Show notes:
Key ideas:
Top 5 mistakes made by podcast publishers:
#1 Not investing enough time into promoting their content
Hitting publish is only half the battle. As the saying goes, “Content is king, but distribution is queen.”
In other terms, even great content needs a proper promotion strategy to be successful.
3 important levers to promote a podcast are:
– visibility optimization
– social media
– owned assets (blog, website, newsletter, community).
Read our full article on podcast promotion here.
#2 Poorly chosen show and episode titles.
What makes a good title:
– Includes important keywords that will be indexed by the search engines of podcast platforms.
– Puts the most important information upfront
– It’s clear and makes it easy for users to understand what topic is discussed.
– Contains the name of the guest if there is one.
– Elicits emotions like curiosity to get people to listen.
Bad title: Season 2 Episode 3 – The benefits of Kale
Good title: Is Kale the most overrated superfood? With [nutrition expert name]
If you cannot change the name of your show, think about appending a short explanatory sentence.
Example: ‘Pardon my take’ -> ‘Pardon my take – hot takes on sports’
#3 Insufficiently long show and episode descriptions
Descriptions are used by:
– users to determine if the content is for them
– algorithms to know what shows to suggest when a user types a query in the search bar.
Use them to your advantage to outrank other publishers and nudge users to listen to your content.
#4 Neglecting podcast authority
Podcast authority is a term we coined to describe a set of factors podcast platforms use to evaluate the quality of a show. The main factors are:
– follower count
– download numbers and trend
– ratings and reviews (contrary to statements released by platforms)
In your content, be sure to ask your listeners to leave reviews, rate and follow your show
#5 Poorly designed covert art
As proven in the app world, good cover art can substantially increase your download rate.
What makes good covert art:
– Most users should be able to understand the topic discussed by looking at it for 2 seconds.
– Maximum 4-5 words
– Font size optimized for readability on mobile
– Easy on the eye both in light and dark mode
Resources:
Tools mentioned:
– Voxalyze (sign up for a free trial)
Resources mentioned:
– Article on show authority
– Analyzing the impact of app art on download rates