June 6, 2022

Twitter's Create Hub, Listener Ratings, and The Future of Ads

In this episode, Benji talks about: 

1Twitter’s New ‘Create’ Hub for Podcasters

2 Podcast listeners tend to rate newer and smaller shows higher Listeners tend to rate older podcasts lower than newer ones, while the overall "podcast satisfaction" seems to be declining, per an independent study by Rephonic.

3 “Announcer Reads” Aren’t the Future of Podcast Advertising (Even If Big Companies Want You to Believe It)  

Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:17.760 Hey podcasting friends, welcome back to my club and today, as we always 2 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:22.160 do here on the show, will be covering some podcast news, a member 3 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:28.760 highlight from our linkedin group and a listener question. Today I'm flying solo. 4 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:34.560 This is Benjie Block here, and thanks for coming along for the ride. 5 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:40.039 Let's jump into today's news now. The first story I wanted to highlight is 6 00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:48.640 that twitter has a new create hub for podcasters and they've rebranded what was the 7 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:58.000 twitter media site to twitter create and it's a resource hub organized industry to industry, 8 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:02.719 and now podcasters actually have their own section and there's other you know, 9 00:01:02.759 --> 00:01:07.879 sort of genres and they're like sports or music, and so the idea is 10 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:11.319 that they're going to introduce some new features and then resources will have like tips 11 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:18.120 and and again that's like a place for podcasters to go. They have guides, 12 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:19.560 and so I thought, Hey, just go check this out. I'm 13 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:26.599 not super active over on twitter, but I found their guides to be insightful 14 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:30.239 and I think that having a resource hub is smart, especially when they have, 15 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:33.920 you know, the number of users and who knows what kind of they 16 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:37.760 spring off of that. But go check it out. Twitter's new create hub 17 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:41.719 for podcasters and you can check the link in our show notes so that you 18 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:48.439 can go straight to the story and find the the new hub twitter create second 19 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:53.319 story here in the news. Something I'm paying attention to is that podcast listeners 20 00:01:53.439 --> 00:02:00.480 tend to rate newer and smaller shows higher, and listeners tend to rate older 21 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:07.519 podcasts lower the newer ones. So they actually the last part of the story 22 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:12.960 was also intriguing to me, which is that the overall podcast satisfaction kind of 23 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:16.159 seems to be declining, which there could be a number of factors to that. 24 00:02:17.080 --> 00:02:22.159 I also think this is directly correlated to the number of shows out there 25 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:25.319 in the world and the fact that there's certain types of shows that are just 26 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:31.080 becoming overdone, and so because the barrier to entry is so low at this 27 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:35.520 point and podcasting it, you could have a lot of shows out there that 28 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:40.599 just don't get ratings. Okay, from this story, the study was done 29 00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:46.199 by an Rafhonic, I believe I'm pronouncing that correctly, and they were using 30 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:52.000 specifically apple podcasts for the study. But let me give you some of their 31 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:53.960 findings here and again, if you'd like to look at add it in more 32 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:00.319 detail. Link in the show notes were. They found that podcast ratings peaked 33 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:04.919 in two thousand and sixteen and there's been a steady decline since then. They 34 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:08.879 also note that there has been a rapid influx of new shows. That, 35 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:15.039 again, low barriers to entry, might be a reason for the lack of 36 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:23.800 rating. I think you could attribute new shows having you more ratings to the 37 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:28.039 fact that people over time have learned hey, ratings are something that our show 38 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:32.039 needs, so you might go out and actually ask people very often at the 39 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:36.800 beginning to try to get those ratings up. But I just thought it was 40 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:42.680 interesting that listeners tender rate older podcasts a lower than new ones. Maybe that 41 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:46.680 has something to do with quality as well over time and it was harder to 42 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:52.759 have that that great quality beforehand the last few years, with with how podcasting 43 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:58.560 is really taken a step into the future. There I think this one is 44 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:00.919 kind of a no brainer, kind of captain obvious to me. But one 45 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:05.039 of their things they pointed out was there's a negative correlation between audience size and 46 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:09.800 average rating, and I think that would be obvious because the more audience you 47 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:14.080 have, the more opinions you have, that more reviews of the content you 48 00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:19.279 have, and not everyone is gonna resonate with it. So third story here 49 00:04:19.319 --> 00:04:25.279 in the news. Something I'm paying attention to is that it's actually more of 50 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:28.800 an opinion piece a blog that I read this week. The title of the 51 