In this article I want to share with you the strategy that cultivates the most listeners month after month. In my opinion, this not only works for podcasting but for all branding in general. (Size of promise, huh? 😏)
**Warning: I could launch YA with the line, indeed, with the word that represents this strategy, but I don't want it all to remain a "nice" word or a "hack"... I want to share with you why that simple word makes all the difference. **
The word is: constancy.
Simple, I repeat... Constancy, a word we all know, but what is behind constancy, why does it end up being so powerful and so difficult to achieve?
When there is clarity in the brand strategy, it is easier to understand whether or not you have the capacity and interest to open a channel. I learned this from a conversation on our podcast CMO Latam with Alberto Casuso, a marketing hard man, who has also been the head behind Colsanitas' marketing strategy for years.
Something that surprised me is that although they are well aware that channels like Tik Tok are booming, with growing audiences and a lot of potential, they are also aware that they must first strengthen their presence in current channels and are focusing their resources there. This is not to close to new channels, but it is to lower the excitement a little bit, to the famous "hype"and think about whether this is the best time to enter.
I mention this because, like Tik TokMany companies see podcasting as the new wave they should embrace. However, few ask themselves the question of whether it is the new wave that they will be able to maintain with content for months... And believe me, just like a social network account, making content for two or three months will never have the same impact as a content strategy that mutates and is maintained over time.
🎙️ What is the greatest power of podcasts?
The greatest power of podcasts could at the same time be their greatest Achilles heel: habit.
It is difficult to measure how faithful a podcast audienceis enviable compared to any other channel. However, to achieve that loyalty, we have to turn listening into a permanent habit, and to build that habit, listeners need a defined frequency and consistency.
Once you achieve that, the result is that you have an audience that waits, craves the content and makes it part of their routine. I want us to size this up: we all have the routine of opening Instagram or YouTube, but we see thousands of content simultaneously....
The scene doesn't look like we think, "Tuesdays, 7am, I go in to check out the new XYZ brand release." In reality, we go in to see what we get, but in the podcasting world many listeners do say, "Thursday, 9am, there's a new episode of XYZ and I have to listen to it." Not to mention daily podcasts, which become as commonplace as brushing your teeth.
Finally, if we have the resources and the right mindset, and we know that we are going to comply with a frequency, it is also necessary to have a podcast concept that can live for dozens of episodes. There are shows that due to their concept could only last a certain number of episodes and although some of these series are very successful, it is not exactly the best branding strategy.
As a brand, let's remember: making a podcast is not just a content strategy, it is an effort to open a new channel and, as a channel, it is not efficient to make a lot of efforts so that in a couple of months we lose the audience's rage... I dare to say that it is much better something that starts and iterates, but is maintained over time.
Up to this point, you might say, "Black you told me it was THE BEST strategy and you haven't proven why it's the best." Well, the data is this:
- The shows with the highest ratings we have had in Medium Orange are those who for months, and even years, have maintained the frequency And they have always been on the air. Coincidence? I don't think so.
- When a show has broken its frequency, it falls into a "valley of listeners". It continues to have downloads, but its levels drop. This has happened to us, for example, with Get started. However, when we resume the frequency, the audience increases to 25% or 30%. Again: consistency.
- Finally, when comparing the audiences of shows with very small marketing impulses and no investment in advertising versus the audiences of shows with big impulses in their launches and even several thousand dollars in advertising, we see that six months later the shows that started small but steady have better results. Podcasts are slow-cooked and as I have said several times, the biggest fruits are seen in the medium and long term. Again: perseverance
As always the conversation is open and I hope these reflections are useful to you beyond the podcast world.
