Within the 14+ years we’ve been making The Changelog podcast, it has by no means gone viral.
We’ve had in style episodes and not so in style episodes. We’ve made episodes we love and episodes listeners love. However we’ve by no means had a viral second like Elon Musk smoking weed or Jeff Bezos speaking Blue Origin on our present.
I’m not right here to complain about that!
We’ve had tons of success with our reveals and I’m tremendous grateful that we get to make superior developer pods for a residing. I do suppose the actual fact is attention-grabbing, although, and price exploring. Hopefully this exploration is an encouragement to folks who file deep conversations for area of interest audiences like we do.
To debug why our podcast has by no means gone viral, we should always troubleshoot each the content material and the medium. And since I’m a agency believer that the bug is sort of all the time in your individual code, let’s begin with the content material.
Content material is king 👑
This appears apparent, however typically it’s value stating the plain. If you would like individuals to share your content material you need to make one thing value sharing. And if you’d like individuals to unfold it hockey stick model 📈, it must be so good they only have to share it. Can we do this on The Changelog? In my biased opinion: typically…
Why we 💚 Vim reaches that high quality threshold. A protocol for dying reaches it too. I might checklist extra of our greatest episodes, however you get the purpose. Nevertheless, will we attain that high quality threshold on a weekly foundation? No we don’t. I’m unsure we might if we tried.
instance of a podcast that hits high quality out of the park with just about each episode (and I see individuals sharing typically) is Darknet Diaries, however Jack is making a unique present than we’re. A month-to-month, highly-produced story will not be a weekly interview present. And we make a weekly interview (and information and speak) present.
The way in which interview reveals typically go viral is by way of the stature of their visitor. I discussed Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos within the opener as a result of these are precisely the type of celebrities whose interviews go viral and precisely the type of company we don’t have on The Changelog. Our present is polyglot, however we’re nonetheless in a distinct segment (software program) of a distinct segment (know-how).
“Celebrities” in our world have names like Kernighan, Hipp & Metz. These will not be family names! The one particular person we’ve ever had on the present that our households knew about prior was Jack Dorsey. Once more, not complaining! I’m simply highlighting the distinction between the present we wish to make vs reveals that goes viral.
The medium is the message 📡
Lengthy-form, on-demand audio is great for consumption as a result of it doesn’t require your full consideration. Video and textual content each ask you to stare at them, lowering the remainder of the world to a blur. Podcasts are complementary to life. You possibly can hearken to a podcast whilst you mow your garden, drive your automobile, train, do the dishes, stroll the canine… the checklist goes on!
However podcasts simply aren’t simple to share, for just a few causes.
1️⃣ First, the most effective components of a podcast are sometimes someplace in the course of the episode. Instruments have been created for clipping podcasts and plenty of apps & web sites like ours assist deep linking to a particular timestamp of an episode, however none of that’s simple. AI is meant to resolve this downside for us, however I’m not holding my breath on that one.
2️⃣ Second, the complementary nature of audio means you’re not often in sharing mode when consuming. I’m not going to cease my exercise when I’ve the urge to share one thing proper after I’ve heard it, for instance, and by the point I’ve completed understanding I’ve lengthy forgotten the urge, not to mention the placement within the episode that I beforehand deemed shareworthy.
3️⃣ Lastly, the open and numerous nature of podcasting (which we love!) means there isn’t a singular/central platform that might grease the sharing skids. A re-post on X is a re-post on X is a re-post on X. A share on Apple Podcasts won’t translate to Spotify or YouTube Music.
I don’t suppose we’re going to resolve this downside any time quickly, which is why we started reformatting components of our audio in to (typically viral) weblog posts and (typically viral) movies. Instance! Me speaking about this very topic on a latest episode of our speak present:
So, is the medium guilty or is our content material guilty? In all probability a few of each. Would I like to repair this downside? After all! However do I lose sleep over it at night time? Completely not.
There’s a couple of technique to measure influence
I say all that to say this. You possibly can take into consideration influence two methods: breadth and depth
Breadth of influence
Virality is all about breadth of influence: your content material reaching as many individuals as doable as quick as doable. This feels nice and is straightforward to measure, as a result of the social media platform house owners need you to know the viewers you might be gaining by posting on their platforms.
Sadly, virality not often gives depth of influence.
Individuals view your viral factor, take into account it for a second, perhaps cross it on, then they’re off to the subsequent factor. I created scores of viral memes over time on the outdated Twitter. What number of of these do individuals nonetheless keep in mind? Possibly two. This one and this one. (I do know, as a result of they’re virtually the one ones I keep in mind! 😆)
In addition to, is “I keep in mind that” the bar for a way you wish to influence somebody’s life?
Depth of influence
Depth is a wholly totally different beast than breadth. It’s reverse in some ways: sluggish to realize & troublesome to measure. However impacting somebody’s life in a deep method is extremely fulfilling. Podcasts (particularly long-form interviews & conversations like ours) are a superb medium for depth of influence, for a pair causes:
1️⃣ First, your produced audio goes straight in individuals’s ears. That’s about as intimate a type of communication you’ll ever get with a stranger. Deep connection!
2️⃣ Second, since individuals consuming podcasts are sometimes doing different issues, they’ve extra time to contemplate what’s being stated than after they’re doom scrolling X or flicking by way of TikToks. Deep ideas!
3️⃣ Third, individuals hearken to podcasts habitually. You weave your method into their lives and accompany a few of their favourite actions. That is bizarre when you consider it, however we’ve heard from listeners who stroll their canine with us, take roadtrips with us & bathe (sure, bathe) with us. That’s deep!
The depth-first method
Our podcast has by no means gone viral. It’s been sluggish and regular development over the course of a few years. However that’s okay with me, as a result of I’ll take depth over breadth any day.
A word to podcast listeners
When you hearken to a podcast that has affected your life in a profound method, please allow them to find out about it!
- Did they provide help to make a profession alternative?
- Did they expose you to a brand new know-how you now use/love?
- Did they encourage you to begin one thing new?
It solely takes a couple of minutes to shoot them an e-mail and thank them for his or her work and it means a lot to the podcaster. Belief me, we’ve obtained so many good notes over time and so they actually do present us with gasoline to maintain doing what we do.
A word to potential podcasters
Would you moderately influence many individuals in a shallow method or just a few individuals in a deep method? I’m not saying you need to select one or the opposite, however if you happen to did must… which might you select?
If the reply is breadth, then podcasting might be not for you. I’d recommend beginning a social media account as a substitute.
If the reply is depth, then podcasting could also be for you. However! It’s going to take time and it’s going to take dedication. You received’t all the time be capable of really feel your influence. There received’t be some stat in some app that reveals it. However each as soon as in awhile, you may get an e-mail from a listener who took the outing of their busy life to put in writing you about the way you’ve impacted it in a optimistic method. And that can make all of it value your whereas.
