A simple yet effective technique
People lose interest fast.
Sure, your listeners have subscribed. But they’re also subscribed to 20 other podcasts.
You must stand out and convince them to listen to your latest episode. How? A two-jab punch with your episode title:
Subject + Hook = More Listeners
Most people say the subject as their podcast title. They say what it’s about or who they’re talking to. It’s not enough. You need a hook that compels the listener to hit play.
Tim Ferris nailed this recently. He had an episode titled:
“Rich Paul — The Power Broker and Superstar Agent Behind LeBron James, Draymond Green, and Others (#697)”
That’s a two-step punch. It says who he’s talking with and what he’s done that will make you want to listen. If he’d just used the subject, most people would go, “Who’s Rich Paul?” and scroll on.
The hook gives listeners a reason to listen even if they don’t know the subject.
In our last episode of Generally Spooky History, we talked about Pitmilly House. Never heard of it? No one has. But it’s a fascinating story of a haunted house demolished in the 60s.
So we titled it “The Poltergeist of Pitmilly House.” Instant intrigue.
New Listeners Want To Know What To Expect
What do you do when you look up a new podcast? You scroll down episodes until you find one interesting and listen to that.
You, as a podcaster, need to sell each episode.
I hate that Joe Rogan doesn’t expand on who he’s talking to. You don’t have a reason to listen if it’s someone you haven’t heard of. And sure, Joe Rogan can get away with it. But we, as indie podcasters, cannot. We must hook each potential eyeball that floats past and convince them to hit play.
Update Older Episode Titles for New Listeners
On Generally Spooky History in 2021, we had an episode titled “The House of Dun.” This had the same problem as Pitmilly House. Why should anyone care?
And the results spoke for themselves. Looking at the first 30 days downloads of that whole season, it was the least popular:
At the time, It was the only episode that didn’t have a hook, and it was purely because I was tired when I uploaded the episode.
But we updated the title to be much more intriguing, adding that spooky factor people stick around for. Honestly, this was a huge oversight, and it was 18 months before I updated it. Thankfully, it worked, and that episode has started getting the downloads it deserves.
How to Write Your Hook
If you want to improve, write ten episode titles and pick your favorite. The more you practice writing hooks, the better you get.
But if you’re stuck, scroll through a podcast you like and see which titles intrigue you the most.
You should avoid clickbait because it sacrifices short-term spikes in downloads for long-term trust from your fans.
How do you know if it’s clickbait? Simple, if you promise what’s in the episode, it should be in the episode. If you say it’s your most shocking episode yet, it better be shocking.
Finally, you’re looking to deliver what your audience is looking for. Our podcast is a spooky Scottish history podcast. Our titles provide the history subject and the main spooks. Yours will be different, and it’s up to you to figure out what that is.
Subject + hook = an irresistible episode
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