151 Social Media Algorithms Explained: Insights and Strategies for Podcasters to Expand Their Reach

[00:00:00] How does it that algorithms actually work, especially on social media?

[00:00:05] And do they do anything for you if you have an audio podcast?

[00:00:13] Matters. Be heard.

[00:00:17] Welcome to the podcast where you get exclusive behind the scenes tips

[00:00:21] to make your own show sound truly spectacular.

[00:00:24] This is Podtastic Audio.

[00:00:30] Hey, what's happening?

[00:00:32] How are you doing today?

[00:00:34] Hey, how is that podcast of yours coming along?

[00:00:37] Hey, thank you so much for being here.

[00:00:39] I am Chris and I started podcasting back in the summer of 2019.

[00:00:45] Not knowing nothing about nothing, using the cheapest gear

[00:00:48] I could possibly find to get the job done.

[00:00:51] And I've evolved since then to now.

[00:00:54] And currently right now, like this very second,

[00:00:58] I'm using a different microphone.

[00:01:00] Well, is it really that different? I don't know.

[00:01:03] I am currently using the USB version of the Rode Pod Mic,

[00:01:08] the Rode Pod Mic USB, as they call it,

[00:01:11] using the cool pop filter that comes with the USB Pod Mic

[00:01:15] on this microphone right now.

[00:01:18] I've had it sitting in the corner of the room and I was like,

[00:01:21] you know what, maybe I should try this thing out and actually use it

[00:01:24] on a podcast episode like I'm doing right now.

[00:01:28] And the cool thing about this microphone, obviously,

[00:01:32] is that you can hook it up directly into a Rodecaster

[00:01:36] or any console that it takes XLR connections,

[00:01:40] XLR microphone connections, that is directly into a mixer,

[00:01:45] an interface, a console.

[00:01:48] I'm using the Rodecaster Pro 2.

[00:01:50] But the cool thing is that, yeah, I can do that.

[00:01:52] But also you can plug this microphone in directly

[00:01:56] into a computer via a USB-C port,

[00:02:00] just like the Rodecaster does.

[00:02:02] But I have a MacBook Pro which happens to have, yeah,

[00:02:06] those USB-C ports right on the thing.

[00:02:09] And although I'm not plugging it directly into the computer

[00:02:12] through the USB mode, it is going through the Rodecaster.

[00:02:16] But the cool thing is that I can take this microphone

[00:02:19] and I can use it outside of this office here,

[00:02:22] plugging it directly into my computer,

[00:02:24] bypassing the need of an interface,

[00:02:28] bypassing the need to use a console, a Rodecaster,

[00:02:33] or even my Zoom Pod Track P4, which I normally use.

[00:02:38] This way I can do it without any of that extra stuff,

[00:02:42] eliminate the extra stuff I don't need,

[00:02:44] plug the microphone directly into it,

[00:02:46] and suppose the sound just as good

[00:02:49] as if you're running it through

[00:02:50] a full Rodecaster Pro console,

[00:02:53] which is something that I've been wanting to try

[00:02:56] ever since I picked up this microphone.

[00:02:59] Now you're thinking, Chris,

[00:03:00] why do you even buy another microphone?

[00:03:02] You already got like three or four Rode PodMic microphones,

[00:03:06] and I absolutely love the Rode PodMic microphones.

[00:03:11] They are amazing for the price.

[00:03:14] And I know a lot of folks out there are gonna say,

[00:03:16] oh, the SM7B microphone is way better,

[00:03:19] or maybe the RE320 microphone is like way better.

[00:03:24] Great.

[00:03:24] Those microphones are like four to five times the price

[00:03:29] of a Rode PodMic, and the Rode PodMic sound phenomenal.

[00:03:34] But this one, since it is the USB version,

[00:03:37] does cost double the price of a standard Rode PodMic.

[00:03:42] And you do get the option to plug it directly

[00:03:45] into the computer via USB.

[00:03:48] But one of the coolest features of this Rode PodMic USB

[00:03:52] is that it comes with this handy dandy, fancy,

[00:03:55] cool pop filter cover that fits perfectly right over

[00:04:00] the front of the Rode PodMic.

[00:04:03] It will work on a regular Rode PodMic,

[00:04:06] and it will also work on the Rode PodMic USB,

[00:04:09] of course, because that's the microphone it comes with.

[00:04:12] Now I was always wondering, like, hey,

[00:04:14] wouldn't it be nice if we could just buy these Rode PodMic

[00:04:18] pop filter covers because they fit perfectly for the microphone?

