<aside> 👉 Spoiler. Once, the author of the podcast "What Was That Like" told me that there is only 1% of active listeners among all those who listen to his podcast. Only one person out of a hundred somehow interacts with the content: sends emails, writes reviews or comments, donates the Patreon, etc. The rest remain silent.

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But why? If people listen to every episode, they like the podcast, don't they? As a product manager working on podcasters' digital service, I decided to conduct in-depth interviews with the "silent" podcast listeners. I talked to 100 respondents to understand why they remain silent and what podcasters should do to activate them.

Here are the Top-5 insights with my product manager's considerations on coping with them if you are a podcaster.

1. The podcast audience listens to the podcast while doing something else.

If your podcast listeners watch Netflix or scroll their Instagram feed, they need to look at the screen. But listening to the podcast, 88% of them turn the episode on, put their phones aside and do what they intended to do.

40% of those who listen to a podcast at least once a week even no longer WATCH Youtube. They LISTEN to it. They put their phones into their pockets and continue driving, walking with pets, cooking, or doing some routine work at the office. So even if they wanted to react to your Call To Action, their hands are busy, and later they forget what you asked them to do.

"Sometimes the podcaster will ask a question [...], and I want to respond to that, in a review of the podcast, on social media, etc., but I usually am listening while I'm doing something else [...] like I was embroidering listening to a podcast and would have to put it down and make a note somewhere but the worst is when I'm driving, and it happens." (WeAreAllStarsHere from Reddit)

Having busy hands means that if your listeners couldn't find your email address within several seconds after you've called them to email you, they would never do that.

"The effort it takes to remember to write an email coupled with the challenge of finding the contact info for the podcast means that 99% of my feedback goes unsubmitted." (Ebenezar_McCoy from Reddit)

What may help?

• Ask listeners how and where they listen to your podcast. If they listen to it while driving, ask them how long this drive lasts. It will give you an approximate time slot where to input your Call To Action. If they listen to it while having a morning coffee, say something like, "Don't forget to subscribe after the last swallow of coffee."
• *Anchor* allows sending direct emails and voice messages to the podcaster. BUT only authorized Anchor users can leave messages there. If your main audience is in Apple Podcasts, this will not work for them.
• Galas is a free all-platforms-friendly service for podcasters that lets the audience from all apps interact with your show (Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Spotify - whatever). They may like, send direct voice and text messages to you, and discuss your show with others by voice or text.

2. People want the podcasters to answer them.

I believe that you answer emails, reply to comments, and communicate on social networks. But if you delay the response, your listeners start worrying: are you too busy, is there something wrong with the email address, or is their opinion as crucial as you told in the podcast?

The listeners have made efforts to write to you, so they may get offended if you ignore them for too long. 38% of interviewees would be doubtful about writing to a podcaster again if they hadn't received a response from him before.

"I hate when the podcaster asks me to email him and when I do this, nothing happens! When I'm writing an email, I think about the text composition, explain what touched me in the show, and what I agree or disagree with. I'd like to know that the podcaster at least saw it". (Julia C.)

What may help?

• The knowledge that you will respond may be an additional motivation for listeners to write you. If you cannot give a complete answer, try to show them that you have read their message (an automatic "thank you letter" may help).
• If there is no teeny-tiny possibility that you may promise your audience to answer their emails, tell them at least that you will read every message.