What's the best way to grow your podcast audience? - podcast episode cover

What's the best way to grow your podcast audience?

Apr 13, 202521 minEp. 119
--:--
--:--
Download Metacast podcast app
Listen to this episode in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episode description

In this episode, I answer a listener question about every podcasters obsession... audience growth.

From consistency and content quality to SEO, guest strategy, and engaging your listeners I explain what actually works (and what doesn't).

Spoiler alert: If you're looking for a silver bullet or a shortcut to massive downloads, there isn't one (sorry!)

💡 What You’ll Learn:

  • Why podcast growth is slow
  • How consistency impacts podcasting success
  • The importance of high-quality audio
  • How to use SEO and your podcast website effectively
  • What promotion strategies actually work
  • When guest appearances and cross-promotion help
  • Why audience engagement and email lists matter
  • The surprising truth about paid ads and patience

EPISODE CREDITS:

Host: Rachel Corbett

Editing Assistance: Josh Newth

LINKS & OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF:

Download my free podcasting guide

Check out my online podcasting course, PodSchool

Click here to submit a question to the show

Email me: [email protected]

Follow me: Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok or check out my blog or the PodSchool website.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Wangal people, of the Eora Nation.

I pay my respects to Elders past and present.

Transcript

Got dreams of being a professional podcaster, but have no idea what you're doing. This is impossible. That's about to change. A new kind of school. Welcome to the Pod School Podcast. Hello. Welcome to the show. Welcometo theshow. TodayI'm goingtoanswer aquestionfromElijah, whosaid,Istartedmy podcastaboutsixmonthsago and I'm notreallyseeingmuchgrowth, so I'm wondering whether I should continue. My question is, what is the best way to grow your podcast

audience?Elijah,don'tworry,mate.You'renotalone.Thisisthemountainthateverysinglepodcasterhastoclimb.Eventheonesthathave amassive,massiveonlineaudience,thatstartapodcastandtryandbringthataudienceoverandtheydon'tcomeover.Sohavingamassivesortofsocialpresenceisnoguaranteeofsuccess.Andyoudefinitelycan buildareallystrong,engagedshowwithalotof followers.Andbyalotoffollowers,Idon'teven meanroundnumbers.

I thinkreallythekey istothink about, like,what's themaximumpotentialaudienceforyour specificshow thatwillbe differentforeverysingleshow. But theonly waythatyou'reevergoing togettothatmaximumpotentialaudienceis,unfortunately, bydelivering content consistently. Thekey measureofsuccesswith podcastingis justreleasingepisodes, ideallyeverysingleweek.Ifyou arelookingforasilverbulletinthisepisode, youain'tgonnafindone.ButIpromiseit'snotbecauseIdon'tknowaboutthesilverbullet.It's because

thereisn'tone.Andconsistencyis absolutelythe bas ofitall.I'vegota bunchofthingsinthisepisodeI'mgoingtotalkaboutfor howyoucan growyouraudience.Andultimatelyyou reallyneed tobedoingasolid mixofthesethings. Youdon'thavetodoeverysingleone,becausenoteverysingleonewillberightforyourshow.Butyoudo needtokindoftake multiplegoesat itfrommultipledifferentanglesto tryandseewhat

sticks.Theideaofsortofsendingoutonesocial postandthinkingthat'senough,it'sjustnotbecauseyouneverknowwherepeoplearegoingtofindyou,howmanytimestheyneedtoseeyoursocial mediacontentbeforethey'llactuallypressplay.Whatpiece ofsocial mediacontentmightactuallyconvincethemto listen.Soitdoes takealotoftimetoconvertpeopleand unfortunately,podcast growthisincremental.You knowit.Mostpeople will kindofhavealaunch,you'll gettoa base

levelofsubscribers,andthenitwilltickupslowly.Ifyou aredoing allthethingsrightfromthere,it'snot likeyouhave10downloadstodayandthentomorrow you'llhave700,000. Youknow,it reallyis.Youhavetochipawayatitbitbybit.Soit'simportantthatyoudeliveryourcontentconsistently, butalso that youreally thinkabout what successmeansforyou.Chasing big downloadnumbersis goingtobea recipe for disappointmentformostpeople.Ithappenstosome

