Engaging Your Podcast Audience Between Episode Releases

Brett Johnson [: 00:00:09

Welcome to the Circle Sessions featuring the Circle of Experts. Each week, one of the Circle of Experts joins me to talk about critical aspects of growing your podcast. The Circle of Experts are Yasmine Robles and Izzy Dadoski from Rebel Marketing, Tonnisha English Amamoo of TJE Communications, and Don The Idea Guy. I'm Brett Johnson, My Podcast Guy from Circle 270 Media Podcast Consultants. This week, Tonnisha is here. Tonnisha's on a mission to help small businesses level the plank through her digital marketing solutions. Tonnisha, thanks for joining me again today.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:00:43

Yes. Thank you for having me.

Brett Johnson [: 00:00:45

You got a really great topic for this one, and it I don't think podcasters or creator really thinks about this. They're really focused on Yeah. Creating content, those episodes or, the video cast or it could be blogs or whatever the case might be. How to keep an audience engaged between you publish. Yeah. I think that's really a a good good way to start in in keeping consistent between it. So let's let's look at that from the standpoint of, okay, you put all those put all this energy into creating each of these episodes, these blogs or whatever. Let's just call it content.

Brett Johnson [: 00:01:23

Thinking about they still you know, your audience may still wanna hear from you in between.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:01:28

Right. Yeah.

Brett Johnson [: 00:01:29

And and let let's kinda go over, you know, how to stay consistent. Maybe maybe that's the the thought because there are ways of doing it. But maybe thinking about, okay. How do I how do I even approach being consistent between being consistent with my episodes? Yeah.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:01:47

Yes. So I know we've talked, quite on the podcast about content calendars and planning content. So if you haven't listened to any of those episodes, definitely recommend starting there because this will definitely feed into that whole process. So one, you know, I I don't think a lot of people think about their podcast as a piece of content, but it's a huge piece of content that we can break down into all their pieces of content to keep people engaged in between the episodes. So then that way, when you're posting on social media, when you're sending emails, it's not just, hey. New episode. Hey. New episode.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:02:34

And letting your her, podcast episodes have room to breathe as well. Right? We don't wanna just keep dropping and dropping and and moving on, especially if you have powerful conversations. Like, let's find a way to kinda keep those things I mean, really staying consistent with anything that you do, especially with the podcast is so important because as we know, there are so many people with podcast. So we have to find ways to stand starting with just being consistent in, not just those episode drops, but in between is gonna be super important for you to keep your listeners engaged and excited about what you're doing. A few different types of content that you can focus on in between episodes. One thing I know we've talked about before is some sound bites. So if there were, you know, some gems that were dropped in an episode pull out, you know, a fifteen second, twenty second clip and use that as a piece of content. Now even if you're not doing the audio and the visual, because I know we've kinda talked about the pros and the cons, but you could still a photo of your guests, put the sound bite behind the picture, put, you know, the time stamp of when this epic or, you know, the time that they can go back and listen to hear the full clip.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:04:04

Still something that you can share from your podcast episode. Regardless of if you have the visual or not, it's still something that you could do or even quotes. Right? So if if trying to, you know, doing all that is too much work, then simply quoting a person if they said something and tagging them on social media and then reminding people to go back and listen to that episode is piece of content that you can post in between podcast episodes.

Brett Johnson [: 00:04:39

Right. Exactly. Well and and it's also you can take a look at, sometimes you you record an episode with someone, and you don't have really flush out even more thoughts that you have because you're watching the clock. You you want it to be, you know, concise. And you can also look at social media or whatever, you know, you're posting on to kind of, hey. We talked about this, but what do you think about no. I didn't get to bring this up. You could you talk to your community about things that you didn't get to talk to about in your pod in your podcast.

Brett Johnson [: 00:05:10

That's a really good avenue to do that as well too. Yeah.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:05:13

Yeah. And that's a great way to also engage in the conversation. So it's not just them, you know, listening to an episode and, you know, passively, maybe while they're working or driving to work, but it also encourages them to be a part of the converse. And, you know, that leads me to another piece of content is, you know, showing some love to your listeners. So if someone let's say you you do that, maybe you make a post and you're, like, you know, expanding on a topic out and someone commented with something really thoughtful. Maybe you, one, give them a shout out for following you and engaging and listening. Like, people love to hear their name or see themselves quoted in places. And, you know, you can ask permission as well.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:06:04

