Your podcast goals matter.
They dictate where you spend your time and energy on your show, and setting the wrong podcasting goals can waste months of effort.
That’s why I always ask my podcast coaching clients what their podcast goals are in the first session.
If you don’t aim at a target, how will you ever hit it?
Don’t aim at too many targets – Photo by Pixabay
So, let’s talk about setting podcast goals. I’ll also share examples of good goals you can use as objectives.
Always Think About the Lead Indicator
Podcasters often make the mistake of looking solely at the outcome when goal setting. For instance, “I want to hit 1,000 downloads per episode in the first 30 days.”
That’s the outcome of your actions. That outcome will only happen if you can successfully identify the action that will lead to that outcome. So, more downloads is the goal. But the lead indicator will be something like doing x number of promo swaps. Or appearing as a guest on x number of podcasts in the next three months.
So a better goal would be “I want to hit 1,000 downloads per episode in the first 30 days by appearing as a guest on ten new podcasts.”
Always think about how you’re going to get to the goal. Here’s a good framework for goal setting:
Make Smart Podcast Goals
Setting the goal is the easy part. It’s just a statement: “I want to hit 1,000 downloads per episode in the first 30 days.” Anybody can say that, it doesn’t mean it will come true. Success relies on following through with your podcast goals.
I’ve been in business for nine years and have always relied on making SMART goals. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.
- Specific: I want to hit 1,000 downloads per episode in the first 30 days
- Measurable: I’m going to do this by guesting on ten podcasts
- Achievable: I have three months to do this, so I’ll aim for one guest appearance per week
- Relevant: Guest appearances will grow my podcast but allow me to talk about my business
- Timely: I will do this within the next three months
This gives you a framework that forces you to think through the realities of your goal.
“Be a full-time podcaster” is a fantastic goal and one I believe you can achieve. But by itself, it’s too vague. Using the SMART system forces you to break down your goals into bite-size chunks that you can act upon them.
Having clear goals and a deadline to him them by can help you stay motivated and focussed. Making them measurable means you can track your progress. And of course making them specific making you consider the importance of the goal when you’re creating your growth plan.
Two Most Important Goals To Consider
Podcasters are like men. Doesn’t matter what you’ve got, bigger is always better. I’m talking about audience size and earnings.
We all want a bigger listener base and to better monetize those fans. So, let’s examine how to measure that.
Is X Number of Downloads a Good Goal?
Total downloads isn’t a great goal. You can get more total downloads without ever growing your audience size by publishing more podcast episodes. While total downloads are a fun milestone to celebrate (I always shout out milestones in my newsletter), it’s not a great goal.
Instead, your goal should be the number of downloads in the first 30 days. That is a much better reflection of audience growth as it shows that more people are tuning in quicker as time goes on.
For instance, on Generally Spooky History, we released in seasons, and we could always measure growth between seasons by the 30-day downloads mark. Here is the jump from season 5 to season 6.
Your first 7-day downloads can also be an indicator of your number of fans. These are the downloads from people who want to hear your episode more or less as soon as it comes out.
So, aiming to grow these will better represent your audience size and growth.
I share tips on getting more podcast listeners here.
Number of Sales
Let’s make more money.
We check whether our podcast is making money by looking at the behavior of people who buy our product. It’s as simple as adding a dropdown menu to your checkout asking for the reason for purchase. Choose one of the options, Podcasts, and you’ll see how many listeners are becoming customers.
You can do the same by looking at Patreon sign-ups, merch sales, affiliate link clicks, or ad promo codes used.
Other Goals and Metrics To Consider
The two most important goals for a business podcast are, of course, the number of sales and the size of the audience. But there are many other great goals to consider:
Podcast Goals for Audience Growth
- Reviews: The number of reviews you get is a great indicator of growth. It also creates future social proof, which can lead to more growth.
- Followers: You can use Apple Podcast and Spotify podcasts to measure your podcast followers. This is a great representation of audience size.
- Comments: Some podcast players, like Spotify, allow comments. If you set goals including getting more interaction then counting comments is a good way to do this.
- Social media mentions: Are people sharing you on social media? Measure how often you’re being tagged by listeners.
- Telling people in person: I’m a big believer in the power of telling people about your podcast in person. Counting how many people you tell is a great lead indicator for podcast growth.
- Guest appearances: Again, how many other podcasts you appear on is a fantastic lead indicator for growing a podcast audience
- Newsletter sign-ups: Making a specific sign-up page to your newsletter for your podcast listeners is a great measure of fans. It’s your listeners who want more from you.
- Live events attended: I am a big believer in in-person podcast marketing. Go to a relevant conference and talk to everyone you can about your podcast.
- Growing a social media audience: Focusing on growing your Twitter following can, in turn, grow your podcast. A great alternative goal for growth.
Podcast Goals for Monetisation
Getting 1000 true fans: Kevin Kelly believes that if you have 1000 fans who pay you $25 for your latest widget every three months, you can make $100,000 a year. The number of fans you need depends on what you sell (products, services, merch, Patreon memberships), but you figure out how many dedicated fans you need and work towards that number
Sponsor ad clicks: You can work towards better results, whether it’s an affiliate partner or a sponsor. More clicks of the links in your bio, more discount code uses, or more URL visits.
Patreon members: A certain number of Patreon members is an excellent goal. Patreon sign-ups are even better, as it’s harder to control how long someone stays a member.
Merch Sales: The number of sales and average order value of merch are two worth goals if you’re monetising a podcast
Casual Podcast Goals
Making it past 21 episodes – Only 10% of podcasts reach 10 episodes. Only 10% of those who are left reach 20 episodes. That means if you release 21 episodes of a podcast, you are in the top 1%.
How many friends you make – Podcasters are awesome people (which you know because you’re awesome). If podcasting is a hobby, then making awesome podcasting friends is a wonderful goal.
How much fun you’re having – Is it measurable? Not really. But if podcasting is casual, then why not check in with yourself each week and rate how much fun you’re having on a scale of 1-10?
How many nice messages you receive – The highlights from my podcasting career have always been the kind messages received. Messages saying my podcast gave them light in a dark time are something I will treasure forever.
Always Ask: What Is Your Podcast For?
It always comes back to fundamentals. Whenever I coach a client, we always return to the fundamentals. Understand your target audience, and your path becomes clear.
For example, if your podcast is a hobby, then you should have hobby goals. If your podcast is to get clients, then your goals will be very different than if you’re trying to spread a message about a cause.
Decide what your podcast is for, and then use that to create SMART goals. Look at the lead indicators of success, and you’ll be off to the races.
If you’re still confused, I’d love to help you out. Get in touch, and we can work together to achieve your goals – kieran@platformpodcasting.com
How I Can Help You
1) Free 5-day Podcast Marketing Fundamentals Course – Learn the basics of what it takes to grow a popular show, get more listeners, and earn more money from your podcast. The five day email course is totally free
2) The Template Vault – Learn how to grow your podcast on autopilot. Get fill-in-the-blank templates to set up your podcast’s foundation for growth, success, and making money.
3) Podcast Marketing Coaching– I am an experienced podcast coach, and I want to help you master your podcast marketing. Check out my full list of services and discover how we can work together.
4) Recommended Tools– These are the tools I use to grow my podcast. I focus on tools that improve quality and save time.
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