[00:04:23] It would be cool if Rode like offered these available just

[00:04:27] to have for the standard Rode PodMic,

[00:04:31] which comes pretty much naked.

[00:04:32] There's no pop filter.

[00:04:34] You can buy a foam filter for the Rode PodMic,

[00:04:39] which is what I've been using for all these years.

[00:04:41] They're about, I don't know, ten to twenty dollars on Amazon.

[00:04:45] They're just a standard foam filter.

[00:04:47] You got to squeeze over the top of it and you got to really

[00:04:50] push hard and work it over the top of the PodMic to make it fit.

[00:04:55] Available this June from Rode is the WS14 pop filter

[00:05:02] specifically designed for the Rode PodMic.

[00:05:06] Both PodMics, whether it's the original PodMic or the brand

[00:05:10] new PodMic USB, this brand new pop filter will be available

[00:05:15] this June and it comes in eight different colors.

[00:05:19] What?

[00:05:20] I'm not talking just black or white.

[00:05:22] You got blue, you got green, you got orange, you got pink,

[00:05:27] you got purple, you got red, and of course, black and white.

[00:05:31] Available this June.

[00:05:33] And it looks like the retail price that I've seen is $20 US.

[00:05:38] Now, I am going to pick some of these up as soon as they

[00:05:41] are available and get rid of those goofy clown nose big foam

[00:05:46] things I have in the front of my Rode PodMics.

[00:05:49] They work great, but I think this pop filter works so much better.

[00:05:53] It fits on the microphone super easy and snug.

[00:05:56] And I think it looks really good on your microphone.

[00:05:59] Your microphone now, not saying it didn't look professional before,

[00:06:03] but I think it looks really good, especially if you're doing video work

[00:06:07] and you got a lot of video stuff happening on your show.

[00:06:10] Having a good looking microphone in the shot with a good looking pop filter

[00:06:15] or something on it that actually makes you look professional on camera,

[00:06:20] at least is going to go a long way, especially for your audience

[00:06:25] or maybe even a guest that you have on.

[00:06:27] They're going to see you with something that looks professional.

[00:06:29] They're like, wow, this guy really has got his stuff together.

[00:06:33] So if you have a Rode PodMic and you want to maybe fluff it up a bit

[00:06:38] and make it look amazing and sound amazing, they're looking to picking up

[00:06:42] these new pop filters that are going to be available next month.

[00:06:45] That is June 2024.

[00:06:48] So the other day I was thinking about podcasting and all the different things

[00:06:53] like whether it's a YouTube video or Instagram Reels or any kind of social

[00:06:57] media, you kind of think about all the different versions of stats, statistics.

[00:07:02] You got the follower count on a lot of these platforms.

[00:07:06] You got the subscriber count if you're on YouTube.

[00:07:08] And of course, you got the view count on YouTube or even on Instagram,

[00:07:13] like an Instagram reel will have a view count and a like count and a comment

[00:07:18] count and things of that sort. You kind of look at all those things.

[00:07:21] And of course, you get the podcast, which measures things in downloads.

[00:07:25] But I do know that a lot of content

[00:07:27] creators will focus their energy on the platform that they see the most

[00:07:31] growth in now that really kind of makes sense if you think about it.

[00:07:35] Like if you're doing really well on Instagram, for example,

[00:07:39] and you're putting out Instagram stories or Reels out and they're just knocking

[00:07:44] out the park with tons of likes and tons of engagement and tons of comments

[00:07:49] and you're just blowing up and growing your following.

[00:07:53] You will probably focus most your energy right there on Instagram.

[00:07:58] Same thing goes for TikTok.

[00:07:59] Same thing goes for any platform,

[00:08:02] really, that you see crazy amount of growth happening in a short amount of time.

[00:08:08] But when you look at those growth numbers, especially on the social media

[00:08:14] platforms and I'm going to lump in YouTube as a social media in this

[00:08:19] scenario here because technically it really is a social media platform.

[00:08:24] I know some people don't think of it as a social media platform.

[00:08:27] They think of it as like broadcasting or something like that.

[00:08:30] Yeah, I do get it.

[00:08:31] Broadcast companies do post stuff on YouTube, but they also post stuff

[00:08:36] on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, all of them.

[00:08:39] They're all a social media platform.

[00:08:41] And one thing you got to think about

[00:08:43] with any social media platform is the algorithms.

[00:08:48] Now, each social media platform uses its own unique and specific algorithm.

