Politicians get in trouble for flip-flopping on issues.
Evo Terra:But for podcasters, changing opinions and approaches is a survival tactic.
Evo Terra:Think about these three questions over the next few months to prep
Evo Terra:your show for 2023 and beyond.
Evo Terra:Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:It's early June, which is an odd time for me to be pontificating about podcasting
Evo Terra:because previously, this was the month I took off when it was a daily show.
Evo Terra:I mean, this is my birthday month.
Evo Terra:My wedding anniversary - 33 years and counting baby - was just last week.
Evo Terra:And it's hot as hell in Phoenix, which is where I live.
Evo Terra:And so for me, June has always been a good time to pause and take stock.
Evo Terra:Sort of a mid-year respite and a restating of assumptions, if you
Evo Terra:will, for myself, for my business, and the larger world of podcasting.
Evo Terra:And I think June is a, is still a good month to do that, even though I'm no
Evo Terra:longer taking that month-long break.
Evo Terra:Which, lets me podcast in my ponderings now.
Evo Terra:Ooh!
Evo Terra:And I've been doing a little bit of that pondering - okay, more than
Evo Terra:a little bit of that - about what serious podcasters like you should
Evo Terra:be pondering as the year progresses.
Evo Terra:Because the next six to eighteen months are going to be weird.
Evo Terra:For a lot of reasons, from political to technological, to economical.
Evo Terra:And all of those are going to combine to make new challenges, and opportunities,
Evo Terra:for podcasters of all shapes and sizes.
Evo Terra:So today, I wanted to share with you just three of those challenges,
Evo Terra:or opportunities, as I see them.
Evo Terra:Things or ways of thinking, if you will, that could do with some
Evo Terra:serious consideration on your part.
Evo Terra:Because I'm convinced that all of them will leave a mark on podcasting.
Evo Terra:Now what shape and what color that mark is, I really don't know.
Evo Terra:I mean, much of that is up to you and how you deal with them
Evo Terra:for your own podcasting efforts.
Evo Terra:Ready?
Evo Terra:Let's begin.
Evo Terra:The first trend you need to weigh for yourself is the ongoing insistence
Evo Terra:of dissing programmatic content.
Evo Terra:And by content, yes, I mostly mean ads.
Evo Terra:Now look, if you don't sell CPM-based ads on your show, like
Evo Terra:I don't sell CPM-based ads on this show, you have less to consider.
Evo Terra:But still, you should pay attention to this.
Evo Terra:I think we podcasters collectively are too protective of our audience.
Evo Terra:And yeah, I know the audience is something worth protecting.
Evo Terra:I get it.
Evo Terra:And no, I would never suggest you do something to damage the relationship
Evo Terra:you have with your audience.
Evo Terra:But at the same time, I think the evidence is lacking when it comes to the
Evo Terra:likelihood that our audience will bail on a podcast if it runs programmatic ads.
Evo Terra:And honestly, if anything, the evidence shows that in general, audiences are
Evo Terra:pretty tolerant of hearing ads on podcasts - yes, even programmatic ads.
Evo Terra:But yes, I get it.
Evo Terra:I have read the exact same studies that you have that show how much more effective
Evo Terra:hard-to-buy, baked-in, endorsement-style, host-read ads are over, well, you
Evo Terra:know, every other form of advertising.
Evo Terra:Which mostly means announcer-read ad spots.
Evo Terra:I don't doubt any of those studies.
Evo Terra:I just don't believe that the majority of companies eager to spend
Evo Terra:money on easy-to-buy programmatic ads care about those studies.
Evo Terra:Look, when it comes to buying ads en masse, easy wins.
Evo Terra:And while there are some exciting ad tech companies working to reduce the friction
Evo Terra:that's inherent with the host-read world, that rate of change is far less
Evo Terra:rapid than what can and is happening with algorithmic automatic placements.
Evo Terra:So even if you are anti programmatic ads, at least be open to having your
Evo Terra:mind changed as the months progress.
