Transcripts
In reality, it's hard for podcast listeners to recommend podcasts.
Evo Terra:If your show's growth has stalled, there are some steps you can take
Evo Terra:to make it easier for your most loyal fans to recommend your show.
Evo Terra:Today's episode is brought to you by the Advancing Podcasting
Evo Terra:community at advancingpodcasting.xyz.
Evo Terra:Because why would I do anything normal?
Evo Terra:It's a special community just for listeners and readers of
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications and it's populated by like-minded working
Evo Terra:podcasters just like you who also want to make podcasting better.
Evo Terra:You're already listening to the show.
Evo Terra:So why not extend the conversation and your influence
Evo Terra:on the future of podcasting?
Evo Terra:Join us today at advancingpodcasting.xyz.
Evo Terra:Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:"Why Is My Show Not Growing" has been the topic we're dealing with all
Evo Terra:week here on Podcast Pontifications.
Evo Terra:"Why have I reached that plateau?"
Evo Terra:Well, as we've said, it's because people aren't recommending your show any longer.
Evo Terra:And that's because, or it might be at least partially because it's not all
Evo Terra:that easy to recommend your podcast.
Evo Terra:But before you start Googling, "How do I make it easier to recommend my
Evo Terra:podcast," let's first talk about who it is we're talking about.
Evo Terra:Because the people you want to recommend your show, or the people you rely on to
Evo Terra:recommend your show are the hardcore, retained audience that come back and keep
Evo Terra:downloading and listening to your episodes week after month after day, whatever.
Evo Terra:Those people are the evangelists.
Evo Terra:It makes much more sense that they're the ones more likely to recommend your podcast
Evo Terra:than someone who found your show via a Google search, or has listened a single
Evo Terra:time, or maybe they didn't listen at all.
Evo Terra:So you can automatically, by making that bifurcation of who we want to make the
Evo Terra:recommendations, we can start discounting, if not outright discarding, any tips
Evo Terra:and tricks that don't speak to the behavior of the loyal listening audience.
Evo Terra:So, yes, that does mean, in fact, you have my permission to uninstall
Evo Terra:that social share icon pack from your website that's cluttering things up.
Evo Terra:All right, let's get back to making it easy for your core listening
Evo Terra:audience to recommend your show.
Evo Terra:Now, it makes sense that when someone is listening to you, when they're having
Evo Terra:that ah-ha moment, when they are getting the value from your program, it makes
Evo Terra:sense that right there is a great time for someone to make a recommendation.
Evo Terra:But you know it's not.
Evo Terra:For a couple of reasons.
Evo Terra:One, podcast listening apps themselves are not great at sharing content.
Evo Terra:They don't make it easy to share or recommended content.
Evo Terra:And while, yes, they all have a share functionality while you're
Evo Terra:listening - they're all in there.
Evo Terra:Some even make it easy, very easy, for you to take a clip, for your listener
Evo Terra:to take a clip of your show and share that and recommend it to other people.
Evo Terra:But as I mentioned, there are two problems with sharing via apps.
Evo Terra:First, apps aren't universal.
Evo Terra:And so a link from Apple Podcasts or Overcast, or even Podverse, is
Evo Terra:a link to the episode or the show in that app and that app only.
Evo Terra:That's a problem the industry is working to solve.
Evo Terra:That's not all that helpful.
Evo Terra:That's a smart growth tactic if you are that app, less so for your podcast.
Evo Terra:The second part of that is most people, when they are listening to your show, are
Evo Terra:listening with their phone in their back pocket, in the cup holder of their car,
Evo Terra:on the counter where they got sudsy hands.
Evo Terra:It's just not the right time to get someone to make a recommendation
Evo Terra:when they're listening.
Evo Terra:As cool as that would be, as much sense as it makes, probably not.
Evo Terra:Social apps, however, are a totally different story.
Evo Terra:You see, the whole entire thing about social media is it's built for sharing.
Evo Terra:You know this.
Evo Terra:And while we all know that social websites, Twitter, Facebook, name any of
Evo Terra:them, they all hate audio-only content, we have to remember that a lot of
Evo Terra:people do share audio content on social.
Evo Terra:All sorts of content.
Evo Terra:They retweet, they share, they comment, they pass along information
Evo Terra:to other people all the time.
Evo Terra:Now, some podcast brands have really become part of the social fabric, and are
Evo Terra:engaging with the overall social platform and all the people who are there in lots
Evo Terra:of ways, so that they can get shared.
