how they advertise their podcast right toward the end of the video.
Huberman Lab
Huberman Lab TikTok follows: 179.2K
Ranked currently as the Number 2 health podcast, The Huberman Lab features Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist and a tenured professor at Stanford School of Medicine.
Andrew Huberman not only presents scientific facts related to health, fitness, and biohacking but also gives accessible and actionable takeaways that you can implement immediately.
The host has a knack for explaining complicated scientific concepts in lay terms. This makes the podcast a valuable resource for those interested in understanding the science behind their health and behaviors.
TikTok examples and what to learn from them:
The Huberman Lab TikTok account is pretty straightforward. He often discusses a common problem or gives advice in the fields of physical health, mental health, or personal development.
If you have a podcast similar to Huberman’s, where you give advice or discuss problems, definitely take out these bits and post them on TikTok. You never know who would benefit from your advice or experience.
Pardon my take
Pardon my take TikTok follows: 966.9K
While Pardon My Take mainly focuses on sports, it brings on non-sports guests as well. The show in fact recently hosted Tiffany Gomas, the ‘Crazy plane lady’, to discuss her infamous meltdown.
The podcast is known for its comedic take on sports, offering listeners a refreshing departure from traditional sports commentary. It features a wide range of sports topics, featuring interviews with sports personalities, celebrities, journalists, and athletes.
The podcast’s blend of humor, insightful commentary, and engaging interviews has made it a must-listen-to for sports fans and non-sports fans alike.
TikTok examples and what to learn from them:
The Pardon My Take hosts post the best bits of their podcast, which are often about 40 secs to 2 minutes in length.
Keeping your own clips as long is a good idea.
Here is an examples of a clip with some of their most views.
The Mel Robbins podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast TikTok follows: 1.7M
Mel Robbins is a renowned motivational speaker and author whose TEDx Talk is one of the most watched ones.
Don’t engage with this podcast passively; it's all about learning and applying. Mel shares proven tools that empower you to create a better life. Here, you’ll find motivation and tactics, deeply personal stories, and research-backed advice.
For instance, one episode titled "The 'It' Factor: How to Hack Charisma & Use Body Language to Boost Your Influence, Income, and Impact" provides listeners with a masterclass on social cues and charisma.
TikTok examples and what to learn from them:
Mel Robbins TikTok videos are personal development gold. In each clip, you’ll find an interesting life hack that will help you change your life. Her TikTok clips aren’t just from podcasts or talks. Here’s one where she’s driving in her car (don’t worry, someone else is doing the filming!)
You can always connect with your audience while you’re out and about, like when you’re going for a walk. Another option is to just take some time off your busy schedule to film a video and connect with your audience right at your deskspace.
Help I Sexted My Boss
Help I Sexted My Boss TikTok follows: 1.1M
"Help I Sexted My Boss" is a British podcast that blends humor, advice, and celebrity culture in a distinctive, engaging format. Launched in 2018, it features radio presenter Jordan North and etiquette expert William Hanson.
North, known for his affable personality and appearances on BBC Radio 1, contrasts with Hanson, whose expertise in manners and polished demeanor lend a more traditional tone to the show. This odd-couple dynamic forms the heart of the podcast, attracting a wide range of listeners.
Each episode revolves around listener-submitted queries, ranging from the bizarre to the genuinely perplexing. These questions often concern modern dilemmas, social etiquette, or personal embarrassments, hence the podcast's evocative title.
TikTok examples and what to learn from them:
The podcast employs the usual strategy of hosting the best bits of their podcast (which are hilarious btw, do check them out. A word of serious caution: Don’t listen to them in front of your mom!)
They create really great behind-the-scenes TikTok clips, and fun clips of them being their hilarious selves while going about their daily life. If you or your co-host are funny people, do consider uploading these kind of clips!
The Diary of a CEO
The Diary of a CEO TikTok follows: 1.6M
The Diary of a CEO is hosted by Steven Bartlett, a successful entrepreneur who founded SocialChain, a leading social media agency.
Bartlett created the podcast after resigning as the CEO of SocialChain at 27. He made it with the mission of "un-filtering success" and providing listeners with the knowledge they need to create the life they want.
The podcast has a fascinating array of guests, from Matthew Syed, who’s written books like Black Box Thinking, to Maisie Williams, who starred in Game of Thrones.
TikTok examples and what to learn from them:
In this podcast, you’ll hear advice from Steven or his guests, or you’ll get a glimpse into their personal lives. His videos are powerful. If there are such moments in your podcast, don’t hesitate to use them.
48 hours
48 hours TikTok follows: 1M
The "48 Hours" podcast is an audio adaptation of television's most popular true-crime series. It’s produced by CBS News, and it focuses on crime and justice cases that have left their mark on society.
A new episode is released every Sunday. Then on Tuesdays, listeners can delve deeper into the story with the immersive "Post Mortem" series. And on Thursday, the podcast revisits a classic "48 Hours" episode.
Fans praise this podcast for its docu-style crime storytelling and stellar production quality.
TikTok examples and what to learn from them:
Many of the podcast clips contain scenes from the original episode.
