83% of podcast agencies use downloads as a metric of success.
We don’t. Never have. Never will.
It’s because we care more about retention and engagement. Your show is a vehicle to create more conversations and, ultimately, can fuel your content strategy. So, if we’re just talking downloads, then we’re not talking about how to create content that resonates and does fewer things better. That’s the power of podcasting.
So, how can you ensure that your podcast doesn’t become a siloed channel that amounts to a KPI dead zone?
Keep scrolling, I gotchu.
How It Started
In 2016, while transitioning from a seasoned copywriter to a client success director, I leaped into the Wild West of podcasting to help a friend. Quickly, I realized this wasn’t just a new side hustle; it was the first glimpse of a new company.
Podcasts have the unique ability to connect with people like no other medium can. They let you engage with a brand without staring at a screen. It became the antithesis of interruption marketing; it became what we wanted to opt into. The best part, for the consumer, is that the brand didn’t know who you were unless you told them.
Think of it as freedom—freedom from the digital overload that often fills our lives. Freedom from the cookies, the ads, and the following. It was the last frontier on the internet that you chose. Oh, and, even still, the good marketer in me realized, it still told an ROI story, when shared correctly.
The Importance of Strategy Behind a Podcast
Even with a great platform, for brands wanting to stand up a show, the ease with which you can create doesn’t mean it’s easy to gain attention. Without a clear direction, a podcast can quickly become just another piece of content, just another task (and there are a lot of moving pieces) on a never-ending list. (This is when branded podcasts flop.)
And this is where Share Your Genius comes in (or any good strategic partner)—it’s not just to produce a widget or a deliverable but to create strategically – for a purpose. Your show can become the spearhead for fueling your content engine allowing you to focus on doing fewer things better while taking advantage of the power of the medium. The impact it creates depends on the strategy behind it.
Here are 3 questions to ask to help make sure you’re getting the maximum impact out of your branded podcast:
- How well do you actually know your audience? Go beyond surface-level metrics to really understand your listeners—where they hang out, what they care about, and how they consume content. This isn’t just helpful; it’s crucial for crafting resonating content. Also highly recommend taking the time to uncover where they’re spending their time; this will help when you go to distribute.
- Is your storytelling tailored? Every story we tell is designed not just to be shared but to create an impact, to resonate with the audience. We use the podcast as a launching pad to weave your brand’s stories across all your content channels designed natively for their destinations. It’s never just a podcast.™
- Does your podcast strategy align to your broader marketing goals? You need to ensure that every piece of content from the podcast aligns with your overarching business goals. It’s about ensuring everything fits together seamlessly, reinforcing your brand’s identity and mission. In other words, make sure the thing you want people to think about when they think of you is what you’re talking about everywhere.
Why Every Podcast Needs a Purpose
It’s a noisy world out there no matter if you’re creating videos, text-based content, or podcasts, which is why it’s critical to define a purpose for your show. From our view, downloads aren’t part of the bigger picture unless your goal is audience growth for advertising, frankly, we’d rather see audience growth for an owned channel like email. Your podcast can be designed as a foundational element of your content strategy—a true flywheel to fuel your brand’s growth by building trust at scale.
Our Recommendation
You have to have someone thinking strategically, so turn a podcast from a mere project into a central component of your content ecosystem. It ensures that every episode is crafted with purpose and consistent messaging.
That’s at the heart of why we exist at Share Your Genius. It’s about thinking bigger with your content to reach your outcomes, ultimately driving more human connection. And you can’t do that without setting good intentions first.