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:33.480 blog was like announcer, announcer reads aren't the future of podcast advertising, even 52 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:38.199 if big companies want you to believe it. And this comes off the heels 53 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:44.959 of the fact that serious xm they had some press releases and there was also, 54 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:50.480 I ab they sponsored like an annual podcasting report and they were really touting 55 00:04:50.519 --> 00:04:58.600 announcer read ads as not really being like as being the future, as in 56 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:03.519 not the host read but someone out there that is not at all correlated to 57 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:08.439 the show. You know these services, these all in one things you can 58 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:13.439 sign up for and then they'll just place ads in your podcast, which there's 59 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:17.319 a level of convenience there and if you're trying to monetize it could be tempting 60 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:23.120 to lean into a service like that. But I really resonated with this opinion 61 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:29.399 piece because the author was taking the side of going hey, just so you 62 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:34.680 know, for listener experience, those all in one ad reads aren't our announcer 63 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:39.319 read ad reads are not resonating with your audience and I couldn't agree more. 64 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:44.519 I fast forward all of the ADS. So I'll read you some of her 65 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:47.920 opinion here and then I'll give you a case and example with BB growth. 66 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:56.319 Another show here at sweet fish that I host kind of our our internal show 67 00:05:56.360 --> 00:06:02.480 interviewing marketers, but some of what the author said here. It's not worth 68 00:06:02.519 --> 00:06:06.959 while. The switch from host reads to announcer reads. Lots of services are 69 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:11.199 in my inbox every week trying to convince me to sign up for an all 70 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:15.600 in one handsoff monetization at scale solution, but I know that would strain my 71 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:20.439 audience and break our heart earned trust. At multitude we give ads the same 72 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:25.040 amount of preparation and thought that go into the rest of our show. I 73 00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:30.399 resonate with that. At be to be growth we are approached often for ads 74 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:35.079 on our content and I actually had a list of ten that were sent to 75 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:43.079 US last week and we've asked our ad provider like, when they come to 76 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:46.839 us with potential ads for the show, send them to us. We're not 77 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:50.360 going to just say yes to anything and we pick ones that we think marketers 78 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:55.879 would be interested in. What would our audience potentially be interested in and also 79 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:00.160 I do add reads for the show and those are the ones that tend to 80 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:02.680 perform higher when we can record them and then we could send them to the 81 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:06.680 service where they can place them where they like. That keeps it convenient to 82 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:10.639 a certain point. It is an extra added step for me to have to 83 00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:15.519 do the read itself. But again, you want to to add value to 84 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:17.839 your audience. You don't want your ads to feel completely removed. And I 85 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:24.279 can give you actually a story, because we've been testing this and we ran 86 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:29.040 into an issue where some ads kind of got place that we're very broad and 87 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:31.120 was almost like you're listening to be to be growth in a burger king ad 88 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:35.120 pops up and it just didn't feel right. It felt so disjointed from the 89 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:39.759 show itself. I'd love your opinion on this. I view, are you 90 00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:44.680 running just ads with this all in one platform, or are you thinking about 91 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:46.120 what you want to do with add reids? I think this is something we 92 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:50.120 all need to be thinking about and again, like you would with anything in 93 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:56.639 business, put yourself in the shoes of the person on the receiving end of 94 00:07:56.680 --> 00:08:01.279 the content, the listener, right the consumer, and I think that starts 95 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:07.639 to clarify what are our way forward should be all right. Let's end the 96 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:13.000 news segment and head into a member highlight. The show I want a highlight 97 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:20.839 today is the recognized authority with Alistir McDermott. Brief description of the show here 98 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:26.879 guiding invisible experts on the journey to becoming a recognized authority in your field so 99 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:33.559 you can increase your impact, command higher fees and work with better clients. 100 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:39.200 Alistair's part of our micclub community on Linkedin and we're so glad to have them. 101 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:46.240 Actually just connected with him on linkedin yesterday. And what I like about 102 00:08:46.279 --> 00:08:52.519 the show I was interested in an episode title is creating your content marketing strategy 103 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:58.919 with Heather Shaven. Again, great quality of content, depth of conversation. 