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Podcast Playbook: Helping Coaches & Advisors Convert Podcast Content into Clients
Your Podcast Isn’t Growing Because You Got This Wrong Early
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Over the next few episodes, I'm going to break down different podcast growth tactics. But before we get into those, you need to get this right first. Clarity is the number one lever small podcasters can pull to grow, and one of the first things you should focus on. Because the best growth tactics can't save an unclear podcast. If someone sees your paid ad, finds your show in search, or hears you on another podcast, none of it matters if they don't understand what your show is about and how it helps them. If they are confused, they won't listen. So today I'll walk you through our podcast Clarity Audit to help you make your podcast easy to understand and easier to grow. Let's get into it. If you're working on improving your podcast and enjoy topics like the one that we're talking about today around Podcast Growth and Clarity, you you will love our email newsletter. Every other week, I answer a reader question, share upcoming podcast events, and highlight tools that make podcasting easier. If you'd like to check it out, head to simplepodstudios.com newsletter or just simply use the link in the show notes. Hey, welcome to Podcast Playbook. I'm Justin and I'm excited to break down our podcast Clarity Audit. One of the first things we discuss when working with a new client, and that is because this is the foundation of podcast growth. Think of your podcast like a car. You can have a great engine and press the gas as hard as you want, but if your car isn't aerodynamic, it won't move efficiently. It feels slow, heavy, harder than it should be. If we're thinking about that metaphor, your marketing is the engine, your effort is the gas, and your clarity is aerodynamics. The clearer your podcast is, the easier it is for it to move, meaning more clicks, more listens, and of course, more growth. But if your podcast is unclear, everything else feels harder. You can run ads, post on social, go on other shows, but it won't convert the way that it should. And that is drag. And most podcasters feel it, but they don't realize clarity is the problem. Instead, they think that they're posting the wrong content or going on the wrong shows. So let's find where your podcast might be, creating some drag. And to do that, I'll share the major plot points that to our podcast Clarity Audit so that you can perform one on your own show. And we're gonna start with your ideal listener. Okay, so number one, who is your podcast for? This is the first checkpoint in the audit because it's gonna shape many of the decisions you need to make the rest of this podcast Clarity Audit. People subscribe when they see themselves in your show. Unfortunately, people don't think like, oh, this show might be for me, so I'm gonna go ahead and subscribe and give it a try. No, they subscribe when it is obvious and they see a show that was built for them and in the situation they're in right now. So it's your job to make it easier to understand who your show is for. The more specific you are, the better it will land. And to do this, think about some of the traits of your listener. What's their jobs or role, their stage of life or their business, their interest, their pain points, their goals, even their mindset and values. The most common mistake that I see is trying to appeal to everyone. You might be at fault of this if you hear yourself saying things like my show is for beginners and experts in tech. Or I recently heard someone tell me that my podcast is for anyone interested in health. That doesn't work. It is too broad and it's not going to land with anybody. Instead, just add a little bit more specificity. Instead of this is a show for beginners and experts in tech. Think about it like this is a show for early career developers looking to learn new skills and advance faster in tech. Now we have a couple more definitive characteristics. They're early in their career, they are developers, they're someone that is looking to learn new skills and they're looking to advance fast in the career of tech. So instead of my podcast is for anyone interested in health. Try something like this is a show for parents juggling work and kids who want realistic ways to eat healthy and stay active. Now all of a sudden this is a health show for parents who are trying to juggle it all, that want realistic ways to eat healthy and stay active. That's way more specific. A show for anyone interested in health could be for a professional baseball player. It could be for somebody that is trying to enjoy the last decade of their their life. Or it could be for the parent that's juggling. And if you try to appeal to everybody there, no one is going to really see themselves through that. But I'm going to be honest with you. No. Narrowing your focus is often a very overwhelming experience. So just know that it doesn't need to be perfect overnight. For most podcasters, this is going to be an evolution that is always occurring. But the more clearly you can answer the question who is this podcast for? I promise the easier it is for you to grow your podcast and the easier it is to improve on everything else that we're about to talk about in