Podcasts have become more prevalent in recent years simply because they’re widely available. You can find them on various platforms such as Spotify, and the best thing is all you have to do is listen, meaning you can do something else while it’s playing in the background. If you create your own podcasts, you understand the importance of audience engagement.
Sure, you can take a look at download and stream numbers, but that’s not enough. The podcasting scene is rife with various content and topics, meaning you’re essentially competing for listeners. For this reason, you need to measure your podcast’s engagement beyond numbers.
This article lists down ways that can help you measure your podcast’s audience engagement better. Read on below to get started.
#1 – Survey Your Audience
Just like the saying goes: “If you don’t know, ask.” Surveying your audience is a great way to know what you’re doing right and what needs improvement.
If you don’t have a specific goal for your podcast, you have to have a general idea of what you want to achieve to drive your survey questions to a specific purpose.
For your listening audience, you want to know their perceptions, experiences, and expectations. This can help you determine essential elements or topics you should cover and learn how to improve your podcast’s content to your listeners.
You can send a survey to your podcast listeners via your website, email newsletters, or social media. You can ask them questions such as:
- What do you want to learn or get from my podcast?
- What topics do you want me to cover?
- What can I do to make your podcast experience better?
#2 – Ask For Reviews
In asking for reviews, the key is to be genuine. Don’t ask for reviews if you’re just trying to fill a quota. Asking for honest feedback is essential to your podcast’s longevity. You can use this as a chance to hear what your audience thinks of your podcast so that you can improve it accordingly.
Reviews are a great way to measure engagement. You will get a sense of how your podcast is perceived and how you can improve it. If you ask for reviews nicely, you’ll get honest answers because your reviewers want to help you get better.
#3 – Hold a Live Audio Stream
If you want to get your listeners’ attention, you should hold a live audio stream. This can help you go into a deeper level of engagement with your audience.
Live streams are not just limited to interviews with your podcast guests. You can also invite your listeners to participate. This approach can make them feel involved with your podcast, as they get to share their thoughts.
If you do this, be sure to have an excellent audio setup before you start broadcasting.
#4 – Utilize Crowdfunding
Podcasting is an expensive affair. Aside from the recording equipment, hosting, and bandwidth, you also need to pay for your podcast’s graphic and logo design, among many other things.
If you want to get the word out about your podcast, you can use crowdfunding. If you’re not familiar with how crowdfunding works, it’s a concept where you ask your audience to donate to support your podcast. If you can reach your target goal successfully, it will help you host your podcast.
Not only that, but you can also use it to fund your podcast’s business expenses, such as advertising, marketing, and research.
#5 – Have an Email List
Of course, if you want to measure your podcast’s audience engagement successfully, then you need to have an email list. If you’re going to increase the number of subscribers to your email list, then you should do several things, such as sending newsletters and providing value to them (so they’re interested in what you have to say).
Also, you need to understand that it’s not easy to grow an email list. You have to give proper value to your listeners so they’ll subscribe to your podcast’s email list.
#6 – Monetization
Earnings from your podcast can indicate how engaging your podcast is. You need a certain number of listeners who will listen to your podcast and click advertisements, to generate revenue.
If you want to make your podcast successful, you need to profit from it. Remember that you don’t need to earn money from your podcast overnight. As long as you have an engaged listening audience, you can use it as an extra income source, which can help you pay for your podcast’s necessities.
Conclusion
Podcasting may be considered a new medium, but its popularity is increasing, even in the United States. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you should measure your podcast’s engagement and improve it by putting these tips into action.
Promoly can help you with your audio marketing strategy if you want your podcast to reach a wider audience. We have helped various brands in the past to promote their audio media through email and social media, and you could be the next. Simply go to our website to learn more!