podcasters,nottoeverybody.Theonlyway ithappenstopodcastersisifthey haveanexistingaudiencesomewhereelsethat's comeover,oriftheyhavebeen consistently releasing episodes foralongperiodoftime.Alotofthosereally bigshowsthatyouheartalkedaboutalothavebeendoingthis for ages.Andsoit'sthatclassic caseofpeoplethinking,oh, they'reanovernightsuccess.No, they'renot.They'vebeendoingthis showforages.It'sjustthatnowthey'resort

ofgainingtraction.SoIwouldsaythink aboutthesuccessmetricsforyouandthenlookattrendsratherthan round numberswithyour downloads.Findout whatyourbaselevelisand thenareyougrowingfromthere?Isthetrajectorythatyourshow isgoingup?Are youdoingallthe thingsthatyou possiblycandotopromoteit?Andifthatisthecase,thenthisisyourbestcasescenario. Youknow,you'redoingthebestjobwithyourshowandthatmightmeanthatyouhavesmallerdownloads,butthat'swhyit's reallyimportanttohaveothersuccessmetrics,likethe

factthatanybody'sturninguplikethatisagreatsuccess.If youhave evenfivelistenersturning up,thosearefivepeoplethatare checking inwithyourcontentturnup for them. Theylikewhatyou do,sogivethemwhatthey'vecomeforand reallyleanintothat.But it'sreallyimportantthatyoudo abunchof differentthings,andthesearesomeofthethings thatyoucanfocuson.Thefirstthingistopayattentiontothequalityofyourshowyoumight

getawaywithforawhile.Crappyquality.Therearesomeshowsouttherethathavegottenawaywithit.Alotofshowsthatstartedearlyandhadpeoplekind ofcomingonboardwhen.Whenpodcastingwasstillabitofa.Oh, what'sall this about?We'regettingbignumbersfromearlylistens,butnow itisaprofessional medium.Thereare radiobusinessesandprofessional networks involvedinthis.Theidea that your showcan soundcrappyandcompeteisjustnot

true.Youknow,itwill potentiallycan buildaudience,butultimatelyyou don'twanttogiveanybodyanyreason toturnyourshowoffandcrappyaudiocanbea reasonwhypeoplearelike,oh,thisisreallydifficulttolistento.Youknow,theymightstickwithyouiftheyreallyloveyou, but whygivethemthat kindofreasonto turn,turnthedial?Soit'sreally importantthatyou thinkabout youraudioquality. Andthat doesn'ttaketoomuch.Youjustneedtodoa

fewlittletweaksathome.Butyou reallyneedtothinkaboutwhatyou're recordingatthetimeandhowpeoplearegoingtohearitso thatthey can have thebest possibleaudioexperience.Youneedto,as Isaid,releaseepisodesconsistentlyovertime.Ideally,youarereleasingepisodes same day,sametimeeverysingleweeksothatyouraudiencecancreatean appointmentwithyou intheirlives.Andtheyknow,hey,Monday morning9:00or Mondaymorning7:00,whenI getonthetrain,Iknowthatthatepisode'sgoingto be thereand that'sthetimethatI'm

goingtolistentoit.Peopleliketoplanyouintotheirdaysandweeks.If they havedoneyou asolid andcarved out timeintheirweektoputyou in it,thenforgoodness sakes,showthe heckup.Becausethatisa big privilegeto have thattimeinsomebody'sweek.Somake sure thatyouareconsistentlyturning up.Andthatis whatbuildsthatrelationshipwith your fanswhothenbecomethekindof peoplethatgo and tell otherpeopleaboutyourshow.Andthat is areally importantpart ofpodcastgrowth.Wordofmouth,it'sslow,it issnails pace slow.

