If you produce a podcast that depends on input from your audience, then obtaining feedback is mission critical. Even though every audience member has an opinion, very few are quick to share it.
Here are a few reasons why listeners don’t submit their feedback to your podcast.
1) They don’t know how
Many podcasters have all the basis covered. They have voicemail, email, a Facebook group, a Twitter account, and so forth. And there lies the problem, there are simply too many calls-to-action. As podcasters we say “my phone number is easy to remember.” Yeah, for us!
Honestly, think about all the people in your contacts list. How many phone numbers can you remember off the top of your head? Actually, out of the hundreds of contacts in my phone, I only know two phone numbers off the top of my head. Conversely, think of every podcast you are subscribed to. Now think of how many of those you know that URL for. In my case I am subscribed to twenty-nine podcasts. Out of the twenty-nine podcasts I either a) know exactly what the website name is or b) could find it in a few seconds via a search.
When you rattle off all of the ways your audience can reach you, you do them a disservice. Adding to that is a multitude of other calls-to-action which can subsequently lead to information overload. This includes, subscribe, rate the show, donate, contact, check out blank, etc… It seems simple after the three-hundredth time you’ve said it but your listeners are probably subscribed to several other shows hearing many more calls-to-action.
2) They’re scared of being judged
Whether it’s prognosticating the score of the upcoming game, or laying out the basis of your unlikely theory on the latest episode of “Insert show here”, most of us despise being in a position to be judged by others.
In recent years you’ve probably heard the term “safe space”. Despite the negative connotation your podcast’s feedback section needs to be a safe space for your listeners to convey whatever it is they desire without fear of being diminished.
I have too many first hand accounts of seeing a so-called safe space become a firing squad as thoughts and opinions are lessened because they don’t fit the host’s line of thinking. Over time you realize that people will not engage with you if they believe the outcome will be negative. It’s like high school where many of us thought it was better to bomb a quiz on Friday than raise our hand on Monday.
3) They’re not like you
In the early days I couldn’t understand the reason why listeners wouldn’t feel compelled to fire up their favorite DAW (digital audio workstation), record their thoughts, edit it, remember my email address, attach it to an email, and send it right over. It’s as simple as one, two, three, four, five, six. That’s what I do when I submit feedback to other podcasts.
Often, we think our audience know what we know. When in fact they may or may not be on our same technology level. They may not even own a desktop or laptop or maybe they only use their desktop or laptop. Maybe they don’t own a microphone or even understand how to make a USB microphone the system’s default recording source. Whatever the case may be there are plenty of reasons why they don’t simply do “blank”.
Keep it simple
Having one call-to-action, while providing your audience with options seems like an excellent recipe for success.
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Hank
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