Podcast Marketing Trends Explained: Data-Driven Podcast Growth Strategies

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Stupid Mistakes, Happy Accidents & Surprising Insights From Making & Marketing Our First 20 Episodes

Podcast Marketing Trends Explained: Data-Driven Podcast Growth Strategies

04/23/24 • 58 min

Plus, we need your help to decide what to make next.

We spend the majority of our time thinking about podcast marketing & growth. But that doesn’t mean we have it all figured out.

In this final episode of Season 1 of Podcast Marketing Trends Explained, we break down our stats from the season along with our mistakes and missed opportunities, lessons learned... and the surprising insights we’ve gained along the way.

Plus, we brainstorm three new show concept ideas to keep us busy between seasons... and ask your feedback on which one we should pursue.

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Topics Covered
00:00 Intro
00:49 How many downloads we expected to get going into this season
02:35 Breaking down our Season 1 stats
03:22 Is YouTube worthwhile for the average podcaster?
08:34 Engagement time and consumption rates
12:44 The metric we care about more than analytics
20:26 Assessing Season 1: What we did well
23:02 How experimentation led us to find our structure
28:21 A big mistake we made with Season 1
32:05 Mistakes and missed opportunities in Season 1
36:18 Help us decide which show we should create next
40:57 Concept idea 1: “Make it Big”
45:03 Concept idea 2: “Why It Works”
49:48 Concept idea 3: “Podcast Riffs”
54:35 Listener feedback and what to expect from Season 2

⭐️ Get a free podcast marketing audit with personalized recommendations to help you grow: https://podcastmarketingacademy.com/audit ⭐️

Resource

Jay Clouse from Creator Science
Josh Spector
Bumper articles on measuring listen time
Growth In Reverse
Arvid Kahl
LinkFire
Chartable
The Futur
Unthinkable w/ Jay Acunzo

✍️ Leave your feedback for the show: http://podcastmarketingtrends.com/feedback

🔥 Roasting a Popular Tech YouTuber's Podcast (Leveraging Reputation, Status Games, Leaning Into Tension, Positioning & Differentiation)

Podcast Marketing Trends Explained: Data-Driven Podcast Growth Strategies

03/15/24 • 41 min

"It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but you can lose it in a minute."

Today, we're putting the idea to the test.

Because in our latest podcast roast, we're featuring a brand new show featuring two veteran, highly successful, much beloved creators who are teaming up for the first time.

In theory, Stephen Robles and Jason Aten, hosts of Primary Technology should have it all figured out.

Stephen, after all, is the much beloved former host of the Apple Insider podcast, while Jason is an experienced tech writer for Inc. Magazine.

But theory doesn't always translate into reality.

And what got you here, doesn't always get you there.

Given the pedigree, my expectations going into this roast were high.

And while there's a lot to learn from what Stephen & Jason are doing right with the show...

There's one major oversight with their packaging that is likely costing them dearly.

And it's a mistake they're far from alone in making.

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Topics Covered

0:00 Intro
00:29 Introduction to Primary Technology
00:48 First impressions of the show packaging
02:12 Dissecting the cover art and title
05:25 The power of leveraging your reputation as a host
08:41 Breaking down episode titles and descriptions
20:19 Understanding genre conventions
21:00 How to use listener surveys to create better content & titles
22:01 Topic-based shows and listener engagement
23:26 How to create great custom episode art
30:10 The real value of creating a show trailer

⭐️ Get a free podcast marketing audit with personalized recommendations to help you grow: https://podcastmarketingacademy.com/audit ⭐️

Resources

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✍️ Leave us a voicemail with feedback (or unadulterated praise): https://podline.fm/trends

The 10k Timeline: How Long It Takes to Reach 10k dl/ep (& How to Accelerate the Process)

Podcast Marketing Trends Explained: Data-Driven Podcast Growth Strategies

04/02/24 • 60 min

We all know success doesn’t happen overnight. But what does the data say about how long it takes to reach 1k... or 10k downloads per episode?

Podcasting is inherently a slow-growth medium.

Without a central discovery system offering the potential for virality, growing a podcast is a long game of slow, steady, incremental growth that compounds over time.

