In brief
Lead with London, then Lagos: that is where your show's listeners are strongest.
Aim the launch at people aged 25 to 34, as planned.
Build the positioning on storytelling and interviews: your listeners lean to it more than the listeners of rival shows do.
Judged onDownloads per episode at day 30 and day 60No target set. Give your own number in the chat.
CallsOkay2Risky2Avoid2Dates, territories and partners.
Sized formicro budgetFrom your brief.
Positioning
Hook
- Name the subject, true crime, in the first line of the show description and in the first thirty seconds of the trailer.
Key messages
- Lead the key messages with storytelling, interviews and technology, the topics your listeners lean to that rival shows do not.
Comps
- Pitch the show to press, newsletters and listeners in the company of Crime Junkie, Serial, My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark and Casefile True Crime.
Matched in Qloo: Crime Junkie, Serial.
Planned against My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, Casefile True Crime. Name your own comparable titles in the chat to swap them.
Audience
Who they are
- The core audience is people 25 to 29, then 30 to 34.
What else they follow
- They also hear Casefile and The Long Con.
Markets
London
- Plan London as a solid market: grow it with swaps and community events.
Lagos
- Plan Lagos as a smaller market: keep the spend small and lean on swaps and community.
Cross promotion shows
Your pick
- Take the swap with Casefile forward: Casefile ranks 1 of 5 among the shows asked about for your show's listeners.
Who
- Offer a trailer swap or a guest slot to Casefile, The Long Con and Case Closed Weekly: they rank highest with your listeners.
How
- Record the swaps before launch and release them in the first two weeks, so each show sends its listeners while the feed is new.
Guests
How
- Open with guests who bring their own audience, and ask each to share the episode on the day it goes out.
Sponsors
Sponsors
- Approach Glide Mobile and Fizz Cola in Lagos for an in-kind sponsorship or a co-promotion: they rank highest with your listeners.
- Approach Glide Mobile and Fizz Cola in London for an in-kind sponsorship or a co-promotion: they rank highest with your listeners.
Press and newsletters
Press
- Send the platforms an editorial pitch six weeks out, and a short note with a link to the trailer to newsletters and press in your subject.
Video and clips
Clips
- Publish a clip of the strongest minute of each episode with captions, and the full episodes on YouTube.
Live shows
London
- Plan a live recording or a listener meet-up in London, where your listeners are strongest.
Community
Community
- Open a listener channel before the first episode goes out, and give its first members early access to the trailer.
Episode cadence
Schedule
- Release weekly on one fixed day, and keep every episode in the same range of length so the feed feels reliable.
Channels
London
- Lead on YouTube.
Lagos
- Lead on YouTube.
Creative briefs
Hook options
- Hook one: open on the strongest image of Cold Case Lagos in the first two seconds.
- Hook two: open on the question this release answers, as text on screen over the first shot.
- Hook three: open on Lagos itself, with the name on screen.
Key art brief
- Key art brief: one image, the title Cold Case Lagos and at most one line of text. Say what the image must show, what to avoid and where it will be seen, then hand it to a designer. Oraqul writes the brief; a person makes the art.
