How to Help Hosts Set Podcast Goals

There are many podcast hosts and clients who will come to you with vague goals. For instance, they might say they want more people to listen to their podcast, get more sponsors, or get their podcast recognized by others in the industry. While these might sound reasonable for the client, they’re not very tangible. Therefore, you have to help clients set podcast goals.

In this article, we will discuss how you can help hosts set podcast goals for their show that allow you to create a strategy that will deliver results that you can prove.

Using SMART Objectives

One of the best ways that you can help hosts to set podcast goals is to use SMART goals.  This acronym allows you to carefully construct goals to measure milestones for the contract. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.

Setting these against any goal allows you to ensure that you have something to aim for. This is how you can check each aspect against the goal.

Specific

Specific goals are those where there is no doubt about the objective. For example, saying you want to improve the podcast is being vague. There are many ways that you can improve a podcast from scheduling, revenue, audience retention, audience growth, etc. So improving the podcast is not specific.

Instead, ask your client what they want to improve. They might say that they want to see audience growth and then you need to assign a value to that. For instance, they want to increase the number of times the episode is listened to, so there are 1,000 audience members per episode.

Measurable

Measurable milestones are those where you can have a benchmark and then check the results against the starting statistics. Measurements can be almost anything and done in either a figure or a percentage.

Identifying measurable goals is critical because otherwise, you don’t know how to measure success or whether you’re heading in the right direction.

Achievable

While measurable and specific goals are critical, they must also be achievable. Many people can exaggerate the potential for success. For instance, one client might want to get one million listeners a month, but is this a realistic expectation when they’re a brand new podcast with a small budget?

Setting realistic expectations is critical to success not only in their podcast but also in your contract with the client.

Relevant

Relevance is something that is sometimes missed. Make sure your goals are relevant to your contract. For example, if a client wants to grow their business by three new sales per month, you might want to check whether your services offer that. You’re a podcast manager, and the goals should be relevant to the services you’re offering, not the larger business output.

Timely

In addition, you need to set a time frame for goals that are realistic. For example, clients might want to grow the audience every month, or over the year. Knowing the time frame you have can help you split objectives into smaller, more achievable tasks/milestones and give reports regularly that show progress without seeming irrelevant.

FAQs

Are goals vital for podcast host contracts?

Yes. Even if the podcast host doesn’t have specific goals, you need to sit with them to discuss what they want from the contract and what will mean success for them.

Can goals change over time?

Goals are dependent on the current industry environment. You might have a goal to improve audience retention by 1% every month, but a news article improves the demand in the podcast niche and therefore, you can expect to achieve more.

How often should goals be reviewed?

You can review the podcast goals of your website every month or every six months. It depends on your specific needs and the industry you’re working in.

Final Word: How to Help Hosts Set Podcast Goals

Podcast hosts might not have specific goals in mind when they hire you out. However, by helping them set podcast goals, you can build a successful contract with a client and demonstrate your value every month to the client.

The Podcast Management Academy covers everything you need to know, do, be, and have to start attracting clients and selling your services as a podcast manager. You will learn every skill, strategy, and mindset hack to achieve your ideal lifestyle of freedom and balance while working from home. The Podcast Management Academy adds value and credibility to your business and enables you to charge higher rates, positioning you for success.