Chances are, if you have a podcast, you are always looking for ways to attract more listeners and have content resonate with audiences. Once you have enough episodes under your belt, there are different ways to determine which content is having an impact and in turn, helping you achieve your podcast business goals. One of the ways to test impact is through A/B testing.
What is A/B testing exactly? The A/B testing method determines which of two versions of something produces the best results. It’s often referred to as “split testing” because groups of users are either split into two groups or fed different experiences and their reactions are monitored.
An A/B test can help you craft better-performing content and is a reliable tool that can be used to improve your show. Keep reading to learn the ways A/B testing can be used to help you make data-backed decisions that drive results for your podcast content and promotion.
1. Impactful Headlines
A headline is your chance to stand out from the crowd and is one of the first things that a listener notices on a podcast directory or your website’s page. It’s also what informs their decision about whether or not they’ll go ahead and give your show a listen or download.
With that in mind, it’s important to be extra diligent when it comes to show headlines, subheads, and descriptions. Ensure they’re short, to-the-point, catchy, and convey your desired message at first glance. This is also a great opportunity to try out SEO methods!
Try A/B testing a few copies with different writing styles and closely monitor which descriptions capture your audience’s attention and lead to the highest number of downloads.
2. Depth and Length of Content
Some audiences prefer high-level information that provides a basic overview of a topic, while others want a deep dive that explores a topic in depth. When it comes to your podcast audience it’s important to know what they prefer, and A/B testing can help you create the content that they want.
Let’s say you're curious about what length of content performs best with your audience. Create both types of content – something shorter and more turn-key and episodes that are longer and provide deeper insight. Overtime, test to see which format leads to more downloads, more engagement, and lower drop-off rates.
Quick Tip: You might discover that the sweet spot for your content is somewhere in the middle, and that’s okay! A/B testing is a great way to zero in on what works best for your audience.
3. Call-To-Action (CTAs)
The CTA is where all the real action takes place. An effective call to action can be the difference between engaged listeners who check out more of your content, download your next show, follow you on social media, subscribe, etc, and ones who don’t.
A/B testing enables you to test different CTAs and their placement in your episode. Experimentation with CTA content and placement will help you understand which variation leads to the highest audience conversions. Use the data collected from your hosting platform of choice to help effectively measure the impact of your CTAs.
4. Social Media
One of the best ways to test your branded podcast content is via social media. Cross-promotion across channels is an effective marketing strategy, so ensuring you are taking full advantage is vital for the success of your branded podcast.
With that in mind, devise some A/B tests to run on your social media platforms. When promoting your episode, you can play around with a number of items:
- Post length (number of characters)
- Post style: a quote versus a key statistic, or a question versus a statement
- Emojis
- Punctuation
- Tone of voice: casual versus formal, passive versus active, etc.
You can also use social media to try out different forms of promotion for your podcast content. For example, you could run an A/B test where one week you post a video of the podcast being recorded, and then the next week post a simple image or audiogram. Then, monitor which ones lead to more click-throughs to download the show.
There are a number of other elements you can A/B test on social media:
- Text only versus posts with an image or video
- Regular image versus animated GIF
- Photos of people or products versus graphs or infographics
- Length of video
Quick Tip: Don’t A/B test multiple items at once. If you do, you won’t know what element was causing your post to perform better/worse.
So, there you have it! A quick introduction to the world of A/B testing and how you can leverage it to test your branded podcast content, and find what content and promotions perform the best.
If you are consistent with A/B testing overtime, you will come to intimately learn what your listeners’ preferences are and what they gravitate to. This will lead to a larger audience and your show having a larger impact.
