How to grow a podcast or online show?

Question

I've been building The Ops Show, a developer-focused YouTube show/podcast, during COVID and I'm looking at ways to thoughtfully scale it. My stack is YouTube-first with OBS + Zoom recording and then YouTube premiere + Anchor.fm for distribution. We just hit 200 subscribers and are growing about 50 subscribers per month.

Would love to hear your suggestions.

Alex Papageorge · Accepted Answer

Solid success! It's not easy gaining traction in the podcast game. I've been hosting a show for about a year now w/ about 1,000 subscribers and I can tell you the #1 thing that helped me grow was collaborating with other similar podcasts/youtube shows (not the same as you, but in the same ballpark). By collaborating and doing the marketing right, you're able to tap into completely new audiences, that probably have a similar interest (again, if it's in the  same ballpark).

Also, like most other things... Don't be shy to ask for help promoting when you interview someone or highlight X event/topic.

Mirko Maccarrone · Answer

@johan_cutych Hi Johan, this is very interesting! How is it different from Zoom except for the audio quality and what's the most effective way to use it? Looks dope!

Omkar Birje · Answer

https://www.producthunt.com/posts/instagram-hype-value my product can help you to get good instagram growth

Matt Binder · Answer

@jaketital What's your YouTube ad app?

Valerie Fenske · Answer

Do you know Tom Hunt? 
He's mastered podcasts, and now he's launched his tool for podcasts - as far as I remember, it also helps you to grow your show.

Olga Trykush · Answer

Great job, do you ask your guests to make mentions on their socials that they are invited to your podcast and to follow/support it?

Harri Arain · Answer

the best way to grow podcast online show is through pushing it from your own social media platforms other than the obvious ones, you can link it on qoura and send it through emails.

galyyylexa · Answer

Thanks flr this

Johan Cutych · Answer

@mirko_maccarrone Thanks Mirko! So there are 2 main differences. First is the quality of audio & video. So with us you get stable up to 4k video recording. Second is ease of use as we solely focus on content production and not conferencing calls.

Jake Tital · Answer

@mattbinder Vidnetics.com

Johan Cutych · Answer

Good job Tristan! We had the same idea to start producing remote content. Thats why we built (https://www.getwelder.com/).

Unlike Zoom, Welder is made for production. It's super easy to use, and allows you to record up to 4k video and full quality audio from each participant thanks to local recording.

I believe you should give it a try as it's going to take your show to the next lvl.

btw. we have a free tier that will suit you. Let me know how you like it

Jake Tital · Answer

Have you thought about running paid ads on youtube Tristian? I run a youtube ad placement software that might be a good fit for scaling.

Answer

Instagram ads, youtube ads, and most importantly, collaborating. I can't stress enough how important it is to bring in guests and co-hosting with other podcasters. Ads are good to start off and they can scale well but building a loyal following requires co-hosting and collaborating

John Allen · Answer

Solid work on hitting 200 subscribers! Have you tried being a guest on other podcasts? The cross-promotion strategy is used quite a lot nowdays by podcasters because the format is familar, reciprocation is essentially free, & your audiences are probably similar to some extent. If you decide to try this, I would suggest reaching out to your favorite podcasters or famous podcasters in your show's category & offer them a spot on your show in exchnage for a spot on theirs.

Sean Jackson · Answer

As a veteran podcaster, I can only share ideas from my own experience.

#1 Frequency & Length Matter
How often are you publishing and what is the length of the show? Audio works well for up to 30 minutes (based on average commute times and work-out periods). Video is tougher because once you hit 3min+ your engagement drops unless you have a tightly edited show that moves people through a defined story or issue.

#2 Book authors are great guests
Most people that publish a book need exposure and since they generally have PR and promoting shows they appear on, you can see a slight uptick in traffic as they promote their apperances.

#3 Strong CTA to Subscribe in the first 2 minutes
What is your call to action to subscribe? Do you make a compelling reason WHY they should subscribe in the first 2 minutes? How easy is it for them to subscribe? Too often a host waits too long in the show to get people to act and worse yet, provide a WEAK reason for what is in it for the audience to subscribe.

#4 Are you telling a great story?
A typical story arch in a show goes like this...introduce the protagonist, discuss a real big problem/issue/pain point/bad situation, see how they reacted to it, determine how they dealt with it, and then discover the result. It works well and can keep the audience engaged in any topic. Especially in coding and development where challenges can be acute and resolution can show ingenuity.

Hope this helps and good luck with your show.

How to grow a podcast or online show?

Replies