How to Audit Your Podcast Effectively - EP 82

How do you make sure your show evolves along with your listener?
As an independent podcast creator, chances are you wear a lot of hats. You’re the host, of course, as well as the producer, the audio editor, the marketer, the designer… When you’re so focused on doing all the things for your show, it can be easy to forget that your podcast isn’t about you at all. It’s about your listener.

Being a podcaster means you’re responsible not just for putting out a show you think your ideal listener will connect with, but for diving deep into your current listener and making sure that your episodes evolve alongside them. In the last episode before the summer break, Mary takes you through the many steps she follows when she conducts a podcast audit, so that your show can evolve to serve your audience better.

Take these pro tips on a test drive to guide the evolution of your podcast:

• How to learn more about your current and ideal listener
• Why defining success is directly linked to podcast growth
• How to evaluate your show, inside and out

Links worth mentioning from the episode:

• Take Mary’s listener survey and be entered to win a deck of her Voice Connection Cards and a 30-minute strategy session - https://forms.gle/GrCcLd4GXybGmfvb8
• Schedule a complimentary strategy session - https://www.organizedsound.ca/contact/

Connect with Mary!

• Leave a voicemail with your feedback at https://www.speakpipe.com/VisibleVoice or email visiblevoicepodcast@gmail.com
• Get the full transcript of the episode at http://www.visiblevoicepodcast.com
• Read up on more secrets with the Visible Voice Insights Newsletter https://www.organizedsound.ca/newsletter
• To learn more or work with Mary, check out https://www.organizedsound.ca
• Link up on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/marychan-organizedsound/
• Engage on Instagram @OrganizedSoundProductions https://www.instagram.com/organizedsoundproductions

Show Credits:

• Podcast audio design, engineering, and edited by Mary Chan of Organized Sound Productions
• Podcast cover art by Emily Johnston of Artio Design Co.
• Show notes written by Shannon Kirk of Right Words Studio
• Post-production support by Kristalee Forre of Forre You VA

Transcript:

[MUSIC IN - GHOSTHOOD FEATURING SARA AZRIEL “LET’S GO” BEGINS]

MARY: In podcasting, creating your show can feel so much about that overwhelm because of what the host does. Many shows are a one person show. So not only are you the host, but also the audio editor, the writer, the producer, showrunner, marketer, executive assistant, and the list really does just go on and on. But remember, your podcast is actually about your listener, not you. 

Without your listeners, your podcast is basically a fancy place to leave yourself some voice notes. If that's what you're looking for, great. I mean, hit stop on this episode and move on. But if you want to grow alongside your podcast, you need to learn more about your listeners so that you can evolve along with them. So today we're getting into auditing your own podcast so that you can grow and learn from it. 

This is episode 82 of The Podcasters Guide to a Visible Voice. 

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Thanks for joining me today on this episode. And, yeah, it's about auditing your podcast. 

[INTRO MUSIC ENDS]

And part of that process is learning about your listeners. So, before we get started into the meat of the episode, I want to learn from you. I'd love to hear what your feedback is. And really, that is the main theme of the episode. So, knowing your show and auditing your podcast comes down to knowing your listeners. 

I'm doing a listener survey to learn more about you. This way, I can create more episodes with you in mind. What do you want to hear more of? What can I improve on? What do you actually not like to hear? You know, all the good stuff, all the feedback. And as a thank you for taking your time to share your thoughts. The survey is anonymous, but if you provide me your contact information, you'll be submitted to one entry to win a deck of my Voice Connection Cards. They'll give you a boost of compassion before you hit that record button. It's kind of like a little affirmation card deck for you. 

Plus, I'll also throw in a 30-minute strategy session to talk to me about voice or podcasting and everything in between. So that's for you to choose. Kind of like a choose your own adventure session. You bring your questions and fire them at me, and I'll help support you on your voice and podcasting journey. So head on over to visiblevoicepodcast.com/offers, and on that page will be a link to the survey. 

So, like I said, as part of the theme of this episode, you can also go through my listener survey. And yeah, use it for yourself, too. Why not? Go through the survey, fill it all out. But then you can use those questions as a template for your own listener survey, if you want. It's okay. You can steal my ideas, because point number one here, this whole episode, is to know your audience, your ideal listener. So let's get into that.

[MUSIC IN]
Your ideal listener can change over time as your podcast evolves. I have a client who does a yearly survey, and I was like, that is amazing. Go you. Of course, she's got a team behind her, too, so she has that support. So for myself, as essentially one person show creating my podcast, I thought to put one out for years. And so I finally made the time to do that. And I truly believe it will help you understand your listeners and to help you grow your show.

