We’re learning more and more about how important it is for brands to develop an emotional connection with their customers. Emotionally invested customers recommend products to their friends at a higher rate, are willing to pay a higher price point, and give repeat business more often, bringing over 50% more value to a brand than customers who do not feel an emotional connection.
Podcasts are an excellent opportunity to establish an emotional connection between a corporation or business and their customers. The casual discussion format lends itself to a feeling of intimacy, and the values and personality of the business are imbued in the topics, hosts, and creative aspects of production such as the graphics or music. But engagement with your listeners doesn’t just happen magically – it has to be intentionally sought and created.
What is Listener Engagement?
Listener engagement is about capturing your audience’s attention and delivering valuable, meaningful content in a way that will keep them listening until the end and continue the conversation beyond the episode. It’s about creating an authentic connection between your listeners and your podcast and thus, by extension, your business.
One crucial way to engage your listeners is by acknowledging that they exist, and letting them know that you appreciate them. This is important for podcasting, where the audience is not directly visible to the host and show producers.
Acknowledging the listeners is often achieved in the intro and outro of a podcast, when hosts directly address their audience and thank them for their time and interest. Sometimes hosts or guests will acknowledge and address their listeners throughout the conversation as well, and it’s important to keep your audience in mind throughout the podcast, even though you can’t see them, to ensure that you’re providing your listeners with the most value each episode.
But the conversation shouldn’t always be one-sided – your listeners have ears, but they also have a voice. Even if you’re not speaking directly with a listener in a one-on-one conversation, soliciting engagement from your listeners also serves as feedback, letting you know what’s important to your audience by seeing what they are most interested in and staying aware of what’s relevant to them so that your podcast continues to add value to their lives.
Here are some effective ways to engage your audience and deepen the emotional connection between your listeners and your message.
Create Shareable Content
Clipping your podcast episodes into smaller segments that you can share on social media will increase engagement by giving your listeners a snippet of content that can be digested quickly. These shorter pieces of content are easier to share amongst friends, and have a focused point that your listeners can comment on or talk about. This will generate buzz about your podcast and continues conversations beyond the show, which builds community amongst your listeners and might even gain you a few new audience members, too.
Invite Listener Feedback
Throughout the conversations on your podcast, there are bound to be things that come up which are divisive or complex. In these moments, don’t be afraid to address your listeners directly and let them know that you would like to hear their thoughts. Give them an email address, social media account, or phone number where they can reach out to leave a comment or follow-up question, and make sure that you’re replying to as many people as possible once your listeners do respond to this request for feedback.
Some podcasts also solicit questions or comments from their listeners and incorporate them into a segment of their show. This gives your listeners a chance to literally be featured on your show, as part of the podcast. It will encourage them to listen to future episodes to see if their question or comment is featured, and because their participation is influencing the trajectory of the show, it reminds them that they are an essential part of the podcast.
Soliciting your listeners’ feedback and responding to it, either with direct correspondence or by incorporating their feedback into the show format, will make your listeners feel heard, appreciated, and valued. It will also help to maintain an awareness of what’s important to your audience and can even expose you to new concepts that your audience cares about so that your content stays relevant.
Livestreams and In-person Events
One great thing about podcasts is that they are accessible, and listeners can tune in to episodes whenever is most convenient for them. That being said, sometimes it’s a good idea to make an effort to connect with your audience in the present moment. Livestreams and in-person recording events are two ways that you can gather your audience in the same space (virtually or literally) so that they can listen to your show together, connect with you personally, and connect with each other as well.
Hosting one of your episodes live, with a seasoned guest who is comfortable on the air, is a great way to solidify and deepen the sense of community that your podcast is cultivating. Providing your audience with occasional live interaction will make them feel included in the conversation and give them all of the excitement and benefits that comes with an event – the ability to meet other like-minded people, participate in a live Q-and-A session, and connect with the host that has been guiding them through your podcast. In addition to recognizing your audience and showing them that you appreciate them, events will give your listeners a chance to connect on a deeper level, outside of social media and other online forums.
Engagement is Essential
The more your podcast engages its listeners, the deeper their emotional connection will be to your brand and the more likely they are to recommend your show to someone else, which is one of the most organic ways to earn new customers who stick around long-term.
If you want to start a podcast soon or you have a podcast that you want to take to the next level, reach out to us at [email protected]. We are a full-service podcast production company serving Austin and Hill Country businesses, institutions, and corporations who are looking to connect in a meaningful way with their internal teams and external customers.
