When it comes to podcasts, vlogs, and blogs, the emphasis is usually on gaining as many views as possible, and there’s often scarce attention paid to reviews. There is an understandable if erroneous, the reason for this. Keeping with podcasts, the only way to grow is, of course, to gain listeners, and so this becomes the focus. Reviews, on the other hand, are more of a roll of the dice. The reason for that is simply that you could get a bad review!
But what does a bad review actually mean? All reviews are a form of publicity. After all, a reader can disagree with a bad review, they might even leave a comment doing so and thereby starting a discussion. Before you know it, there is a conversation going on about your slightly controversial podcast – and that definitely is a good thing.
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The Problem with Reviews
But consider for a moment the smaller podcasts. The other defining feature of such podcasts, of course, is that they don’t have many listeners. A bad review for a podcast like this – likely to be short, dismissive, and included among several other like reviews – could have the potential to sink a podcast, to turn away what few listeners even notice it.
This is where the fear comes from, and why reviews are not something often actively pursued by smaller podcasts. However, this is the wrong assessment of the situation.
How Reviews Help
Think about the problem just discussed for a moment. A small podcast with a tiny listener base has just had a scathing review. What is the one thing that could ameliorate this situation? More reviews – but this time good ones.
For a small podcast, several small reviews scattered around the net can in fact be beneficial. When there is more than one, the verdict isn’t conclusive (unless the podcast truly is awful) and some reviews will be better than others. Furthermore, there will simply be more people finding out about the podcast through these reviews, which means the chances of finding the right listeners are improved.
Also, the reviews might also be making some sound points and offering genuinely useful advice on how the podcast could be better. If you implement those changes and then, importantly, keep pursuing the reviews, you’ll start getting good ones.
How to Get More Reviews
Managed correctly, reviews are an outstanding source of promotion, not least because they are free. How do you go about getting more reviews though?
Review Other Podcasts
Or talk about them on your own podcast. This is also an example of interaction with other podcasters, another thing necessary for real growth.
Have A Strong Expertise
This isn’t really a way to get more reviews, but it could be a way to get better reviews. If you really know what you are talking about, the reviewer needs the knowledge to match if they are going to criticize. Often, they will simply leave a review praising your knowledge if they’re sure they can’t match it themselves.
A good example of this is Plurawl, an eCommerce site creating products such as Spanish art for the Latino community that also produces a Latino podcast. This is a clear example of real expertise.
Contact Review Sites
These sites offer promotions to you for a commission on sales to them. You might often find, however, that they can vary in how independent and honest they are. Find a good one, and this is an effective way to pay for more reviews.
For a review to even happen, someone needs to have listened to your podcast. That, at the end of the day, is their real value.
