Run Competitive Analysis on YouTube, Apple Podcasts

Look at some real world examples before you start recording episodes of your show. Stepping through a competitive analysis can help save you time, heartache and budget when you are starting a new media production.

Apple Podcasts and YouTube actually serve as fantastic resources around competitive analysis. The podcast, video interview and webinar formats are established enough to where you can likely search and find similar shows online to what you are trying to produce. That is not to say that you shouldn’t produce your idea or that your idea is not unique enough to get traction.  The world is moving so fast that a quality production is always relevant. And, your distribution method can also add tons of value to your show.

Consider the competitive analysis piece as a way to differentiate your show and also as a way to identify what success looks like before you spend too much money.

Process to perform competitive analysis

• Identify keywords
• Pull up YouTube and search the keyword
• Make a list of videos that address the topic
• Watch them and read the comments
• Revisit your mission and treatment.   Do you still believe it?
• Make a list of topics that you would like to address or improve on in your show.

Questions to ask during competitive analysis

• What are the main topics / problems that your industry solves?
• Who are your top 3 competitors? What is their presence like on Youtube, Instagram? Linkedin?
• Do your competitors offer a show?
• What topics do they cover on their web page?
• What guests / relationships do they promote?
• How can you differentiate from competitors?
• How are competitor shows formatted?

Series & Episode Planning

Consider the format of your show after performing your competitive analysis.  There are two questions to ask at this time, as you revisit your treatment and episode planning.

• What topics have you logged during the competitive analysis?
• Do the topics stand out differently than what you had originally planned?
• Are there major topics that are connected that would justify a series within the show? Groups of related topics can present an opportunity. Note this for later in our show development series. A series can be a great way to initially engage sponsors for your production.

Going through the process of competitive analysis and decisions around the topics and tone are valuable for your long term success. Of course, you will continue testing and evaluating as you release episodes and get engagement with your audience.  But, some self check prior to an initial release can be very beneficial, especially if you are investing launch dollars.