[00:08:54] But for the most part, they all kind of fall into somewhat of the same

[00:08:59] aspects. Here are the top five ways that social media uses these algorithms

[00:09:07] to expand the reach of your content.

[00:09:10] Number one, engagement metrics.

[00:09:15] You see algorithms prioritize content

[00:09:18] that generates high engagement, such as likes, comments, shares and even saves.

[00:09:25] If a post gets high engagement levels,

[00:09:28] what really happens is this signals that the content is interesting and relevant

[00:09:33] to the users. So moving on to the second algorithm for social media.

[00:09:38] And that is that it looks into the user interaction history.

[00:09:45] The algorithm considers the users past

[00:09:49] interactions to predict which content they're likely to engage with.

[00:09:53] So, for example, if you are looking

[00:09:55] up microphone and microphone type stuff and microphone gear on YouTube,

[00:10:00] for example, then YouTube is going to probably show you

[00:10:03] YouTube videos that are related to the content you previously watched.

[00:10:09] And this also goes for comments or shares or any kind of interaction

[00:10:15] you had with a particular content on social media.

[00:10:20] So if you are the person posting something on social media,

[00:10:23] you want to really get as much interaction as you can on that particular post.

[00:10:29] That's why it's probably best to maybe ask different questions or do surveys.

[00:10:34] Anything you can, they can get the audience to potentially

[00:10:39] comment and to potentially interact with that content.

[00:10:43] Now moving on to the third algorithm

[00:10:46] that social media uses to prioritize content over some other content is

[00:10:52] the quality of that content and originality, of course.

[00:10:56] So high quality original content is favored over low quality or repetitive posts.

[00:11:03] This includes clear visuals,

[00:11:06] well written text and unique ideas that stand out from the rest.

[00:11:10] And that's the thing with any of this stuff is that you want your show to

[00:11:15] stand out, right? Well, then you have to be unique.

[00:11:18] But at the same time, you also have to be good.

[00:11:22] Okay.

[00:11:23] Moving on to the fourth algorithm that social media uses to push out new content

[00:11:28] to new people across their platforms is if you decide to jump on the old bandwagon

[00:11:34] of what's popular in the news today.

[00:11:36] And I'm talking about the prevalence and timeliness of popular news stories,

[00:11:42] the relevance of content based on current trends like what's happening

[00:11:47] right now, what's popular right now, what's hot right now.

[00:11:51] And user interest is crucial.

[00:11:55] Fresh and trending content is often

[00:11:58] prioritized by these algorithms to keep the users engaged and up to date

[00:12:03] with information you ever notice when you're on Instagram or maybe even

[00:12:07] Facebook and there's something big happening in the news right now.

[00:12:11] And all of a sudden it seems like every single like if it's a news story

[00:12:16] outlet or maybe even semi kind of a news story outlet, they're all posting

[00:12:21] about the very same thing, especially if the story is big enough.

[00:12:25] Seems like everybody in the world is posting about it.

[00:12:28] And the fifth algorithm that social

[00:12:31] media uses to prioritize which content it's going to show out to more people

[00:12:36] or not will depend on your very own network and relationship circle.

[00:12:43] The strength of the relationship between its users impacts content reach.

[00:12:48] You see, posts from family and friends are frequently interacted with on

[00:12:54] accounts are more likely to appear higher in your feed, ensuring that users

[00:13:00] see content from their closest connections.

[00:13:02] But this is not always true.

[00:13:04] You'll see content from a variety of posts.

[00:13:06] But it seems like the content that your friends and family post

[00:13:10] seem to be the posts you see more frequently in social media, at least

[00:13:16] on maybe Facebook, Instagram, things of that sort.

[00:13:18] But you're thinking, hey, Chris, what does any of this stuff have to do

[00:13:22] with podcasting? And the truth is it doesn't.

[00:13:25] That's the whole gag is that none of this has to do with an audio

[00:13:30] podcast. And you're thinking, well, what are you talking about now, Chris?

[00:13:34] Well, if you think about all the things with social media and all

[00:13:38] the algorithms I just described and how they all work, none of that applies

[00:13:44] to an audio podcast.

[00:13:46] So let's back this up a few steps.

[00:13:49] If you post something on social media or even on a YouTube channel,

[00:13:53] you will notice that you will get possibly more viewers and more comments

[00:13:59] and more likes on your content from people you don't even know,

[00:14:04] people you don't follow, people that don't even follow you.

[00:14:07] So how is that even possible?

