← B2B Podcasting Insights - business strategy podcast for founders and brands
B2B Podcasting Insights - business strategy podcast for founders and brands
Your B2B Podcast's Downloads Are NOT The Result
00:10:44
Loading summary
Transcript9 lines
- [00:00]
Neil Velio
At the end of the previous episode of B2B podcasting insights, I said I was going to ruin your perception of your download numbers. So fair warning, if you're emotionally attached to them, this episode might sting a bit.
- [00:15]
Podcast Host / Narrator
Welcome to B2B Podcasting Insights with Neil Velio, founder of PodKnows, a podcast agency helping you get better results from podcasting.
- [00:26]
Neil Velio
The truth is, downloads are one of those metrics that feel important in the same way weighing yourself five times a day feels important. It's a number, it moves up and down and it gives you something to talk about, certainly in meetings, but it doesn't actually tell you what you think. It tells you downloads feel meaningful. And that's the problem. Lets start with why people cling to download numbers. The truth is, they're visible, they're easy to explain, and you can put them on a slide without anyone asking any follow up questions. You can say, the podcast got 1200 downloads last month and everyone nods along. Nobody asks, okay, and what happened because of that? Which is quite convenient because once you ask that question, things get quite awkward quite quickly. Here's what a download actually means in podcasting, a download is a surface metric. It tells you someone's podcast app pulled a file from your feed. That's it. It doesn't mean that they listened for any more than the obligatory 60 seconds, that they paid attention, that they agreed with you, that they trusted you, that or that they're any closer to buying from you. The truth is, a lot of people will listen once and never come back. And yet we talk about downloads like they're votes of confidence in your content. They're really not. They're more like someone picking up a leaflet at an event and immediately sticking it straight in the bin. Here's why download numbers are such a comforting life for B2B brands. Downloads are great for internal reassurance. You can tell stakeholders, look, people are listening. Which is technically true. In the same way saying people walked past the shop is technically true. But if you're running a B2B podcast, the real question shouldn't be how many people downloaded this? It should be, did this help influence a decision? Did this reduce confusion in our brand? Did this make the next sales call easier? Did this shorten our sales cycle? Almost nobody tracks those kind of metrics because it's harder. It requires talking to sales teams. It requires listening to prospects. It requires patience. Downloads don't. You hit F5 and they're there. So let's talk about how downloads can actually push you into bad Behavior. Here's where the whole vanity metrics thing gets quite dangerous. The moment the downloads become the goal, the podcast starts changing shape. You start aiming for strangers, you smooth off your edges. You stop being decisive and intentional with your content because you don't want to alienate anyone. And before you know it, suddenly your show is fine. It's pleasant, it's inoffensive. It's completely useless as a buying accelerator. Buying decisions aren't made because someone vaguely enjoyed a podcast. They're made when someone thinks, wow, this person or these people understand our problem better than the alternatives. Downloads don't ever measure that, and they often reward the opposite. So what actually matters instead of download numbers then? If your podcast is meant to support your business, you need to look elsewhere, not at download numbers. Things like retention. Are people sticking around or are they bailing after two minutes because if they leave early, your insight never really lands. You need to be looking at repeat listeners. Are the same people coming back, or are you constantly chasing new ears? How do you find that out? Surveys? Ask them. Sales evidence. Do prospects ever mention the podcast on your calls? Do they reference specific episodes or ideas? That one alone tells you more than any download number ever will. Oh, and of course, inbound quality. Do leads sound clearer, more informed, less so? What do you actually do? Well, that's influence. Here's a refresh frame that usually helps people with figuring this out. I'd rather have 200 downloads a month from the right ideal people that would buy from me than 5,000 downloads from people who just like podcasts. One of those scenarios leads to revenue. The other leads to LinkedIn posts celebrating numbers that don't mean anything. Harsh maybe, but also true. The bottom line is that you need to use platform data properly. Or. Or don't bother. If you want an early signal before real world results show up, look at your engagement data. Go to Apple Podcast Connect, Spotify for creators, whatever platform you're interested in finding out more from. The retention curves matter far more than the totals. If people are sticking around, you're probably doing something right. If they're dropping off consistently, the podcast isn't doing its job yet. No amount of downloads will fix that. I'm not saying ignore your numbers. I'm saying stop worshipping the wrong ones. Downloads are a starting point at best. They are not proof of your success. If your podcast is meant to influence buying decisions, then influence is what you should measure.
