The Truth About Podcast Ratings & Reviews You Need to Hear (#86)

In my time in the podcast space, I've had the opportunity to work with some tremendous professionals on their podcast strategy, including Coach Matt Dordy. Here's what Coach Dordy had to say about working with yours truly. Hi, I'm Coach Matt Dordy, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker, and yes, a podcaster. If I needed more than a sound engineer, I needed a partner. That's exactly what I got with Jason Sircone, a bomb track media. Jason brings a level of professionalism, creativity, and a deep understanding on how to build a brand through podcasting. He gets my voice, my mission, and helps me bring it to life in every episode. If you want to build a podcast that truly stands out, call Jason. If you want to grow a successful podcast, you need an effective strategy. And I'm here to help you do it right. Take the first step today. Schedule a free discovery call at jacensorcone.com/discoverycall. You can find the link in the show notes. All right, so I'm going to do a little double dip this week because I want to talk about calls to action on your podcast, but on a bigger scale, I want to talk about ratings and reviews. And I want to talk about the experiment that I just ran on ratings and reviews. And I'm going to tie the two together and you're going to see where I'm going with this. So I encourage you to hang with me as we go through this because it's all going to come together very nicely in the end. Hello, my name is Jason Sircone, and you are listening to episode 86 of podcasting strategy simplified. So let me throw a number at you and this is in no way shape or form official, but I'm willing to say. Nine out of the last ten podcasts that you listen to. In some way shape or form asked you for a rating and review. They may have asked you when the show started. They may have asked you in the middle. They may have asked you in the end. They may have asked you in all three, but they asked for you to do that. And they're reasoning most likely had good intentions. Maybe it's because everybody asked for ratings and reviews. Or maybe it's because they feel that ratings and reviews are going to help more people find the podcast. Or maybe they think that more people are going to have a better understanding of what their podcast is about based on your rating and review. And again, all good intentions. But here's the thing about ratings and reviews at least for at least in regards to asking for them in a blanket statement on your podcast. I'm willing to bet right now that as you're thinking about those last ten podcasts that you consumed, you're trying to remember. Did they ask me for a rating and review? When did they ask me for that rating and review? You know why? Because you have drowned that out. That ask on a podcast has become so boilerplate that it just has no ability to stand out anymore. It's like putting a microphone on your podcast cover. It doesn't stand out. It blends in. And when it comes to ratings and reviews, there's some misconceptions about ratings and reviews that I want to cover here on this episode. But my whole take is this. As I said at the top of the show, I want to talk about calls to action on your podcast and in relation to that, how ratings and reviews tie in. If you're adding too many calls to action for your audience members to do, you're giving them too many tasks and therefore they're going to do none of them. So if you are asking for a rating and review and to follow us on Facebook and to like us on TikTok and to join our email newsletter and whatever else you have laid out, that's too many things. You want to be as specific as possible because at the end of your show, you want your audience members to do that one thing that you're asking for them to do. In my case, I'm asking you to set up a discovery call. If you like what you hear on this show, I'm building this content out to help move you in the right direction. If you feel you want to take the next step in what that looks like, meaning moving into a coaching program or just setting up that discovery call, that discovery calls where it starts. So my call to action to you is always to set up a free discovery call so we can talk about your podcasting strategy. I've never asked for a rating or review here on this show and I never will. I feel that the one call to action is much stronger and going to get you much better results. And when you're asking for that rating and review, as I said, most listeners hear that so often that it's just going to bounce right off them. You also have to take into consideration that when your listener is consuming your podcast, they're not in a place where they can leave a rating and review. They might be driving. They might be out jogging or walking. They may be doing chores around the house. And to make that switch to jump over to Apple podcasts, scroll to the area where they're going to leave you a review and then actually do it. That's just extra steps that most people don't take. Now, if people do it on their own volition, that's fantastic. And that's ultimately where you want things to go. But I tried something over I did this over the course of about a month and I wanted to see where it would go. And really what it did for me was proof that getting people to leave you ratings and reviews is not easy. And before I get to this experiment, I do want to say that ratings and reviews, they're not useless. I don't want to paint that picture. In