How Facebook Ads Can Grow Your Podcast | Case Study with Great Business Stories
Contrary to popular belief, Facebook ads might help grow your podcast.
For the longest time, I (Arielle Nissenblatt, event organizer) told anyone who would listen that Facebook and Instagram ads are not worth it in order to grow your podcast. I believed it wholeheartedly that the click-through is too big of an ask and that the juice is not worth the squeeze. I did believe in Facebook ads for growing awareness, sending people to your website or newsletter...etc. But for direct podcast growth, I was convinced it was a no.
Until I wrote this article about paid marketing for This & That with Arielle Nissenblatt and received a reply from Caemin O Connor. He wrote "I invested $1,000 in my first facebook campaign last September and got followers for under $1- and these weren't bots - they are real followers who have remained listeners."
So... I invited him to share his playbook with us.
In this Well, It Depends workshop, Caemin O Connor of Great Business Stories will walk through his Facebook ads strategy. He was able to gain more than 8,000 subscribers directly from Facebook ads... and those subscribers stuck around.
More importantly, he’ll explain how the system works: landing pages, conversion tracking, creative testing, subscriber economics, and why some podcast categories may convert far better than others.
This is not a “copy this exact formula and you’ll grow instantly” session.
In true Well, It Depends fashion, we’ll focus on nuance, tradeoffs, and context. Caemin’s success came with caveats: differentiated positioning, strong creative, consistent testing, and ongoing ad rotation to fight creative fatigue.
We’ll unpack what parts of this strategy might translate to other podcasts... and what might not. If you’ve ever wondered whether paid subscriber acquisition can work for podcasts, or how to think about subscriber economics, this case study will help you analyze, question, and potentially adapt for your own show.
What you’ll learn
How Caemin structures Facebook conversion campaigns for podcast growth
Why sending listeners to a landing page changes the tracking equation
What Feature.fm does in the process
The difference between cost-per-click and cost-per-subscriber
Why your podcast category matters for this approach
How creative fatigue impacts ad performance
The economics behind scaling
Who this session is for
Podcasters curious about paid audience growth
Independent creators experimenting with marketing strategies
Marketing and audience growth professionals
Podcast teams trying to understand subscriber acquisition costs
Your host:
Arielle Nissenblatt is the founder of Well, It Depends Events, because when it comes to creative advice and best practices... it depends. She's the founder of EarBuds Podcast Collective, hosts Trailer Park: The Art and Science of Podcast Trailers and Daily Tips, writes Podcast Plunge and Podcasts We Text About, and is a 2026 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee.
Your case study:
Caemin O’Connor co-founded and ran a successful advertising contracting business from 2000–2012, specializing in in-store advertising. In 2012, he left the company to pursue other ventures, including an online jewelry business. While the business had limited success, it gave him valuable experience in SEO and online marketing.
After experimenting with several other ideas, O’Connor had what he describes as a “eureka moment” while on holiday with his family. He was reading a compelling business story—not a traditional “how-to” book—while listening to Stuff You Should Know and thinking about what he wanted to do next. Realizing that he loved both business stories and podcasts, he created Great Business Stories.
Pricing
Sliding scale tickets available. All proceeds go toward paying our speakers and keeping Well, It Depends events running sustainably.