I would recommend to make sure they they're okay with being put in the spotlight in that way, but that could be a great way to show your listeners that you care about their thoughts of what you're doing on your show. Mhmm. And I guarantee you after that, it'll keep them engaged. I used to listen to their their podcast doesn't exist anymore, but it was a podcast called Stride and Somter. And really, it was just, the guy's name was Kip Clark, and I don't remember the guest, but, or his cohost, but they would just talk about the most, like, random conversations. And the was that like, hey. If we were just, like, you know, taking a a walk and we were just having random thoughtful conversations, like, this is that podcast. And I've I used to, like, tweet them and, like, things.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:07:01

And one day, the host, he asked me, hey, would it be okay if I mail you something? And they mailed me a sticker of their podcast, and he wrote me a note saying, like, thank you for into the show and being engaged. Like, we really, really appreciate it, yada yada. And that made me, like, a loyal fan just from that. Now you don't have to do all that, but if you are at least, like, acknowledge are trying to engage with you in conversations that you're having on your podcast, that can go a long way.

Brett Johnson [: 00:07:37

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. I think that, you know, this, creating engagement points, I guess way between episodes can can allow you to be even more creative without it being a burden. Let's put that Yeah. That it's that, you know, you feel like you need to do something, but at the same time, well, don't let it be another job. Be creative with

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:07:59

it. You

Brett Johnson [: 00:08:00

wanna do how can you have fun with it? Experiment. If it doesn't work, that's okay. But it's that but you're at least kind of doing something between it. It's you're, you know, you're alleviating the burnout of just constant create focused on. It's that sometimes inspiration comes from things you do between episodes

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:08:21

and the

Brett Johnson [: 00:08:21

feedback that you get. So allow that to happen. Yeah.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:08:24

Mhmm. Exactly. And, you know, just a few other ways keep your listeners engaged. Just do some some interactive stuff. So with Instagram, you can do polls. You can also do polls on LinkedIn as well and making a post and kinda seeing, you know, this or kind of thing with things that you're talking about, also kind of going with, your idea of kind of, like, expanding on thoughts is maybe providing some education depending on the topics that you're talking you and Katie did an episode with Angie notes from Healing Without Limits for the Tri Village Chamber podcast, and she's talking about mental health. So there may be some some verbiage or some language for familiar to people. So using your social media or your emails as a way to provide that education to people, go a little bit deeper on some of the topics, be able to provide resources.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:09:29

Right? Especially if you're talking about something like mental health, to be able to provide people with resources that they can take away and kind of explore their own mental health journey themselves, or counseling or just continued education for their employees. So think about how you can really go beyond the episode. Like, your podcast should not just start with an episode recording. That's that's kind of like the start is the recording of that episode, but then how can you take it beyond and keep your listeners engaged and also gain new listeners too?

Brett Johnson [: 00:10:12

Think and and, you know, coupled with that, I think you take into account while you were talking, I thought about this as well too, is how often do you publish and look at it from the standpoint of you know, if you publish once a month, again, whatever but it's that, okay, your rhythm doesn't have to be that the in between content has to fill all the weeks that you're not publishing an episode. It could be that you're the same kind of pace with a monthly. Maybe in two weeks, you put something else out in a couple kind of process. Because if you're a weekly podcast and you're filling in between, you know, a couple of days, it can be pretty burdensome. So I I think it's that pace yourself on based on your publication to really take a look at that. Because, again, you don't wanna burn you don't wanna burn out on both creating content and also the the extra stuff that you do, but take a look at it and and the expectation level of what the listeners would would went went from you.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:11:09

Right. Exactly. You know, with me and the podcast that you helped me start with my Black Woman in Biz podcast, creating that in between content has allowed me to be able to not have to be stressed a weekly episode. And I can kind of, you know, maybe do every two weeks or once a month, just to kind of be able to, like, kinda stretch out the content that I have as well as, you know, creating that content in between, making sure that I'm tagging the guests and keeping them engaged and getting their audiences engaged and listening to the a lot of different ways that you can, use content to also buy yourself more time in between episodes so that there isn't that, you know, rush or or the need to be like, okay. I gotta go a couple episodes, before the end of the month or whatever. And then it's also a great way again to just keep people engaged in between episodes too. And we'll to find new listeners just based off the education pieces that you're doing or the conversations that you're starting with people.

Brett Johnson [: 00:12:32

Right. Exactly. And and, you know, I just had this conversation with a client yesterday talking about expectation of having a guest really help promote the episode they're on or maybe a cohost, and they're just not Mhmm. There's as as expectations you would hope that they would help, but I think it's Yeah. If you coordinate with certain following our episode, I wanna coordinate with you. You post post something, I tag you. And you post something, and I'll you know, and and that sort of thing kinda combine it. That can help as well too.

