Podcasting is like crack for your ears, many have said. Listen once, and they're hooked for life, right? Well... wrong. What do we need to do—as podcasters and an industry—to help build listening habits?
It's a harsh reality that most people who listen to podcasts don't keep listening to podcasts. 62% of the US population +12 have listened, but only 26% frequently listen, according to Edison Research's Infinite Dial survey.
I blame the podcast listening app makers. But I also blame us, the podcasters who provide the content to those apps. We could both do a better job of helping listeners develop the podcast listening habit.
What happens when your Netflix series ends? Netflix immediately makes recommendations. Not after the credits. But during them. And it works.
What happens when you reach "the end" of an ebook on your Kindle? Amazon is making recommendations. Not after the book's back matter. And it works.
Why aren't podcasting apps doing that? Podcast apps are the ones that actually own the relationship with the listeners. So yeah, it's on them!
Or is it?
How do they know when the end of a series or a season has been reached? We have a tag for that, but not all podcast hosts support it. How can we get better at giving app makers more data?
And what do app developers do on the vast majority of podcasts that don't have proscribed endings but just keep going? Recommend a new show too quickly and piss off a lot of podcasters.
There isn't an easy answer. So what do you think we should do?
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released weekly, providing ideas and questions every serious podcaster should be thinking about.
It's created and hosted by Evo Terra. Follow him on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come. Allie Press assists with the production and transcription of the show.
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