Stop Talking to Everyone
Hey Reader
One of the fastest ways to stall your podcast growth is trying to make it for everyone.
When you aim too broad, your episodes don’t have a clear hook, your marketing feels scattered, and listeners can’t easily explain what your show is about.
The result? A lot of effort with little traction.
A Quick Branding Lesson: Narrow Your Listener Avatar
Your podcast needs a specific person in mind, an avatar, for the content to resonate. Not a vague “all entrepreneurs" or "people who like conversations”, but a crystal-clear picture of who’s pressing play.
Take our in-house show Kids vs Parents. Our avatar is...
A parent in the car with kids on the way to school or extracurricular activities.
The show is designed for the moments when they can’t agree on what music to listen to, but want a way to connect as a family. Ten minutes of trivia makes the drive more fun.
That clarity makes decisions easy, from how long the episodes should be to what topics to do; it even helps with some scripting choices, for example, we often use lines like "front seat vs back seat" or "buckle up".
How to Define Your Listener Avatar
Ask yourself three simple questions:
- Who is listening? (Age, role, interests)
- Where are they listening? (In the car on the way to work, at the gym, walking the dog)
- How much time do they realistically have?
Not sure? Start with your data:
- Spotify for Podcasters shows age ranges and gender splits for your audience.
- Your hosting platform often shows how people listen — mobile, desktop, or app.
Use these insights as a guide, but remember they’re partial. The goal is to spot patterns and shape a clearer avatar.
What to Try This Week
- Write down a one-sentence description of your ideal listener.
- Compare that avatar to your actual listener data in Spotify and on your hosting platform.
- Look at your last episode: did you write and record it with that person in mind?
Stop trying to talk to everyone. The clearer your avatar, the faster your show will grow, because your marketing and your episodes will point in the same direction.
See you next week,
Steve.