Grow Your Audience With These Podcast Goal Setting Tips

Before starting a podcast making sure that you set realistic goals is one of the best ways to ensure your podcast will be a success. When I started a podcast, I created a short goal statement for my podcasting by writing about the topics I would include in my show and what kind of people I want to attract. You can set goals for your podcast or your episodes.

Here’s an example of a goal statement I use for each new season of Wanna Be:

The Wanna Be podcast is created for women of colour who want to break into creative and entertainment in the UK or internationally. The goal is to give women hope, reassurance, strategies on building their network, increasing their exposure/visibility, inspiration and advice through a series of interviews with high-profile creative professionals who have broken into creative fields. 

It’s not perfect, and some might argue it’s trying to do a lot. But I’m an overachiever, so doing a lot is my goal. This statement has evolved and adapted over the years. If you’ve listened to Wanna Be, you’ll instantly hear how the above statement has been translated into the episodes. Check out this episode with Elaine Welteroth, for example.

Let me provide an example of a simple goal statement: “I will have a top 100 podcast on Apple podcasts within one year.” This isn’t too far off some of the goals people share with me during podcast marketing discovery calls. However, this simply won’t cut it. You need to go deeper and connect with your target audience.

Your goal statement should not be more than two sentences and should include a few keywords to help keep you focused on your topics or goals. Setting clear, actionable goals are vital to the success of achieving your podcasting goals. Setting specific word counts, topics, deadlines, and anything else that is relevant helps keep me focused on my main goal.

Knowing these details will help you create your podcast episodes and decide what your content should be. If you can’t come up with these types of details ahead of time, writing them down as you answer the following questions will help clarify your podcasting goals.

Having realistic podcast goals will help you succeed long term, so be specific.

Take action:

  1. Using the example below, create a podcast goal statement:
    My podcast is for people who feel ______. I want to ______ [e.g. inspire] and ______[e.g. educate] listeners about ______. I’m especially passionate to help _________ [insert target audience] with this content.
  2. Read it out loud and edit as needed until you’re happy.
  3. Tweet it and tag @ContentisQn so we can feedback and reshare it.

Setting podcast goals is one of the easiest and fastest ways to ensure your podcast will be a hit with listeners.

This is a sample from our podcast goal setting guide that’s available inside the club. If you’re enjoying our free content, then you’ll love our premium content. We always go a little bit deeper inside the club. To access this guide, weekly podcast promotion clinics, or studios, sign up for a Community or Studio membership now.