my journeys and podcasting, what I've learned is that ratings and reviews are good for two strong purposes. The first is social proof. When you've got a lot of reviews from people that are loyal listeners and loyal consumers of your show, and they're taking the time out of their day to let you know how they are enjoying your show, how it's helped them solve problems or how it's entertaining them. Just the fact that they took the time to leave you that review says a lot. And that is a loyal listener that you want to continue serving because they not only are they showing up, they're taking the time to give you feedback. And that's number two, you get that direct audience feedback and it allows you to double down on the things that are working well and to change things that might not be working so well. Now, I'm not saying that if one person comes in and leaves you a negative review that you change everything on your show because that one person had a gripe. But if you get a trend of similar issues from different people, well, that's telling you a story that's telling you something's wrong. And now you've got direct feedback from people that have listened to your show and it allows you to fix things. Again, we're in a world where people leaving reviews, it's not usually positive. Unfortunately, I mean, that's that's something that I know this episode of podcasting strategy simplified won't solve. But we see that everywhere we go, right? They say I people are what 67% more likely to leave a negative review than they are a positive review. And I don't know the exact percentage, but many people are more likely to just keep their mouth shut and move on. They don't say anything. Unfortunately, had they said something, it's vital feedback that would have allowed you to identify a problem that you could then fix. But because people just feel like, well, okay, that wasn't for me. I'm going to move on. I feel that this is my take. I'm not, you know, I'm never going to be a helper. I've never been one to go on and leave reviews on every place I've been or every steak that I've eaten in the world. There is a point where you just should keep your mouth shut. Some of these people, I mean, we, you know, internet, right? We see it. Some people just don't know how to turn on that filter. But there's a point where giving advice is it can be helpful, but it can also be so unsolicited and off base that maybe it's better to keep our mouth shut. That said, personally, when I see something that if it's a horrendous experience, I usually don't make that public. I usually go to a private message and I try to address things behind the scenes because yes, putting that kind of thing out in public, it does give that business an opportunity to address the problem publicly. But sometimes I look at it like, well, if no one knew this problem existed, maybe they can solve it behind the scenes and we're all going to be better off for it. Maybe it was a person that's maybe the person just had a bad day and it's just they just need to talk to them and see what was going on. And that's what caused the bad experience at a certain place. But that's just my way of going forward with things like that. You may feel completely different. to tie this to ratings and reviews. I always think about the struggle of getting people to do it and I know when I'm a guest on a podcast, once I'm done, the first thing I do is go leave a review. And I'm just now saying this publicly. I was just on a podcast recently and the show wasn't live yet, so I couldn't leave it a review. Now it's live. So now I need to go leave it a review once I get done bringing you this episode today. So give myself some homework assignment and then this will remind me as I'm doing the editing to go and perform that task. But I always like to give feedback on the podcast that I've been a guest on just to give a little bit of my experience. But now that I've actually been on the show and had an interaction with that host, I can say this is what the show is about. I know how they operate. This is worth your time to listen to. And I've always wished that other podcast guests would feel the same way. I know a lot of people out there that use podcast gusting as a marketing tool. Some people don't have their own podcast at all. They simply set up podcast gusting opportunities for themselves. And they're doing a great service because us as podcasters, if we have a guest driven show, we need those voices. We need those insights to make our content pop. So them taking the time to come on our show and have a great conversation. That means a lot. I look at the whole experience. And if I'm a podcast guest and someone has reached out to me asking me to be part of their show, I want to give them the most I possibly can. And in my opinion, being a guest is of course, boilerplate. That's what they want. That's table stakes. That's what they need to make their show come to life. But it goes beyond that. It goes to telling other people about the experience. I can do that with the rating and review, but I can also post on social media. Maybe I put a post on LinkedIn. I can get the ball rolling for them. Maybe before their show is even live. I like doing the word of mouth. I like when people are having thread conversations asking for podcast recommendations that I can jump in and say, I was just a guest on this show. It was great. There's a little bit of that extra mile work that comes into being a good podcast guest. And not