How to Generate More Audience Feedback In Your Podcast
The business landscape right now is hyper-competitive, and driving engagement from your podcast audience is your best bet to create more visibility, lead generation and sales opportunities.
The good news is that podcasting is one of the most active media channels, and has some of the highest rates of engagement, clicks, and action compared to other marketing tools.
If your audience has felt a bit quiet, or you aren’t generating the engagement you’d like, read on for considerations about how to change this dynamic with your listeners!
Consideration #1: Lead with Low Commitment Action Requests
When in doubt, remember: the easier, the better. If you are promoting any type of free resource within your podcast, make sure it is short, sweet and to the point – address ONE pain point of your audience with that resource.
Gone are the days of the 30-page e-book chock full of information about a variety of topics. Checklists, step-by-step guides, and “steal my _______” resources are reigning supreme. And for good reason: attention spans are shorter and audiences are paying closer attention to what actually creates value for them.
It might take them all of 5 minutes to read your resource once they’ve opted in, but it’s a low commitment and low risk thing for them to invest their time in. Your goal is to quickly solve a pain point to gain trust, then continue to build the relationship from there.
Another factor in this conversation is your call-to-action (CTA) asking your listeners to download your free resource. Oftentimes, a larger or longer resource makes it harder for the host to articulate what exactly the resource is, and the audience doesn’t have enough clarity on what it is in order to want to opt in.
Consideration #2: Going Big Not Working? Go Small
More than ever before, people like to have a personal relationship and connection with their favorite brands. This is an EXCELLENT job for your sales/business development team member to help with.
Sometimes, asking for something in “1:many” settings (inside your episodes, in your email newsletter, etc.) just doesn’t work for some audiences. They may have short attention spans, aren’t very engaged in online marketing or social media, etc.
When that happens, pivot and test a 1:1 approach.
This could look like:
- Your sales rep talking about the podcast with a prospect during their call/meeting with them
- Upon learning a prospect or community member is a listener, have the sales rep expand on that conversation with them – what topics do they want to hear? What other episodes made a difference for them? Would they be willing to share an episode with someone if given materials to do so?
- You making the ask to share an episode out in your 1:1 or small group client calls
- Sending a personal message to someone who engaged on a social media post about the show and asking if they would be willing to share the post, too
These types of conversations will create more opportunities for you to understand that specific prospect’s pain points and needs, giving your company a better opportunity to help solve them. This can directly impact your sales growth, which is something every company can get excited about.
Tips #1 and #2 are not intended to feel contradictory – we want you to play with the various types of asks and find which one resonates best with your audience. Test it out and see what works!
Consideration #3: Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
This is the #1 missing piece we see when we do podcast audits for businesses. The host is changing their call-to-action (CTA) every episode, the resource being promoted differs per episode, and there’s never a consistent request for the audience inside the episodes.
There’s an old saying in sales that it takes 16 touches to drive an action. This rule applies to your podcast audience, too. Remember, listeners are often tuning in while driving, during a workout, while multitasking in the house, etc. They may hear your CTA and be interested, but not in a place to take the action. Then, it simply gets forgotten.
You want to have enough repetition and frequency of your CTA so that your listeners start to remember it, and are reminded of it when they start a new episode – from there, they will be more likely to finally download that resource they kept meaning to download.
Consideration #4: Gratitude Is Always In Style
Things that seem small but feel big and meaningful: gratitude and connection. Give shout outs including names to people who leave comments on social media or via email, who write reviews for your show on the podcast platforms, etc.
If you get a great audience question and record an episode to answer it, send the episode directly to the person who submitted the question with a thank you note. When you lean in first, people will mirror you and engage back. It’s a great way to break the ice and become more than just the voice behind a microphone. For audiences that are more “shy,” they will look for cues as to how to interact with your brand. Go to them first versus waiting and hoping they come to you.
We’ve seen hosts have fun with live podcast recordings, too. Invite members of your audience to sit in and submit questions and comments, interview an audience member on the show, etc. The options are endless, and it’s a great way to flex your creative muscles while breaking down the barriers between you and your listeners.
Looking for More Support?
Our Growth Accelerator Program (or as we call it, ‘GAP’) is a 6 month small group coaching and mastermind program designed to work with you to increase your visibility and ability to attract new listeners, convert more listeners to website/email subscribers, and build out plans for monetization – from your own products and services to external sources like advertisers and sponsors. Send us a message if you’d like to talk about the program and if it might be right for you.
Produce Your Podcast is a premier podcast consulting, production & marketing agency. Our team of experts provides comprehensive, full service high quality solutions for B2B and B2C clients to incorporate podcasting into their overall marketing strategy. If you’re looking for a reliable partner to help launch or grow your business branded podcast and boost your sales and marketing goals, we’re here to help.
Click here to schedule a conversation with our team today. Let’s work together to create a high quality podcast that takes your business to new heights!
