It’s Boring but It works...how to Grow Your Podcast in 2026
5/8/202638 min
Most podcast growth advice sounds exciting, but the strategies that actually work in 2026 are surprisingly boring–and far more effective. In this episode, I break down a growth strategy that isn’t flashy, but it works. If you’re serious about growing your podcast in 2026, you need a system, not random tactics. I walk through how to properly set up your YouTube channel before running ads, including what most people overlook that ends up killing conversions. Then, I show you how to run YouTube ads the right way—focusing on attracting the right subscribers, not just more views. I also discuss the hidden metrics inside Google Ads that tell you if your content is working, and how to validate if you’re bringing in the right audience. Finally, I go over one of the most underrated growth plays right now—podcast feed swaps—and how to use them to grow your downloads without relying on algorithms. If you want consistent, predictable growth, this is the playbook. In This Episode: 00:00 - Introduction 00:48 - The biggest mistake before running YouTube ads 01:47 - What your banner, profile, and playlists should do 09:38 - How to set up YouTube ad campaigns correctly 18:35 - Hidden metrics: earned views and subscribers 23:42 - Why podcast discovery is broken 24:49 - Podcast ad swaps vs feed swaps 31:00 - How to find and partner with similar shows 34:49 - The ideal podcast + YouTube growth system ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 📱 RESOURCES📱 ► Grab our in-depth 12-Month Podcast Road Map: From Set Up to Scale - https://top10podcasts.com/roadmap-guide ► Resources to Grow Your Podcast - https://www.notion.so/Your-episode-is-submitted-here-are-some-other-ways-to-grow-295001cc69278078867adec380e1163a https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVGponDmc=/?share_link_id=543093082189 ► Podscan.fm - https://podscan.fm/ ► Rephonic: Find, pitch and get featured on podcasts - https://rephonic.com/ ► Listen Notes: The Best Podcast Search Engine - https://www.listennotes.com/ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 📱 CONNECT with me on Instagram 📱 ► https://www.instagram.com/luisryandiaz/ Need help launching, growing, or ranking your podcast? ► https://top10podcasts.com/start ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsLuis Ryan Diaz· Host0:00
YouTube is flooded with videos on how to grow a podcast. But here's the thing, in 2026, there are two main places you need to have your podcast on and live. The first one is YouTube, and the second is all the other audio-first platforms. Now, the problem I see with most podcasters is that they're treating both platforms and both places the same exact way, and that's why their show is basically invisible on YouTube. So today, I'm gonna walk you through two brutally effective but kind of boring ways to grow your podcast on the YouTube side and on the audio side for your podcast. So if that sounds good, let's hop over to the computer and let's dive in. All right, so in this video, I'm gonna break down exactly how to run YouTube ads to your channel that actually grow your show with the right subscribers, right viewers, instead of getting the wrong people that are gonna actually tank and ruin your channel. Number two, I'm gonna show you the hidden metrics you need to look at on a semi-frequent basis so that you know you're going in the right direction and you're not bringing in the wrong crowd. And then number three, I'm gonna show you how to grow your podcast with other podcasts instead of just getting on other podcasts and being a guest. There's other ways to do this, and I'm gonna sh- walk you through exactly how we've done it, and I'll show you some case studies of and examples of other shows that are doing it and some shows that we've done it with. All right? So if that sounds good, let's hop in. First of all, let's dive into this part, which is the probably the most important part for most people. This is the first, first section we're gonna cover, which is the channel optimization. So getting 2 to 800 subscribers