When recording an episode for your podcast, it can be difficult to visualize how many listeners you have.
You’re likely recording in your home or office space – meaning it’s just you and the equipment.
When you aren’t performing directly in front of an audience, it’s easy to lose track of the size of the crowd you’re speaking to. And, as a result, it’s easy to think your podcast isn’t gaining any real traction.
If you’ve never spoken in front of a massive crowd before, then you’ve probably never visualized it!
Why is Visualizing Your Audience Important?
It’s safe to assume that your tone, delivery, and preparation would be different for a crowd of 10 people compared to a crowd of 500 people, right?
Close your eyes and imagine those two scenarios, you probably feel more nervous about the crowd of 500 people than the room of 10.
Being able to visualize the size of your audience will help you prepare better for your episode and provide more quality content.
For example, if you know you have over 2,000 listeners, you can imagine you’re performing your episode directly in front of them. This may help you to be more engaging, relevant, and cautious of your audience’s time and expectations.
Visualization can help you hone in on that feeling of making a significant impact on real people instead of speaking into the ether and feeling like no one is hearing what you’re saying.
Visualize Your Podcast Audience with These Examples of Crowd Sizes
If you aren’t great at visualization yet, don’t sweat it.
Below are examples to help you visualize just how big certain crowds are.
5 people: a full car
10 people: the number of players on a basketball court during a game
30 people: a full classroom of students
100 people: the number of people in the US Senate
500 people: enough people to fill a smaller theater
5,200 people: how many people can fit on the Staten Island Ferry
30,500 people: capacity of Stadium MK
How Can You Grow an Audience?
1. Consider who you’re reaching (or who you want to reach).
While visualizing your audience size based on numbers can be helpful, considering your target audience is important too!
After all, these are the people that are going to be most likely to share your show with others that have similar interests.
Catering your content to a specific group of people will bring you more of the type of listeners you desire.
2. Consistency is key
Consistency is key! People are more likely to tune into podcasts that they know are consistently releasing content they care about.
If you stop publishing episodes, people may lose interest.
However, consistency is not just about sticking to a regular posting schedule.
It’s also about staying consistent with your topic. If you talk about baseball one week, theater the next, and then swimming the week after that, no one really knows what your niche is.
As Marie Forleo says, “When you confuse people, you lose people.” So release consistently and stick to one main topic.
3. Get the word out!
Promotion is very important if you want to grow and thrive in podcasting.
If you’re not utilizing your social media accounts to promote your podcast, now is the time to start!
Even if your social media follower numbers are small, using hashtags such as #podcast and #podcaster when posting can help you get in front of new listeners.
4. Utilize OPA (other people’s audiences)
Networking and building connections are great ways to grow your podcast audience.
Being a guest on someone else’s podcast gives you access to a brand new audience and potential listeners for your show. If you have good relationships with other podcasters, you may even be able to get some extra promotions for your show.
5. Use your show’s analytics
Looking at your cross-platform analytics in your podcast dashboard will help you determine what your audience prefers, what they want more of, and what type of episodes they’re tuning in to the most.
The next time you’re recording an episode for your podcast, stop and take a moment to visualize your audience. It will help you better prepare for the episode and will ultimately lead to better content.
Keep in mind that your audience is more than just numbers – they’re real people who enjoy your show!