Content calendar
London
| When | What to post | Asset | Lead channel | Posts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-8 to T-6 (2099-01-04 to 2099-01-24) | Lock the cover art, the show description and the feed. Test it in Apple Podcasts and Spotify before anything is announced. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| T-6 (2099-01-18) | Send the platforms your pitch for editorial placement: a short note on the show, the host and why it is new. Apple and Spotify both take pitches from the show dashboard. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| T-4 (2099-02-01) | Publish the trailer to the feed so people can follow before episode one. Cut a short clip of it for social. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| T-3 to T-1 (2099-02-08 to 2099-02-28) | Book the cross promotion: a guest slot or a trailer swap on each show you want to reach, recorded before launch. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| Launch week (2099-03-01) | Release the first three episodes at once, so a new listener can stay. Send the trailer swap and the press note the same day. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| Launch week to T+8 (2099-03-01 to 2099-05-02) | Publish a clip of every episode with captions, and a full episode on YouTube. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| T+1 to T+4 (2099-03-08 to 2099-04-04) | Ask every listener you can reach to follow, rate and review in the first week: early follows and ratings decide how the show is placed. Keep episodes weekly. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| T+4 to T+8 (2099-03-29 to 2099-05-02) | Read the first month: which episodes held listeners, which markets and ages came. Move the next swaps and ads to what worked. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
Lagos
| When | What to post | Asset | Lead channel | Posts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-8 to T-6 (2099-01-04 to 2099-01-24) | Lock the cover art, the show description and the feed. Test it in Apple Podcasts and Spotify before anything is announced. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| T-6 (2099-01-18) | Send the platforms your pitch for editorial placement: a short note on the show, the host and why it is new. Apple and Spotify both take pitches from the show dashboard. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| T-4 (2099-02-01) | Publish the trailer to the feed so people can follow before episode one. Cut a short clip of it for social. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| T-3 to T-1 (2099-02-08 to 2099-02-28) | Book the cross promotion: a guest slot or a trailer swap on each show you want to reach, recorded before launch. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| Launch week (2099-03-01) | Release the first three episodes at once, so a new listener can stay. Send the trailer swap and the press note the same day. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| Launch week to T+8 (2099-03-01 to 2099-05-02) | Publish a clip of every episode with captions, and a full episode on YouTube. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| T+1 to T+4 (2099-03-08 to 2099-04-04) | Ask every listener you can reach to follow, rate and review in the first week: early follows and ratings decide how the show is placed. Keep episodes weekly. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
| T+4 to T+8 (2099-03-29 to 2099-05-02) | Read the first month: which episodes held listeners, which markets and ages came. Move the next swaps and ads to what worked. | As the step says | YouTube | Not researched |
- Not researched for this category. The rows follow the launch beats, and no post counts are stated.
Paid ads
- Put about 80 percent of paid spend behind creative that has already worked, and about 20 percent into testing new creative.
- Run three to five ads in each ad group.
- Judge a winner by its conversion count, not by how many days it has run.
Launch beats
- T-8 to T-6 (2099-01-04 to 2099-01-24): Lock the cover art, the show description and the feed. Test it in Apple Podcasts and Spotify before anything is announced.
- T-6 (2099-01-18): Send the platforms your pitch for editorial placement: a short note on the show, the host and why it is new. Apple and Spotify both take pitches from the show dashboard.
- T-4 (2099-02-01): Publish the trailer to the feed so people can follow before episode one. Cut a short clip of it for social.
- T-3 to T-1 (2099-02-08 to 2099-02-28): Book the cross promotion: a guest slot or a trailer swap on each show you want to reach, recorded before launch.
- Launch week (2099-03-01): Release the first three episodes at once, so a new listener can stay. Send the trailer swap and the press note the same day.
- Launch week to T+8 (2099-03-01 to 2099-05-02): Publish a clip of every episode with captions, and a full episode on YouTube.
- T+1 to T+4 (2099-03-08 to 2099-04-04): Ask every listener you can reach to follow, rate and review in the first week: early follows and ratings decide how the show is placed. Keep episodes weekly.
- T+4 to T+8 (2099-03-29 to 2099-05-02): Read the first month: which episodes held listeners, which markets and ages came. Move the next swaps and ads to what worked.
Budget split
- A starting split of the marketing budget, as shares: adjust it with your network or your team, and move money first to the markets where your listeners are strongest.
- Cross promotion and paid listener growth: 35%.
- Production and editing: 25%.
- Publicity, press and newsletters: 15%.
- Video and clips: 10%.
- Live and community: 5%.
- Contingency: 10%.
What to measure
- Judge this plan on one signal: downloads per episode at day 30 and day 60.
- No target is set. Give your own number, such as “target 10,000”, and the plan will carry it.
- Read it day 30 and day 60.
- Followers, Views, Ratings are secondary: track them, but do not judge the plan on them.
- Also track followers by market and age band in the first month.
- Also track downloads of each episode at 7 and 30 days.
- Also track share of listeners who finish an episode.
- Also track where new listeners came from, by show or channel.
Risks
- Lagos may grow slower than your other markets: keep the spend small and lean on swaps and community there.
- London may grow slower than your other markets: keep the spend small and lean on swaps and community there.
- Money is not a topic only your listeners lean to, so take an angle on it that the rival shows do not.
- A slipped launch date: hold the date once the trailer is public, and record the first episodes before announcing it.