this podcast. Clarity Audit. Okay, so after creating a better understanding of who your ideal listener is, let's start looking at some areas where it is going to show up in your podcast. The biggest and most obvious is your show title. I know I've mentioned this a bunch of times in our first 15 episodes, but that is because we've made these changes dozens of times and almost always see instant results. Show titles matter because they usually are the first thing that new listeners see when discovering a podcast. If your title is unclear, if it's vague, if it's generic, people are just simply not going to click. A good show title should clearly communicate what the show is about, and bonus points if it also communicates who it's for and the benefit they will gain. Some of the most common mistakes I see with podcast titling is, number one, being clever but vague. Kind of the cute clever combo. For example, I just saw one, a podcast called the Monday Mindset. Clearly it's a mindset podcast, something probably about personal development. I don't quite know what the Monday means though. Is that like people in their careers, they're getting back on Monday and they want to jump straight in. I don't know. And that kind of guessing is probably going to make me hesitant to even click on a podcast like that. Number two is being overly broad. Something like the Life Talks podcast where we talk about all things related to life. It's kind of silly and you would laugh at that, but I've seen many a podcast that are just like this. And finally, only using your name. How would you guys feel if this podcast was called the Justin Peters Podcast? You would have no idea what this show is about. I'd really encourage people not to use their name, at least not using it in a main or priority way. I think the only exception to all of this is if it's already a known brand, of course, the Oprah show, the Mel Robbins podcast. These are huge celebrities with big names already. They can label or create a podcast around themselves as the brand, but most of us, we are not big enough and not well known enough that that is going to be a decision that should influence how we name our podcast. So when you're auditing your show, look at your show title and ask yourself, would a random stranger be able to tell what your podcast is about just by reading the name? If not, it might be time to tweak it. And I know show title changes are a big decision so if you're not quite ready to change your show title, I shared an easy alternative in episode two that might be worth checking out. Okay, let's pick up the pace a little bit and move through the rest of these audit points. The next point is your topic selection. The mistake that I see here is covering too many topics. And honestly, I have been there myself. Back in 2019, when I first launched a podcast, the premise was helping 20somethings navigate post college life. Sounds specific, right? Kind of. But I'd cover a personal finance topic one episode and then health the next, and then friendship after that. I was all over the place, and to my surprise, some episodes performed pretty well, but it didn't translate to sustained growth. And looking back, I realized one post college listener might be focused on their personal finance right now, but they're not concerned about their health or their friendships. And by the time that I covered another personal finance topic, maybe a month or two later, they had already moved on to a show that consistently served that topic. So don't make the same mistake that I did. Pick a main topic for your show and consistently deliver on it. It's fine if you cover different angles or subtopics, but everything should be tied back to that core theme. A simple way to audit this is to review your last 10 episodes. And with those last 10 episodes, can you describe a common theme in one sentence? If not, it might be time to narrow in your focus. Our fourth point to the audit is your podcast description. I don't believe this is as critical as your show title, but when you think about it logically, a new listener probably sees your cover art, then reads your title, and then may click on your show description for further clarification. And I read a lot of podcast descriptions, and I often find weak or generic descriptions filled with fluffy phrases like helping you live your best life or diving into conversations that matter. Great podcasters think about their podcast description as an extension of their show title and their premise, and they use it as a leverage point to convince new listeners to press play. At a minimum, your podcast description should answer three things quickly. What is the show about? Who is it for? And what will they get from listening? So I challenge you. Read your description right now and strike through anything that isn't serving those three questions. Then look at what's left and build from there. By doing that, your show will immediately be easier to understand. Next up, let's discuss episode framing, mainly episode titles. Your episode titles are typically the final decision point before someone listens. Even if your show title and description are clear. Individual episodes can feel random or unclear. There are common mistakes like fake titles, internal language, or an episode title with no clear benefit. I've seen titles like A Conversation with