Because I may have an idea of who my ideal listener is. That's a foundation that I take all of my clients on, is to create that ideal listener avatar, essentially. But it doesn't exactly mean that is who my current listener is. It's always good to check in and see how your listeners are evolving along with your show. You know, do you want to grow alongside them, or are you sticking with your ideal listener and gaining new listeners all the time to align with that creation? At some point, it'll be good for you to gather listener insights so that you can, A, validate what you're doing and give yourself a good pat on the back, and B, know what you can tweak so that you can serve those listeners and not abandon them. Through a survey you can also generate ideas for episodes because it's what they want, it's the challenges that they're working through. So how can you create an episode that is for your current listener in mind? Because remember, your show is not about you. It is about your listeners. What do they want and how do you want them to feel? 

[MUSIC ENDS]

So point 2 here is, knowing your goal and what success looks like to you as well. There is one question I ask everyone, whether I work with them as a client or they are a guest on my show. So, if you've been listening to my show for a while and you've been following along, this is a question that comes up quite a bit.

What does success look like to you? Because knowing what you want out of your podcast will drive what you do with your podcast. Is your goal just to have a hobby, passion-based project podcast? Or is it used as a platform for creating a marketing space for your business or having listeners be aware of your brand?

A podcast is a great way to do that. It's an extension of who you are and your brand. Knowing these things will drive your show with part of that foundational work, you'll know exactly what little tweaks you want to make to be one step closer to that success that you're hoping for.

Now, success can also evolve over time. We are human, so we grow, and so will your podcast. What success looks like for you today may not be what you started out with or what will be success for you in the future. And, yeah, we can't predict the future, but we can make a plan for it. So let's do that. 

[MUSIC IN]

Some powerful questions that I posed for one of my clients recently was around her solo episodes. Now, not just for this client, but a few of my clients actually say solos are really a big, heavy lift for a weekly show. Or you know what? Even a bi-weekly show, myself included sometimes. It seems easier to come up with the guests, make the invite, then ask those questions than to come up with the content yourself. Organize your thoughts and ideas, create your episode, record the whole thing. Right? Like, there's so, so much more going on to create that solo episode. 
And sometimes, because of that heavy lift, one would then lead to think, let's not do these anymore, and create more flow in the recording and publishing process. We can get more out if I don't have the stumbling block of my solo episodes. But my question is, what if you can create flow with your solos so that they are working for you and nothing against you? Because sometimes week after week of recording and publishing can get you out of the mindset of your podcast. And again, back to that, what does that success look like for you?

Think about, why did you start the podcast in the beginning? What were some of those fundamental things that drew you to wanting to create solo episodes.

For this particular client, I think they lost sight about the reason behind the solos and how they wanted to structure them. Not only the structure of the episode itself, but also the structure of how they're used in the entire ecosystem of the show. She really wants to be a thought leader in her space, so you can't be a thought leader without imparting your opinion. And your opinion is really crucial in those solo episodes because it's just you in a conversational piece. The guest is doing all the talking. They're the expert. So you're not really showcasing your thought leadership when it's a fully interview style podcast.

So when reviewing reasons for why we created this structure or format with the solo episodes, there will be a clear direction on what that episode is supposed to do for you and for your listeners.

What are you aligning with your offer for this solo episode? What is the theme that you are working on with this particular episode, and does it align with the surrounding episodes before and after it? Are there ties to each episode for repetition? Because audio retention can only work with that repetition.

Things have to be repeated over and over again. Repetition is key, and if you feel like you're talking too much about it, you're not.

This is something that was drilled into me in radio as well. Because in radio, we may be talking about something constantly because people are coming in and out listening to the radio, and it is a similar thing in podcasting. You may feel like you're talking about it too much because maybe you're recording all your episodes back to back or within a very short time frame from one episode to the next. But know that your listeners will get these touch points over the course of several weeks, or a month, or longer, depending on how often you publish episodes.

So even if they are a raving fan and they are listening to you every single week, and you publish an episode every single week, that's only once or twice in an episode that you're going to mention this, which is only once or twice in a week that they are going to hear this messaging. So, repetition means you're actually not talking about it too much.

So when you go back to these foundational questions, you can then realize, okay, like for this particular client, are solo episodes really working out? And if you want to continue with them, how are we going to integrate it into the workflow of what you're doing with the entire podcasting ecosystem?

[MUSIC ENDS]

Now that we have the foundations laid out, let's also get into the details of a podcast audit. These are more questions that I would always go through when auditing a podcast.