But while you might expect growth to be somewhat slow when you start out, how long should it take before it speeds up?

In this episode, we’re breaking down what the data says about how long it takes the typical show to reach the 1k and 10k milestones, the factors that influence those timelines, and what you can do to accelerate the process.

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Topics Covered

00:00 Intro
00:59 Podcast growth lessons from Warren Buffett
05:00 When typical shows hit the 1k & 10k dl/ep milestones
10:36 How experience affects a show’s growth rate
15:21 What everyone gets wrong about consistency in podcasting
26:16 The powerful compounding of relationships
31:33 Stacking micro-improvements to your show with every episode
35:26 Strategies for navigating (and avoiding) creative burnout
38:28 Building your transferable skill set
44:22 Our personal stories of creative compounding that have got us here
56:12 The impact of mentorship and constructive critique

⭐️ Get a free podcast marketing audit with personalized recommendations to help you grow: https://podcastmarketingacademy.com/audit ⭐️

Resource

Mike Birbiglia’s Podcast, *Working It Out*
Build and Launch, Past Project by Justin Jackson
Mega Maker, Project by Justin Jackson

Check out the Podcast Marketing Trends 2023 Report

Subscribe to the Scrappy Podcasting Newsletter

Try Transistor.fm for free for 14 days

✍️ Leave your feedback for the show: http://podcastmarketingtrends.com/feedback

🔥 Roasting A Fitness Podcast (Brand Coinages, Evocative Titles, Episode Naming Conventions)

Podcast Marketing Trends Explained: Data-Driven Podcast Growth Strategies

02/16/24 • 26 min

In this episode of Podcast Marketing Trends Explained, we roast Wits & Weights' podcast packaging to break down what's working, what's not, and what you can learn to improve your podcast cover art, title, show description, SEO, and episode titles.

📊 What did you think of this episode? Click to cast your vote:

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Topics Covered

00:00 Introduction
01:14 First Impressions of the Podcast Packaging
04:18 Analyzing the Podcast Name
06:43 Analyzing the Podcast Cover Art
12:47 Analyzing the Show's Description
18:05 Analyzing the Episode Titles
22:19 Comparing the Artwork to Other Competing Shows
25:37 Optimizing the Show for SEO Discovery
30:27 How to Submit Your Show for an Audit

⭐️ Get a free podcast marketing audit with personalized recommendations to help you grow: https://podcastmarketingacademy.com/audit ⭐️

Resources

✍️ Leave your feedback for the show: http://podcastmarketingtrends.com/feedback

🔥 Roasting A #1 Christian Parenting Podcast (The Perils of Bold Claims, Keyword Stuffing, and Giving the Impression of Sleazy Marketing)

Podcast Marketing Trends Explained: Data-Driven Podcast Growth Strategies

03/01/24 • 35 min

In this episode of Podcast Marketing Trends Explained, we roast The Empowered Stepmom's podcast's packaging.

We break down what's working, what's not, and what you can learn to improve your podcast cover art, title, show description, SEO, and episode titles to improve your podcast discoverability and get more listeners.

📊 What did you think of this episode? Click to cast your vote:

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Topics Covered

0:00 Intro
00:43 First impressions of the cover art
08:48 Assessing the show's title
13:42 Breaking down the show description
19:23 The importance of listener-orienting your copy
26:11 How to best use the author byline
27:13 Assessing the episode titles and descriptions
30:59 Live adjustments to the show's packaging
34:41 How to submit your show for a roast

⭐️ Get a free podcast marketing audit with personalized recommendations to help you grow: https://podcastmarketingacademy.com/audit ⭐️

Resources

Subscribe to Podcast Marketing Trends Explained

✍️ Leave your feedback for the show: http://podcastmarketingtrends.com/feedback

Is It Just Harder to Grow a Podcast Now (& If Not, Where Are the Hidden Opportunities)? | Podcast Strategy

Podcast Marketing Trends Explained: Data-Driven Podcast Growth Strategies

04/23/25 • 48 min

Over the past year, median podcast growth rates were nearly flat. In other words, the typical show experienced almost zero growth over the previous 12 months.

