PodMov Daily: Friday, July 17

Episode 244: Week Download Complete

How Much Should Podcasters Spend on Promotion?

Dan Misener of Pacific Content often advocates for paid audio promos: “Buying ads in someone else’s podcast to promote your own show can yield excellent bang-for-buck.” However, look further than your budget sheets, Misener says. “Rather than starting with a dollar figure, begin with the end in mind.”

Because paid promos vary wildly in efficacy, “start with a clear understanding of how you want your promos to sound, and what results you want to achieve.” Misener reveals how three elements — differentiated creative, an overlapping target audience, and measurable ROI — forecast a campaign’s impact.

Differentiated creative, meaning tailor-made options, are worth it. “If you’re paying money to promote your podcast on another podcast, avoid buying off the rack,” Misener advises. Demand a high degree of customization.” Well-designed promos have traits in common, so be picky when shopping around.

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Discover Pods: Becoming a Better Podcaster

For Discover Pods’ Be a Better Podcaster series, James Griffin dives deep into a standard piece of podcasting advice: consistency. “We know why publishing consistently is so important to our podcasting ends, but how do we go about making sure that the publish button is being hit with some regularity?”

When results are slow to appear, capturing the motivation to truck along is no easy task. “While motivation can be a bit subjective (I mean, it’s hard to put a number on enthusiasm with any specificity),” Griffin says, “You can and should be measuring your consistency.” Listeners already do, and they value those expectations.

“Does putting out something that isn’t completely neat and shiny tarnish your personal brand? It turns out, probably not.” When it comes to keeping a realistic rhythm, the pressure to craft a flawless episode is just an obstacle, Griffin explains. Your audience wants to hear from you, and that's motivation.

Stack the Deck to Your Podcast Success

There are over a million shows on Apple Podcasts, but only a quarter have released an episode in the last 3 months. Has your podcast struggled with maintaining its conversational spark? Pod Decks is here to help you stay consistent and find your voice.

Pod Decks are the ultimate tool for podcasters to create engaging, share-worthy episodes and interviews. With ice breakers and open-ended questions, each card is a springboard for content that’s always fresh. Simply shuffle, pick a card, and spice up your live streams and episode topics. 

Most podcasters won’t hit Episode #50. Guess what? The Episode Deck alone has 50 prompts to get ideas flowing! In fact, Travis from Pod Decks wants you to try it for free. Grab yours for just the cost of shipping at free.poddecks.com, while supplies last.

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Here's what else is going on:

• Under wraps: Podnews points out that Apple’s newly launched show, meant to compete with The Daily, is surprisingly missing a significant public element. “Apple News Today, which the company calls a podcast, is exclusive to Apple Podcasts, and there’s no RSS feed.”

• Social hour: Virtual and in-person, major and niche, podcasting events are going strong in 2020. Danielle Desir of WOC Podcasters has a helpful list of industry summits, conferences, and webinars planned into next year. Next up is Podthon, happening this weekend.

• Arms race: A Spotify for Podcasters post gives creators the rundown on its new ‘top podcasts by category’ charts. Climbing the ladder may require herding one’s audience. “The more listeners that hear your podcast on Spotify, the better chance you have of charting.”

• Lone star: For The Texas Standard, technology culture writer and podcaster Omar Gallaga discusses high-profile mergers like SiriusXM’s $325 million acquisition of Stitcher, and why podcast producers aren’t benefiting from the trend toward consolidated networks.