I was having a chat with my esteemed colleague earlier this week (always wanted to say that!) and he asked me a question that has triggered a community wide debate, “Are podcast listeners coming back to your website?”

My knee jerk reaction was to say of course they do! But when I put more thought into it, a whole can of worms got opened up and here’s what followed…

 

My theory (after some thought)

In my experience, I don’t listen to a podcast then head over to the website – I don’t care how amazing your show notes are!

I guess on occasion I might, but it’s rare. When I do, it’s something I can’t live without – not to mention that I’m lazy. That’s why I’m listening to podcast in the first place.

My theory is that most people are doing the same. More on this later though.

 

Smartphone domination

Last week I wrote an article that you should have read. Check it out here if you missed it. One of the stats that may or may not surprise you – 63% of Libsyn’s 2.6 billion downloads in 2014 came from mobile devices.

Podcast listeners are tuning in on their daily commute, in the gym, or while jamming out in the cube (man I hate those damn TPS reports!).

So, hopping off the Stairmaster right quick to run through your show notes doesn’t make logical sense.

And there’s no sign of things slowing down. Here in the good ol’ US of A the average attention span was 0.8 seconds in 2013. Where do you think it’s at now?

 

It’s not so looking good (or is it)

So, if indeed podcast listeners aren’t coming back to your site, why does it even matter? At least they’re listening right? Nah, wronggg!

Any seasoned marketer will tell you that “the money is in the list”. You don’t control iTunes, Stitcher, or any other podcast directories, but you do have control over your list. From there it’s all about educating your customers and selling them your products and services.

So, is podcasting the new blogging or will podcasters be the new kids on the block learning how to blog? What will be the implications if my assumption is true?

Worse case scenario, podcasters will have to rethink their strategy. Best case, I’m wrong and everyone podcasts happily ever after. But it also raises the question if listeners are on an email list, are they reading it?

 

Stepping up to the plate

A wise man once told me to prove out my assumptions. So, that’s what I decided to do. The P-Team and I put on noggins together to come up with a brief 3 minute survey (it only takes 30 seconds, we lied!) and starting polling our friends in the podcast community.

You can take the survey too (here). Everyone’s doing it! Ok, well not exactly but we’d be grateful for your time.

Be on the look out for the results in the next few weeks to see if podcast listeners are coming back to your website.

And as awlays, feel free to chime in with your thoughts below.