[405] The secrets to creating bingeworthy content - a podcast by Janet Murray

from 2020-05-15T05:00

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Want to know how to make content so good that it’s like your favourite show on Netflix where one show is never enough?

The sort of content that people just can’t get enough of and they want to binge on it.

Listen to this podcast episode where I explain how you can make your content bingeworthy and make people crave your content so much that they just can’t stop consuming it.

I explain why Netflix is SO addictive and how we can learn so much from it by applying the same principals. Discover how you can make your regular content be it email, podcast, YouTube or blog just as addictive as Netflix and people can’t wait to get their eyes (or ears) on it.

I share practical tips and tactics about how to make your content bingeworthy and why it’s so powerful if your content can do this.

Find out why our brains crave familiarity and how you can make your content irresistible.

As always I’d love to know what you think.

p.s Warning you might want to go on and listen to other episodes after this one.

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode}

My daughter and I have a serious Netflix habit.

We sit down at 10pm every night with a chocolate covered Oreo and cup of tea to get our ‘fix’.

Over the past few months we’ve watched:

Tiger King
Spinning Out
Anne With An E
The Marvellous Mrs Maisel

Over the past few years we’ve watched the entire seven series of The Gilmore Girls - including the revival - several times. And I think we’re on our third time through Call The Midwife, which has seven series.

At 11pm we often end up bickering because my daughter wants to watch another episode. And it’s hard to play the responsible parent because I’m DYING to see the next one. If you think 11pm is late for a 14-year-old to go to bed, by the way…well I’ll tell you about that tomorrow.

From a behavioural science point of view, our behaviour follows a classic pattern of habit formation.

There is a cue (the time - 10pm)

There is a routine (the cup of tea and the chocolate Oreo)

There is a reward (the enjoyment of the show)

This is followed by a craving for the next show.

The reason Netflix shows are so addictive is because they flood us with the feel-good hormone dopamine, leaving us ‘hungry’ for the next show.

And there is so much we can learn from Netflix on how to make our own content more ‘binge worthy’.

For example, I’ve been publishing a new podcast every Friday for the past four years (cue). People often tell me they plan their dog walk/gym visit around this (routine). I know that if people have enjoyed the episode (reward) they’ll want to listen to others on a similar topic (craving). Which is why I often mention other relevant episodes on the show (and include them in the show notes).

And since I’ve been publishing my daily email on/around 7am each day (cue), people have started telling me it’s the first thing they read each day over their coffee (routine). If they’ve enjoyed the email (reward) they’ll be looking forward to the next one (craving). Which is why I sometimes hint at what I’m going to cover in the next one.

What does this mean for you? If you can make your content part of someone’s routine, you’ll find it much easier to build an engaged online audience.

So how do you do this?

A cue can be created by deciding on a regular day/date/time. For example, if people know you put a new podcast out every Friday, they can plan their activities around it. My podcast, daily email, podcasts, Boris

A routine can be established through a familiar format. Even this podcast has one. As human beings we like to know what to EXPECT.

We can learn a lot from the news/magazine shows.

Radio 4 - news on the hour, half hour, 15.

People watch Newsnight - Emily Maitlis reads the news, then there’s a few interviews

So my Daily email works because it’s the same every day.

The reward mostly comes from the enjoyment/value of the content. But there are other ways to reward people who engage with your content - for example reading out reviews/doing shout outs. When people feel seen, heard and appreciated, they’re far more likely to keep engaging with your content.

You can create cravings by telling people what’s coming up in the next post/show. Or referring to other related content they might find interesting.

Teasers or trailers e.g. daily emails - gave them the title...what is it going to be about?

On a platform like Youtube you can actively encourage people to binge on your content by creating playlists of videos on similar topics. On a blog, you can create round-up posts of blogs on similar topics. On a podcast you can record ‘seasons’ on specific topics to encourage people to listen to a bunch of episodes at once.

In psychology this is known as clustering. People have a limited amount of space in their short-term memory. In fact, most people can only remember around seven pieces of information at a time. So planning/organising your content in this way can make it easier for people to consume (and binge) on your content.

Clustering doesn’t only apply to how you plan your content - but also how you present it too i.e. how you design and lay out your content to increase memory retention.

One way to do it is by grouping similar topics together -- either under numbered bullet points or with different header sizes.

Besides being much easier to scan, your content will be much easier to remember and recall down the road -- especially if you’re creating long form content.

In BYOA we look at other psychological principles

Reciprocity

Social Proof

Paradox of choice

Podcast Shownotes

About my Build Your Online Audience programme (02:10)
Why routines, cues and rewards are so important when creating bingeworthy content (3:55)
How we can learn a lot about our content from Netflix (06:05)
Why it’s so powerful to crate content that becomes part of someone's routine. (08:03)
How my daily email has become a part of people’s routine and sparks conversation (09:52)
How you can create bingeworthy content in your business (10:36)
How to create a cue and make people expect your content (11:23)
Why you need to create familiar content to create a routine for people (12:41)
Why our brains love familiarity and how you can use this to get people to love your content (15:20)
How to create the reward in your content by making it good and using shout outs (17:45)
How podcasters reward their listeners (18:50)
How to get people to crave your content (20:14)
How to use teasers to get people to crave your content (21:09)
How to create make your content bingeworthy on YouTube (22:36)
How to use clustering to make people consume more of your content (23:09)
Why you should plan your content in groups or seasons to encourage bingeing (23:30)
Tweaks you can make to your content to see if it is bingeworthy (24:37)
About my Creating Bingeworthy Content Class (25:42)