Welcome to my Business Podcasting Tip Sheet – Number 4
This week I wanted to focus on something which ends up being a trap a lot of podcasters (the business and the hobby kind) fall into.
It’s actually very simple to find yourself there, and even the most experienced broadcasters and podcasters lose their way on occasion.
The trap is this: making podcast episodes you want to hear that your audience doesn’t.
There is a peculiarity, more so in broadcasting than podcasting, but it’s worth mentioning all the same.
Comparatively speaking with other media, radio doesn’t use an awful lot of analytics. Even now, a surprising amount of what goes to air is experienced, educated guesswork.
Does it feel right? Has it worked before?
Don’t mistake my intent here. I’m a big supporter of gut feeling, and what it tells you, but that shouldn’t live in isolation if additional data is available.
And for your podcast there is.
Regardless of provider there are always analytics you can look at. You can tell how popular your episodes have been. This is of greater use the longer you’ve been live in the podcast universe, because for a while it stands to reason Episode 1 is going to be your most popular. Not because the subject matter is the most interesting necessarily – it’s more down to the fact people hardly ever find you on that first episode, but rather when they do buy in, if they like it, the second episode they listen to is your first one as they play catch-up.
So for a while the episode popularity is most likely skewed, but over time things start to balance out, and you get an idea for what type of subject really resonates with your listener.
Another way you can assess whether an episode is right for your listener is by asking them. You do this in three ways:
The first is simple. You straight up, front up and ask them as a call to action in your show.
“Is there an episode we haven’t recorded yet, you’d like to hear?”
“Are the episodes we’re recording addressing your wants and needs?”
“Let us know by getting in touch when you rate and review us.”
The second way of doing this is broadly the same, but you ask the questions via the online assets for your podcast. Got social media presence for your show? This is where it becomes a tool you can really use.
Ask there.
Did you create a website for the show?
Use it to conduct a focus group of sorts. Run an online poll.
Option Number 3 for asking your listener is by going back to the drawing board, and looking at the avatar / preferred listener you created.
If that last paragraph doesn’t make sense, can I advise you check out the previous Tip Sheets or download my free ebook ‘Pitch Perfect Podcasts’ – The Art Of Talking Up Your Business. There’s also an online course to help if you’d like to register. It takes you all the way from newbie to nerd in the world of podcasting and will get you ‘on air’ and help keep you there.
By far the simplest way of creating content that works for your listener though is to keep in touch with what’s happening all around you all the time and trying to figure out if there’s a way you can connect with that.
In short, you need to learn how to think popular.
One of my former workplaces believes so strongly in this, they’ve made it the strap-line for the entire company.
I don’t work for this company anymore, but a lot of good people I admire do – and to them, this isn’t just an outward-facing statement. It acts as a reminder for everything they create in terms of content. It’s a safety check – “will this go down well with the audience?”
Let me give you a life example.
Last weekend, courtesy of one of my other jobs, as Match Day Stadium Announcer at Aberdeen Football Club, I was able to introduce to the crowd the return of our greatest ever manager – possibly THE greatest ever manager – Sir Alex Ferguson.
It made me feel like a kid again. The joy I felt from the rush of memories surged through me relentlessly, and I knew it was the same for anyone else who was there.
So I shared that online with my audience on Twitter and LinkedIn, knowing I would leverage the audience of both the football club and Sir Alex himself.
Look what happened. These stats are still rising, incidentally, but just shy of 41,000 views is good enough, right?
It’s imperative you never lose sight of the fact you’re not making content (in this case a podcast) for you. You’re doing it for your listener.