A failed experiment with a silver lining.
30 days. 30 videos. Get as many new listeners as we can.
That was our plan.
October, a.k.a spooky season, has always been our biggest month. Our podcast is called Generally Spooky History, so it makes sense.
We wanted to create daily videos to try to capture people while they were feeling spooky and turn them into fans. October ended up being our best month ever, with 16,568 downloads in total.
But was it because of TikTok?
Let’s see.
What We Did
The idea: “60-second histories“.
Eilidh, my co-host and wife, would prompt me with an episode topic we’ve covered, and I’d try to remember and tell the story in 60 seconds.
My memory is awful, and it’s a running joke that I forget everything we’ve talked about, so this perfectly captured the podcast’s essence.
Setting up. Eilidh led the set dressing, and our living room was transformed into a spooky studio.
Turns out I get nervous in front of a camera. It’s not something I have experience in, and I didn’t know what to do with my hands. So I got my podcasting microphone to hold and clutched it like a security blanket.
Recording: We initially aimed for ten videos. And after two false starts trying to figure out the format, we got into the zone. We recorded all 30 videos in a single sitting with the help of Eurobeat blasting to keep the hype up.
We were about 8 hours from starting set up to finishing recording. If we continue this, I see the benefit of having a ready-to-go space to record in.
Editing: Eilidh retook the lead. This was about another 10 hours of focused work. After that, it was a case of posting them each day through October.
We wouldn’t have managed the whole series If we hadn’t recorded them all in advance. And posting on two platforms with different hashtags and music was even more work. But we managed.
So, what were the results?
The Results Are in
I put all the numbers into a Google Sheet to play with the data and see what came out. Here’s a quick overview:
- Total Views – 25,834
- Total TikTok Views – 8,446
- Total Reels Views – 17,388
- Average TikTok – 273
- Average Reels – 561
To be honest, the results were underwhelming. I have a nasty habit of assuming everything I post online should go viral, but even with that, the numbers were lower than we hoped.
Only one video crossed 1000 views, and it was the first one. A couple of others came close on Instagram, but on TikTok, only three videos crossed 300 views.
But did it grow the podcast? Did we get more followers or downloads?
It’s hard to say.
Yes, we had our best-ever month in October in terms of downloads. But given the number of video views, it’s unlikely that was the reason our downloads increased. So, in that regard, it was a failure.
But there’s a silver lining.
Our existing fans LOVED this series. Check out the comments on the first video on Instagram:
Plus, our friends and family told us they’d been watching.
We had a guest on our podcast who told us he’d been watching the series.
While Eilidh was guesting on another podcast, the host told her he’d been watching the series and encouraged his fans to check it out.
So, while that can’t be measured numerically, it means the series was a success. We surprised and delighted our audience. There’s no measure of what that means for fan loyalty.
What We’d Do Differently
The plan was also to post the videos to YouTube Shorts but they have a 60-second time limit on length… Who knew?
Next time, we would factor this into the idea and make an adjusted version specifically for shorts.
Posting the videos took 15–30 minutes daily, which is a lot when it’s not your priority. Next time, I’d pick out 3 to 5 background music tracks to grab from.
I’d Do It Again. But Not Every month
The series is a creative project I’m proud of and one I’m happy it exists in the world. But it’s not a workload I could sustain month on month.
As Verity discusses on the Lazy Girls Guide To Podcasting, you shouldn’t pursue platforms you don’t enjoy.
If our podcast was video-based, it might be worth us growing a TikTok following. But it’s not, and that’s fine. For you, it might be the case that TikTok is exactly where you need to be to capture your audience. Only you know that.
The biggest takeaway is that it confirmed we know what our audience loves. That’s a good feeling. And it means we can keep showing up confident they’ll enjoy what we’re making.
How to Run Your Own 30 Day Experiment
Eager to try it for yourself? Here’s how I’d recommend doing it
Decide on your goal
There are two main goals you can get from this challenge:
- Get more TikTok/Insta followers
- Get more podcast followers
One isn’t better than the other, it’ll just decide what content you make. Gaining more social media followers will require posting trendy content versus gaining podcast followers, which involves more niche content like ours.
Figuring out trends isn’t something I know about so you’ll have to figure that out yourself. But if you want more podcast followers here’s what you can do.
Read more on setting podcast goals here.
Pick Content That Reflects Your podcast
This is a great time to figure out what makes your podcast different from the others in your niche. Here are some examples of what that might look like. Fill in the blank: “My podcast is the [blank] podcast in my niche.”
• Longest
• Shortest
• Funniest
• Most honest
• Most detailed
• Most in depth
• Most genuine
• Most passionate
• Most enthusiastic
• Most controversial
• Most knowledgeable
Whatever it is, you want to capture that essence in your videos so people can get a feel for what you’re about. Next, you’re going to decide how the content will look. Picking one repeatable format like we did makes it easier to create if you’ve already got a busy schedule. Here are some ideas:
- Recreating your most embarrassing interview moments
- Surprising/funny/crazy Facts about “your niche”
- Reading your bad reviews
- Clips from your podcast
- Episode summaries
Sit down with a notebook and brainstorm for 30 minutes to see what you come up with. Go with the idea that sounds the most fun to make. If you’re having fun then the person watching is more likely to have fun and these videos are for entertainment after all.
Batch out the Content creation
Sitting down to do anything every single day is tough. That’s why I’m in favor of batching out your content creation. I don’t necessarily recommend spending a single day recording 30 videos, but recording everything over a few days is a good idea. It will massively increase your chances of finishing the challenge.
You also want to add a call to action at the end of the video. If you want people to follow your podcast, you need to ask them to.
Editing in advance is also a good idea to ensure you post every day, even if you only remember at 10 pm. And get your grab bank of 3–5 songs to help speed things along when it comes to posting.
Writing up your post descriptions would also be a good idea if you want to make the video posting as streamlined as possible.
Now you’re ready to post! Be sure to talk about the series on the podcast, shout it out on other socials telling people to check it out, and just like with your podcast, tell everyone who asks what you’ve been up to that you’re making the series.
Understanding Your results
Make a note of your followers/downloads before the challenge starts. That way, you can compare before and after to see what happened.
The two metrics to look for are comments and followers/downloads (depending on your initial goal). Ideally, you’re looking for a spike in your followers/downloads that shows the challenge worked. But even slight growth might be enough to show it’s worth making more video content.
Similarly with comments, the number of comments doesn’t matter, but what people are saying about your videos does. Did people like it? Has anyone commented that they’re listening now?
Of course, like with any feedback, understanding the negative comments is important. I’m male, so I have the privilege that the way I look gets left out of the comments section, I know not everyone is so lucky. Internet trolls exist and they suck, just ignore them.
Trolls aside, negative comments don’t necessarily mean the challenge wasn’t successful. They could simply mean the video wasn’t for them, and that’s fine.
But the most important thing to check is this…
Did you have fun? Did you enjoy making the videos? If you did, that’s a good enough reason to make more videos and keep pursuing the platform. Otherwise, your challenge is up, so you can guilt-free walk away knowing you tried your best, but it wasn’t for you.
Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment
Experiments like these are the perfect way to try out new platforms or new types of content. It can be daunting looking at a new platform with the thought that if you start you’ll have to post there every day until the end of time.
“What if it doesn’t work,” “What if it’s a waste of time,” “What if I hate it,” these are all valid concerns. But if you limit yourself to a 30-day experiment, these voices get smaller. That showed you how to do it with TikTok, but you can take this idea and apply it to any platform you’ve been considering trying.
So what are you waiting for? Go start your idea brainstorm!
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