Evo Terra:I'd hate to see you miss out on opportunities because you thought
Evo Terra:you were doing the right thing by protecting your audience.
Evo Terra:They're probably not as fragile as you think.
Evo Terra:The second trend I need you to think about is video.
Evo Terra:Specifically, I'm not so sure you'll be able to ignore video for much longer.
Evo Terra:Now, that's coming from a guy who is and has been a staunch,
Evo Terra:audio first kind of guy.
Evo Terra:But this staunch, audio first kind of guy has been making full videos
Evo Terra:of this show available on my site and YouTube for a few years now.
Evo Terra:And yes, podcasting is for the ears.
Evo Terra:I fully buy that.
Evo Terra:But for the new group of people coming to podcasting, it's not only for their ears.
Evo Terra:It's not only audio.
Evo Terra:More and more of them are assuming that video will be a part of
Evo Terra:the podcasting experience.
Evo Terra:And when they don't find that video, they're going to start
Evo Terra:to wonder why you don't have it.
Evo Terra:So I think the question you need to ask yourself this summer needs to shift
Evo Terra:away from "Do I need a video component?"
Evo Terra:To the question that those people are already asking, "What's stopping
Evo Terra:me from having a video component?"
Evo Terra:And I don't think, by the way, I don't think you can get away with a
Evo Terra:quick and dirty upload of an audiogram or just a side-by-side video of you
Evo Terra:and your hosts or your guests from some remote recording software.
Evo Terra:Look, just like you don't upload your unedited audio files to
Evo Terra:your hosting company - by the way, you don't do that, right?
Evo Terra:You don't actually do that?
Evo Terra:Okay, good.
Evo Terra:Yeah, you're going to need to find the time and the tools to
Evo Terra:help you make a solid video.
Evo Terra:Look, I honestly believe there are less painful ways of doing that coming soon.
Evo Terra:But for now, start thinking about it.
Evo Terra:The third and final thing I want you contemplating over the next
Evo Terra:few months is paid subscriptions.
Evo Terra:Specifically, ask yourself why aren't you leaning into paid subscriptions?
Evo Terra:Heavily?
Evo Terra:"Mmmm podcasting should be free and open," I can hear you shouting at me right now.
Evo Terra:Well, look, the good news is that for the foreseeable future, we'll
Evo Terra:continue to have just that, free podcasts, many of them subsidized,
Evo Terra:that are available on the open web.
Evo Terra:Go podcasting!
Evo Terra:I don't see any of that changing.
Evo Terra:But the free and open majority of podcasting doesn't preclude paid-for and
Evo Terra:closed, a subset of podcasting that way.
Evo Terra:Nor does a paid-for and closed subset of podcasting threaten the free
Evo Terra:and open majority of podcasting.
Evo Terra:Not in my view.
Evo Terra:I think they can live happily side by side, mostly because they are
Evo Terra:happily living side-by-side right now.
Evo Terra:Both can keep growing and both probably will.
Evo Terra:Your question should be, how can you embrace both?
Evo Terra:Not should I, but how can you.
Evo Terra:What would you offer?
Evo Terra:I don't think an ad-free or a sponsor-free version is enough.
Evo Terra:He said from personal experience.
Evo Terra:And I don't think that more content is enough.
Evo Terra:Actually, less content might be something your audience would be willing to pay
Evo Terra:for, which I know that sounds weird.
Evo Terra:But there's little doubt that the friction for subscriptions is coming down quickly
Evo Terra:for both the listeners and the creators.
Evo Terra:So it's worth your time to consider how you can embrace this reality as
Evo Terra:a way to better serve your audience.
Evo Terra:Now, for now, those three are enough.
Evo Terra:If over the next three to six months you can figure out how to adapt your
Evo Terra:show to take better advantage of just one of them, I think you'll win.
Evo Terra:And I think you and your show will sail through these challenges ahead.
Evo Terra:With that, I shall be back next week 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.