Good Morning Podcasters!

Let's explore what today's 10-25 year olds are listening to. Today, I review insights from Spotify's Culture Next 2022 report, and have an anecdotal interview with my Gen Z daughter, Bri.

Links to the things we discussed this episode:

• Culture Next: 2022 | Spotify Advertising

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Twitter: @GMPodcasters | @FuzzMartin | @Podcast_Father

Good Morning, Podcasters! is a product of Snoring Dog Media, LLC. Podcasting Sucks! is a product of Snoring Dog Media, LLC & Jeff Townsend Media.

It's Thanksgiving week in the U.S. Are you podcasting this week? Should you be? Let's take a look at the data.

Links to the things we discussed this episode:

• Best Times for Thanksgiving Travel - Washington Post
• Podcast Listening Outlook: The Holidays - Podtrac
• Podcast Listeners Are Speeding Up In-Car Consumption. | Story | insideradio.com
• NuVoodoo Presents Results from Q1 Podcast Study

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Twitter: @GMPodcasters | @FuzzMartin | @Podcast_Father

Good Morning, Podcasters! is a product of Snoring Dog Media, LLC. Podcasting Sucks! is a product of Snoring Dog Media, LLC & Jeff Townsend Media.

Welcome to the 43rd episode of "Good Morning, Podcasters!" Today, we are going to dive into the analytics of the show and see if there is a specific day of the week that performs better in terms of downloads. My name is Fuzz Martin, and I took over the show on Halloween in 2022. In this post, I'll share my analysis of the performance of the episodes, and how you can apply these insights to your own podcast.

The show is posted three times a week - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There are five main content pillars that the show is sorted into - marketing, social media, public relations, advertising, and general podcasting topics. To perform these analytics, I used a Google Sheet to analyze my release date, release day of the week, episode title, episode content category, and downloads within 3 days, 7 days, and 30 days of publication.

Days of the Week Performance Analysis

Let's start by looking at the day of the week performance. First, I sorted the data by the number of downloads within 3 days of publication. Wednesday was the most downloaded day, followed by Monday, and Friday had one episode in the top 10.

Next, I pulled the data for 7 day downloads. In the top 10, Monday and Wednesday each had 4 downloads, and Friday had 2. When I increased the sample size to the top 20 episodes, Wednesday had 9 downloads, Monday had 6 episodes, and Friday had 4 episodes.

In the top 20 7 day downloads, Wednesday had 8 downloads, Monday had 6, and Friday had 5. Although Friday was in last place, the sample size may have been small. To find out, I'm going to change my launch schedule to Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday for the next month or two to see if it affects listenership.

Content Pillar Performance Analysis

Next, I analyzed my content pillars. It was difficult to analyze because some technically cross over between categories, like advertising and social media, or marketing and pretty much anything. So far, I've posted 14 episodes about general podcasting, 8 about marketing, 10 about social media, 5 about advertising, and 5 about public relations. In the top 20 7 day downloads, general podcasting, marketing, and social media had the most downloads, while PR was almost non-existent. However, this may not be a scientific conclusion as there are too many variables to consider and only 5 PR episodes were posted.

To find out, I'm going to experiment by creating some more PR episodes this month and see if they continue to underperform or if it's just a result of when they were posted.

Discovering Most Popular Episodes

Finally, I took a look at my most discovered episodes. These are the episodes that had low early downloads but increased the most from week 2 through today. Episodes on Podcast Trademarks, Merchandise, and What Gen Z is listening to all underperformed upon launch but were later discovered. This data can be used to create more episodes like these, as they might perform better with time.

Analyzing the performance of your episodes can give you valuable insights into your listenership and how you can improve your podcast. If you're interested in checking out my OP3 analytics, I've made them public. You can view them at gmp.fm/stats. Don't forget to stay tuned for the next episode, and let me know how you're using analytics to improve your podcast.

Is it a good idea to pitch your podcast's news story via DM on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn? We explore Cision's State of the Media report and talk about whether or not it's a good idea to use social media to pitch journalists.

Links to the things we discussed this episode:

• Cision State of the Media 2022 Interactive

Follow Us

Twitter: @GMPodcasters | @FuzzMartin | @Podcast_Father

Good Morning, Podcasters! is a product of Snoring Dog Media, LLC. Podcasting Sucks! is a product of Snoring Dog Media, LLC & Jeff Townsend Media.

As a podcaster, you want to engage your audience and keep them coming back for more. Running promotions is a great way to do this, but it’s important to know the difference between a contest, sweepstakes, and an illegal lottery. You don't want to end up getting sued, so let's dive into the world of promotions and how to run them legally.

In case you're wondering, I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

First and foremost, let's get one thing straight—gambling is illegal unless you are a licensed casino. When you make someone exchange something of value for a chance to win something, that is considered a lottery or, simply put, "gambling." The rules are in place to ensure fairness and to prevent people from starting their own illegal casinos.

The Three Elements of a Promotion

The three key elements that determine whether a promotion is gambling or an illegal lottery are Prize, Chance, and Consideration.

• Prize is the thing that a person (or people) wins.
• Chance means there are odds involved in winning.
• Consideration is the requirement that something of value be given up in order to be “considered” for the promotion.

If you have all three elements, you risk legal trouble.

Playing By the Rules

To avoid holding an illegal lottery, simply eliminate one of these elements.

Prize is the hardest element to remove since you want to be incentivize your listeners to enter. You could skirt the prize by having a prize with no value. For instance, you might name one of your random paid subscribers as, "The Good Morning Podcasters listener of the week."

You can remove Chance by turning the promotion into a contest where winners are chosen based on certain criteria rather than by chance, or into a giveaway where everyone who enters wins a prize.

Consideration is the easiest to get rid of - just don't require that listeners pay to play.

The Types of Promotions

So what exactly are the different types of promotions?

• Sweepstakes: A sweepstakes is a promotion that has Prize and Chance but no Consideration.
• Contest: A contest is a promotion where there is Prize and could be Consideration but no element of Chance and winners are chosen based on certain criteria.
• Giveaway: A giveaway is similar to a contest, but with the element of Chance removed by giving everyone a prize.

Other Things to Consider

When running a promotion, it's important to have official rules detailing how a listener can win and how the prizes will be distributed. To reduce the appearance of impropriety, it's best to have a third-party draw the random drawings. Don't forget to put an end date for the contest and consider asking a lawyer for advice, as rules vary by location.

Running promotions is a great way to engage your audience and keep them coming back for more. Just make sure to know the difference between a contest, sweepstakes, and illegal lottery, and to follow the rules and regulations to avoid any legal trouble. And remember, never refer to your promotion as a raffle or lottery unless you are properly licensed to run one.

As a podcaster, you should really know the rules and regulations surrounding promotions, so you can run them legally and fairly for your listeners. Don't risk getting sued—follow these guidelines and the advice of your actual legal counsel, and you'll be able to run successful and exciting promotions for your audience.