May 23, 2022

Listener Retention, Targeted Contextual Audiences, & 5 Questions You Should Ask

In this episode, Benji Block talks about:

- How to increase listener retention on your podcast.

- The 5 most targeted contextual audiences in podcasting. 

 - Provides 5 questions you should be asking about your podcast.

Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:15.599 Hey Friends, Benji block here, welcoming to my club, and today my 2 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:20.120 voice is in your Stereo, in your headphones, wherever you're listening to this, 3 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:24.760 because Dan had his baby and we're so glad for him. We're excited 4 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:28.839 that he's officially now on leave for the next few months to be with his 5 00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:34.159 family and we're just we're thrilled for them. So, with that in mind, 6 00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:37.920 I am here flying solo today on this episode of my club, and 7 00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:43.200 in coming weeks we're going to actually be pulling in some great cohost guest cohosts 8 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:49.159 and thrilled to introduce you to some new voices from inside the sweet fish team. 9 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:54.000 But we're keeping the format the same here on my club. We're going 10 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:58.479 to give you some news, some stories I'm paying attention to from in and 11 00:00:58.520 --> 00:01:03.759 around podcasting, will do a member highlight and we'll wrap up with some questions 12 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:08.560 that our common questions or things we should be thinking about and you're probably thinking 13 00:01:08.599 --> 00:01:14.359 about as a b Tob podcaster. So what are the news stories were looking 14 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:19.120 at this week? Well, I saw an article written by Steven Gold Goldstein. 15 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:25.519 Goldstein, he's the CEO of amplify, and he talked about how podcastings 16 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:30.400 biggest challenge is listener retention, and this is something I would shout allowed a 17 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:34.040 men at, but I'll read you some of his words here and then I'll 18 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:40.599 give you my my thoughts. But this is from him. As more podcast 19 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:44.120 titles are released, our partners and friends in the industry tell us that every 20 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:48.319 day about the genuine struggle for top of mind, awareness and retention. Our 21 00:01:48.359 --> 00:01:53.200 advice for podcasts of all sizes is to market beyond the launch, staying top 22 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:57.760 of mine by focusing on and he gives an ABCD approach attention, branding, 23 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:04.519 connection and direction. What he's saying that I think is valuable here is podcasters 24 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:08.520 need to think more like marketers. Now, I don't know where podcasting sits 25 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:13.479 for you and your team, I would assume most of us are our podcasts 26 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:19.360 it as a marketing play of some kind. But listener retention is something we 27 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:22.879 want, we desire, we probably want our listenership to grow. We need 28 00:02:22.919 --> 00:02:27.879 to be thinking about, you know, the type of content we're creating. 29 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:31.520 Is it? Is it something that people want to listen to and engage with? 30 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:37.120 Has Clear Direction? But I love this idea of ongoing marketing for our 31 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:43.319 podcast because that's going to if we're if we have that happening. Well, 32 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:46.520 I think one it should. It should drive attention, because we should know 33 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:50.639 our mission more and it would drive the why. But then also outwardly, 34 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:55.000 we're constantly inviting new voices, or new ears I should say, to come 35 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:58.919 listen to the show. So attention, branding, connection and direction. My 36 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.000 main takeaway is just think like a marketer, right. How can you, 37 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:07.400 once the show is released, don't view that as a finish line of sorts, 38 00:03:07.400 --> 00:03:12.000 but instead as a starting line of sorts to really then be thinking about 39 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.400 how are we distributing the content to get out in front of people and how 40 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:21.159 are we going to continue to market the podcast and have it in some featured 41 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:24.120 spots, maybe it's on your website or in social channels, links, that 42 00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:29.719 sort of thing, where we're driving more ears to take a listen to the 43 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:35.400 podcast. Okay, so second thing in the news I was interested by is 44 00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:40.520 that apple podcasts they're doing this thing delegated delivery, and this is straight from 45 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:46.520 Apple. It was a press release. They announced that the dedicated delivery. 46 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.520 It's basically a new feature that's going to allow creators to upload, manage and 47 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:55.759 distribute premium audio through participating third party hosting providers. They have a number of 48 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:01.879 initial hosting providers that were announced and they have more partners that are going to 49 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:10.840 support this in the future. The idea is that premium content becoming more prevalent. 50 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:15.040 You think of you know, these individual creators are influencers who work on 51 00:04:15.079 --> 00:04:19.639 like a patreon type model and they have these special episodes for people that want 52 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:24.519 to like pay in a little bit and then they get maybe extra content. 