Brett Johnson [: 00:13:05

Maybe the coordination of the between you're doing it with a cohost or it's a guest Mhmm. Can help out as well too. But I think it does take coordination to know if you do this, I'll do this, and we're gonna do it on Tuesday, or whatever day it might be. That that helps, and you won't be as frustrated. How's that extra content between episodes too?

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:13:26

Yes. I think that's important. Like you said, coordinating with your guests on how or if they will be engaged in the promotion of the podcast. Forget to have those conversations. I I would just especially on Instagram where you can invite people to collaborate, I'll just invite them. And then it's up to them if they accept it or not. Most of the time they do. Just tagging them and, you know, tagging them in the comments saying, like, you know, still can't get over how great this conversation was.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:14:03

Thanks again. You know? And then that kinda will push them right? Especially on LinkedIn where then that will show to their followers. So just get getting creative on how you engage with your guests. But, of course, I think it's important beforehand, like you said, to okay. I'm gonna post the episode on Thursday, and then the Tuesday after I'm gonna do this. And then that Friday, I'm gonna do that so that they're aware of what you're doing, being able to give them assets too, like giving them the hey. Here's a clip you can post or, you know, here's the link to the episode so that you can share it. Really trying to make this a team effort as much as possible.

Brett Johnson [: 00:14:47

Right. Well and and then then you also don't have to worry about getting kind of fight error. You're going around the algorithm of what an Instagram or a a LinkedIn might do that, you know, you know that your guest or your cohost is going to post on a certain day, but you may not get fed that until Yeah. Like Right. Right. You know? Therefore, if you're both doing it on Tuesday, at least you know that, okay. I'm in your feed. You're in my feed.

Brett Johnson [: 00:15:12

Kinda feel to it. We're tagging each other. It's not breaking the algorithm per se, but at least there's a, again, a coordination that you're trying to do on on platforms that aren't necessarily your friends.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:15:24

Yeah. For sure.

Brett Johnson [: 00:15:26

For sure.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:15:27

Yep. Yeah.

Brett Johnson [: 00:15:28

Exactly. Yeah. Any other, yeah, any other calls to action come to mind? I I know we've covered a lot. Yes. Yeah.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:15:36

You know, I would also encourage people to when it comes to call to actions is finding ways to engage people, like, you know, tag a friend who who may need this episode or comment your biggest takeaway from this episode. Or you know, there is this app called many chats and it is free for the basic functionality, but you could have it so that if someone comments, you know, the word podcast, then it will automatically DM and at them an episode link. So so you could say, you know, comment podcast, and I'll send you the episode or comment Circle Sessions, and I'll send you this episode link. So there's ways that you can also get people engaged that way. You can still do that on the free version. It's just a little workaround that you'll have to do, but it's definitely possible to do that as well. And that is always a great way to encourage engagement. Or, you know, if you're talking about some on the podcast, like, if you're talking about, you know, wellness and you tell them, you know, tell people comment the word wellness or health, and I'll send you the episode.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:17:00

So there's fun ways that you can kinda keep in that way too. Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah. So just, you know Yeah.

Brett Johnson [: 00:17:08

We haven't talked about mini chat in a while if that's a good idea.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:17:10

I know. I know. Yeah. Yeah. Just making it fun, getting creative, trying trying new, and knowing that, you know, there are a lot of podcasts out there, so we gotta get creative on how we keep our listeners engaged with what we're doing.

Brett Johnson [: 00:17:31

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, super, there's been a a tremendous amount of ideas here. I love the the idea of working with your schedule and against your schedule and making sure that you're, you know, keeping that that engagement up as much as you can and be creative. Wants to kinda pick your brain about some more ideas. What's the best way to get ahold of you?

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:17:51

Yeah. You can go to my website at tjecommunications.com and set up a free consultation, and we can talk through some of these ideas.

Brett Johnson [: 00:18:02

Cool. And, yeah, if you wanna explore some more ideas with me as well too, we can, you know, actually bring, Tanisha in together, that sort of thing. You can reach me at mypodcastguy.com. My booking calendar is there, and we'd love to come up with I think this is this is something that does not necessarily addressed, the all that often. I think it's something to think about, whether it's the very beginning stages of creating a podcast or as you go through and you and you incorporate it. I think it's something that needs to be Tanisha, thanks for joining me. I appreciate it.

Tonnisha English-Amamoo [: 00:18:35

Yeah. Thanks for having me. Appreciate you.