In a world devoid of attention spans Nikhil Kamath’s ‘WTF is’ podcast seems to be giving Netflix a run for its money.
The Zerodha founder’s 3 hour+ episodes deep dive into various hot topics, ranging from content creation to climate change. Kamath lures industry experts into a seemingly casual roundtable conversation, all while asking some straightforward questions and questioning some not-so-straightforward answers.
Safe to say, viewers LOVE it.
So, what is he getting right and how can you do it too?
Using his unfair advantage
Kamath has put his network, money and experience to good use in this podcast. His network has brought some big, credible names to the table in every episode.
He has also hired a great team to create and manage the content. Instead of fancy locations, outlandish production and over the top marketing plans, the team seems to focus on what works to create and drive truly good content.
Kamath’s experience and research allows him to have substantial context for almost any topic, and he creates an environment where guests feel free to talk relatively openly, joke around and sometimes even be vulnerable. He listens intently, keeping meandering conversations on track, and often asks the questions he assumes his audience wants the answers to.
How You Can Do It: Start with your unfair advantage. It might seem like you have none, but everyone does. Do you have an interesting perspective on things? Do you write well? Do you watch a lot of TV and have opinions? A friend circle that’s a blast to hang out with? Access to 18-22 year olds in a tier 2 city? Figure it out and use it.
As a brand, your unfair advantage needs to tie into your brand and be valuable to your target audience. A market research company will have great access to market trends. They may also have interns who know the trends but have no idea what they mean – which can make for hilarious content. A D2C company can probably tell you everything you need to know about food manufacturing or setting up a company. An e-commerce brand can have access to every single seller on their platform and their stories.
Having an unfair advantage + the ability to execute will give you a unique edge AND make what you’re doing fun.
The WTF is team doesn’t just make the strategy, they actually execute it
While most content strategies die a slow and silent death in the deck they were presented in, a lot of this show’s success can be attributed to strategy actually being executed… and beautifully.
The ‘WTF is’ content strategy is frankly quite simple – Create Value. Distribute well.
Create Value
While it may seem like the podcast’s value lies in the information provided, it actually provides different kinds of value to different viewers.
· Casual Viewers - Entertainment + the ‘feeling’ of learning
· Interested/Engaged Viewers - Information
· Peers – Relatability
How You Can Do It Too: Understand the things that your target audience values and see what you can deliver. You can choose just one, or a mix. Here’s a good example of education/information, relatability and inspiration.
Want to learn more about creating value?
Distribute well - All Roads Lead To Home
The team seems to use a version of the Gary Vee content cut model to create multiple pieces of content from a single master piece. Shorts, teasers and trailers and crafted to intrigue and excite the audience, and the main piece is built to engage. YouTube is used as a central hub, with most (not all) other channels directing to it. Everything eventually leads to watching the main episode on YouTube – the home of the podcast.
The YouTube channel has garnered 737k subscribers and 187mn views in the year.
If you’re wondering how 17 episodes have 187mn views, let’s find out.
Main Episodes
Frequency: 2-3 episodes per month | 17 videos as of now
Duration: 3 hours+
Views: 120k to 3.4mn
Value: Information/education
The main episodes engage audience on a deep level. Filled with insightful information, the audience is made to feel like they’re hanging out with the who’s who of the industry. These are clean, simple and well-produced episodes with graphics utilized only when required (eg. For explanations).
Teasers & Trailers
Frequency: 1 teaser and 1 trailer per episode | ~35 as of now
Duration: Teaser: <1min, Trailer <2min
Views: 30k-151k
Value: Intrigue
The teasers and trailers showcase highlights from the show with controversial, interesting or funny snippets and a ‘coming soon’ callout. These bits have more post production, crafted to elicit excitement and intrigue (read: dopamine).
Shorts
Frequency: ~10+ /episode | ~220 as of now
Duration: <60 seconds
Views: 50k – 2.4mn
Value: Entertainment/excitement
The bulk of the views come from the channel harnessing the feature that YouTube is currently pushing the most – Shorts. They showcase interesting moments from the show, sometimes positioned in different contexts, with tight editing and heavy graphics. This allows the content to be consumed even outside the context of the show, adding a large number of views from audiences who may not be concerned with the main topic.
And if that isn’t enough, the podcast also runs at least one other channel – Nikhil Kamath Clips – that has another 159k subscribers and 13mn views.
With a solid central hub, the podcast also uses Spotify and Apple Podcasts for audio distribution and Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn for video promotion (of course, leading back… home).
How You Can Do It Too: Steal it. Shamelessly. If you can execute it even half as well, you will never have to steal another strategy again.
Attention to detail
Easy to miss but essential to good content – shoutout to the team behind the scenes’ attention to detail. From thumbnail design to episode chapters, everything has been thought of. An absolute masterclass!
Thumbnail Design – The thumbnail uses a single line of copy that integrates the showname, topic and builds intrigue. It highlights the guests featured and uses ‘coming soon’ or ‘full episode’ to indicate what the user can expect. They also use low graphic thumbnails for the teasers.
Copy: Everything from the episode title to the episode descriptions, hashtags and guest links are organized and linked perfectly. Even the chapters are neatly timestamped and titled well.
Optimization: Optimizing content for the platform it is being showcased on and the audience who consumes it is essential. No one wants to watch a 9:16 video on reels.
How You Can Do It Too: Crafting something to get as close to perfection without going into an infinite loop of iterations is a skill in itself. Start by listing the elements involved (as mentioned above) and then spend time looking up and doing it the best way possible. There’s going to be a lot of trial and error to find what works for you, but the key here is to have a shipping date and sticking to it anyway.
All in all, there’s a reason 'WTF is' is hot and trending right now. Will they be able to keep up the good work? I hope so!
Have you checked out the podcast? Tell me about your favourite guest and why was it Tanmay?
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