everybody's going to operate that way. But I know that when I was doing more guest-driven content, that was always the one thing that disappointed me was even when you asked for a rating and review, it didn't happen all the time. Sometimes it did. And believe me, there are a lot of people out there that do operate and say, yes, okay, I will absolutely go leave you a rating and review. But for the most part, most people just move on. What's one aspect of your podcasting strategy that's been throwing you off your game? Are you ready to wrap your arms around it and turn confusion into clarity today? If this is you, I've got the perfect solution for you. My two-week intensive coaching program. I built this program to deliver prime results in a tight timeframe. No contracts, no long-term commitments, just strategy and guidance to fix your most pressing issues. To learn more, set up a free discovery call at jacensorcon.com/discoverycall and be sure to mention the two-week intensive coaching. That's jacensorcon.com/discoverycall. Find the link in the show notes. And that led me to this experiment because this happened in a, this all started from a thread on threads with the great Ariel Nizemblatt. And Ariel will be a guest here on the show in the near future. I'm not exactly sure when, but her and I have connected and talked and she's just a phenomenal asset to the podcast community. And I'm very much looking forward to having her here on the show to bring her insights to you. But she had posted about calls to action and asking for ratings and reviews and what ratings and reviews really get you. And again, I'm not sure if I say this before, but I will reiterate because it's important to say, ratings and reviews do not boost your exposure and visibility in the Apple algorithm. It's very, it's a very common misconception that it does. And I believe that's why so many podcasters get enamored with talking about this. Leave us a rating and review. They're doing it every episode, whether it's pre-recorded or they're just saying it live each episode they record because it's going to get them more visibility. And Apple has come out and said, no, ratings and reviews do not impact how you're moving up in their algorithm. Your show name, your show description, that's going to help with visibility as well. Again, those ratings and reviews will play a role in the social proof. So as people start to find your show through that podcast SEO, now they have something that they can refer to and see that other people are giving you positive feedback. Therefore, they that's going to trigger to them. Okay, I've got validation now that this is a show that I want to listen to and learn from as well. So if you're using your podcast rating and review call out because you think the more you get the more visibility you're going to gain, that's simply not the case. But we were talking about this in this thread and many people were throwing out their opinions and I had made the point that using your call to action to ask for a rating and review was a waste. And then I said, what if you were to ask people specifically to give you specific ratings and reviews on a specific episode, therefore creating a catalog of information about specific episodes that people can see when they look at your ratings and reviews and say, okay, this is what I'm looking for. And this person says that episode 81 is great and has this information. Cool. That's where I'm going to start my journey with this podcast because as we've discussed here on this show, people are going to find your podcast at different points in the catalog. This week's episode, yes, that's fresh today and a month from now, it's not as fresh, but it's no less valuable. People may find that a month, even after another month's worth of content, and that's where they start listening. And if that show hooks them, now they're going to go backwards. They're going to go forwards. They're going to listen to your whole catalog and they're ultimately going to get what they showed up for from you across your entire catalog. So I decided after posting that thread that I was going to put my money where my mouth was. So I set myself a lofty goal of 30 reviews in 30 days. And I remember as I jotted down my plans for this, I said, if I get half of this, I'm going to be happy. So what I did was I made a list of people that I know, like and trust in the podcast space, and I reached out to them and I gave them some very simple criteria. And I let them know I was conducting an experiment about ratings and reviews. And I was going to share with them a specific hand picked episode that I would like them to go in, listen to, and then provide honest feedback via rating and review on Apple podcasts. And I got some people that jumped on it and immediately said, yeah, I'll absolutely help. I got some people that didn't reply. And I got some people that said, yeah, I'll absolutely do it. And then they never did. And it really proved my theory, the theory being that I'm asking people specifically. And these are people that I'm friends with that I've done business with. I'm colleagues or that I consider them colleagues. I consider them peers. I consider them friends. And I gave them very specific instructions and talk to them directly. I even followed up and asked how it was going. Have you had a chance to look at this yet? And again, did not get I think I got about a dozen. And as I said, if I got half of what I was originally setting out for, I