Whether you're just starting out as a podcaster or you've been doing it for a while, you know how important it is to engage your audience. After all, without your dedicated listeners, your podcast wouldn't be able to survive! Your listeners tune in to your podcast to have a good time and maybe even learn something, but they will not do this if they do not feel like they are getting anything out of the experience. While there are many ways that you can enhance your listeners' experience, the best thing to focus on is creating more engaging content for your listeners and building your community.

Truthfully, what you choose to do to increase your community engagement can be a great number of things. But one great way to set yourself apart from other podcasts in your niche is to step outside the box. For example, rather than simply creating a group on social media (which is still a good way to build your community of listeners if you have not done it yet), try doing something truly fascinating, like trying out maps (for podcasters). What do we mean by this? Try making interactive maps relevant to your audience or podcast content that you can share to help your audience better engage with your content — or each other!

Maps for Podcasters, Taking Your Podcast to the Next Level

Now, you may be wondering, how exactly can maps help you build that dedicated community you are looking for? Well, this is exactly what we're going to cover today, so get ready for five creative ways that you can use maps to better engage with your audience as a podcaster!

1. Turn Show Notes into an Interactive Map

One way that you can use maps to better engage your audience is to use them as supplemental materials for your podcast's content. This is especially useful for podcasters with a more historical podcast or those who talk about events or places in the real world. Using a map to visualize your show notes can also be a good option for a podcast about language — including regional differences for specific terms and pronunciations. Additionally, it may be an excellent way to illustrate a character's travels through the world if your podcast is more of a storytelling podcast set in our world.

Really, anytime a story or event takes place in a real-world geographic location, including this in a map for your listeners can be a great addition. This can give your audience another way to interact with your podcast and enhance their understanding of the story or event you are talking about in your podcast.

2. Turn Your Season Catalog into a Map

If your podcast focuses on talking about (or talking to) people, businesses, organizations, or even stories that exist in the real world, then a map is an excellent tool for your audience. This is especially useful if you can address individuals, events, or larger entities from many different areas around the globe since it will make it easier for your audience to easily see where the topic of each episode is located.

With an interactive map, you can place a pin for each of your episodes on the map based on where the episode's topic is located. Then, at the end of the season, you can share this map with your audience as a fun and innovative way to do a season-end recap!

3. Create a Fan Map

As you know, as a podcaster, your fans are always your top priority. You want to create a space and community where they feel like they can talk with others who share their interests and passions for your particular podcast niche. But, like many online communities, it can feel faceless or lonely if you cannot find ways to connect with other community members.

Now, while you cannot make a group engage with itself, you can provide ways for your listeners to connect with each other and with you to help cultivate this feeling of community. One great way you can do this using a map is to create a fan map that is fitted with crowdsourcing capabilities, like those you can create with Proxi.

This allows your fans to show where they are from and opens the door for connection and conversations. Not only can this help you and your audience build the type of community you want, but it can also be a great way to help you better understand where your listeners are and if you are close to a group of them yourself! If you are, you can reach out, think about live show ideas (which we'll jump into a little later), or even keep it in mind if you are traveling to an area your listeners are in.

4. Let Fans Vote on Your Next Story

Sometimes one of the best ways to engage with your audience is to let them participate in the podcast or episode planning. Now, you may not feel comfortable opening the floor to your audience completely — after all, it is your podcast, and you have to be interested in what you are talking about! If this is the case, one great way to include your audience is to ask them to vote on your next story from the options you offer.

Using our interactive map maker, you can place pins on the map where each story takes place and allow your listeners to vote on which one sounds the most exciting to them. This way, you can strike the perfect balance between letting your audience be a part of the planning process while still ensuring that your next story is something you care about too.

5. Plan Your Next Live Show Location

Another thing that you can let your listeners influence is where you do live shows. There are two primary approaches you can use to do this. First, if you have already created the "fan map" we mentioned earlier for your community, you could use this map to determine where your fans are typically located. You can then use this information to select where you may want to do a live show that could be most accessible to your listeners.

The other method you can use is to come up with a list of cities you are considering for a live show or tour and let your audience vote on their favorites using a similar setup to the voting map mentioned earlier. Either of these options can be a great way to show your listeners that you care about them and are considering their opinions and locations when planning a live show.

If you use Proxi to create these voting or community-building maps, you can get the added bonus of updating the map when your show or tour goes live and allowing your audience to purchase tickets for their location from it!

Ready to Take Your Podcast to the Next Level with Maps?

Today, there are many ways that you can create maps for your audience. But if you want to create quick, gorgeous, and engaging maps for your podcast without knowing how to code or download any complicated software. As the "Canva" of map making, our map making tools allow you to create high-quality, interactive maps in just four steps! Simply start your map, customize it to fit your brand image, pinpoint your locations, and share it with your audience, and you've unlocked an incredible new opportunity for engagement.