Today, I'm going to walk you through something very simple that you probably think you're doing right… but it’s highly likely that you might not be. Good news: This is an easy fix!

I’m talking about “show notes”, a term that is often abused. Specifically, I’m talking about the “show notes” that appear in the podcast app on the device that your listener is using to listen to your episode. Not a webpage or an article. But the textual content that listeners can view while they're listening to your episode.

Right now, as you’re listening to me talk to you, get to the most recent episode of your own show. (Because you're subscribed to your own show, right?) Once you have it, click through to get more info. Each app has a different UI, so I can’t tell you exactly how to do this. But it should be fairly obvious. 

Look at the text that displays here. Yes, you (or someone on your team) wrote that text. That’s the in-app episode-level details -- show notes -- I’m speaking of.

Done correctly, in-app episode details -- microcopy, as I call it -- can be invaluable engagement conduits for your listeners. If you tell your listeners “more information is available in the app you're listening on right now”, some will check. They don’t have to go to your website for more info. They don’t have to remember your episode number so they can visit your website later to find the info they were looking for. 

But only if you tell them that you’ve put in-app context-rich content inside their listening app. 

Yes, I recognize that some listeners are driving. Others are doing activities that don’t allow them to drop everything and click through for in-app details just because you told them to.

But what about all the people who aren’t doing other things and actually do have time to take action RIGHT NOW, as you said it? That’s who you’re doing this for.

You need to see what you’re doing right now with episode details. Whether you or someone else is responsible for publishing your last episode, go look at the episode details on that episode. Is it contextually rich? Does it contain the names of and links to anything mentioned during that episode? Because that’s what this is for. This is how you should encourage engagement with your show.

I’ll have two more tips to help make your content more shareable this week. But after this week I’m taking a little break. New episodes of Podcast Pontifications will resume in January 2020.

But that’s just the show. I’m still here, and you can still talk to me via the Flick.group/PodcastPontifications app. I may even release some special content just to that audience. So if you haven’t yet download that free app for your phone, click that link!