104 00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:05.440 I uster has the perfect voice for a show entertaining and again I'm in this 105 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:11.440 mode of content creation and looking at content marketing strategies, and so found this 106 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:16.039 episode to be particularly useful if you're trying to build thought leadership, if you're 107 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:20.000 looking to become a recognized authority in your field. Give the recognized authority with 108 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:24.440 Alster McDermott a listen and want to say thanks for being a part of our 109 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:31.120 my close community all right, to round out the episode a listener question, 110 00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:39.480 and today the question is what's currently your favorite question to ask a guest? 111 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:45.799 I have a couple thoughts here. My favorite question to ask a guest comes 112 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:48.440 in two different ways. The first is what I would say in a pre 113 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:52.440 interview and then I'll give you a question that I would give in an interview 114 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:58.679 itself. We do pre interviews, which means twenty to thirty minute call to 115 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:03.440 really lock in our topic in a point of view for our recording and also 116 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:05.679 it's a great time to get to know your guest. If you're not doing 117 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:09.759 that, to some extra time on your calendar, but it will make your 118 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:15.919 shows run significantly smoother because you're not just meeting this person and all the sudden 119 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:20.879 you're doing this piece of content together. So in a pre interview I like 120 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.639 to talk quite a bit about their passion. I want to tap into their 121 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:30.320 their passion, and so I may lead in even before we drill down on 122 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:33.919 any questions. Just go what are you passionate about in your job right now? 123 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:37.440 And then it's all about the follow up questions. So I interrupt. 124 00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:39.440 I say Hey, what you just said is interesting, like go down the 125 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:43.840 rabbit trail for me and I find so much comes out when you're just giving 126 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:48.840 someone the space to talk about what they're passionate about and you can hone in, 127 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:52.559 even if you know a certain part of their job that you think would 128 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:56.360 be valuable to your audience to talk about. What are you passionate about? 129 00:10:56.360 --> 00:11:00.639 Fill in the blank, give them a more direct than just broad scale your 130 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:05.679 job question. Okay. Second thing would be in an interview. What's my 131 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:11.200 favorite question to ask? And I think on this one what I'd have to 132 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:20.840 say is I like having someone break it down simply. So what that means 133 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:28.480 is I might ask if you were starting this over again from scratch in a 134 00:11:28.519 --> 00:11:31.720 new company and a new organization, where would you start? When I ask 135 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:35.440 a question like that and make someone have to think more simply and get out 136 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:41.320 of the context that they're currently in. Sometimes we think what we've learned like 137 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:45.759 or what we're doing in our organization. It just kind of you know, 138 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:48.919 it would work somewhere else and so to as good just go. Okay. 139 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:54.240 So if I drop you in another organization, let's say they're a couple steps 140 00:11:54.279 --> 00:11:58.960 behind or they haven't started this function yet, where would you begin? What 141 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:03.559 would you do first? I think that question prompts a lot internally, and 142 00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:07.559 then again because I'm such a big advocate of follow up questions. Even if 143 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:11.320 you have an outline, like allow yourself to be in the conversation enough to 144 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:18.480 be curious. That can lead to some great how's for your audience. How 145 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:20.440 am I going to apply this content? What's the mindset shift that I'm going 146 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:24.600 to take on because of this? Where would I start? Because I'm not 147 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:28.519 where they currently are, and that becomes a great prompter. All right, 148 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:33.759 that is our listener question. What currently is your favorite question to ask a 149 00:12:33.799 --> 00:12:37.559 guest? I'd love to hear from you. What is that question that you 150 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:41.480 ask that you enjoy right now, and I tend to a I noticed that 151 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:43.639 that those questions shift for me and change maybe every couple months, because then 152 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:48.159 you get sick of a question. But I'd love to know the question that 153 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:52.759 you're liking right now. Maybe you rinse repeat it because you like it so 154 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:58.960 much. Anyway, thanks for listening to today's episode of Mc Club and, 155 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:03.200 as always, stay engaged over on Linkedin. If you have a question or 156 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:05.960 something that you enjoyed from this episode, feel free to reach out to me. 157 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.159 Benji block over there. Always love connecting with our listeners. have a 158 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:24.120 great week everybody.