Was The #TryPod Campaign A Success?

Last updated on July 26th, 2017

With hundreds of thousands of podcasts in over 100 languages spread out over hundreds of topics and themes, the hardest part of being a podcast listener is discovering your new favorite show. There is literally a podcast out there for everyone. As a possible solution to this problem, NPR’s Senior Director of Promotion Israel Smith proposed a campaign with the basic motive of telling a friend about a podcast. This collaborative campaign became #TryPod.

I am an avid podcast listener with subscriptions to 29 different weekly and bi-weekly podcasts. At least half of the shows I listen to on a regular basis have mentioned #TryPod and I have seen it almost daily on Twitter since its launch on March 1^st, 2017. Each time I have heard or seen the #TryPod recommendation it has been promoting a different podcast, not once have I seen the same show recommendation come up twice, showing the vast array of shows out there yet to be discovered.

This sounds great, right? It seems like a lot of podcasters and podcast listeners really latched on to the #TryPod campaign and did their best to spread awareness of shows they love. But does that mean the campaign is working? As many times as I have heard #TryPod recommendations, I have only checked out one of them (Gimlet Media’s Every Little Thing and I HIGHLY recommend it!). That means out of the roughly 50 different shows I have seen or heard recommended under the #TryPod campaign, I only took the time to listen to one.

Those odds are not very promising, but I did try one. I could have easily not checked out any of them since I already have such a long lineup each week of the shows I am already subscribed. With that being said, it is obviously not a failed campaign. It got one listener (me) to try a new show and I immediately subscribed after listening to the first episode, but can it really be called a success?

Another listener with much less on their plate may be in a better position to pay closer attention to the #TryPod recommendations from podcasters and other people whose opinions they respect. Say someone who listens to only Science Vs hears or sees a recommendation for Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates and another similar show. They would probably be more inclined to check them both out since they are similar in nature to the one show they already listen.

To finally answer the question: “Was #TryPod a success?” Discover Pods’s mission is on the same page as the #TryPod campaign. We want to bring attention to great shows that you may not know about. Even though #TryPod only led me to one new podcast, it did lead me to a new podcast. In my book any way to bring at least one new listener to a new show is a success.

Please let us know in the comments below if you have seen or heard #TryPod in a podcast you listen to or on social media and if it has led you to any great shows.