53 00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:29.639 So I think this is tempting, but it's almost like you know and be 54 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:33.079 to be we have the gated, ungated conversation and unless you have like a 55 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:39.040 large audience or you're maybe trying to add a revenue stream to monetize expertise, 56 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:43.240 this, in my opinion, for be tob podcasts shouldn't be used. Great 57 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:47.399 for individual creators, great for influencers, maybe not so much something we should 58 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:50.319 be doing. If this is something that has intrigued you to the point that 59 00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:54.360 you think you're going to try it, please reach out to me over on 60 00:04:54.439 --> 00:04:59.439 Linkedin and tell me how it goes, because this is something that I just 61 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:04.279 I'm not into the premium content podcast realm. I haven't found that to be 62 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:09.399 particularly intriguing to me, but I'd love to hear from someone that's that's executing 63 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:14.560 on it at a high level. Okay. Third Story, final story is 64 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.560 this is from serious Xm. They had their two thousand and twenty two podcast 65 00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:25.519 trends report release and they did this in partnership with simple cast and adds whiz. 66 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:30.360 And in the report there's this interesting bit that I wanted to bring to 67 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:39.160 you, the top five most targeted contextual audiences in podcasting. The top five 68 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:48.160 most targeted contextual audiences in podcasting, there is it decision makers, at five, 69 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:55.160 at four are those interested in education. Three, new parents make sense, 70 00:05:56.120 --> 00:06:01.600 to drum roll please, businesses of all sizes, and then at one, 71 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:05.519 doctors and researchers. But that number two is where I want to focus. 72 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:12.639 Businesses of all sizes, the top five most targeted contextual audiences. So 73 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:19.360 we have these niche shows for businesses of all sizes. Now you could think 74 00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:24.800 of this in okay, that means the space is getting crowded. That's one 75 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:27.839 way to look at it. I actually want a different way. I thought 76 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:31.279 it had's getting crowded, but also maybe we should be thinking more about advertising. 77 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:36.319 If you have a targeted contextual audience. You have the ability to run 78 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:40.839 targeted ads, so seek it out. Think of the tools in your text 79 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:43.639 act that you would recommend to your audience, the ones you already use. 80 00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:46.519 Go to them, approach them and say, Hey, I have this podcast, 81 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:49.000 what do you want to run and add on our show? Think of 82 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:54.680 ways that you can do some partnerships there, because you have again, you've 83 00:06:54.800 --> 00:07:00.560 niched down and you're in one of those targeted contextual audiences. All right, 84 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:04.759 that's it for the news today. Let's jump to a member highlight and we'll 85 00:07:04.839 --> 00:07:11.399 keep this episode rolling. I wanted today not to highlight like a show that's 86 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:15.319 been around for a long time, not to highlight a show that I'm I'm 87 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:17.600 telling everyone like, Oh, this is you know, go listen to all 88 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:21.720 the episodes. It's almost more of just like a hey, congratulations, AIP 89 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:27.199 podcast. As of this recording, they have four episodes there in the mcclub 90 00:07:27.319 --> 00:07:33.959 community over on Linkedin and they're focused on conversations on artificial intelligence and how AI 91 00:07:34.120 --> 00:07:39.959 can solve real business problems and help companies gain a competitive edge. They do 92 00:07:40.040 --> 00:07:45.199 interviews with creators of AI and business leaders. So I just wanted to say 93 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:48.800 I know that launching a show is hard and I salute you for the work 94 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:53.079 you've put in. Keep up the good work and I would just say it 95 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:58.920 gets better and better over time and you'll continue to just catch that rhythm. 96 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:05.399 So congratulations on these first four episodes with hopefully many, many more to come. 97 00:08:05.720 --> 00:08:11.639 That is the AIP podcast and that is our member highlight for this episode. 98 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:15.720 All right. Now, typically we close with a couple questions from the 99 00:08:15.800 --> 00:08:20.000 MIC club community. I need to pose that in the Linkedin this week because 100 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:24.439 I didn't have any new questions and that is my fault. So I will. 101 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:26.439 I'll see what you guys are thinking about what kind of questions you're asking 102 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:31.920 before we record again, before our next episode. But today I wanted to 103 00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:35.120 bring actually one final article that I was paying attention to. It's from IHEART 104 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:39.320 and I really resonated with this because I think it's the types of questions we 105 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:43.960 should be asking. Maybe you aren't asking them right now, but I do 106 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:50.840 think you should be five questions to ask yourself about your podcast. Now. 107 00:08:50.919 --> 00:08:54.279 I think it'd be great if we had these five kind of clearly answered before 108 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:56.799 we start. But we all know that even once we start our show. 109 00:08:56.919 --> 00:09:00.559 Things Shift and change as we go. We get new ideas, we want 110 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:03.399 to try new things. But these five, I think, are very clarifying. 