Sarah that's way too vague and isn't really describing what has got to be the benefit or the outcome of listening to this episode. I've also seen podcasters use language that might make sense to them, maybe even sense to their routine listeners, but not to new listeners. I'd be careful or look out for things like that as well. Instead, well framed episodes clearly communicate what the listener will take away, the specific problem being addressed, and why it matters to them. Right now, while performing your audit, look at your last 10 episode titles and for each one, ask yourself outside of the context of your show, not by reading your show title or description, just by reading the episode itself. Would you know what this episode is about? Do you see value from listening to it just by reading the title? If not, some retitling might need to happen. If you need some guidance there. In episode three, we did a deep dive into titling, so that one is definitely worth checking out after this point six of the Podcast Clarity Audit Is episode language the literal words you are saying in your episodes? Great Podcasters reinforce clarity not just through show branding and written content, but within the episode itself. This shows up in how podcasters address their listeners, how they frame questions to their guest, and even examples they choose to share. Let me give you an example of what I mean. There's a subtle but important difference that between asking a guest a question like what's a way that someone could grow their podcast versus what's something a busy entrepreneur could do to grow their podcast? It could elicit the exact same answer. It's a small shift, but it reinforces who the show is for. I'm reminding the listener that this is a show for busy entrepreneurs, and as podcasters, we have dozens of opportunities in every episode to make this clear through how we speak, the problems we highlight, and the language we use. So as you perform your Podcast Clarity Audit, go back and listen to a recent episode. Pay attention to the moments where you addressed your listeners, shared an example, or asked a question. Then ask yourself, did I have my ideal listener in mind whenever I said that? If not, how could you reframe this to make it even clearer for who the show is for and what you help them solve? Okay, finally, the last point to review in the Podcast Clarity Audit is guest selection. I look at this review point very similar to episode topics, the guests you choose and the Topics you cover with them should reinforce your podcast's core theme. Guests that matter a lot. They can shape how your audience perceives your show. A wrong or even unprepared guest can make your podcast feel scattered, even if your solo content is really clear and a guest episode might be a listener's first and only episode they ever listened to. But the right guest strengthen your positioning and attract the right listeners and can convince them to listen to another episode and potentially start following your podcast. A few common mistakes I see Whenever it comes to guest selection number one trying to say yes to everybody, you don't need to force fit every single person you meet into your podcast. Guest selection number two Bringing on interesting guests who just don't quite fit the theme of your show. On occasion, you can go out on a limb and create an episode or a conversation with an interesting guest that might be on a topic that is relevant to your audience, but maybe not right on the nose. But doing this too often is going to make your show feel scattered. Next Chasing Audience Size over Relevance Just because someone has thousands, even millions of followers doesn't necessarily mean they're the right guest for your show. It's better to find a guest that has more relevancy to your audience instead of someone who just has a lot of followers and finally having great conversation. Maybe you and your guest have an awesome conversation, but it doesn't necessarily serve your ideal listener. You're talking about topics or sharing ideas that aren't relevant to the person that you are trying to attract to the show. So before booking a guest, ask yourself, why is this guest valuable to my audience and what specific problem will they help them solve? And does this problem tie back to your podcast premise? If the answer feels a little fuzzy, it's probably best to move on or at least go back and workshop a clear angle with your guest. The best guests typically have achieved a result your listener wants, or they help solve a problem your listener has. Okay, so that wraps up our podcast Clarity audit. There are a few smaller points that I didn't cover and some additional areas if you're running a video first podcast and but if you review and improve these seven points, your show will be much easier to understand and will not only attract an audience, it will attract the right audience. If you're ever looking for some outside perspective, we offer podcast audits and create a clear plan to help you improve your show. If that interests you, you can reach out to me@justinimpleplepodstudios.com or just click on the link in the show notes, and in the next few episodes, we're going to be doing a deep dive into specific podcast growth topics. So if you don't want to miss those, make sure you hit subscribe. And thanks for tuning into Podcast Playbook.