[00:14:08] It's possible because social media uses these algorithms to get your content

[00:14:14] out to more people than follow you, which may sound amazing.

[00:14:20] But if you really think about it,

[00:14:22] if you post a 10 second reel on Instagram and somehow it gets put

[00:14:28] in front of an extra 100 people that you have no idea who they are.

[00:14:32] But it's just say it gets put in front of these people.

[00:14:35] They look at it.

[00:14:36] They laugh.

[00:14:37] They maybe give it a like and they flick it up onto the next thing.

[00:14:40] They watch your 10 second thing and then they're on to the next thing

[00:14:44] and then the next thing.

[00:14:45] And then before they know it, they sat there and wasted an entire hour

[00:14:49] just looking at things on their phone, not interacting with any

[00:14:54] of the posts, not really remembering the last five posts they saw.

[00:14:59] They just kept going on to the next one around and around.

[00:15:03] And the more that Instagram feeds them fresh new content,

[00:15:07] content that Instagram thinks they're going to like,

[00:15:11] they're going to stay right where they are looking at the next thing

[00:15:15] that pops up on their feet unknowingly knowing what's going to happen next.

[00:15:20] That's kind of the thrill of it all.

[00:15:22] Trust me.

[00:15:22] I'm talking about myself because I've been in that situation.

[00:15:26] I've sat there and stared at Instagram Reels for a long time,

[00:15:30] just going from video to video to the next thing to the next thing.

[00:15:35] And before I knew it, I was like, oh my gosh, almost an hour has gone by.

[00:15:39] My battery, my phone is almost dead and I can't remember half of things I saw.

[00:15:44] Now that is kind of how a lot of these social media platforms actually

[00:15:48] work when they push out new content to new users, which sounds great

[00:15:53] as the content creator.

[00:15:54] You're like, yeah, I'm getting more stuff out to more people,

[00:15:57] especially people who don't know who I am yet.

[00:16:00] But are they really retaining the things you're putting out there,

[00:16:03] especially on TikTok or these really short form video formats like Reels

[00:16:08] or even YouTube Shorts, something like that.

[00:16:10] The content is coming in so rapidly, so quickly.

[00:16:13] They may interact with it.

[00:16:15] They may retain some of it.

[00:16:17] They may not.

[00:16:18] They may just flick onto the next thing.

[00:16:20] Now, when it comes to actual regular, I'm going to say it called

[00:16:24] podcasting classic, which is like normal podcasting,

[00:16:28] which is like the audio basic RSS podcast.

[00:16:32] This thing right here, the audio podcast.

[00:16:35] When it comes to that, the experience for the consumer is completely different.

[00:16:41] One podcast download has more weight than I would say possibly 10 or even

[00:16:48] a thousand views on a random Instagram reel.

[00:16:53] Let's take a look at the journey it takes to physically

[00:16:57] get a podcast download from your show directly to the listener.

[00:17:03] So I guess the first step in the process is that the listener would have

[00:17:07] to be aware that your show even exists.

[00:17:10] At this point, this is where an algorithm on a social media platform

[00:17:14] would kick in and feed you something brand new.

[00:17:18] But we don't have that option on a podcast app.

[00:17:20] So what do we do?

[00:17:21] So we have to use these algorithms

[00:17:23] on social media to eventually send out our new show to potential new listeners.

[00:17:31] And like I've said before, it's very hard to get somebody off of a social

[00:17:37] media platform to leave that platform and go over to a completely different

[00:17:42] link to a completely different app to consume content in a completely

[00:17:46] different format. Making that jump is very hard to get a new listener to do.

[00:17:52] I'm not saying it can't be done.

[00:17:54] I'm just saying chances of it happening each time you put that post out,

[00:17:58] each time that post is being seen by somebody, the chance of them leaving

[00:18:02] is very slim because the social media algorithms are designed to keep people

[00:18:09] on that platform. They make money when their users stay connected

[00:18:15] to the social media platforms, just like being in a casino.

[00:18:19] The longer you play in the casino,

[00:18:21] the more the casino likes you being there because in the long run,

[00:18:25] they actually win and they get all the money back.

[00:18:28] Social media, same thing.

[00:18:30] They want to keep all their users engaged and on the platforms as long

[00:18:35] as possible. But OK, let's just say you get somebody interested in your show

[00:18:40] and they want to listen. A new listener wants to listen to your show.

[00:18:43] Great. They have to figure out which podcast app works best for them

[00:18:49] and their device. If you're on Apple, Apple Podcasts.

