Do You Really Need More Podcast Listeners? How To Create An Effective Podcast Strategy
So you have a podcast and you want to find more podcast listeners.
That's understandable—we all want to know that the content we create is being enjoyed by as many people as possible.
But today, just for a few minutes, I'd love for you to entertain the possibility that you don't need more podcast listeners.
Instead of more podcast listeners, you need a better podcast strategy.
I'll get into what a better podcast strategy looks like and how it benefits your small business in just a minute. But first, let's take a look at your existing audience.
Let's say your show gets about 100 downloads per episode in the first few weeks an episode is out.
And then let's guesstimate that about 50 of those downloads represent true listens—people downloading and listening to 75-100% of the show.
That's a very small podcast audience, right?
Maybe. But it's not a very small room of people.
Those 50 people are spending 30-60 minutes with you at least a couple of times per month. You have their rapt attention.
If they were all together in the same room with you, you'd probably be thrilled.
Now, imagine that your show gets 500 downloads per episode and 250 of those are bona fide listens.
How would you feel if those 250 people were crowded into a small theatre looking to you at center stage?
Imagine if your show gets 2000 downloads per episode and 1000 are people who can't wait to get your next episode every week.
How would you feel if those 1000 people were gathered together in a conference hall looking up at your face on the big screen and hearing your voice out of the speakers around the room?
My guess is that in any of these scenarios, you'd feel pretty chuffed.
And, my guess is that in any of these scenarios...
...you could drive some pretty incredible results for your business.
If you had a room full of 50 people, you could probably connect with at least a few of them and book consultations for your 6-month service package. If you had a theatre full of 250 people, you could enroll them into your signature program. If you had a conference call packed with 1000 people, you could fill up your membership site.
But most podcasters aren't seeing those kind of results from their podcasts...
...because they lack an effective podcast strategy.
So what does an effective podcast strategy look like?
There are 4 key parts to an effective podcast strategy for a small business: positioning, relationship, content, and call to action. Let's dig in.
Positioning
A podcast is an incredible positioning asset for a small business.
Your show is a way to demonstrate your unique point of view, how your approach differs from others in the field, and the personality of your business.
At YellowHouse.Media, after some general fact-finding, the first step in our process is crafting the premise of a podcast.
The premise of your show is essentially a positioning statement. It creates a guideline for what the show is about and the unique way you're exploring that topic.
The positioning of your podcast should match the positioning for your business. The more closely your podcast positioning matches your overall brand positioning, the easier it is for your listeners to make the leap to buying from your business.
Once you know the premise and positioning of your show, it gets imbued in everything you do. It's present in the topics you choose to cover, the stories you tell, the guests you invite on, the voice that you use, and the way you construct each episode.
Over time, you'll start to see how every detail of your show is an opportunity to double-down on your premise and positioning—which not only creates a stronger show with higher-quality content but also an incredible marketing vehicle for your business.
Check out Sarah K. Peck's show and company, Startup Pregnant. Startup Pregnant is all about reinventing both work and parenthood. Her point of view is that we don't have to do things the way they've always been done. Startup Pregnant as a podcast, then, reinforces this positioning by sharing her own personal reflections and the stories of women who have chosen to do things differently with their families and work lives.
Relationship
A podcast is a way to demonstrate the kind of relationship that you and your business have with your customers.
The way you come across on your show is exactly what your customers will expect from you when they hire you or buy from your business—so it pays to put some thought into this and be really intentional.
First, start with your ideal listener.
The good news is that, with few exceptions, your ideal listener is your ideal customer.
Consider what they're looking for out of the relationship. Are they looking for a guide? A mentor? A coach? An expert? An educator? A friend? Why is that relationship important to them?
What they're looking for shouldn't dictate the relationship you have with them but it should certainly inform it.
Then, consider what you want from a relationship with your customer.
Do you enjoy taking on the role of coach? Guide? Mentor? Expert? Educator? Friend?
How do the products or services your business offers position your relationship?
Take a look at Dr. Michelle Mazur's podcast, Rebel Rising. Michelle is a brand message expert who helps distill big ideas and bodies of work into a 3-Word Rebellions. The relationship she's nurturing with her listeners is one where her expertise—and really, her magic—is that distillation, making big questions easy to understand, turning fuzzy ideas into something clear, taking confusing techniques and making them uncomplicated.
Find the overlap between what your customer is looking for in a relationship, what you're looking for in a relationship, and the relationship that is inherent to how your offers are structured.
Content
Podcast content creates an experience of what you offer with your business.
Now, while the positioning and relationship pieces of your podcast strategy should have pretty direct ties to the positioning and relationship pieces of your overall business strategy, your content is where things might start to get a little looser.
Sometimes your podcast content is a direct reflection of the experiences you create with your business. You might share the kinds of tips or training on the podcast that you share with your clients in a more personalized engagement, for instance.
Other times, your podcast content is broader but the underlying approach or ethos of your content creates a similar experience to what you offer through your business.
Either way, the goal is to make the content you share on your podcast—whether that's solo episode, co-hosted conversations, interviews, storytelling, etc...—set up a logical next step into your offer.
For instance, on Facebook ad strategist Claire Pelletreau has a podcast called Get Paid. She interviews guests about exactly how much their businesses make, how much it costs to generate that revenue, and what they sell. It's not about Facebook ads. But the show's content does create the experience of getting comfortable with making & spending money selling the products or services you offer. So that makes Claire's services or programs a logical next step for her listeners.
This brings us to the final piece of your podcast strategy...
Call To Action
Your podcast is an opportunity to make an incredibly strong call to action.
Most podcasters miss out on this one by focusing on list-building or brand awareness with their podcast. In general, we do not recommend centering your podcast strategy on a call to action to join your email list.
We recommend making an offer.
The reason is that podcast listeners are in the perfect position to buy from you. Remember back to where we started: podcast listeners are devoting at least 30-60 minutes several times per month to consuming your content.
They are already in. They just need to know what to do with that energy.
That's why we make such a priority of understanding what our clients have to offer and building that into the overall podcast strategy.
If the positioning of the show demonstrates what makes your business different, and your relationship to the listener demonstrates the relationship you'd have with them as a customer, and your content demonstrates the experience of what you have to offer...
...then your call to action can and should be to make a purchase.
When you build your offers into how you construct the rest of your podcast strategy, then you've set yourself up for an easy sale.
Without an effective podcast strategy, it doesn't matter how many podcast listeners you have.
You'll keep cranking out more content without seeing good return on that investment.
With an effective podcast strategy, you'll be able to drive results for your business even with a small audience of listeners. And once you're driving results, you'll be able to invest—time, energy, or money—into growing that audience knowing that it's a smart investment.