First thing I'll look for is your title. Does your title still reflect your theme and mission for your show? Most of the time people are going to say yes, but if not, do you need to do a whole rebrand, including your artwork, your music, your show description? All of it? But yes, most of the time the title is still great and includes your main keywords of your theme. Then yay. Okay, let's move on.

[MUSIC IN]

Next is your artwork, or also known as your cover art. This is what everyone sees when they are listening to your podcast before they click play. It's almost like judging a book by its cover for new listeners, it's your cover art, your book cover, but it is also for existing listeners, for your fans.

Is it recognizable? If I scanned my podcast listening app with all the podcasts I follow, does your artwork stand out? At the very least, does it stand out in your category of choice? And at the very, very least, does it look good on a small scale?

That's my main question. Because no matter if you're a new listener or a raving fan coming back all the time, the title of your podcast needs to stand out. If you have a photo of you in your podcast artwork, great, that's totally fine. But not everybody is going to recognize your face.
So it all comes down to the title, especially when it comes to word of mouth, when people are like, oh, I listened to this podcast. It's called, you know, XYZ. Can you read that title at a small scale? When it's tiny, tiny, tiny on your phone or device?

And not just the text font, but is there enough colour contrast that I can actually read the printhead even when it's big enough? Nothing's worse than having like, a lemon yellow as your brand color. But white is the background colour or secondary colour. You won't be able to read anything with yellow on a white background. There's just not enough contrast.

So this isn't only a brand thing, but it is also an accessibility feature too. So I always look at that and make sure that you're doing everyone a favour to make sure that people can read the title of your artwork and that it becomes recognizable.

[MUSIC ENDS]

For the next show level review, I go with show description right off the bat I want to know who this show is for. Remember, a podcast really works when it's niched down. So you're not talking to everyone on the planet that can listen to a podcast. Hey everyone, how are you doing today? But a very specific person.

When someone is new coming to your show and they scan through your show description, this is where they want to see themselves in that description. Your ideal listener is gonna come into play here. Who is your ideal listener? Let them know right here in the show description that this show is for them.

[MUSIC IN]

Visibility on platforms would be my next look on this audit. So not just where you yourself, as the podcast hosts, likes listening to shows, but what about all the other apps? What does your show look like on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon?

You know, I'm an Android user. I used to use Google Podcasts, but that's gone. Now I like to use Pocket Casts. That's my app of choice.
Wherever your podcast listener can access your podcast, you gotta check there too. Such as, your website. That's another place that's huge on podcasts listening.

If you have multiple devices. Also check there. Like I said, I have an Android, but luckily I also have a used iPad in the house that my kiddo plays on and reads from and learns on and stuff. So I use that and check that as well.

So, for example, if you've ever made tweaks to your podcast title, artwork, show description, things like that, if you've made changes in the past, do all the places still look the same? Is your branding the same on all the different platforms? And if you're not on all the places, make sure your show gets listed on all the places. Yes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, those are the top, but there's the other places too. 
Now, while you are on these platforms, don't just look on the show level. So all the things I've been talking about so far, the artwork, the description, the title of your show, we're going to look at the episode level as well.

When you click on an episode, you'll get to see your show notes. You get to see how everything is displayed. Does the podcast listening app use episode specific graphics? Do you use episode specific graphics as well? 
Also, most platforms these days do use hyperlinks in the show notes, but not all do. So are your links clickable? Like when you say the link is in the show notes, is it there available for them to go click, or is there another layer of friction for them to get to that episode link?

Also, does the platform have truncated text? So, this means that they will only show a certain amount of letters or characters in the show notes or episode description.

Sometimes some apps will actually truncate based on where you put in a paragraph. So if you have one line on its own as a paragraph, but they give you a lot more text to show you're missing out on that little bit of real estate. So don't use just one line as a paragraph on its own, but give it a good chunk of text so it doesn't get truncated just on that one line. 
And still on the show level now, you're going to look at the overall titles of each episode. Is there consistency on how you're naming them?

Meaning are you including or not including episode numbers? Do guest names come at the beginning or the end of titles? Are you even including guest names? Do your titles even have a good description of what your potential listener will be hearing? Episode titles are great for SEO points. This is a field where search engine optimization is crucial.

So this is another piece where more listeners will judge a book by its cover, meaning they will judge the episode based on the title, if I'm looking at a new show, I may listen to the latest episode, sure, but I will also scroll the episodes and see if any other titles jump out at me in terms of interest and then wanting to hit play on that one.

