Five-Part Podcast Growth Strategy

A podcast growth strategy focused on scaling from 22,000 to 100,000 listeners per episode through multiple channels and tactics.

Current Metrics & Goals

• Current performance: 350,000 listens (trailing 30 days)
• Average episode: 22-23,000 downloads
• 60% increase from previous year
• Target: 100,000 listeners per episode ("one rose bowl stadium")

Growth Strategy Components

1. Guest Selection

• Focus on big name guests with overlapping audience demographics
• Examples: Chamath, Tim Ferriss
• Avoid famous guests without audience overlap (e.g., Jake Paul)

2. Paid Advertising

• Testing paid campaigns with small budgets
• Current experiments:
  • Player FM ads
  • Other podcast platforms (unnamed)
• Challenge: Difficult to measure true ROI due to desktop listening metrics

3. Content Quality Improvements

• More preparation for each episode
• Showing clear positive results in metrics
• Focus on structured, well-planned content

4. Multi-Platform Distribution

• Full episodes on YouTube (working well - 20-30k views)
• Clip strategy:
  • Short clips performing well on some platforms
  • YouTube clips not performing well
  • Targets viewers who don't typically listen to full podcasts
• Email distribution through The Hustle (showing positive results)

5. Network Effect Strategy

• Creating podcast network within Hubspot
• Cross-promotion between shows
• Leveraging Hubspot's resources (billion-dollar company backing)
• Removed ads from email content to focus on growth

Key Learnings

• Resources alone don't guarantee growth
• Natural growth would take years to reach goals
• Need for accelerated, strategic approach
• Different platforms require different content strategies
• Importance of measuring and adapting to performance metrics