Grow & Rank Your Podcasts
Ahhh the elusive podcasting ranking… where can you rank, does it really matter, and if it DOES matter, how can you boost your ranking to get more listens and in front of a larger audience? That’s why I chat with Adam Adams, who has helped clients rank in the top 1% of iTunes and other top charts. So let’s take a listen.
Why Starting a Podcast
- Adam agrees with the two main things people launching a podcast typically want
- The first one is to make money through their podcast
- The next one is to impact others and to leave a legacy behind
The End-Goal of Being a Podcaster
- For Adam, as a podcaster, you’re probably focusing on
- Downloads
- Rankings (which are helpful only to get more listeners)
- Regardless of what you focus on, however, the end-goal should be getting listenership
- Adam and his team use a private message campaign that helps promote shows in a unique way
- Facebook ads are another example of a tool you can leverage to get in front of your listener avatar as much as you can – remember, the first step is actually knowing who that avatar is
- Once you get your podcast ranked, platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify are going to organically promote your show
- As a result, everyone who’s looking for you organically finds you, even if they’re not seeing your ad – and that happens by triggering algorithms that get you ranked (and lead to platforms putting your content in front of other people)
Relevant Podcasting Platforms
- Apple Podcasts and Spotify are the two main podcasting platforms and podcast-listening apps
- However, there are many others such as Listen Notes, Chartable and Podkite. These three platforms are worth looking into because they aggregate a lot of data
- When it comes to rankings on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, you need to be in the Top 200 to even know where you are – Adam’s show, which is a Top 100 podcast in the marketing category of Apple Podcasts does show up
- On platforms like Chartable and Podkite, on the other hand, you’re going to show up if your podcast is in the top 3,000 podcasts (out of the 2.77 million podcasts)
- Adam recommends looking at the listen score your show has on Listen Notes and comparing it with that of similar podcasts in your niche. This will help you understand how well your show is doing, performance-wise, in a specific podcasting category.
Adam’s 5-3-5 Formula
- Adam’s 5-3-5 Formula, which can help your podcast grow, is made of 3 components
- The first 5 stands for 5 steps you should follow: 1) getting people to follow your podcast; 2) getting those people to download an episode; 3) then, to actually listen to the episode; 4) After that, listeners should leave a rating and review to the show on Apple Podcasts (which is excellent for social proof purposes); 5) And, lastly, in an ideal scenario, those listeners would become repeated listeners who listen to more than just one episode
- The 5 steps listed above will help you trigger the Apple Podcasts algorithm for the positive. Doing things the wrong way, such as getting fake downloads, may result in you triggering the algorithm for the negative and could have repercussions on your podcast’s overall discoverability
- The 3 in the 5-3-5 Formula represents the number of platforms the private messaging campaign focuses on (for Adam, those are LinkedIn, Facebook (primarily Facebook groups), and Meetup.com.
- The second 5 in 5-3-5 focuses on the private messaging campaign and how it should be executed (in a special way of doing private messaging in a way that doesn’t get flagged as spam).
The Stats Adam and His Team Track
- Listen score (on Listen Notes)
- Where Adam’s clients would rank in comparison of other percentages against the world
- Countries listeners are listening in from
- One of the challenges Adam has noticed is the fact that different media hosting companies – like Libsyn, Blubrry, Buzzsprout, etc. – track different things, which makes it harder to compare and to get a more accurate picture of listenership
A Natural Way to Ask for Reviews
- When asking for a review, replace any mention of ‘5-star review’ with ‘honest review’ (don’t be afraid to specify that the review is about your show, not your character)
- Ask listeners to actually tune in to an episode or two before leaving an honest review
- If you ask someone you know (following the 2 points above), you have a 33% chance of them actually rating & reviewing your show (compared to the 1% – or less – of people who listen to your podcast and hear your ask for ratings & reviews)
Tips for an Effective Private Messaging Campaign
- Keep your messages short and sweet
- Ask, don’t tell
- Personalize every single message
- Don’t send a link without permission
About Adam
Adam has a loyal following in the podcasting space.
After selling his first podcast, he launched the Podcast on Podcasting which is ranked as a top show for podcasters.
Adam is also the founder of GrowYourShow.com where they help you get your message out to the world.
Grow Your Show is The Easy Button For Podcasters TM that want to have a top rated show without all the hard work.
Their clients are getting ranked in the top 1% on iTunes and other top charts which means they have more influence than the other 99%.
Resources mentioned:
Publish, Analyze & Grow with Todd Cochrane
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