96. Podcasting Mythbusters: Clearing Up Misconceptions About Growth Strategies

As a certified podcast growth coach, it’s super frustrating to see so much misinformation out there about how to grow a podcast. In this episode, I’m exposing the most common podcasting myths that keep business owners stuck… and, more importantly, sharing what to do instead.

This episode was produced by me, The Podcast Teacher! Contact me at Hello@ThePodcastTeacher.com.

Take the quiz to find out what you need to focus on for podcast growth: www.ThePodcastTeacher.com/quiz

Transcript

Hey. Hey. And welcome back. Today, we're breaking down some podcasting myths. Would you believe me if I told you that most of what you've probably heard about podcast growth is not only wrong, but might actually be hurting your podcast? I know. It sounds a little dramatic, but I see so many business owners spinning their wheels, doing all the things they've been told they're supposed to do, and then they wonder why their show isn't growing. And as a certified podcast growth coach, it's super frustrating to see so much misinformation out there. So today, I am setting the record straight, and I am exposing three of the biggest podcasting myths that may be holding you back, and more importantly, I will show you exactly what to do instead.

If you have ever felt like you're doing everything right, but you're still not seeing the growth that you want, you need this episode. Let's kick things off with myth number one, just keep publishing and your audience will grow. This is by far one of the most common pieces of advice I hear. Just be consistent. Just keep releasing episodes. Just keep going. And I wish that that were true. I wish that podcasting was simply a case of build it and they will come.

But, unfortunately, that's not how it works. And if we think about this with anything other than a podcast, it makes total sense. Right? Let me give you an example. There's this little restaurant near me, and they have some of the best food I have ever had. Their croissants are to die for. Anyway, unfortunately, they're not in a very visible location, and business was pretty slow at first. No business coach would ever come in and tell them, well, business is slow, but just keep making those amazing croissants and you'll get more business. That's ridiculous.

No business coach would ever tell them that. They would tell them that, yes, they need to keep making amazing croissants, and they need to put up signs, take out advertisements, make sure they're showing up in Google results for food in the area. They're asking current patrons to tell a friend, etcetera, etcetera. It seems so obvious when we think about it in that way with that example, yet podcasters are often told to just keep doing what they're doing indefinitely, and they'll eventually get traction. By the way, in case you were curious, the restaurant is doing amazing now, and I'm so excited for them and hope they stay in business for a really long time. So anyway, yes, podcasters do need to be consistent and they need to be strategic with their consistent efforts. So what does strategic consistency look like? Let me break it down for you into three steps. So step one, you wanna optimize for discoverability.

Your show title, your episode titles, and descriptions should all be searchable with keywords. If someone is searching for a solution that your podcast provides, would they actually find you? If you wanna do a quick test, you can go to Apple or Spotify and type in a keyword related to your niche, and see if your podcast comes up in the results. Now, it might be far down the results and that's okay. We have things that we can do to work on getting that higher, but if it's not in the results at all, then you definitely need to tweak your SEO strategy. Step two is to make your content must listen instead of nice to have. Some podcasts are a kind of, well, maybe I'll listen to that if I have time kind of show. I know I have a lot of those on my list. And more often than not, I don't have time to listen to them.

Other shows are a I cannot miss an episode of this show because it is so valuable, so practical, it helps me so much, I'm so inspired, etcetera. You wanna be in the second category. So a few questions to ask yourself, is my content solving a specific problem or moving people toward a specific goal. Specificity is important here. Also ask, am I giving listeners actionable takeaways that they can't easily find elsewhere? And finally, ask yourself, am I making my episodes engaging, entertaining, and valuable? If the answer to any of those questions is no, then you need to do some work on your content strategy. And step three in your plan of strategic consistency is to proactively market your episodes. If you want new listeners, you have to get your content in front of new people. So paid ads, promo swaps, guest interviews, collaborations, these opportunities all expand your reach beyond your existing audience.

So if you're not putting in some marketing efforts, it's time to work on your promotion strategy. The point I'm trying to make here with all of this is that consistency alone won't grow your podcast. You need to be strategic in your consistency. Creating content people need, optimizing for discoverability, and actively driving new listeners to your show. Alright. Moving on to myth number two. I need thousands of downloads to be successful. I hear this all the time, especially from new podcasters who feel discouraged when their numbers look relatively low compared to what they're seeing on social or hearing other podcasters talk about.

And I get it. Watching your download numbers climb is exciting. I do that too. Actually, at the time of this recording, I'm about to hit 25,000 downloads, which is amazing, and I'm so grateful for every single listener. And at the same time, it's important to understand that download numbers don't equal success. You could have 25,000 downloads and zero clients, and I would not call that a successful podcast. On the other hand, you could have 1,000 downloads, which seems quote unquote low, but you could have 20 coaching clients, and I would call that a huge success. So while downloads are one metric to look at, make sure that you're looking at a well rounded picture of your podcast.

So you wanna examine your listener engagement. This is things like how many people are reaching out to you if you offer them to DM you or send you an email or send you a text message, that kind of thing. Do you have listeners engaging with you in some way shape or form? You also wanna analyze your conversion rates. So if you give a call to action, such as sending them to a lead magnet or asking them to book a call with you, Are they doing those things? Look at your opt in rate and your conversions there. And finally, look at your consumption data. You wanna know if people are listening to entire episodes or if they are dropping off after just five minutes. And if you want to learn more about consumption rates, you can go back and listen to episode 87. I break down what that is, how to find it, and what's a good number to strive for in that episode.

You do not need thousands and thousands of downloads to have a successful podcast. Focus on the other metrics in addition to download growth. And that brings us finally to myth number three, you have to promote your podcast on social media. I'm laughing already. If you have been around here for a while, you probably know that I feel pretty strongly about this. And I know I'm not alone, my fellow introverts out there. You do not have to be on social media all the time to grow your podcast. Now, can social media help if you promote your podcast there? Sure.

But is it the best or most reliable way to grow a podcast? Most definitely not. And that's because social posts have a short shelf life. You post something and within hours, sometimes minutes, it disappears into the algorithm abyss. More importantly, people scrolling social media aren't looking for podcasts. And getting someone to stop scrolling and go into another platform to consume a different type of content is not easy. Now I will say if social media is working for you, you're loving it, you're getting listeners coming from social, that is great. Keep doing what you're doing. But you definitely don't have to do social media.

I haven't promoted an episode of my podcast on social in close to a year, and my podcast has been growing like crazy. So if you're like me and are not super excited about the idea of showing up on social media or you have been and it just hasn't been working very well for you, I recommend focusing your efforts on more lucrative avenues. So search engine optimization of course is my favorite. You want to make sure that your show and episodes are optimized so that people can find you in the search results and you don't have to lift a finger. You can also appear as a guest on other podcasts because those people are already podcast listeners, so asking them to listen to another podcast is a pretty easy ask. Instead of asking someone who's doomscrolling on social media to leave that platform and go somewhere else. And of course, don't forget to repurpose that gold mine of podcast episode content on different platforms with a longer shelf life. So these are places like LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and you can even repurpose the content for your email list as well.

So to recap, just being consistent without strategy will not get you results. You don't need thousands of downloads in order to be successful, and you definitely do not need to promote your podcast on social media. Hopefully, debunking these myths will help to clear the air a bit. And if you're tired of guessing why your podcast isn't growing, I invite you to take my free quiz to find out exactly what you need to focus on next. It's quick, it's free, and it will give you actionable steps so that you don't waste time on strategies that don't work. Go to the podcastteacher.com/quiz to take the quiz now. Until next time, happy podcasting.