Butitis stillareallyimportant part ofgrowingashow.Sothat'sreallyessential.Optimizingyourshowforsearchisreally importantaswell.Thatcomesdowntothestuffthatyouputonthedescriptionofyourepisodesin thebackend ofyourpodcasthost.It alsocomes downtothestuffthatyou putontheshowpages ofyour showwebsite.Soideally,that'sanother thingishaving awebsiteforyour show isa reallygreatwaytogetpeopletocomeinto yourcontent that aren'tnecessarilylooking forcontentinapodcast app.Sotheymightbegoogling content, content

thatisinyourniche.Andtheshownotes pageforyour podcastwithyourepisodeembedded inthatblogpost is theresotheycan checkitout,so theycanseethe contentthattheycamesearchingfor.Andthenthey're like,oh great,thisisapodcast.Alotofpeoplestilldon'tlisten topodcasts. You know,therearea lotofpeople that don't gosearchingforstuffinapodcastapp.They

gostraighttoGoogle.So if youcanbethereas well as inapodcastapp,and you'vegotallofyour keywordsinyourniche,intheplacesthattheyneedto be,yourdescription,yourtitle,yourshow,notesonyourwebsite, allofthosethings,you areincreasingthechthat peoplethat aresearchingforcontentlikeyourswillbeableto findyou.And whenyou donothavean existing profile,thatiswhatyouarerelyingon,peoplelooking for thecontent thatyou havemade,becauseideallyyou'vemadeitknowing

thatthere'sanaudienceoutthereforthiscontent.Soyouwantthosepeople to findyou. Soyou wantto makesurethatallofthekeywords thatyou need tohave inalloftheplacesthatyou needtohave themarethereso thatpeoplecan findyourshow,thenext thingis topromotethecrapoutofit.AndImeanpromotethecrap out ofit.Youwould beamazedathowmany piecesof content youhavegot to shipoutforsomebodytodecide,youknow what,Imightactuallycheck that out.

Sure.Somebodymightseethefirstpieceof contentthatyou'vemade andthink,I'mgonnalisten tothat episode.But it'smorelikelythatthey'llseeabout20 piecesofthat content.And thenthey'relike,oh,I'vereallygottalistentothat podcast episode. So youhave to consistentlybechurning outdifferent typesof content, ideallycutting up multiplepiecesof

contentfromoneepisode.So you'vegot lots of differentwaystosharethisandlotsof different thingsthatmightpeakpeople'sinterest,because peoplearegoingtobe interested indifferent things. Andthenyouhavetolookatthedifferentplatformsthatyou're goingtobesharingthat on. Soyoudon'tneedto beeverywhere, butyoucertainly wanttothinkaboutwherearetheplaces thatmyaudienceis most likelytobe,andthendoubledownonthosethingsandthenmeasureand trackwhatyou're doing,sortoflookatyouranalytics,see

what'sworking.Therearetrackablelinksthat youcanget now, soyoucanseeisthispersonthat'sclickingonthislinkalso listeningtotheepisode.So youwant toreally focusontheplatformsthataregivingyou mostbangforbuckandthatareconvertingpeoplefromseeingyourcontentonlinetolisteningtoyouractualepisode.Youalso wantto engage with yourpodcastaudience.Soyoumight be gettingthemtowriteinviaemail.You mightbegettingthemtosendyouamessageonsocial

media.There'sabunchofdifferent waysthatyoucangetincontact with themandthey can getincontactwithyouandyouwanttotryandcreateaconversation.IntheshowsthatIhave created,inthenetworksthatI'velookedafter,weareoftenworkingwithpeoplewhohaveanexistingaudienceonanotherplatformalready. The peoplewhoseaudiencecomesacrossarethe onesthathaveatwowayconversationanda twowayrelationshipwiththeiraudience.They'rethe onesthat talkbacktotheiraudience,notjust putsomethinguponsocial

media.Peoplecomment,they don'treallytalkback,andthentheypost somethingelseuponsocialmedia.Thosepeopleoftenitisveryhardtoget the peoplethatfollow them on Instagramacrossintoapodcast. Butifyouhave gotan audiencethat'sreachingouttoyou,wantstoconnectwithyou,buildthatrelationship, buildthatrelationship.Because thentheyfeellikethey're notjust listening

tosomebodythatdoesn'texist.Theyare beingableto listentoandcontacttheirfavoriteannouncerortheirfavorite,theperson thathoststheirfavoriteshowand they'regettinga response back.Theydon'tgetthatfromsomebodyontelevision,they don'tget thatfromsomebodyonradio,but theycangetthatfrom apodcast host.Soyoureallywantto nurturethoserelationships because thosepeoplewillbethepeoplethattellotherothersaboutyour showandthat canreallyhelpyour showgrow.

