The One Shot Rule
Rethinking your podcast call-to-action
You’ve probably heard your favorite podcasters ask you at the end of every episode to rate and review the show. They might add, “That’s the best way to help us grow!” or “This helps us climb the charts, which brings new listeners to the show!” I used to say that on my podcast, too.
The problem? We’re not sure if it’s true.
No one outside of Apple knows what makes podcasts advance in the charts, or if ranking higher helps shows grow. But many podcasters hear their favorite hosts saying that ratings and reviews matter, so we repeat what we hear when we create our own shows. Without reliable sources of information about the technology behind our medium, we have to take our cues from crowd wisdom.
This recent focus on the Apple Podcasts charts should remind all of us that we should choose carefully what we ask listeners to do. We must have good reasons for asking people to take action on our behalf — and what other hosts on bigger shows say is not necessarily the right move for your podcast.
So let’s talk about the podcast call-to-action.
The One Shot Rule
People love to listen to podcasts while doing other stuff. For me, it’s while cooking, exercising, commuting — stuff that occupies most but not all of my brain. Even if I could listen to podcasts while lying down in a quiet room staring at a white wall, I’m sure my thoughts would wander.
As a podcaster you are focusing all of your effort on making your show, but the reality is that you are only going to occupy part of your listener’s attention. So when you list five things someone can do to help your show, you’d be lucky if your listener remembered anything you said 20 minutes after finishing the episode.
That’s why I stick to the One Shot Rule: each podcast episode gets only one main call-to-action per episode. That’s when you tell listeners, “If you do just one thing to help the show…” or, “The one thing I want to share with you this week is…”.
If you adhere to the One Shot Rule, you’ll have much higher odds that listeners will follow through. If you name three different things listeners should be doing in your show intro, the person cooking dinner while they listen will be left with a vague sense of needing to do something related to supporting the show. But if you use your One Shot Rule to ask everyone to check out the photos of your new studio on your Patreon page, that same listener will be much more likely to navigate there after finishing the dishes — and, hopefully, pledge their support.
To figure out how to spend your One Shot each episode, start with a list of all the calls-to-action you might possibly want to make. Add a new tab to your accounting spreadsheet, and start assigning asks to episodes.
But what if I have sponsors, you may ask? I’m being paid to ask listeners to check out a sponsor’s service or website, so does that use up my One Shot? My personal feeling is that listeners are savvy enough to realize that you can be promoting something about your own show (your One Shot Rule call-to-action) and also promoting something on behalf of a sponsor. It’s all right to mention sponsor calls-to-action in your dedicated ad read portion of the show while also focusing some time in your intro, midroll, or credits on your One Shot.
Good Calls-to-Action
Here are the ways we spend our One Shot on Spirits and other Multitude shows:
- Sharing the Show — “We rely on you spreading the word to grow the show! So pause the episode right now to text a friend who’d love (our theatre geek humor/this creepy-cool ghost story/the real history of Medusa), and send them the link to spiritspodcast.com!”
- Merchandise — “Tell the world how much you love Spirits by grabbing a logo tee, a badass set of water spirit pins, or a glow-in-the-dark creepy-cool shirt at spiritspodcast.com/merch.”
- Patreon Support — “Want more Spirits in your life? Good news! We have blooper reels, bonus episodes, and recipe cards with custom cocktails for every single episode at patreon.com/spiritspodcast. Head over there to support the show for as little as $1. Your support means we get to do this as our job, so we appreciate every last one of you.”
- Cross-Promotion — “If you like learning about mythology from two BFFs who make way too many Harry Potter references, you’ll love how our friends Eric and Mike share their love for basketball on HORSE. We never thought we’d care about sports, but here we are, diving deep into memes, dating rumors, and stories of literal witches at NBA games. Search ‘Multitude’ in your podcast player and subscribe to HORSE today!”
- Upcoming Content — “This is the last episode of the Pool Party story arc here on Join the Party. The next arc starts in two weeks, which means you have plenty of time to rope a friend into listening to the show! Binge-listen along with them, or send them the link to our short catch-up episodes at jointhepartypod.com/recap. That’s jointhepartypod.com/recap, which has our story summaries, beginner episodes for anyone who’s new to D&D, and links to all of our arcs.”
The call-to-action about sharing is my favorite. I hear so many podcasters say, “Share this episode if you liked it!” But that’s… meaningless. Where do I share it? How do I do that? For what reason? With whom?!
As a creator, you’re sending your podcast into the cell phones of hundreds or thousands of subscribers. But remember that from the listener’s perspective, you’re talking to one individual. You’re in their headphones, talking directly into their brain. That’s seriously intimate and powerful stuff. So give them an individual call-to-action, not a generic one. Get personal! Ask them to do something specific. Include the reason why it helps the show, give them the steps they need to get it done and suggest a reason why they might care. For a great example, listen to how John Moe of The Hilarious World of Depression uses his mid-roll ad breaks to explain that supporting sponsors of the show is like voting for the podcast with your dollars.
Choose Your Own Adventure
If you take away one lesson from this article (see what I did there?), let it be this: Have a reason for every decision you make on your podcast. What your favorite podcaster chooses to do on their show is not necessarily what you should do on yours! Plenty of major podcasts have meandering intros, poor editing, too many ads, overlong titles, no episode descriptions, no signposting, and no transcripts.
You don’t need to repeat these sins just because it’s what your heroes do. You can and should make your own choices about how long or short your episodes are, how frequently you publish, if you do ads and where you place them, what to say in your show’s intro or outro, what you include in your episode descriptions, and, yes, what call-to-action you spend your One Shot on.
If you’re reading this article, you’re a self-starting and savvy podcaster (or podcast listener) interested in making our medium better. So I want to hear from you! Let me know, in the comments or on Twitter, your favorite ways to spend your One Shot.
Amanda McLoughlin is a podcaster and business builder. She created Multitude, an independent podcast collective and consultancy based in New York City. Reach her via Twitter or email, and check out Multitude’s resources for podcasters here.
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