Evo Terra:I'm thinking of Podchaser and Buzzsprout.
Evo Terra:Just check out their Twitter feeds, see how much they are involved
Evo Terra:with the overall community of podcasting on those platforms.
Evo Terra:They're heavily engaged.
Evo Terra:Their content gets great engagement, and, therefore, it gets lots of shares.
Evo Terra:Now, a lot of smart and socially savvy podcasters play that similar game.
Evo Terra:They don't turn to social media just to pimp their latest episode.
Evo Terra:They, instead, engage with their listeners in detailed conversation.
Evo Terra:That keeps them top of mind, which keeps them in the consideration
Evo Terra:the next time someone says, "Recommendations on podcast?"
Evo Terra:in that social platform.
Evo Terra:Do you know where your loyal listeners are on social?
Evo Terra:What platforms they're using?
Evo Terra:Yesterday, I talked about a survey, and I've implemented that survey.
Evo Terra:I'll talk about it in just a moment.
Evo Terra:You can find out where your loyal people are interacting, and then
Evo Terra:that means you should be there too.
Evo Terra:Follow your most loyal listeners.
Evo Terra:Engage with your most loyal listeners on their social platform of choice.
Evo Terra:Because if your social media presence gives your listeners, your
Evo Terra:loyal listeners, value, they're very likely to return that value
Evo Terra:by recommending your show more.
Evo Terra:Finally, I'm going to turn to the killer app - email.
Evo Terra:Yes, again, Evo is going to talk about email.
Evo Terra:But hold on, how many times do you, or have you, forwarded an email?
Evo Terra:How many times have you received a forwarded email?
Evo Terra:It's a lot.
Evo Terra:Now, lots of podcasters, some of which are my clients unfortunately,
Evo Terra:eschew the idea of doing more with email because they want people to
Evo Terra:listen to their show, not read it.
Evo Terra:And I get it.
Evo Terra:So I'm here to say, you don't have to give away the episode in text form like I do.
Evo Terra:Although, I do highly recommend that move.
Evo Terra:It works really well.
Evo Terra:But you should, however, do more with email than just send out a
Evo Terra:notification of a new episode.
Evo Terra:If you do that, think infographics or key quotes, maybe even emailing
Evo Terra:a link to the resources that were mentioned in your most recent episode.
Evo Terra:If you can make the email you send valuable, more than just a notification,
Evo Terra:that not only helps your most loyal listeners remember you all the time, but
Evo Terra:they're also more likely to recommend and pass that great information you're
Evo Terra:giving to other people because it's email.
Evo Terra:But there has to be value in the email before they forward it.
Evo Terra:So when you write an email, think, "Is this something
Evo Terra:that someone should forward?"
Evo Terra:You don't have to write the full article like I do.
Evo Terra:But you certainly do have to create something of value so that someone
Evo Terra:says, "Yes, I would, in fact, like to send this off to a friend."
Evo Terra:Recommending that value through email is super easy, if you put value in to begin.
Evo Terra:Now, there's a lot more we could cover on this topic like custom domains, making
Evo Terra:sure that your content looks great when it's shared, rewarding loyalty, but all
Evo Terra:of those are topics for another day.
Evo Terra:For now, as mentioned, I do have the survey in place,
Evo Terra:the listener survey, hooray.
Evo Terra:A few of the people in the Advancing Podcasting community have already given
Evo Terra:it a test run, so it's ready for you.
Evo Terra:You can do the same thing.
Evo Terra:There will be a link in the episode details.
Evo Terra:I'm trying to get a forward set up, but I didn't get it done
Evo Terra:by the time I was recording.
Evo Terra:Anyhow, check the episode details and you'll find a link.
Evo Terra:Or check the email because I'm going to email you a link to the survey as well.
Evo Terra:If you're a loyal listener of Podcast Pontifications, I appreciate you.
Evo Terra:You can return some of the value that you get from me every single day by
Evo Terra:visiting BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra and signing up for a recurring monthly
Evo Terra:virtual coffee donation membership.
Evo Terra:I would appreciate that.
Evo Terra:Now, on Thursday's episode, we'll talk about how mastering your
Evo Terra:craft can ensure your loyal fans keep on recommending your show.
Evo Terra:With that, I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
Evo Terra:Cheers!
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:He's on a mission to make podcasting better.
Evo Terra:Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes
Evo Terra:section of your podcast listening app.
Evo Terra:A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at
Evo Terra:podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected
Evo Terra:transcript, both created by Allie Press.
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.