Youcanalsocrosspromoteonotherpodcasts.Thiscanbe abit tougher,especiallywhen you're small andyou'rekindof reaching outtootherpodcasters,butyoudon'treallyhave abig audiencetokindof tradeoff.It's mucheasierifyou haveanexistingaudience and you can go toanotherpodcasterand say, hey,can Iputapromo inyourshowand you canputa promoin mine,ordoyouwanttodoan interviewonmyshow andIcandoaninterviewon yours?Youknow,there'sallmannerof things thatyoucandototryandgetin frontofa

podcastaudience.Iwouldsaythisis not,youknow,itdoesn't,thisdoesn'thavetheimpactthatalotof peoplesayitdoes.It'svery muchworthexperimentingwith this.If youhaveother podcasters thatyoucoulddothiswith.Itcanbea greatwaytogetyourshowinfront ofanaudience thatalreadylikesapodcast,that alreadyknowshow tolistento apodcastand could comeover

toyourshow.Soifyouknowanyother podcastersthatarein yournichethat youcouldreachoutto,oryouwouldlove togetsomebodythat's inyourniche,onto your showandmaybethentheymightoffer youaninterviewspot ontheirshowaswell.Thatisan optiontoo, butjustkeepthat inmind.It'sabitofa moredifficultthingtoactuallyorganizewhenyoudon'tknow otherpodcastersandyou'resmall andyou'restartingoutandyou'relike,well,Ican'tgoover andask thatreallyestablishedpersonifwecandoapromoswapbecausewhatvalueisit

forthem?Soit'snotalwayseasytoexecuteinreality,butit'sagood thingtokeepinmind.However,pleasedon'tthinklike,oh,gosh,ifIwasdoingthat,I'dhave50,000listens. Itdoesn'tworklikethat.Youknow,you're notgoing togetagiganticbump,butthis isjustanotherwaythatyoucouldchipawayataudienceandbringmorepeople in.Youcanalsosubmityourshowforfeature inthepodcastappslike AppleandSpotify.Italkalotaboutthisinmyonlinepodcastingcourse, Pod

School.Youknow,that'sagreatwaytogetyourshowfeatured.Alotofpeoplearesearchingforshowsinthosehomepages.Again, itdoesn'talwaysgenerate thenumberof listensthatyoumighthopeitdoes, but it's anothergreatwaytoget yourshowout there.Getthat brandrecognition.Startto get peoplethinkingaboutyourshow.Starttoget themsortofqueryinglike,whatisthis?Should Icheckitout?Wantto seethis more? You know, that'sabitof astampofapprovalwhenit'sfeatured,especiallyinliketheApplePodcasts

homepageinthebrowsefeature.That's areallygreatwayto featurebecause,youknow,thatisApplecuratingthat.Beware ofpeoplewhotellyouthat they knowhowtotrickthealgorithmintogettingyouintonew andnoteworthyby releasing threeepisodes at the beginningofyourshow.Like,thatis nottrue. Newandnoteworthy,thatbrowse page, everything iscuratedbyhumans. Soyouhavetophysicallysubmit that.Andyouknow,thatis arealstamp of approvalbyApple becausethey'renotputtingcrap

upthere.Youknow,they'rechecking whatthe showsare,they'rechecking theartwork,they're lookingatit.And that canbe areallygoodway togetyourshowsurfaced.Youcanalsorunpaidads.I've hadmixedsortofsuccess withthis. Ithinkfrommyexperience, paidadsaremoreabout awareness thananything.Andthatdoesn't necessarilyturnintoimmediate listens.Sosometimesit'shard todetermine,hasthisbeenWorththeinvestment.Butyoumighthavehadathousandmoreeyesonyour showthatarenowconsidering checkingoutyourpodcast.Evenifthey don'tgoand

listentoit,theymightlater.So it'sjusthardto reallyaccuratelyworkout thevalue.Eventhoughyoucan puttrackinglinksinyourad.Soyou canactuallytell, like,how manypeopleconvertedtolisteningwhentheysawthisadandclickedonit.Butstill, therearea bunchofotherpeoplethatjustseethatandseeyourshowandthenmightthinkaboutdoingitlater.Orthetypeof peoplethat gointo apodcastapp andsearchforashowasopposedtoclicking ona linkand listening right

there.Soitcanhavemixedresults.ButIdo think ifyouhaveabitofbudgetandyoucouldexperimentwith it,it'sworthan experiment andthenjustseeifithas someimpactfor you.ThenextthingissortofFacebook groups,forums,any of thosekindofthings.These can begood placestohangout subreddits,thosekindofthingswherepeoplearelookingforstuff.Youknow,themainthing toflaghereisthatyoucan'tbea Spruker.