would be happy. I got a little under half. But I was completely content. Because for one, I don't chase the ratings and reviews. Personally, I feel that if you feel the content is worthy of your rating and review, then you're going to go do it. I don't need to prompt you every episode to do so. I also know that you're listening to this or watching this on different platforms that don't offer ratings and reviews. So if you're listening to this on a platform that isn't Apple podcasts, you can't go in and leave a rating and review. So I don't push it and I don't use it as my call to action because that's not the most important thing to me. So it proved that even if you take the time to ask someone to give you specific feedback, they're not always going to do it. So why would you do it in a blanket format? Where you're asking for that type of thing from anybody that consumes your podcast and you don't have any idea when they're listening to that show, where they're listening to that show, and if they're on a platform where they can easily leave you that rating and review. So you're better served to use a call to action that's more specific to the results that you want for your brand, not for the podcast, but for your brand. And if you do want to get some more social proof, then you just execute the simple experiment that I did. Make a list of people that you know like and trust and reach out to them. This is how I did it. I'm going to give you the exact blueprint for this. It's incredibly easy. I made my list and then I texted and said, "Hey, I'm doing this experiment, and I'd love for you to participate. This is what I'm doing. Are you in?" They said, "Yeah, okay. I'd love to do that. Okay, cool. I'm going to email you all the info." I wrote a very basic email that said, "Thank you for taking the time to provide a specific review for podcasting strategy simplified. The goal here is to give listeners an opportunity to learn about the show when they dig into the ratings and reviews and find out information about specific episodes. Today, I would like you to listen to and then you give them whatever episode you want. I spread mine out across the newer episodes of this show that I've done. I just provided a link and said, "Once you're done listening, here's the link to the ratings and reviews page on my Apple Podcast link or on my Apple Podcast platform. Drop a rating, drop a review, be honest. Give the feedback that you feel this episode warranted and submit." That's that. That led to a dozen new reviews on my show. I'm thinking this might be a thing that I might do once a year and just reach out to maybe four or five people. You can do this in any way you like, but the point is, it's better to use your call to action that's going to get you something that truly helps you and your brand get to the levels of achievement that you're trying to get to versus adding additional calls to action that can potentially throw your listener or your viewer off and make them take no action. If you do want to bring ratings and reviews to your podcast, reach out to people individually and ask them to review a specific episode. Letting them dig into that one specific piece of content will allow them to be more focused and by being more focused, they're giving listeners who read that review a very focused look at content they may want to consume. So at the end of the day, it ends up being win-win. So you're not adding additional calls to action to your podcast and instead of begging for a rating in review every week, which again, if you're asking every week, that's what it comes off like. Now you're using your call to action smartly and you're asking for ratings and reviews smartly as well because now that specific content is going to provide a bigger impact when people find your podcast. So to summarize, ratings and reviews, great for social proof, great for direct listener feedback, but not going to be something that boosts your visibility in the algorithm, plus it adds an additional call to action to your podcast when a more specific direct call to action that lets people know exactly what you want them to do is going to get better results. If you do want to get more social proof, use the blueprint I just laid out to reach out to people directly and you can get ratings and reviews that way. But overall, treat those as social proof for what you're doing and if you do get a trend of reviews that are talking about the same thing in a negative capacity, then you know it's time to make some changes. But overall, treat this as nothing more than the social proof that keeps you motivated. I know good feedback always keeps me pumped up to keep cranking out this content. So if you've taken the time to do that, I appreciate you for doing that. And that's not just by leaving a review that might be a comment on social media or a text message or a direct message. Anything that keeps me motivated, of course, I'm going to lean into that. So if you're looking for that kind of healthy feedback, then go get it. But make sure that you're using your call to action wisely so you can get the results that you want for your brand. Told you I was going to tie this all together nicely in the end. And with that, I am going to bring the curtain down on episode 86 of podcasting strategy simplified. Until our paths cross again on the next episode, I'm Jason Sircolon reminding you that podcasting isn't easy, but it doesn't need to be complicated. I'll see you next time. [MUSIC PLAYING]