111 00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:09.879 And the first is, what's my overarching goal? What's my overarching goal? 112 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:13.320 Do I know the why behind the podcast? What are we trying to 113 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:20.960 drive? Is it? Is there a certain type of person we want to 114 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.200 talk to? Is there an audience we want to gain? It's thought leadership 115 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:28.279 to play. What's my overarching goal to what topics will I cover now? 116 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:31.159 I find this to be interesting because, like on B tob growth, right 117 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:35.360 now we're all over the map on topics within be to be marketing conversations from 118 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:39.519 the front lines of marketing. I'm trying to hone in in, you know, 119 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.159 continue to refine our strategy on what topics I want to cover instead of 120 00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:46.320 just saying, okay, guess to what are you thinking about right now and 121 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:48.919 marketing and let's talk about that. Are there some specific topics we want to 122 00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:52.840 come back to drive home and thinking about that a lot. The third question 123 00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:56.840 is who's my ideal listener? WHO's my ideal listener, I would say, 124 00:09:56.840 --> 00:10:01.159 and be tob sometimes we know our ideal interviewe. We know the person we 125 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:05.559 want to have on the show, we want to connect with, but do 126 00:10:05.639 --> 00:10:09.639 we know who the listener is and how often are we putting ourselves in their 127 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:13.960 shoes as to the experience they have when they hear our podcast? For do 128 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:16.879 I have all the equipment I need? I like this question, not just 129 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:20.360 at the beginning, but like maybe you think about it once a year. 130 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:24.679 Maybe you think about it, you know, at twice a year, not 131 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:28.639 too often. You're not always wanting to upgrade your your your set up, 132 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:33.279 but I do think, hey, there's ways we can constantly be making our 133 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:37.759 our our set up better. So maybe you should haven't thought about in a 134 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:41.879 while. Should you upgrade? And then the five is, how will I 135 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:48.000 promote my podcast? And I think of this as just distribution. I'll say 136 00:10:48.039 --> 00:10:52.080 one thing we've done with be tob growth, and just speaking from experience here 137 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:56.440 in q two of two thousand and twenty two, is just started creating three 138 00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:00.639 assets. So, like you know, microvideo might be one. We have 139 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:05.120 three different assets that we provide our guests with as ways that they can share 140 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:09.440 the episode, because we have recurring content that's coming out on the podcast. 141 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:13.720 But they this is awesome for them right because they've been featured on our show 142 00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:16.399 and we want to set them up, and that's a key way that we 143 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:22.799 distribute the show is having them share the content on Linkedin. Do you have 144 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:26.360 a distribution plan? Do you have ways that maybe you don't just share it 145 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:28.039 the day it goes live, but you share it again down the road? 146 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:33.039 How are you distributing it? Maybe it's something that you put in an email 147 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:39.879 or different people different different types of approaches, but having that, that distribution 148 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:41.879 plan, I think you know we do it with our content all the time, 149 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:46.960 but podcasts can easily get lost in the feed and so much of what 150 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:52.440 we're talking about. Maybe it's not evergreen, but it's definitely can last beyond 151 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:54.519 just the you know, the day it was released, the week it was 152 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:58.720 released, and we want to make sure people can easily find that content. 153 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:05.320 been doing something as simple as on your website, tagging the episodes so that 154 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:09.159 if it's a specific topic, people can go and find it, search it 155 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:13.679 and and get that content easily? I think is a that's again that's part 156 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:20.399 of distribution and how people will find your episodes. All right, that about 157 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:22.720 wraps it up. We're keeping it short and sweet today because, again, 158 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:26.879 I was flying solo, so we'll land the plane early. Thanks for being 159 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:33.000 along for the ride here on Mike Club today. For All your podcasting be 160 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:37.759 to be podcasting needs head over to linkedin be a part of the MC club 161 00:12:37.799 --> 00:12:41.240 community. Thank you for all of those that are our loyal listeners and if 162 00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:46.200 you have a question or if you want to talk about your something you're learning 163 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:50.960 on your show, we'd love to hear from you over there. Will be 164 00:12:50.000 --> 00:13:13.600 back next week with another episode of MC Club. have a great day everybody.