I shouldn’t be allowed to name things, but collaborative episodes are the single most powerful tool in my arsenal for growing podcasts.
Collaborative episodes can convert up to 20% of an audience to another show.
I’ve spoken many times about the tools I use, but nothing compares to the power of a collaborative episode. And yet this remains a lesser known strategy in many podcast growth circles. So I’m going to share actual examples and campaign results in this article. Let’s begin by defining what these collaborations are.
A collaborative episode is one or more specially produced episodes that unite two shows. In fiction, this is a story or sketch that brings the two story worlds together. In non-fiction this could be a special episode that is produced by both teams. Unlike a feed drop, this is new content, so it’s more likely to be downloaded and to delight fans of each show.
Collaborative episodes can take many forms, such as:
- The Amelia Project created a sketch to introduce a feed drop. This was a single scene but edited to create two versions, encouraging fans of each show to listen to both to hear the full story. The Civilized side. The Amelia side.
- Death by Dying created a special episode with the SCP Archives about what is now a fan-beloved bicycle.
- The Amelia Project and We Fix Space Junk presented back to back episodes that tied together into an unexpected and applauded crossover for a live performance.
- Non fiction: Twenty Thousand Hertz doing a breakdown of an Adobe Wireframe episode.
Above we see the performance of a collaborative episode that dropped on Civilized, promoting The Amelia Project. Anyone working in podcast growth will likely be drawn to the 18.5% device conversion rate and the 10.7% new device conversion rate. These are exceptional and not uncommon when measuring collaborative campaigns.
Collaborative episodes can convert up to 20% of an audience to another show.
You may also notice the two spikes of conversions. This is another attribute of collaborative episodes. This is new content from the show our fans love, so when we promote it in social and other channels, we see much higher engagement than we might on a feed drop.
What I love about this example is that Civilized is actually smaller than The Amelia Project, but this collaboration performed so well that it was one of the more successful promotions we’ve run for The Amelia Project.
I’ve spoken about collaborative episodes many times before, but I think it goes under the radar because it feels like so much work. And it is, but the results can be unlike anything else you’ve ever tried.
I hope this helps add this tool to the arsenal of other podcasters and I look forward to seeing more of you on the other side. Trust me, it’s Collab-licious!
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