Nobodywantsanybodyjumping into theFacebook groupthatthey've established andjustsaying, hey,listento mypodcast, listentomypodcast,listentomy podcast.Youknow, thesamegoesfor,youknow,anyof theothercommunities thatyoujumpinto.It'sreallyaboutaddingvalue,providingvalueforalongtime, andthenmaybebeing ableto dropyourpodcastinonthedaysthattheyallow youtodo abitofselfpromotion. Butthen,honestly,onthosedays, everysingleman and hisdogis

selfpromoting.Andsoifyourpodcastcan befound inthelistof750,000peoplethataredroppingtheirlinkintothe listonWednesday,podcastpitchday,thengoodluck. SoIoftenfindthattheseplacesareactuallymorevaluableforcontent.Inthepast,I'vegoneintoFacebookgroupsandthingsand justseenwhatpeoplearestrugglingwith,whatpeopleareasking aboutandthinking,oh,Ican answerthatquestion,Iknowtheanswerto that. Andproviding valuebyansweringthatquestionandthenoften creatingsome longer contentoniton mypodcastoronmy

website.SoI've alwaysfoundthatquitea good spot tofindcontent. Butallnichesare differentandsomenicheshavereallygoodcommunitieswhereyoucanjumpinthereand establish yourself.Andthat thatmightbe averyhelpfulthingforyoutodo. So ifthereareplaceslikethatinyourniche,thenmaybelookinto that.Usingyouremail listtoois areallygoodidea.Ifyou've builtan emaillist foryourbusinessorsomethingelse,like,that's agreatplaceto content aroundyourpodcast.Nowyoucan'tjustgo,hey,episodesouteveryweek.Like,that's

notprovidingvalueandcontent.Peoplewillbelike,unsubscribe.Butyou canfinda waytoprovideadditionalvalueviaanewsletterifitrelatestothecontentthatthey have signedup for. Be mindfulofthat. Peoplehavesignedupforyouremaillistforacertainreason.Andifyourpodcastisverydifferentto the reasonthat theysignedupforyouremaillist,youcan'tjustspamthem with stuffbecauseyouwantmorelisteners onyourpodcast.Soyoureallyneedtothink abouthowyou'regoingtocontactthese peoplestrategically.

Butifyou'vebuiltthatcommunityofpeople thattrustyouandhavesigned upforyouremaillist, that might be areallygoodspacetogetpeopleonboard.And maybeyoujustdoeverynowandthen somereminders or somereasonsforcheckingoutyourpodcastthatyou cankindofpepperthroughyourcontentthere.Bringingonhighprofile guestsisanotherreally goodwaytogrowaudience.Again, nosilverbullet.Nosilverbullet.AndI'vehadplentyofinterviewswith peoplewhohavemassiveengaged socialmediafollowings.Andthenit's cricketson theback

end.Wehaveactuallyoftenusedthisasa waytokind of lookattheengagementof somepotentialpodcasthostaudiencesin thepast.Youknow,you havethemon asa guest,youseewhatkindof bumpinthedownloadstheyget. Somepeople,theiraudiencecomes right overandthey'rereally interested.Other people, nobodycomesover.Soit is reallyinteresting. Measuring somebody'ssocialmediasuccessdoesnotnecessarilymean thatthat will translatetodownloads,because it dependswhatkind ofa relationshiptheyhavewiththeiraudience. Sojustbemindful

ofthat.Ifyou're thinking,I'velinedupallthese high profileguests andthis isgoingtoreally bump mynumbers, it'sgreatbecauseitwillexpose you toadifferentaudienceandthatisfantastic.But itmightjustnotleadto thedownloadbump thatyou're hopingfor.The otherthingisthatyoucan'tforcethatpersontoshareaboutiton their socialmedia.Youcan doeverything that youpossibly cantoprovidethemtherightkindofassetsthatfittheir feed.Becauseremember,theyarepostingona feedthat they curate,sothey'llbeveryprotectiveof that.

