A few weeks ago, I came across an ad in a well-known podcast industry publication for a new-ish tech company in the podcasting space.
The company was a new sponsor of the publication and as part of their sponsor package, received a number of targeted shoutouts, both in the newsletter as well as more broadly on social media.
Being in the podcast world and seeing all the buzz, of course, I clicked through.
And that’s where the problems began.
The website was flashy and modern, no less than what you’d expect from a well-funded tech company.
But for the life of me, I couldn’t understand what the product actually was.
The headline on the homepage was authoritative and hype-y… but entirely vague.
The subheading and subsequent paragraphs on the homepage did little to shine any light on:
- What the product actually was
- Who it was actually for
- How it would actually help them
- Why it was actually needed in the first place
It wasn’t just the homepage.
I was so mystified by the utter lack of clarity that I spent the next 15 minutes combing through every page on the site trying to figure out what I was looking at.
Time and again, in the place of any kind of descriptive or explanatory text was only a heaping supply of jargon, hype, and word salad.
It’s almost like they told the web designer to just put in some vague filler text when building the site that they forgot to update.
Now, let’s be fair.
Finding juuuuuust the right words to describe the thing you built—whether a product, business, or podcast—can be tough.
But not that tough.
It doesn’t take a master copywriter to explain the what, who, how, and why of a product in plain English.
Here’s the kicker, though.
I know the general rates for sponsoring this publication in question.
And so I know that this company spent many thousands of dollars to get this exposure.
And to be fair, they got the exposure they paid for.
They likely got many thousands of eyeballs on their brand and hundreds or thousands of website visitors.
But if my experience with their website is any indication, how much do you think all that exposure was worth?
My guess is not much.
Despite the traffic, the eyeballs, and the attention, I would be shocked if they walked away with any new social followers, let alone email subscribers, leads, or customers.
In short, getting attention (paid or otherwise) is just one small part of marketing.
This idea applies as much to growing a podcast as it does to a product or business.
If you’re struggling to grow your show, the most obvious solution is that you need to find a way to get your show in front of more people.
But here’s the thing.
Exposure only helps if you have a show that:
- Addresses a specific need or desire…
- For a specific person…
- In a way that other shows don’t…
And then, communicates all of the above in clear language that anyone could understand in 3 seconds.
Once you’ve checked these boxes, there’s a good chance that more exposure = more growth.
Before you’ve checked them, however… well, more exposure just means more energy, time, and money poured down the drain.
And I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like the foundation of an effective marketing strategy to me.
