Ask your audience about themselves!
Engagement soars when you ask your text community not for their opinions, but about themselves.
Much like the host we’re about to highlight, let’s keep it real. We all like to talk about ourselves. At least a little. And this host found that out with a recent call out to his text community.
Kevin Allison is the host of RISK!, a live show and podcast, where people tell true stories they never thought they’d dare to share in public. Kevin has effortlessly taken to hosting a highly engaged community on Subtext, where he shares behind the scenes information from his podcast, his personal story and is regularly seeking his audience’s thoughts and opinions.
“My mindset is that the folks who listen to my podcast are like friends and family. So when I’m curious about something, need help with something, think it would be fun to share about something, want some inspiration around something, I won’t think twice,” Kevin said.
Kevin’s audience knows a lot about him, and he was eager to learn more about them. What did he ask for? Photos.
Nearly 60% of his audience replied with selfies and photos of their families and home environments. This is in line with the engagement other Subtext hosts, who also host podcasts, see. We’re finding hosts see 10x the engagement of fans on Subtext vs. social channels. Why? Because texting offers your fans a direct, private, troll-free channel to have conversations with you and your team. For hosts with an established podcast audience, frequent mention of the exclusive Subtext community makes for solid engagement and a new revenue stream.
For Kevin, these types of relationships often directly impact and improve his work. “I can’t tell you the number of times this has led to adding someone new to our staff, or discovering a new storyteller or organization to team up with, or realizing there’s a different thing we could try with our show or our organization,” he said.
“It’s almost like we’re an Alcoholics Anonymous sort of group (lots of sharing and support and teaming up on things) but just for the joy of being a friendly community, rather than some sort of official therapy or work.”
Kevin has built his audience through a combination of podcast promotion — as heard in the clip above — and he makes his Subtext account known in the show notes of his podcast (pictured).
More recently, he’s started offering Subtext as a subscriber perk for his supporters on Patreon paying $25/mo. or more. His Subtext community grew by 15% in the first 24 hours of this offer.
Kevin is building a community meant to last. His paying subscribers are converting after their free trial at a rate of nearly 90%. And I think we know why. Kevin makes texting with him feel as familiar as it is to text with your friends and family. That’s the sign of a great host on Subtext.
So you’ve got a podcast and you’re ready to make it more interactive as well as discover new ways to fund it? Hit us up with your questions: hello@joinsubtext.com.
