We all want to see them: those shining, beautiful five-star reviews for our podcast. It feels great to be appreciated and even more so when it’s for something we’ve worked so hard on. Not only are five-star reviews a great confidence booster, but we need them to help us get seen in an already vast and populated space. And to get those, you have to encourage listeners to leave reviews.
The more reviews we have, the more visibility we get, and more importantly, the more we can learn from our listeners.
This begs the question, how can we entice our listeners to leave a review? One that can encourage new listeners to tune in AND boost our ability to be found? I’m glad you asked.
Here are the top five ways to encourage listeners to leave reviews:
Run a Giveaway
They give a little and they may just get something in return! This is one of the easiest ways to build up a review base quickly because who doesn’t want free stuff? Tell your listeners you’ll be running a giveaway to one lucky reviewer for the episode. Then, next episode, announce the winner as a segment in the show. You could also draw in more social media followers by having them share their review or tag you in a review post on Instagram for additional entries to win.
Read Quality Reviews On Your Show
Just as you want to know your listeners appreciate you, your listeners would likely love to hear you appreciate them for reviewing your show. This method not only encourages positive reviews but engages the audience on a personal level as you are commenting directly on something they have said to you. This could also entice a better quality of review if you are reading specific reviews that you found interesting, creating a culture of similar commentary from additional prospective reviewers.
Have a Direct Call-To-Action
We’ve all heard the pointed calls to action at the end of the shows we enjoy. Almost every podcaster uses them, and for a good reason. They work! Calls-To-Action or CTAs are the straightforward, “Be sure to like or subscribe to our podcast for more,” etc. Be direct and engaging with your audience during your CTA, and you’ll surely get positive results. Tip: You can use this time to stress how important reviews are to you and how they help your growing podcast. Emphasize how appreciative you are for each one. Your true fans won’t mind taking an extra minute to help you out.
Ask Core Fans or Friends
Similarly, we love to help our friends! Trying asking your family/friends who are devoted listeners to leave a quality review. Likewise, if you know of any specific fans of your show that may have a social media presence, encouraging them to review and support your show by sharing their review in an Insta Story could be a great growth effort as well.
Share Reviews on Social Media
With that, be sure to share any positive reviews you get to your social media accounts. Your friends and family will love to see your growth and listeners will love to be a part of this journey also, especially if they are the reviewer! This also creates a sense of synergy between your podcast and social media content so fans feel they can bounce between the two and gain even more of the content they love.
Some additional things to keep in mind: the more genuine the review, the better. A sincere review can help you long-term by setting listeners up for what they are in for by tuning in. A review’s main goal is just that, convert the prospective audience to a listener, so when you encourage listeners to leave reviews, be sure to focus your efforts on gaining quality over quantity, and in no time, more listeners will be willing and ready to join in.
