In the podcasting industry, the term “tribe” refers to your audience. To understand the power of building a tribe, we must first understand the concept of what the traditional tribe looks like and how it operates. Furthermore, to retain the tribe, the leader must be willing and able to offer unparalleled security to their members.

What is a tribe?

A tribe is a group of people or community sharing the same culture, values and interests under the leadership of an influential ground-breaker. According to Seth Godin, a tribe is “a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.”

Why do tribes exist?

Ancient tribes had one purpose; to unite members and empower them to survive the harsh environmental elements threatening their livelihoods.

Today, we join tribes, groups or clans not to survive, but to equip ourselves with knowledge or entertainment to soothe our busy lives. We choose the tribe where a certain culture exists and where the leadership thereof guides us towards finding answers to questions we may have, solutions to problems that may exist, or even to just help us unwind.

Who is a typical leader of a tribe?

A leader is someone who can see how things can be improved, he not only leads but also connects with people. A leader is passionate about his cause, he has the authority to speak about the facts and continuously seeks more knowledge about the subject.

The modern term for a “tribal leader” could be “thought leader”. Wikipedia defines a thought leader as: “an individual that is recognized as an authority in a specialized field and whose expertise is sought and often rewarded”.

Why would your tribe stay loyal?

It is simple, reward your tribe well for their time and they will keep coming back for more. If you cannot satisfy their appetite, they will turn to away and find another, more suitable leader.

What to do to retain your tribe?

• Get to know your tribe’s needs and desires and meet them – every time.
• Connect with your tribe, ask their opinion and attend to it.
• Create plenty of value adding content.
• Teach your tribe empowering skills.
• Lead your tribe to unknown heights with enticing, entertaining and easy to digest content.
• Please your tribe with a consistent visibility.
• Get your tribe excited about your show and turn that excitement into advocacy – this is how your tribe will grow!!!
• Retain your tribe by making it easy to subscribe to your podcast.
• Brand your podcast appropriately – keep in mind that visual branding should attract the attention of your tribe.
• Become more credible by making use of a service like that of AnchorGuest to connect to reliable guest speakers for appearances on your show or connect to other podcasters to be a guest on their shows.

A true leader walks in front of the crowd who freely follows the lead. Being a good leader is key in the pursuit to build and retain a good podcast audience aka tribe. You can be that leader too!