35 | Podcast Tips to Keep the Momentum Going During December Download Dips

December is a busy time for everyone, including podcasters. This month you will most likely see download numbers dip and your stress levels go up. Tune in for quick tips to explain the best ways to keep your podcast momentum going for download growth and personal sanity.

Episode Recommendation: Check out Ep. 2 on the Calendar Year Fluctuations. 

Feeling Stuck on your podcast journey? Book a Podcast Audit.

I'll uncover what’s working, what’s not, and give you a clear, actionable plan to move forward with confidence. Stop spinning your wheels and start seeing results. Learn more. 

Transcript

1:17

Hey, podcasters. Welcome back to another episode of podcast growth club. I am your podcast growth coach, Raina Burkicki. Happy December. We are in the final month of 2024 and episode 35. Today's episode is all about. what to expect in December as a podcast. And in particular, I'm going to be talking about the December download dip. So whether you're a new podcaster, you're getting ready to launch, or you are a seasoned podcaster, you will notice that in December, your download numbers will dip. They're going to get a little funky. And I'm here to tell you, this is nothing to worry about. There's a couple things to be aware of with podcasting. Number one is that you want to be consistent. You want to show up for your audience every week. Make sure you're given great value and you're there. And when you do this, you will become a habit. You will become a weekly habit for your listeners. And this is the magic and power of podcasting, right? However, december, with all of the holidays that occur in this month, regardless of what you believe, your religious affiliation, December is definitely a time of year where people are gonna break habits with their daily life, and you're gonna see this reflected in your download numbers. People who show up week by week for you are gonna disappear for a while. That doesn't mean You have lost those listeners, but their daily life has changed. Maybe they're traveling, they're doing a lot of family stuff, holiday stuff, but this is what we like to call in the podcasting world a pattern disruption. So in December, I don't want you to fret if you see those download numbers dipping. It is completely normal. If you have thought about experimenting with your podcast, trying something different, maybe you want to try a new intro. Maybe you want to do an intro where. You take a juicy soundbite, you put it at the beginning and so on. December is a great month for that. So while you will see your numbers fluctuate and definitely most of us will see numbers go down, this is a great time to try some different things. If you have really established your brand as a podcast, December is a great month to try something a little different. Maybe cover a topic you wouldn't normally cover. and just test it out with your audience. See how they respond. That's what I always tell my clients. I said, Hey, December, try something new. This is a great time to test, introduce new concept, see how things feel on your end and see if it resonates with your audience. That being said, I know December is a really busy time, whether or not you're a podcaster. And often I see a lot of podcasters who want to take a break in December. this is a public service announcement for podcasters who are trying to grow their business with a podcast. If this is you, if you're trying to use your podcast as part of your sales funnel to grow your brand, to, get that trust know, like with your audience, I'm going to really try to argue strongly for you not taking a break. I know December is busy. Especially if you have a family, there is a lot going on. I have two kids and a husband, of course. And, this month I think I have. six school related holiday events to go to in addition to normal, sports and activities and all the other things. That being said, I want you to remember, and I remember that my audience's listening ears is super valuable and I don't take that lightly. I don't want you to take that lightly. You spend a lot of time and effort gaining trust with your audience and I don't want you to throw it away. by throwing out subpar content during December. So if you're thinking of taking a break during December, I would strongly urge you to not take a break. If you are struggling with content, remember this is a great month to experiment. So think possibly about doing shorter episodes. This is also a great time to maybe shift in your episodes a little bit. If you haven't done a personal story episode where you really opened up to your listeners, Done a personal message, it could be about the podcast, could be about your personal life. This might be a great time to do that. December is definitely a time for reflection. So I think your audience would enjoy hearing from you. December is also a popular time. for people to re air their top, five episodes, four episodes, and so on. And while I think in general this is a good strategy, what I don't want you to do is just to take, go through your top ten episodes and say, yeah let's just re air this one. Don't just re air it. I want you to add a new spin onto it. You already know this content is popular with your audience. You don't want to just shove it out there into the world again, think about, okay, this was an episode I put out in July. People loved it. It's one of the best. How can I add new information now that it's, six months later and then send the episode out? So at the minimum, I would record a new intro talking about why this is a popular episode. What are the most important things to take away from it? And then dive into that episode. If you have the time, I would even just rerecord it with new information, a new perspective. Your audience's listening ears is very valuable, and you don't want to take advantage of that by just throwing out, doing a rerun, so to speak, of an episode. I just try to remind you guys, my favorite podcasters out there, you gotta earn those ears, right? You gotta earn those ears by putting valuable content out, and even when your life gets busy, as it tends to do in December and early January, You got to keep showing up. Once it is 2025 and January is around, you will start to see your listeners come back on a regular weekly basis, so be ready for that. But again, don't be upset if you see numbers get a little funky. It happens to everyone. You're going to see that now in December. You're going to see it again. In summer, when kids are off school, people are taking vacations, things like that. So anytime there's a pattern disruption. In people's daily lives, you will see this. If you want to learn more about the calendar year and listener habits and how they affect your download numbers, check out episode two of podcast growth club, so episode two published in June 25th, this is a great one that just talks to you about what to expect about when your download numbers should grow. When they should dip and the best times to experiment and like I said December is that time if you were struggling with content You're struggling with production getting your podcast out week by week reach out to me half of what I do is podcast production So you just can record Be the content specialist, be the voice, and then pass it over to me, and then you've got nothing to worry about. I'll take care of editing, uploading, SEO, YouTube, social media, the works. Plus, you get a guaranteed podcast strategist looking at your work. It's a win. So half of what I do as a podcast, Growth Coach is actually producing podcasts and half of what I do is the actual coaching where we work together for two weeks or three months Dive into strategies to really help you grow your show and or start to monetize it So if that piques your interest reach out for a free podcast discovery call We can sit down we can look at some strategies and talk about how we can work together You to help you achieve all that you want to achieve with your podcast. All right. So again, keep podcasting. Don't give up in December. Reach out if you're struggling. I'm rooting for you. This Friday's episode is going to be about tips to help you launch a podcast. And even if you already have a podcast out into the world, you've been podcasting for three years, you might want to listen in, there might be some things that you're doing right now that you're going to want to switch to up your podcast game. Until next time, take care, podcasters.