Andyouwanttomakesurethatyou'renot,you know, giving them yourred,blueandgreen logotofitinwithTheirsepiatone,you know,curatedgridor whatever.Soyouwanttomakesurethatyou givethem assetsthatworkforthem,butthenyou cangivethemagentlereminder.Butafterthat, you know, youcan'tforcethemtotweetabout it,youcan't forcethemtoInstagram about it,youcan'tforce them toshareaboutit. Youcan'tforce

anything.Soyoujustgot tohopethattheyhadagreatexperience,thattheywantto shareit,butif theydon't,there'snothingyoucandoabout that.The final thingIwouldsay intermsof growingyouraudienceisjusttobe patient.Iappreciate,Elijah,thatyou'vebeengoingforsixmonthsnow,andthatfeelslikeareally longtime,because itisalotof worktoget yourpodcastoutconsistently everyweekforsixmonths.ButIgottabehonest,sixmonthsain'tthat long.

Youknow,inpodcastingsomeshows, ittakesareally longtimetobuildaudience, andyoumighthave agoodbaselevel of audience,butthenyoureallyjustneedtochip awayatitand hopefully grow your audienceovertime.AsIsaid,Iwouldlookat thosetrends. Iwouldlookatsort of, whereisyour baselevel?Andareyougrowingbitmorebybit?Are youdoingeverythingthatyoupossiblycaninasmanywaysthat youcanmanage todoto getpeopleinterestedinyourshow? Andthenyoujustgottawait,youknow,youjust gottachipawayatit bitbybit.This is really not

asprint.Itisamarathon.Podcastingisalong,longgame.If youwant tobesuccessfulatit,ifyou want togrowa significantaudience, ifyouwanttoone daymonetizeit.Iwashavingaconversationwithapodcaster theotherdaywho'sgotareally,reallybigaudience,alotof peopleinterestedinhisshow.I hadneverreallyheardofhim,andhe sortofsaid tome,Ihavebeendoingthissince2013,buthonestly,it'sprobablynotuntil 2022 that thingsreallykindoftookoff.AndnowI'minasituationwhereI'vegotthekindofdownloadsthat,youknow, he'sinabit of

abiddingwarwithpeopleandwhatever.Butwhat isit?2025,you know, you'regonnakeepatsomethingfor10years tohopefullygettothepoint whereitgainssortoftraction.Thatmeansthatyoucanbehavingbigconversationsaboutit.Like, itdoestakepatience,itdoes takeresilienceinsome. In someways, anditdoestakepassionforyourcontent.Soideally,youneedto belookingatamIgrowingover time?Andyoucan onlyjudge thatonyournumbersandyour show,notonanybody else's.SoIwishyou allthebestwith it.Hanginthere.

Youknow,it isdefinitelygonnafeellikeyou'vebeenforalongtime, butactuallyyou'regonnaprobablyneedto bedoing itfor,youknow,triple thattimetoreallygetasenseofwhat thispodcastisabout.Andthatcanbereallyhardif.If you'renotseeingthe kindof results.Butyou doneedtochipawayatalotofthesedifferentthings anddoitconsistently. Youcan'tkindofdoa bigburstof itononemonthand thengoquiet fortwomonths andthen.Becausethenyoucan'treally measureifthe people

thatcouldbeseeingthisshowareseeingitbecauseyou'vegonequietandyouknow,it'sreallyabout.Aboutwhateveryoucanmanage.Justdothatbitbybitevery singleweekandthentakeitfromthere.SoIhope that'shelpedyou.Ifyou have aquestion,please submititviathe linkinthe episodedescription.Ifyouneedalittlehelpgettingyourtechsetup,thenmakesureyoucheckoutmyonline podcastingguidethatis afreedownloadand hasallofthetoolsand techyouneed. You'llfindthe linkalso

inthedescriptionoftheepisodeoryoucanheadtopodcastingguide.comandofcourse,if you youwantheapsmore helpwithyour podcast,thencheckoutmyonlinepodcastingcourseatpodschoolatpodschool.comauokay,I'llseeyounextweek.TodayI'mgoingtoanswera questionfromElijah,who said,“IstartedmypodcastaboutsixmonthsagoandI'mnot reallyseeingmuchgrowth,soI'mwonderingwhetherIshouldcontinue.Myquestion is,what

