MatchMaker.fm — One month in…
So at the start of February, we launched our new platform which is designed to connect podcasters with guests, a bit like a dating app really.
So far (having done a fair few launches) it’s been one of the most successful products I’ve ever bought to market in this timeframe. I thought I’d just share some quick stats and the details of how this product came to be.
The History…
About a year ago, we had just taken Podcast.co (a podcast hosting platform) to private BETA. We were going through the normal testing and pre launch procedures.
When discussing how we could widen our marketing efforts and funnel, to not only target pre-existing podcasts looking to move away from some of the old school hosts (which are pretty rubbish) but also looking at how to attract the type of person who might be thinking about starting a podcast (for example, thought leaders, entrepreneurs, speakers, coaches etc etc) we discussed the idea of creating a matchmaking service to bring these two types of people together.
Initially we saw this simply as a funnel on the existing product/site — or really even just a marketing gimmick. However, the more we thought about it the more it seemed like we could create this as a totally separate platform and really focus on building genuinely useful connections. It seemed logical then to ask our designer to mock up some wireframes of how it could work. Soon these wires turned into designs and then later in the summer after the Podcast.co launch had settled, we thought it would be good to start building it into a product.
Fast forward a few months, we had a functioning prototype — which had a limitation, you had to use Podcast.co to authenticate and use the platform. Although it was pretty successful with existing customers, generating a couple of hundred sign ups immediately — it made more sense to open it up to a wider demographic, hence LinkedIn and more recently Facebook authentication were added.
We’re now treating this like a startup within a startup and it’s becoming really quite exciting!
The Numbers…
There’s been a nice level of growth, as you can see for the past month and a half has been steady…
We’ve had a total of 2,493 Website visitors to MatchMaker.fm & out of this traffic there has been 1,115 Sign Ups. That’s 44.72% conversion rate. Unheard of right?
So as it currently stands, we have 296 podcast profiles, 501 guest profiles (We want there to be a good balance of podcasts vs guests, at the moment, I feel like this is about right — but we need to make sure guests doesn’t creep too far ahead).
382 conversations have been started. I’m happy with this — it shows the majority of podcasts are engaging with guests. Plus the graph below shows new conversations correlate to user growth which is reassuring.
We do need to make sure that we continue to encourage conversations to take place — but have got plans of how to do this.
All of these numbers/graphs have been generated by Redash — which is really useful. Must admit, this wasn’t around when we launched Radio.co but looking back, it would have been massively useful if it was. As a founder, I’ve never had access to data like this at a glance in such an early stage on a realtime basis, without having to ask developers to build it (which invariably doesn’t happen for a while as they’re too busy working on the actual product). Very cool and helpful.
The People…
What’s most impressive and exciting I think about a project like this, is the fact we’re bringing people together. Browsing the profiles of guests is both inspirational and intriguing.
Here are a few quote’s we’ve had already from satisfied customers:
One guest wrote on LinkedIn…
“ I just wrote to 21 of the podcasts in under 30 minutes. Seriously great stuff.…oh and I booked 2 within 30 minutes after that.”. She then followed up with “Have now booked 6 of 21”
Impressive stuff. Another wrote
“So far, I have booked myself on four podcasts and completed two interviews. The conversations were just right. The hosts were kind and curious. They communicated well before and after the discussions.
I could have paid a PR agent hundreds or thousands of dollars, and I don’t know if I would have landed on the right shows. MatchMaker lets me control my story with only a few clicks.”
A podcaster contacted me on LinkedIn and said
“The last two episodes were from MatchMaker. I have also been recommending it to other podcasters that I know.”
The Future…
Right, so one month in and we’ve hit 1k users already 🥳
How do we grow on this? We’ve got a few cool things planned already, most of which are tweaks and features that are being rolled out over the next couple of months. Like I said, this is a startup within a startup. We now have a sub team of developers working on this project alone, working on to their own sprints and focusing 100% on the service. This in itself has massively helped to accelerate things.
We’re also soon launching the MatchMaker.fm podcast — Matched! Which will be an ideal platform on which to showcase successes on the platform.
(Apply Here)
Currently the platform is 100% FREE to use for anyone. It is easy to signup and we will at some point introduce a premium tier in future as we build out more functionality, and introduce more of a recommendation engine but there will always be a free option so feel free to sign up and start making some connections.
Oh if you’re not a member yet but you have a podcast and want to discover the secret to booking the worlds best podcast guests (or go down an entirely-possible path which will result in you getting booked on 30 podcasts in the next 30 days!). Then I’m guessing then you know where to sign up.