If you’ve been in podcasting for a while, this might correspond with your feeling that it is harder to grow today than it once was. And yet... while growth may have slowed for the typical show, there are others that are unlocking more and faster growth than ever before.

So what’s going on here? And what do we as creators need to do to tap into the potential for growth that exists?

📊 What did you think of this episode? Click to cast your vote:
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Topics Covered

00:00 Is It Harder To Grow Now?
01:56 Growing in 2008 vs 2025
03:49 What the data says about growth rates
08:33 Two reasons it might be harder to grow now
13:14 The two types of competition today
15:56 Keeping up with changing tastes and expectations
21:38 Diagnosing your growth problem
24:55 A tried and true way to differentiate
28:35 Opportunities to grow a podcast today
33:49 A sneaky approach to testing big changes
35:16 The worst thing that can happen to your show
38:43 The opportunities of podcasting for your business

⭐️ Get a free podcast marketing audit with personalized recommendations to help you grow: https://podcastmarketingacademy.com/audit ⭐️

Resources

The Tim Ferriss Show
This American Life
Mel Robbins’ podcast
Headliner
Descript
The Law of Shitty Click Throughs by Andrew Chen
Atomic Habits by James Clear

Check out the Podcast Marketing Trends 2024 Report

Subscribe to the Scrappy Podcasting Newsletter

Try Transistor.fm for free for 14 days

✍️ Leave your feedback for the show: **http://podcastmarketingtrends.com/feedback**

🔥 Roasting A Fashion Design Podcast (Show Titling, Specific Copy, Custom Thumbnails)

Podcast Marketing Trends Explained: Data-Driven Podcast Growth Strategies

02/23/24 • 32 min

In this episode of Podcast Marketing Trends Explained, we roast Alison Hoenes' How Fitting podcast packaging to break down what's working, what's not, and what you can learn to improve your podcast cover art, title, show description, SEO, and episode titles.

📊 What did you think of this episode? Click to cast your vote:

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Topics Covered

00:00 Introduction
00:50 First Impressions of the Podcast Packaging
02:04 Analyzing the Podcast Cover Art
05:32 Analyzing the Podcast Name
07:21 Analyzing the Show's Description
16:30 Analyzing the Episode Titles
25:01 Custom Artwork
28:52 Key Takeaways & Recommendations
32:00 How to Submit Your Show for an Audit

⭐️ Get a free podcast marketing audit with personalized recommendations to help you grow: https://podcastmarketingacademy.com/audit ⭐️

Resources

Descript
ConvertKit
Cast Magic
Calendly
Zapier
Chartable
Linkfire
Figma
Canva Pro

✍️ Leave your feedback for the show: http://podcastmarketingtrends.com/feedback

[Condensed] How We'd Spend $500/$2,500/$10,000 to Grow Our Podcast (& the Lessons You Can Apply to Any Budget)

Podcast Marketing Trends Explained: Data-Driven Podcast Growth Strategies

03/13/24 • 45 min

How to get the best ROI on your podcast production and marketing budget to maximize growth... whether it’s $100 or $10,000 per month.

You’re probably pretty confident that if you had more money to spend on your podcast, you’d be able to grow it faster.

But have you ever stopped to think about how you would spend it to get the greatest ROI?

Should you buy ads? Invest in better gear? Hire an editor or assistant?

In this episode, we break down our takes on where your podcast budget is best spent in order to grow the fastest.

📊 What did you think of this episode? Click to cast your vote:

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Topics Covered

00:00 Could we grow faster if we had more budget?
02:09 How much the average podcast spends on production & marketing
05:21 How much high-growth shows allocate to marketing
06:51 How we’d spend $500/month to grow
14:03 How we’d spend $2,500/mo to grow
24:11 How to figure out what brought people to your show
24:12 How we’d spend $10,000/mo to grow
31:14 Understanding your brand values
38:23 Running retargetting ads to your podcast
40:06 How we’d grow our podcast with zero budget

⭐️ Get a free podcast marketing audit with personalized recommendations to help you grow: https://podcastmarketingacademy.com/audit ⭐️

Resources