AaCC Podcast Glory Days

[Jonathan]

A lot to cover on this one!

I want to assure all of you we are always trying to improve the podcast, just as we always try to improve everything we do. So feedback is greatly appreciated!

I do want to address some specific points for the intent of clarification:

@mbasile

What I perceive is that the single, expert guest format goes hand in hand with the click-bait titles. Chad used to pull from meta analysis or compare multiple studies from a seemingly unbiased perspective, while most experts on the podcast circuit only present their point of view.

As the host, I feel I should share insight to clarify/dispel.

The titles and thumbnails of the podcast are a result of the evolution of online media over the last 5 years. Platforms have algorithms that will make it very difficult for your content to gain circulation if you don’t actively seek to identify with a need of your desired audience with the thumbnail and title.

So the titles and thumbnails have nothing to do with the allegation of picking guests that only represent one perspective, or having an intentionally narrow point of view.

And on that note, please share examples of us having guests that are biased so we can learn from that. (That said, we are not going to have a guest on the podcast telling athletes to not eat carbs or to otherwise deprive themselves of nutrition )

@mbasile

They seem to have lost the plot with the format, too, and it tends to vary episode by episode. The recent Pete episode was a great example of this; there are enough of podcast/youtube channels talking about race news well. If you want to make another one, that’s fine, but make it a different podcast and do something unique to not add to the noise. We also didn’t need the advertorial on Pete’s bike shop. A 90 minute podcast that covered the titular topic for less than 10 minutes is unnecessary—just don’t put out an episode if you don’t have the content.

We actually got a ton of positive feedback on that portion of that episode. But we agree, and as I said in that episode, plenty of other podcasts cover race news, so that’s why it was just a one-off as it was relevant to the guest, and apparently to the majority of our audience, based on feedback.

@DO-IT-ALL

John is great, does a really good job and was unlucky to get injured, but even he seems more interested in learning to swim, than he does being competitive on a bike.

Man, I could not disagree with this more, but this is great feedback! I love racing, will likely race around 15 races this year, and very much care about getting faster, lol.

That said, whenever I talk about my racing we commonly receive feedback that people don’t like to hear it. I think the contrast with Nate’s journey positioned me as being skilled/talented in an non-relatable manner, but I think the folks I race against can confirm I’m just a normal guy!

@burnett2k

My issue lately has been the title of the podcast is either misleading, or mentions a topic that they spend about 5 minutes on. I understand they want more views, but I’d almost prefer going back to a numbered podcast approach. Now, I feel like I have to analyze the title closely and stuff to see if it’s clickbait or something I really want to listen to. For instance, that last sweat testing one had many other topics covered, but the title indicates that’s the only thing.

Noted. In full transparency, I dropped the ball on 530 and didn’t focus enough on the cramping aspect. I’ll do better.

One tip with this is the timestamps. You can always look at those on YouTube or Spotify to find where the topic is addressed, or view them in the podcast description if your player doesn’t support timestamps.

@craigmanning

I’ve got one thing to say.
BRING.BACK.CHAD.

@Aeroskiii

what did Chad do?

@mjw0

I don’t think we get to know that or, indeed, if he did anything at all and just decided to do something else.

@swgregg

Yeah I think that’s a hard no in case the Forum Police get a call.

Chad explained why he was no longer with the company and requested people respect that. I totally understand nostalgia for the relationship that listeners build with hosts, but this tone implies it was a flippant choice that can be reversed and it doesn’t respect Chad’s wishes.

@mbasile

The podcast seems to have gone from primarily a brand awareness tool to a YouTube ad revenue generator. They do the clickbait titles and thumbnails for clicks and then pad out the content with fluff to get more viewing time (and therefore more ad revenue).

This is incorrect. We don’t run ads on the podcast right now. We have done it in the past and would like to do that in the future, but maybe not for the reasons implied here. While this isn’t published from YT, it is generally agreed upon in the creator community that running ads on your content helps circulation. This makes logical sense as YT would be incentivized to deliver content that gives them additional revenue, but to be honest, we didn’t see a tight enough correlation to call it causation. But in full transparency, we aren’t running ads now due to a loooong fought battle with a technical issue with YT and our account. Rest assured that when we get this sorted and are running ads once again, the volume of views on our channel wouldn’t deliver the sort of revenue that would cause us to create content solely for ad revenue. If we did that, we wouldn’t be building trust with our viewers/listeners.

@mbasile

The thing is though, that they claim it’s their only marketing effort. The forum and articles (however outdated) are part of their marketing, too, but likely a smaller reach than the podcast. With a content-only marketing approach, I don’t know why the content and format isn’t more intentional. But, we don’t know their data. Maybe they don’t need to/want to increase new user adoption rates. Maybe the clickbait stuff is doing what they need.

The podcast remains a priority marketing effort. The content and format is intentional. Our goal is to teach cyclists how to get faster, and we do this through answering the questions they submit and/or addressing topics that will help them.

Like you assumed later on, it is a great top of funnel marketing effort that allows cyclists the time to build a relationship of trust with TrainerRoad.

In terms of data, the podcast is still experiencing YoY growth despite a significant increase in podcast options compared to the early days back in 2014.

The marketing team is very small as we are a company that dedicates the majority of our resources to building, improving, and supporting our product.

@willfromny

It would be an amazing series follow a person training using TR’s Zwift plan and learning Zwift racecraft.

We like this too! There’s just so much interest in Zwift. The minority against it is comparably vocal, but the numbers show it is of interest.

@Pabst

I agree with you, this is what’s really missing. Both Amber and Chad understood that not everything should be taken at face value, that seems to have gotten lost with both their departures.

Can you share an example of the podcast displaying that everything should be taken at face value?