How to Grow Your Brand With Short-Form: Lessons From Diary of a CEO

Former Diary of a CEO Head of Trailers Ant Smith - one of the first 10 key hires who helped build the world's fastest growing podcast - reveals his short form content strategy  for YouTube Shorts, TikTok and podcast trailers.  Ant goes full tactical on how to go viral short form. Ant made 450+ trailers for Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, turning 90-second  podcast trailer cuts into miniature movies.  In this episode of Building The Brand with James Burtt, he breaks down exactly how to grow a podcast with short-form: why disconnection kills retention, how to sell the guest in 10 seconds, the psychological effect behind cliff-hangers, eye-lines for retention, perfect imperfection cuts, and his ai video editing workflow that turned 4 hours into 20 minutes. If you want  podcast growth , a proven youtube shorts strategy and real storytelling psychology from inside DOAC, this is the playbook.  This is Ant Smith x Building The Brand Part 2 - more stories, all tactics. Perfect for podcasters, video editors, and founders using short-form to grow.👇  CHAPTERS - Diary of a CEO Short-Form Tactics: 0:00 — Hook: Why 90 seconds decides if they watch 2 hours 02:50 — Who is Ant Smith? Early DOAC hire to Head of Trailers 11:20 — He'd never heard of Steven Bartlett: joining Diary of a CEO 13:00 — Not a podcast, a show: the trailer philosophy that changed podcasting 29:40 — How Ant used AI in DOAC trailers (guest intros in 20 mins) 32:30 — Disconnection kills retention: the #1 retention rule 34:00 — Perfect imperfection: the authenticity cut that builds trust 38:00 — Quantity vs quality: AI for marketing teams 41:00 — Best AI tools for video creators (Artlist, Envato) 44:00 — Human-led ideas, AI for brutal feedback (Claude workflow) 46:00 — Psychology of cliff-hangers & the Zeigarnik effect 50:00 — Eye-lines for retention in YouTube Shorts 53:40 — Why story is king for brands and creator Connect with Ant via https://www.linkedin.com/in/antedits/ Building The Brand hosted by James Burtt - new episodes weekly on business, podcasting & brand building. Subscribe for tactical breakdowns.