How to Increase Podcast Audience Engagement and Awareness
Creating content for your podcast requires a lot of hard work and stressful post-processing. The biggest compensation you could get for a stressful session of creating podcast content is getting solid audience engagement.
But, it can be very frustrating when you get low audience engagement as a podcaster. You might wonder what could be done to increase audience engagement and awareness. Here are the best tips you can apply!
1. Create Podcast Subscription for Your Listeners
You might doubt how making your listeners subscribe to your podcast is a good way to get them more interested. Yet, you will find that providing enriching and value-adding podcast episodes will rather encourage your listeners to subscribe. So, as far as you provide considerable value, podcast subscriptions will not be a problem for your listeners.
Studies have revealed that 21% of podcast listeners subscribe to a paid podcast service. This figure increases to 30% among frequent listeners. Also, 27% of unsubscribed but frequent podcast listeners said they are likely to subscribe. This shows that podcast subscription to a channel increases over time.
If your content attracts the right audience and keeps them engaged, they will be more likely to subscribe to your podcast channel.
A podcast subscription is a sure way to boost audience engagement and awareness. This is because people tend to pay for value. Also, regular podcast updates stimulate engagement. This increases the rate at which people check out your podcast.
Subscribing to a podcast is like subscribing to a magazine or a YouTube channel where subscribers ask for more. Your podcast audience is usually on the lookout for new editions. Feeding their appetite will guarantee the chances for more subscriptions.
The focused experience enjoyed in paid podcasts also increases audience engagement. With paid podcasts, fewer ads are popping up midway. Allowing ads to run on online services is a conventional way of monetizing podcasts. However, with paid podcasts, there is a better and uninterrupted listening experience.
Ads, no matter how relevant, tend to be disruptive, distracting and discouraging to listeners. This could lead to less traffic to your podcast. Hence, a podcast subscription solves this problem as it removes the attention barriers that ads could create.
A podcast subscription also gives you a reliable revenue stream. It helps you plan your financial life better. This is because you know much to expect from your podcast based on the number of subscribers you get.
2. Create Your Paid Podcast With a Reliable Platform
It is one thing to create a paid podcast, it is another ball game to get a platform one can rely on. This is why platforms like Supercast are available for use.
Rather than limiting yourself, it makes sense to use a podcast subscription platform that can reach listeners on multiple platforms, like Spotify. It is also essential that you deliver an experience worth paying for.
People are more interested in activities that bring about less stress and more benefits. Therefore, it can be discouraging to listeners if they have to go through a stressful process to subscribe to your podcast. When the platform you use offers a seamless subscription process, audience engagement will increase.
You should also have a solid database of your podcast. This will include your podcast content, subscriber names, emails, accounts, etc. This gives a seamless experience in monetizing your podcast and helps you to track your business.
3. Create Newsletters for Your Podcast Subscription
A podcast newsletter is a great way to engage with your audience and keep people listening to each episode of your podcast. It is a form of email marketing that you send to your subscribers to promote your podcast brand. Podcast subscribers receive an email update regarding the latest podcast topics and merchandise releases.
There are so many newsletters out there that irritate your target audience. Thus, you must plan to offer unique and engaging content. Newsletter content that captivates your audience will rapidly boost your audience engagement and awareness.
Your newsletters could contain interesting bits of your personal experiences. Also, you can encourage subscribers to listen to the latest episodes by posting a teaser. This can even convert listeners of your free podcast to paying customers.
It might be difficult to make people pay for what they are used to getting for free, but newsletters can help convince them. Your podcast newsletter can also feature exclusive or extra content for paid subscribers.
This has a huge tendency to make non-subscribers feel they are missing out on vital content. The building interest will draw them to click the subscription button. You can also encourage non-subscribers to subscribe by showing them how simple and seamless the process is.
4. Market Your Paid Podcast on Social Media
Social media is an important tool for increasing the awareness and audience engagement of your podcast. To do this, you have to know your target audience and where to find them. Then you can update your posts to attract them to your podcast.
Build your profile properly and create valuable content that solves people’s problems. Leverage popular trends and provoke thoughtful discussions in your niche. With this, you will get more engagements.
Also, when your posts are engaging enough, social media algorithms will market your podcast to a larger audience. You can hire a social media team to optimize your posts for better engagement. This way, you can get more listeners and target the right audience for your content.
Conclusion
There are several tips out there you can implement to increase awareness and audience engagement on your podcast. Among these is encouraging podcast subscriptions. This article has reiterated the fact that people tend to pay for value. It is thus best to increase the value of your podcast content. This will translate to more engagement in your podcast, and boost its popularity.