[00:18:53] If you're on Android, maybe Spotify.

[00:18:55] There is a bunch of others in between.

[00:18:58] So once that new listener finds your show on their app of choice,

[00:19:04] they either can press play on your most recent episode,

[00:19:08] give it a whirl, see if they like it.

[00:19:10] And if they do like it or at least sample a little bit of it,

[00:19:13] they can decide to either follow or subscribe.

[00:19:17] Basically be connected to your show on that device so that every single time

[00:19:23] you release a brand new episode, it is there waiting for them

[00:19:27] the very next time they open up that app.

[00:19:30] Now, this all sounds amazing.

[00:19:32] This all sounds wonderful.

[00:19:33] And if you've been following along so far, not a single piece of algorithm

[00:19:39] tech sent them to this point in the process.

[00:19:43] They had to do everything on their very own.

[00:19:46] And when they eventually do press play on your podcast episode,

[00:19:50] usually podcast episodes are typically longer than an Instagram reel.

[00:19:57] Now, I know there are very short podcasts out there, like one minute or less,

[00:20:03] but there are longer podcasts out there.

[00:20:06] Two, three, four, even 10 hour podcasts out there.

[00:20:09] I would never listen to a 10 hour podcast.

[00:20:11] I'm telling you right now, I don't care how good the episode is.

[00:20:14] It's just too much for me.

[00:20:16] But there are shows that are extremely long.

[00:20:18] Audio podcasting is typically a longer format, and therefore people usually

[00:20:24] are engaged with that content for longer periods.

[00:20:28] Podcast consumption is usually done when the user is doing something else,

[00:20:34] whether it's driving, doing the dishes, going on a run or a walk

[00:20:38] or working out, they're physically doing something else,

[00:20:40] and they want to absorb and learn and be entertained while they're doing

[00:20:46] this other task different than video, different than social media.

[00:20:50] Because with social media and video stuff is that you physically sit there

[00:20:55] one place, all of your senses are being sucked in to one single screen

[00:21:01] that you're watching. You can't be doing other things

[00:21:03] while you're watching a YouTube video, but you can consume content via audio

[00:21:10] and do other things at the exact same time, which makes it amazing.

[00:21:14] But because the process to get a listener to physically download

[00:21:20] and listen to your podcast episode takes a lot of effort from the user

[00:21:26] themselves, no help from any algorithm out there is going to put

[00:21:31] the download into the person's phone for them versus an Instagram reel does

[00:21:37] or a YouTube short or a TikTok, where those things rely on algorithms

[00:21:42] to get those little quick videos out to more people, which is why I believe

[00:21:48] that an audio podcast download holds more value than 100 or even

[00:21:55] a thousand views on an Instagram reel.

[00:21:58] These are just some things to consider when you say, oh,

[00:22:02] I only have 20 downloads on my podcast per episode.

[00:22:05] I only have 100 downloads per episode on my podcast.

[00:22:09] But yet I'm getting 5000 views on Instagram or TikTok.

[00:22:14] Why do I get more there and a lot less here on podcasting?

[00:22:18] Why is podcasting not as much as these other formats?

[00:22:22] And you wonder, should I even bother working with podcasting?

[00:22:27] Is podcasting even worth it?

[00:22:28] But think of the journey that a listener had to put in to get

[00:22:33] to listening to your physical podcast.

[00:22:35] It takes a lot more work on the user side, and for most of us,

[00:22:41] we don't want to put the work in.

[00:22:43] A lot of people are lazy.

[00:22:45] Well, most people are pretty lazy.

[00:22:47] So the easier you can make something happen for the user,

[00:22:51] like not having to do anything at all and everything gets force fed

[00:22:55] to you, they're going to easily consume that, especially in short form video,

[00:23:00] where if it's something they don't like,

[00:23:02] they can immediately flick it up to the next one.

[00:23:05] And then hopefully the next video is something better.

[00:23:07] Audio podcasting takes a lot more dedication from the actual listener

[00:23:13] to the podcast.

[00:23:14] And if you are listening to this podcast for the very first time,

[00:23:18] I want to say thank you.

[00:23:19] You are all welcome here.

[00:23:21] I create this podcast to help you create your amazing podcast.

[00:23:26] And if you enjoyed this show,

[00:23:27] please give me a follow or subscribe wherever you are listening to this podcast.

[00:23:32] And I hope that you are doing amazing things with your show.

[00:23:37] And until next time, happy podcasting.