“FIR on Strategy” Updates – Length & Content


>> Listen to the audio version to find out additional commentary about the topics discussed in this post!

Download the MP3 file (3.7Mb, 07:35) – Get the show on iTunes!

FIR On Strategy with Andrea Vascellari“FIR on Strategy with Andrea Vascellari” is part of the “ FIR For Immediate Release Podcast Network”.

Many of you found out about “FIR on Strategy” thanks to FiR – the main show. But many other listeners found out about “FIR on Strategy”, from my updates on social media, my newsletter or because they are already subscribed to my blog.

So the updates that I shared on the main “FIR” show didn’t reach them because they didn’t necessarily listened to For Immediate Release – FIR. I didn’t think about this because I’ve been a faithful listener, contributor and member of the community since 2005, but then I realized this thanks to some conversations with listeners of “FIR on Strategy”.

This is why I thought to add to “FIR on Strategy” some periodic updates. They are not going to be frequent but it will help to keep everyone in the loop.

With this first update I want to share with you how I will structure future episodes and the rational behind it.

I analyzed some of the most successful “FIR on Strategy” episodes and I discovered some interesting stats.

For example the Context Analysis episode was played 1,511 times and the show notes were viewed 4,421 times that’s 3 times more!

Now the interesting thing is that I’ve noticed similar trends also on other episodes, so I cross analyzed this data with the number of played episodes, the new/returning visitors and time spent on site.

I drew some correlations and found some insights:

  1. After listening to an episode of “FIR on Strategy”, 1 out of 6 listeners comes back to check the show notes.
  2. Listeners spend on average 5 to 6 minutes on pages where I published episodes and show notes.
  3. Episodes and show notes are played and checked not only right after they have been released but especially in the long tail.
"Context Analysis" episode - Long tail engagement
“Context Analysis” episode: Long tail engagement

So how do these findings affect the current format of the show?

  • I will reduce the show from an average of 18 minutes to 5 minutes: Scientists began to identify how long most people can pay attention before they tune out and 18 minutes seemed to be an ideal length – long enough to be serious and short enough to hold people’s attention. The length of TED Talks is based on this insight. But what I didn’t think in first place, and I’ve learned now, is that you listen to the show for different reasons and with a different mindset than when you listen to a TED Talk while commuting to work. So I will aim at an average of 5 minutes per episode.
  • A reduced length will have an effect also on the content: Currently I’m analyzing more data and I will share with you another update in regards to how the actual content of the show will evolve. The challenge here is to decide what to leave out when exploring each topic. So I will probably release episodes that are going to be more basic and other more advanced but what’s not going to change is the nature of the content. I will keep creating evergreen content – people keep finding value in it not only when it’s released but especially in the long run.

That’s it for this for “FIR on Strategy” update. I encourage you to keep sharing feedback and suggestions like you’ve always done, and I… well I will keep doing my best to offer you valuable content that will help structure your communications more effectively and efficiently.

Andrea @vascellari
Did you like this post? Please, consider subscribing >>

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *