086 - Your Show's All-Round Packaging

Published: March 28, 2016, 6:57 a.m.

b'Having a great story and cast, along with excellent recording and production values should be enough to take your show to the top, but that isn\\u2019t the case.

If you have poor cover art and a website that looks like a 1998 bulletin board, most listeners won\\u2019t even give your show a chance.

How much thought are you putting into attracting potential fans to your site, and how easy is it for them to subscribe and listen to your episodes once they get there?



Attention to detail is important if you want to create an all-round professional image. You can grow your audience by making it easy for listeners to consume your show.

Things that contribute to an \\u2018all round\\u2019 listener experience

Your show is discoverable \\u2013 clearly marked as an Audio Drama in the title
You own a website that\\u2019s easy to find, preferably a .com.
Good visuals, not just cover art, but other artwork. Maybe character sketches, maps, or concept art
Artwork

Cover art \\u2013 needs to be eye catching against hundreds of others in iTunes
But also needs to work well when displayed small, as it will be
Don\\u2019t cram too much text in there. Best just to have your title
A decent design resource \\u2013 Canva
If someone finds your website when they Google \\u2018audio drama\\u2019, what\\u2019s the next steps?

Do you have an episode list that\\u2019s easy to navigate?
Do you have easy and clear subscribe links? iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, etc
\\u2018About\\u2019 pages are the most viewed pages on most websites, take advantage by putting vital links (listed above) there
Make it easy for people, you want them to listen/subscribe
What\\u2019s the journey a listener might take after discovering your show?

In your credits you\\u2019ll send them to your website
Better to send them to yoursite.com and not a soundcloud or iTunes link (we\\u2019ve made this mistake ourselves in the past, sending people to sites we don\\u2019t own)
Is there a clearly marked \\u2018contact\\u2019 page with a number of options?
On the subject of websites

Make sure your site your site works on a phone
Ask a friend to Google your show, find it, subscribe, and download your first episode
Hosting

Never host your media (episodes) on your website
Use a media host like Libsyn or Blubrry
Soundcloud is okay if you\\u2019re just getting started with one off shows, but avoid using it as a primary media host for a series
Other tips

Links page, share the love by linking to your favourite shows
Metadata/ID3 tags \\u2013 make good use of them before uploading your finished MP3
Also mentioned

Big thanks to our Valenhigh backers as we continue our crowdfunding campaign. And Laurence Fishburne enters the world of Audio Drama with a show that\\u2019ll be produced by non other than Kc Wayland.'