Don’t Fall Prey to the Lure of False Metrics
Who doesn’t want to have the number one podcast? Pretty much every podcaster, right? That’s why marketers keep promising it to you. But, you shouldn’t bite.
I’ve been seeing a lot of ads lately offering you up a guaranteed #1 podcast.
It reminds me of my life in the radio biz and that dreaded time … RATINGS!
If you were lucky, ratings meant good things for you and your crew. If you were up, you were safe. If ratings were down (especially if you add ‘again’ to that) then you were in jeopardy. No job was safe. Anyone could get the axe based on ratings.
But all of that was behind closed doors. For all the public knew, every show had dominated the ratings. You see ads like “Thanks for making us your #1 choice in the morning” Or, “Proudly #1 for 10 years in a row”.
Anyone who was actually paying attention would see many, many (almost all) of the stations making this #1 claim.
So, how could everyone be #1? Were they all just lying?
Kind of. Here in Canada, they have to follow Ad Standards, so they can’t say something if it isn’t true. But, there’s truth and then there’s how you look at the facts.
You see, the ad wizards (aka the programming and promo department) would find a way to work the numbers. Say, for example, a radio station had the highest ratings with 80-year-old men at 9:30 at night. Technically, that show is #1 in the evenings.
It’s all in how you look at it.
And, when you look at it selectively, it’s really easy to make things look good. It’s like hearing, “we’re the most listened to radio station” and the part you didn’t hear was, “in dental offices in the tri-state area”. Technically NOT lying, but a little misleading.
So, when I see these promises about being in the Top 10 of Podcasts Worldwide… I take it with a grain of salt. And then, I spit it back up because even with salt, bullshit still tastes like bullshit.
You see, the real issue here isn’t that podcasters are trying to convince the public that they’re #1 with manipulated numbers, they’re using inaccurate, half numbers at best.
There is no singular, universally accepted podcast ranking system.
Spotify has theirs. Apple does too. And then there’s Podtrac, Podcharts, Chartable, and more.
And remember, downloads don’t equal subscribers (there’s no real way to measure that, by the way).
You still want to have the number one ranked podcast? Ok, fine.
Here’s the step-by-step guide for having a #1 ranked podcast:
- Change your category to something obscure
- Set your VPN for Paraguay
- Go and download your podcast in Paraguay
- Check your rankings for that day in Paraguay in your category and BOOM! #1, baby!
- Tell the world you’re #1 and take it to the bank
Okay, I know I’m being a bit of an ass here (shout out to all the kickass podcasters in Paraguay). What I’m trying to say here is, forget the false metrics. They mean nothing – especially if your podcast is part of your marketing strategy.
If you are podcasting to drive traffic to your website, get more engagement, and increase the ease and speed of your sales… then these are the numbers to be paying attention to – not some random ranking.
Ask yourself: How do you measure success? What is the number that says to you ‘Way to go, you made it to your goals!’?
And, how does your podcast contribute to that? How can you measure your podcast’s contribution to you reaching your business goals and getting return on your podcast investment?
I can almost guarantee the answer is not ‘by ranking #5 in Leisure for one week’.
Measure what matters and don’t get sucked in by false metrics.
If you want some help figuring out what numbers you should be paying attention to (and how to make them the numbers you want) take advantage of my free 15-minute coaching call.
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https://calendly.com/timwohlberg
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