Episode 2.6 “Anchor”, the good, the bad and the features to add
Welcome back to #ProdActivity! The show where we analyse and review software products/apps/websites and what activities can be done to make them better. Without further ado, let’s get started with Season 2, episode 6:
“Anchor” — the good, the bad and the features to add!
I have discovered Anchor, when I decided to start podcasting. The reasons why I decided to sign up, are the reasons the company is so popular amongst new and amateur podcaster. But there are reasons why it is not amongst more experienced ones. Anchor was created in 2015, but focused on podcasts in 2018 and a year later was acquired by Spotify. Having that base of users of Spotify Anchor now has an incredible advantage of winning over the whole market, especially with features we will talk about.
When we are going to website, we are met with very simple landing page, a good clean and informative marketing landing page. The cool thing on this page is that you can transfer your podcast from other platforms to the Anchor. The signing up is very easy and simple. What happens when we sign up? We create our podcast channel with name and logo and everything easily. Anchor even offers the logo and cover picture ideas from their stock. Once all is done, now you have a simple dashboard. On top the is a ad banner, at this date and time I have an ad from Spotify. Below we see our channel summary, which by the way you can edit easily, including the name, short description, logo and the platforms it is available on. This feature is the one of the most, if not the most important one for the users. You see, Anchor’s strength comes from its distribution network. When a podcaster sign ups and uploads an episode, it gets automatically distributed to various podcast platforms including the likes of like Sportify and Google Podcasts. With that being said, lets continue on the page. Below we see stats of listens, audience and balance earned. Anchor’s monetisation method is very similar to Youtube’s where you place an ad segment about the sponsor provided by Anchor into your episode and get paid per listen. The average earning is 15 dollars per 1000 listens or plays. This opportunity provided in such a simple way is another reason people are drawn. Below this section we have more detailed stats all presented in beautiful, easy-to-read, colourful graphs. The stats by episode, month, country, platform and more. On the bottom we have standard footer section.
The second tab next to the dashboard, was the episodes tab. Here we had list of all episodes with short stats in front of each. When clicked on the episode, we have the episode page. Similar to dashboard page it has consistent design. On top we have the summary of the episode and right below we have the analytics and stats. At the very bottom we have the audio parts shown in separated view. You can edit the summary as well as audio. Add new parts, change some parts and more. And when you edit the episode, either audio content itself or the summary, the change is applied on all platforms where the episode is published.
Finally, we are coming to the most important part, the button which allows you to create a new episode. When clicked we have the colourful but simple page. You can record your voice, upload pre-recorded audio, use one of the previous recordings from the library or add a transition music and sound effects. Once you have the content you need, you can drag the content into an episode, edit, add background music, combine them and save the episode. It is super easy and good, except one thing. That is when editing, you can not adjust the sound of background music or song. That needs to be improved. Another thing I would add is the ability to add your own background music. If these two would exist in Anchor, I think we would see more professional and bigger podcasters join the platform. For them I would also add multiuser or multi-account option if they have team of editors and hosts. On anchor mobile there is an option to invite guests to your podcast and record together, which is awesome, but needs to be brought to desktop option as well. Besides these, Anchor is an incredible tool which supports the growth of podcasting globally. What YouTube did to video creators, Anchor is doing to podcast creators.
Today we tried to capture the analysis of Anchor with all its beauty and minimalism and I really hope you enjoyed it! Thanks a lot for listening and as always remember to check Anchor channel for the audio version and check Teespring link in the description for apparel by GetGuided. Thanks for listening, stay safe, talk to you later.