However, the show does upload videos from random law or crime-related events that happen. Like this one below:
If the topic of your podcast is relevant to the current state of affairs in the world, definitely post recent video clips on that topic on your podcast.
The Shawn Ryan Show
The Shawn Ryan Show TikTok follows: 1.2M
Shawn Ryan is a former U.S. Navy Seal and CIA Contractor. Given his background, it’s no surprise that he brings on guests involved in the military. However, he also brings on guests from diverse fields like politics, journalism, neuroscience, UFOs, and more.
The host has a knack for diving into conspiracy theories: it's evident in the guests he brings onto his podcasts. If you're a fan of unraveling mysteries and unconventional theories, you’ll enjoy his podcasts. If not, don't dismiss everything he does, just take inspiration from his TikTok videos!
TikTok examples and what to learn from them:
In some of his videos, he skillfully incorporates clips from movies or real-life scenes. These clips aren't random; they're carefully chosen to resonate with the topic being discussed. Additionally, the music he chooses mirrors the mood of the video and enhances the overall experience.
How to promote your own podcast on TikTok: 6 Ways
Taking inspiration from some of the examples we’ve already seen, let's look at how you can promote your podcast
Share Podcast Clips and Teaser Videos
This is one of the most commonly employed strategies. Share short, engaging clips from your podcast that give viewers a taste of your content. Make these clips concise and ensure they capture the essence of your podcast and pull the viewer in, making them want to watch the whole episode.
With a platform like Riverside these are also effortlessly easy to make. We have an AI podcast clip generator that identifies key moments in your recordings then turns them into short, shareable clips.
Provide Tips and Share Experiences
Similar to the Andrew Huberman or The Diary of a CEO podcast, you can share bite-sized clips of you or your guest sharing tips and experiences of interest to the audience.
Film a snapshot of your life
If all your videos involve you sitting behind a mic, it can get boring. Spice things up by sprinkling in clips from your life outside the podcasting world.
Remember the example of the video from The Mel Robbins Podcast, where she’s driving on a bridge? You can film similar content while you’re going about your life. Share moments of your life with your viewers; talk to them like you would share stuff to a diary. It’s always good to be relatable to your audience.
Keep creating fresh content
Keep posting content, and don’t keep your TikTok account stale. Our research suggests that plenty of podcasts stopped getting views and followers because the hosts stopped posting on the platform altogether. TikTok rewards creators who are consistent with content.
Here’s an example of a highly-rated podcast, The Bill Simmons Podcast, which got only 24k followers despite it being extremely popular. The reason for this is his last upload was on the 22nd of December 2022.
Use behind-the-scene videos
People like getting glimpses into a content creator's life, whether personal or professional. For a window into the latter, you can show people a behind-the-scenes video. This could be exclusive outtakes, bloopers, or office tour videos.
Creating Podcast TikToks Effortlessly with Riverside
Riverside makes creating video highlights and sharing them on TikTok a breeze. If you're someone who creates long-form content and repurposes this as TikTok videos, then Riverside will cut your workload in less than half.
The Magic Clips feature works with AI to identify key moments in any of your long-form recordings and turn them into short, shareable videos, ideal for any social media platform. You can edit and customize these with our text-based editor, which works with highly accurate AI transcriptions.
Editing videos, becomes as easy as reading through a recording transcript. Any text you delete in your transcript automatically removes the matching video and audio in your recording. You can also use these transcripts to navigate through your video and find the exact quote you're looking for.
These AI transcriptions are available in over 100 languages, and you can use them to create video captions, or you can download them as SRT or TXT files. You can then customize your background and layout, fine-tune your audio, and polish your video.
Riverside offers both a free and a paid version. While the free version is great, if you want higher-resolution recordings without watermarks, you might want to upgrade to the paid version.
Key features
- Magic Clips that uses AI to transform long-form recordings into short, engaging clips suitable for sharing on social media platforms.
- Text-based editor, which reflects any changes you make in the text edit of the video transcription to the actual video.
- Manual editing using the timeline editor. The editor lets you choose the video size (9:16, 1:1, 16:9) and change the layout, background, and logo.
- AI transcriptions in up to 100 languages. These can be downloaded separately or directly burned into the video. Transcriptions are important for social media because they help search engines rank your content under relevant keywords. They also make your content more accessible to those who watch without sound.
- Local recording with up to 4k video and 48 kHz audio resolution
- Separate audio, video and screen sharing tracks to give you maximum editing flexibility
- Podcast shownotes at the tap of an AI button, along with AI descriptions, titles and chapters
- Integrated podcast soundboard where you can add sound effects live
- Real-time background noise and echo cancellation feature
FAQs on Podcasts on TikTok
Should I put my podcast on TikTok?
Yes, you should consider putting your podcast on TikTok. The platform has around 1 billion active users; why waste the opportunity to put your podcast in front of all those potential eyeballs?
If you already have a podcast, creating TikTok videos from them is easy. All you have to do is cut out the interesting parts of your podcast and upload it to the platform.
You can skip the manual labor of this process by using Riverside’s Magic Clips, which uses Ai to take the best bits out of your podcast automatically and make them TikTok-ready.
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