isthebestwaytogrowyourpodcastaudience?”Elijah,don'tworry,mate.You'renotalone.This isthemountainthateverysingle podcasterhas toclimb.Eventheonesthathavea massive, massive online audiencethat startapodcastand tryandbringthataudienceoverand theydon'tcomeover. Sohavingamassive sort ofsocialpresenceis noguarantee ofsuccess. Andyou definitelycanbuilda reallystrong,engagedshowwitha lotoffollowers.Andby“a lotoffollowers,”

Idon'tevenmeanroundnumbers.I thinkreallythekeyis tothinkabout,like,what'sthemaximumpotentialaudienceforyour specificshow. Thatwillbedifferentforeverysingle show. Buttheonlywaythatyou're evergoingtogettothatmaximum potentialaudienceis,unfortunately, bydelivering content consistently.Thekey measureofsuccesswith podcasting isjustreleasingepisodes, ideallyeverysingleweek.Ifyouarelookingfora silver bulletinthisepisode, youain'tgonnafind one.

ButIpromiseit's notbecause Idon'tknowaboutthesilverbullet,it'sbecausethere isn'tone.Andconsistencyisabsolutely thebaseofit all.I'vegotabunchofthingsinthis episodeI'mgoingtotalkaboutforhowyou cangrowyouraudience.Andultimately, youreally needtobedoing asolidmix ofthesethings.Youdon'thavetodoevery singleone,becausenot everysingleone willberightforyourshow.Butyoudoneedto kind of take multiplegoesat itfrommultipledifferentanglesto tryandsee what

sticks.Theideaofsortofsendingoutone social post andthinkingthat's enough,it's justnot.Becauseyouneverknowwherepeople aregoingtofindyou,howmany timesthey needto seeyoursocial mediacontentbeforethey'll actually pressplay,or whatpiece ofsocialmediacontent mightactually convince themtolisten.Soitdoestakealot oftimeto convertpeople,andunfortunately, podcast growthisincremental.Youknow,mostpeoplewillkindofhavealaunch, you'llgettoa baselevelofsubscribers,andthenitwill tick

upslowly.If youaredoingallthethingsrightfromthere,it'snotlikeyou have10downloadstodayandthentomorrowyou'llhave700,000. Youknow,itreallyis, youhavetochipaway atitbit bybit.Soit's importantthatyou deliveryourcontent consistently, butalsothat youreallythinkaboutwhatsuccessmeansfor you.Chasingbig downloadnumbersisgoingto bearecipefor disappointmentformostpeople. Ithappenstosomepodcasters,

nottoeverybody.The onlyway it happensto podcasters isiftheyhaveanexisting audiencesomewhereelse that'scome over,oriftheyhavebeenconsistentlyreleasingepisodesfora longperiodof time.Alot ofthosereally bigshowsthatyouheartalkedabouta lothave beendoing thisforages.And soit'sthatclassic caseofpeoplethinking,“Oh,they're anovernightsuccess.” No,they'renot.They'vebeendoingthis show forages.

It'sjustthatnowthey'resortofgainingtraction.So Iwouldsaythinkaboutthesuccessmetrics for youandthenlookattrendsratherthan round numberswithyourdownloads.Find outwhatyour base levelisandthen,are yougrowingfromthere?Isthetrajectory thatyourshowisgoingup? Areyou doingallthethingsthatyoupossibly candotopromoteit?Andifthat

isthecase,thenthisisyourbest-casescenario.Youknow,you'redoingthebest jobwith yourshow,andthatmightmeanthatyouhavesmallerdownloads, butthat'swhy it's reallyimportanttohaveothersuccessmetrics,likethe factthatanybody'sturningup.Like,thatisagreatsuccess.Ifyou haveevenfivelistenersturningup,thosearefivepeoplethatarechecking inwith yourcontent.Turnupforthem.Theylike whatyoudo,sogivethemwhatthey'vecomeforand really That's all for today.

Transcript source: Provided by creator in RSS feed: download file
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android
Open in Metacast