As a podcast host, receiving reviews from your listeners is an important piece of the podcasting puzzle.
Reviews can help podcasters like you create better content, further establish their reputation and credibility, measure podcast performance, and gain insights on how their audience feels about their content. Garnering feedback is also a great way to influence others to listen to your podcast.
The number of reviews your podcast receives is a direct indicator of your podcast’s popularity. When potential listeners see a slew of great reviews, they consider this social proof that your podcast is great. Then, they will be more likely to give your podcast a listen and more likely to leave a review of their own.
Still, getting your listeners to take the time to leave a review can be challenging. Luckily, there are several ways you can go about garnering more reviews. Here are some practical and actionable strategies you can use to get more reviews on your podcast:
How To Get More Podcast Reviews
Produce quality content.
This first strategy might seem obvious, but the best way to get more reviews is to produce good-quality content. When your listeners like what they hear, they are way more likely to leave you some positive and constructive feedback.
Use a platform that allows reviews.
Because podcasting has become so popular over the last few years, there are now tons of podcast hosting sites out there. But, not all of these sites allow listeners to leave ratings or reviews. To make sure your listeners have the option to leave feedback, be sure to choose a hosting service with this capability. Hosting sites with this capability include, but are not limited to, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podchaser, and CastBox.
Make the review process simple.
Listeners are more likely to leave a review if the review process is simple. If listeners can’t find your reviews page, or if there are too many questions, they will simply choose not to complete the process. Make providing feedback easy by adding a “leave a review” button to your podcast website, ensuring the process takes 2 min or less, or by giving your listeners a short step-by-step guide.
Add a link in your weekly newsletter.
As podcast host, it’s important to keep your subscribers in the loop by sending out weekly newsletters or show notes. This weekly update is the perfect place to ask your listeners to leave a review. To make the process even easier, add an easy to find link that will take your listeners straight to your review page.
Use a call-to-action via your podcast.
Another way to encourage your listeners to leave reviews is via a call-to-action in your podcast episodes. A call-to-action is a great way to increase listener engagement and break up your episode content. You can incorporate a call-to-action in your intro or outro, or in-between main topics.
Ask your social media following.
Social media is a great place to promote your podcast and further connect with your audience. So, why not ask your social media following to review your podcast? You can make posts, stories, or videos asking your followers to rate & review your podcast. Or, you can add a link in your bio that takes followers right to your review page.
Provide incentives.
Give your listeners a reason to leave a review by providing an exciting incentive. In exchange for rating & reviewing your podcast, you can offer your listeners free or discounted merch, access to premium content/bonus content, or a quick shout out in your episode or on your website.
Host a contest.
Like incentives, contests are a fun, exciting, and engaging way to encourage more reviews. Ask your listeners to leave a review within a certain time period. Then, choose a random winner. Winners could receive free or discounted merch, a gift card or tangible prize, access to premium content or bonus episodes, or a shoutout.
Show appreciation for the reviews you receive.
Listener reviews are hard to come by because they require time and effort on behalf of the listener. So, when you do receive a good review or rating, it’s important to show gratitude. When other listeners see your gratitude, they will be more likely to leave a review themselves. You can show gratitude via a comment on your podcast page or social media, a shoutout in your episode or newsletter, or a personalized message.
Shout out your favorite reviews.
You’ll see that we’ve mentioned shoutouts several times in this blog – and for good reason. Shouting out your favorite reviews is a FREE way to show gratitude for past reviews, incentivise loyal listeners, and encourage future reviews. And like we mentioned earlier, you can do this via your podcast, your podcast website, your weekly newsletter, social media, and so on.
Ask previous guests.
Because guests are usually a fan of your podcast and because they’ve personally gotten a behind-the-scenes look at your podcast, previous guests can be a great source of positive ratings and reviews. For more on guests & interviewing, click here.
Ask friends and family.
And finally, don’t be afraid to ask your friends and family to review your podcast. Ratings and reviews left by friends and family are often the most honest and constructive because it’s these people that want to see you succeed the most.
Grow your audience, your confidence, and your overall podcast popularity by racking up those 5-star reviews.
Good reviews tell your potential listeners how awesome your podcast is and why they should choose yours above all others. The more positive reviews, the better. So, start utilizing these tips today to help ensure your podcast gets the recognition it deserves!
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