Understanding listener behavior to grow your podcast strategically

The first step to a successful podcast journey is understanding your listeners. From thinking that people don’t want to hear from you, to making intros that make your listeners skip the episode, to creating hours-long content that gets heard by one because you’ve never looked at your analytics, there is so much that podcast hosts never considered and that will make or break the podcast experience. This episode will cover 10 secrets that you need to know about listeners in order to make podcast decisions that will help grow your business. Ready?

Understanding when to follow-through, and when you can break promises you made to listeners

You can even break a promise to your listeners and still maintain their support, as long as you remain authentic and true to your core promise. It’s not about the medium or specifics through which you deliver your promised, but the fact that you do deliver on the what.
Listeners are human after all, and they’re reasonable - being honest and truthful about your circumstances will sometimes further your relationship with them, as it shows a more vulnerable side of you!

The Impact of Show Notes on Downloads

Show notes can be a tricky aspect of podcasting. While detailed show notes may provide a thorough understanding of the episode's content, I believe that they may also decrease the number of downloads, as listeners might opt to read rather than listen. By no means I’m saying that you should forgo accessibility by not offering transcripts or closed captioning), but you should understand that doing show notes that are too thorough will impact listener behavior.

A single superfan can bring you a small crowd of listeners - for free!

A single superfan can be a catalyst for your podcast's growth. Remember that as you’re podcasting, your content is helping a single person and while they may at some point ‘graduate’ from your content, they didn’t forget about you.

Podcast listeners WILL buy from you - when they’re ready

Edison Podcast Metrics measured podcast listener habits in 2020, and they found that weekly US listeners 34% bought products and services advertised in podcasts. In 2023 that number rose to 46%, which is highly encouraging when you’re a business owner using your podcast as a business tool!

Only 10-20% of your listeners will actually reach out online

It’s a shocking truth, but it’s a low number that most hosts struggle with too! Podcast listeners truly need a strong incentive to reach out. If you’re skeptical, just think about the amount of podcasts that you consume every single week, and the amount of times you actually reached out to the podcast’s host - you’ll likely believe me now!

Takeaways from this episode:

• Creating an engaging experience for your listeners is key to podcasting success.

• Podcasting is not just about creating content, but about creating an experience for your listeners.

• The majority of listeners will observe your content as ‘window shoppers’: they’ll stream the episodes, watch your stories on social media, and like your content, but rarely engage in a meaningful way. The solution? I’m sharing it on the episode.

  Resources mentioned in the episode:

Feeling stuck? Book a Podcast Power Hour: https://thepodcastspace.ck.page/products/pod-power-hour

Episode 5: Types of podcast audiences: https://www.thepodcastspace.com/podcast/5-types-of-podcast-audiences

Episode 6: Being the real you, with Nic Redman: https://www.thepodcastspace.com/podcast/6-how-to-sound-more-like-the-real-you-with-voice-coach-nic-redman

Listen to Denise Duffield-Thomas’ Podcast Chill and Prosper: https://open.spotify.com/show/5RtAeja3hIHF5QI0CZBVHt

Learn more about our Maximize Your Podcast Content course: https://bit.ly/3TesQwc

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