It’s Time to Give Your Podcasts Some Respect

So often, I hear the same question: “Why aren’t more people listening to our podcasts?” and when I look at their website I run across the same issue every time, the radio station isn’t giving their podcasts the same respect they want their listeners to give them.

Stop Hiding Your Podcasts

Head over to almost any radio station website and you’ll find they’re hiding their podcasts away in some dark dusty location nobody will ever find. Imagine if The Home Depot kept all the cordless tools at the back of the store, down a long hallway, through a door labeled “other tools,” where you’ll find them in the corner behind some boxes. Then imagine having the manager ask, “why aren’t more people buying cordless tools?”

Sadly, in the world of radio podcasts are still treated as a second… third… or thirteenth thought. They have an intern who comes once a week and edits the morning show segments into a podcast and then puts it up on their website, somewhere on the website, in that dark corner where nobody ever goes.

We Give Our Listeners What They Want

When I’ve asked radio stations why they haven’t given their podcasts a more prominent position on their website I’ve been told “Our listeners aren’t looking for podcasts. We put the most popular content in the most prominent locations.” I bet the hardware store I mentioned above has sales numbers indicating there isn’t a very big demand for cordless tools.

Take the time to do a proper survey of your listeners to find out what they want from your brand. Treat it with the same respect you give a music test. Unfortunately, most radio website analysis is based on where people are clicking, and I promise you they aren’t clicking on the items they can’t find.

Are You Disguising Your Podcasts?

I see a lot of radio stations hiding their podcasts under a completely different brand. They may have given them a prominent place on their website, but they’ve disguised them under a different name. This is like Chik-fil-A offering drive-through service at another location under a different name. When people ask, “Where’s the drive-thru?” they’re told, “It’s down the street at Chicken on Demand.” When you think of Chik-fil-A doing this it seems absurd, but it’s exactly what too many radio stations are doing.

Let me be clear, I strongly encourage radio stations give their podcasts their own home but make sure it’s easy for your listeners (not just your digital team) to find. Disguising it as “Our Station On-Demand” is a throwback to 2015 when your listeners didn’t know anything about podcasts. Today there’s an app on their phone called “Podcasts” and two of the largest streaming services, Spotify and Amazon Music both have primary menu items labeled Podcasts, not On-Demand because everything today is on-demand.

Your listeners know all about podcasts, in fact, a 2022 Infinite Dial survey indicates that 8 out of 10 people know what a podcast is, which is up from less than 50% in 2015. So, feel free to call your podcasts what they are, podcasts.

Do Unto Your Podcasts…

If you want your podcasts to have a prominent place in your listener's life, make sure you’re doing the same for your podcasts, giving them a prominent place on your website. Try it for a month and see if your podcast downloads increase. I promise you they will.

Paul Desmond Adams
Paul is a Digital Media and Marketing Strategist. He’s a former Music Director, Assistant Program Director, and Operations Director (he’s done a lot of directing). For years he lived his dream as a morning show co-host both at the local and national levels. He’s been listening to podcasts since the late 2000s and hosted his own show since 2015. Today Paul brings his broadcast experience to podcasters and his podcast experience to broadcasters. He’s a noted speaker, and trainer, and runs his own digital media and marketing agency, Total Podcast Solutions. He can be reached at TotalPodcastSolutions.com