[MUSIC ENDS]

So, so far, woo, we've covered a lot. That's a big list, and I haven't even gotten to any of the actual listening parts of the podcast audit. So when you're finally listening to review your show, what is that experience like? Is the episode intro too long? If you listen to episodes back, to back, to back, to back, what's annoying to you that stands out? Or if you're listening while multitasking, do you have to turn up the volume to max on your device so you can hear your own voice? Is your voice rich and clear and full bodied?

And I'm not talking about like, understanding what you're saying in terms of accents or the way you're speaking, but the actual sound quality of it all. Do I have to strain to hear the sound of your voice? Is there too much background noise? It's the same with the guests.

So it's not just your voice, but any of the voices that come through. How is that audio quality? Does it just sound like another Zoom call? Do they drop in and out? And so it's just really hard and fatiguing to listen to the conversation. These are all questions I would ask for the sound quality of the show.

But at the same time, you can also listen for format. Meaning do you like how the intro works? Would you rather not have a show level intro and just have an episode specific intro? Do you want to have shorter episode specific intros? Or maybe you want it longer, or do you even have an outro? How do you end your show? Do you want one of those things? What about ads and sponsors? If you do have those, where do they come in? Do they have a nice transition where they're placed to show that there is a break in the show, is this seamless sounding, or would you prefer it to be more seamless?

These are all questions that I have roaming in my head constantly when I am doing an audit. But depending on what your goals for your podcast is, the listening part of the audit will be different. And I can totally get more nuanced than this.

But if you're at this point of the episode where you're thinking, whoa, that is a lot of questions that you're asking right now. I'm firing them off and you're thinking, I don't know, you tell me. Yes, I would love to tell you actually, or at least make a few suggestions and audit your show for you. 
This is also such a great time of year to audit podcasts because we are halfway through the year. As I'm recording this, it's early July. So how does your podcast align with your idea of what success looks like?

This is the time of year to make those reviews and then implement them so that you can end the year strong, or depending on your capacity, start the next year strong with that renewed plan for your show. And I know capacity always plays a big part in planning for your podcast. So I'm here with you to take a look at your podcast with a very discerning eye, meaning I'm from an outside perspective, listening to your show, or looking at it from a listener's perspective.

Sometimes podcasters are in what I like to call like a fishbowl. They're swimming and swimming around in circles, publishing episode after episode. But is this the best or even simplest way to go about achieving success for your show?

Do you maybe want to swim slower, or swim faster, or swim in a totally different direction? Or you know what? Better yet, get a bigger aquarium for more fish? I can go on and on with this analogy.

But yes, let's take a look at your podcast together. We can review what success looks like to you with a complimentary strategy session. Here we'll talk through what's important to you, what your goals are for this audit, and of course, the success part. Right?

I've been talking about that this whole episode. I'll do a quick mini overview in five minutes or less of what I see on your podcast. Basically, a lot of these questions that I posed during this episode I'll do in the complimentary strategy session. And then if after that you feel like you need more, we can schedule a full audit for your podcast.

So, the complimentary strategy session, the link will be in the show notes, and we can plan for your success of your podcast.

[MUSIC IN]

But before I let you go, just a reminder to check the show notes not only for that link for the complimentary strategy session for your podcast audit, but also the link for the listener survey. So not only can I improve my show with your feedback, but that means you'll improve yours as well. From listening to my podcast. It's a whole ripple effect.

So as a thank you for taking your time to share your thoughts, if you enter your details again, the survey is anonymous, but if you enter your contact details as an option, this will provide one entry to win a deck of my voice connection cards to give you a boost of compassion before you hit that record button to record your show.

Plus, I'll include a complimentary 30 minutes strategy session anyway. And we can talk voice, podcasting, all the good stuff you need to grow your show. Again, the listener survey link is in the show notes, or you can go to visiblevoicepodcast.com offers and the survey link will be there for you as well.

So have a lovely July and August. That's a summer break for me. I do my yearly summer hiatus of the podcast, or if you're on the other side of the world listening from the other side from where I live, have a very cozy, cozy winter. This will be the last episode until I'm back in September.

In the meantime, don't forget, fill in the survey or I'm always around over email if you have any burning questions that you need answered over this time time, visiblevoicepodcast@gmail.com is where you can reach me.

[MUSIC ENDS]

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MARY: Thank you so much for listening to the podcaster's guide to a Visible Voice. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you share it with a podcasting friend. And to reveal more voicing and podcasting tips, click on over to VisibleVoicePodcast.com. Until next time.

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[MUSIC ENDS]