- [06:04]
Podcast Host / Narrator
It's time for questions from listeners. Email with your question.
- [06:09]
Neil Velio
Neilodnows.co.uk each episode I'm going endeavor to answer some of the emails that I get from people around the world. These are random people who have sent an email after listening to an episode. They usually do that via the contact form@podnows.co.uk, that's P O D K N O W s.co.uk. here's an email from Mark, who is a managing director at a business in Reading. Apparently he says, we already have a strong sales team. What's the podcast actually meant to do that our sales team isn't? That's a good question, and quite a common one actually. Mark Sales handles the live conversations. The idea of the podcast is it handles the customer or the potential customers thinking that happens before anyone even agrees to a conversation. So it works in the messy middle of the buying process. Mainly the bit where customers are unsure, they're comparing options, they're looking at prices, and they're trying to make sense of your offers compared with other people that have similar offers. So a good B2B podcast doesn't replace sales. It uses the podcast to complement your sales talent. And the idea is that by the time your salespeople get on the phone, they've pretty much done 95% of the work.
- [07:33]
Podcast Host / Narrator
And now founder FAQs each episode of
- [07:36]
Neil Velio
this podcast, I'm going to be sharing some of the common questions that are coming up from founders that I'm chatting with during my coaching calls and my pick my brain calls. This episode I wanted to share a clip of a conversation that I had with Andrew Backhouse. He's a website designer in Harrogate and he's planning a podcast to launch in Q2.
- [07:58]
Andrew Backhouse
So the next question is, what makes a solo podcast feel credible rather than opinion based? And I believe the answer you gave to that was passion. And the affiliate links, how they're not going to be something that I haven't tested.
- [08:14]
Neil Velio
Yeah, so I mean, the affiliate links that that's destroyed from the start if the listener hasn't built a relationship with you. And this is why I sort of actually, I'm glad that you're doing solo because I always say to people, yet having a guest is fine, it's fine. But the listener builds a relationship with you, not with your guest. And so, you know, for me it's a case of they want you to turn up each time and talk to them and they want to sort of grow a relationship with you. The only time you really need a guest. Need is a strong word. The only time you ever really want to consider having a guest is if it's something where you're not necessarily so clued up on it, it's an aspect of what you do where, you know, we've all got things that we're masters of and some things that we know how to do it generally, but we're not experts in it. So if there's something like that, then having a guest come in can be useful because, number one, you're then learning something from it. But also your listener is understanding. They. They don't look at it as, oh, this guest has come in and they're an expert, and now my devotion should go to them. What they tend to do psychologically is think, oh, Andrew's brought some more expertise to me. That's brilliant. So you still get the credit. And I think that's the step that a lot of podcast as miss. They think, oh, well, I don't want someone else coming on my show, but if they know something different from you, then that's fine. I think it's when you get two web designers having a conversation about the same thing, that's where it sort of muddies the waters and that's where it's kind of like, well, I'm not building a relationship with this person, I'm building a relationship with Andrew. And in the next episode, we're going to be talking about one of the biggest reasons B2B podcasts struggle to do that. Spoiler alert. It has something to do with interviews. I hope you found this episode useful. If you did, please feel free to share it with another B2B podcaster that you know. Definitely share it with your CMO or whoever has influence in the marketing department at your business. And if you haven't done so yet, click follow or subscribe in the podcast app you're listening to this on and I'm looking forward to speaking to you next time on on B2B podcasting insights. This podcast uses Chapters. If your podcast app supports them, look for the icon which suggests moving through the chapters. In Apple podcasts, this is usually in the bottom right of your now playing screen.