Will discovery algorithms actually grow your show for you?

Since the dawn of podcasting, creators have been clamoring for better discoverability. And now, thanks to YouTube & Spotfiy’s algorithms, better discovery might be here.

But will it actually be the marketing cure-all many creators hope it will be? Or might it actually make it harder to grow? Or perhaps, algorithmic discovery will change the medium into something else entirely…

One way or another, we’re about to find out. Here’s how to prepare for it.

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It’s a turbulent time to be a podcaster.

YouTube and Spotify are introducing discovery algorithms that have the potential to both help and hurt creators. The rise of video podcasting is challenging the very definition of what a podcast even is. And AI… well, you already know about AI.

In short, being a podcaster today means trying to keep your head above water in the firehose of noise that is constantly flooding your listeners’ screens, feeds, and even personal recommendations.

So the question is: In the face of all of this noise, competition, and change, what are we as creators supposed to do? 

Or, maybe a better question: Who are the podcast creators and marketers who are making the most of this changing podcast landscape, and what can we learn from the way they’re creating and marketing their shows, that we can apply to our own?

In Season 2 of Podcast Marketing Trends Explained, our goal is to get to the bottom of these questions, using a mix of data and personal insights and observations from our own podcasting experiments.

In every episode, we’ll take one key data point from the latest Podcast Marketing Trends Report, and break down what it means for you as a podcast creator, producer, or marketer, so you can make smarter, savvier, data-driven decisions about how to make and market your show.

You can check out the full report at podcastmarketingtrends.com and hit subscribe wherever you’re listening now to get every episode of this season.

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Michael Jordan, Simone Biles, Wayne Gretzky. Every so often, someone comes along who is playing the game at a whole different level. And when it comes to podcasting, we've got two of them.

Jay Clouse and Chris Hutchins each host hugely successful shows. And this special episode, we're getting inside the minds of these two creators to understand the thought process, experiments, and personalities behind the downloads (not to mention some serious revenue).

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Resource

Listen & Subscribe to Sound Judgment

Creator Science Podcast
Creator Science
All the Hacks Podcast
Tim Ferriss Episode w/ Chris Hutchins

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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.

Cast your vote for which show we should make next

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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

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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 

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 A magnetic show concept gives you an unfair advantage over every other show on your topic, even in the most crowded spaces.

In the crowded world of book reviews and author interviews, This Queer Book Saved My Life stands out both through its combination of narrow niche and unique & compelling concept.

In this roast, we dissect what makes this show work from a packaging perspective, as well as some of the improvements the Host, J.P. Der Boghossian could make to increase the show’s discovery and listener acquisition.

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Topics Covered

00:00 Intro
00:12 Introducing the roastee 
00:58 First impressions: Title and artwork analysis 
01:37 Deep dive into the show's concept and title 
04:32 How we’d tweak the show description 
09:07 Episode title and description teardown 
09:15 Pros & cons of cross-posting different shows on one feed 
10:29 Leveraging book titles for discoverability 
12:31 Some of the best episode descriptions we’ve seen 
14:21 Addressing negative reviews and trolls 
15:25 Custom episode artwork opportunities 
18:47 One major potential opportunity for improvement 
20:22 The value of a podcast website

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Resource

Subscribe to JP Der Boghossian's Podcast This Queer Book Saved My Life
Krista Tippett's podcast On Being
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

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Less than 5% of your potential audience is listening to your show. Here’s why, in their own words.

Even small shows with just a few hundred (or few dozen) downloads an episode have usually been listened to—at one point or another—by thousands of people.

A small number of those people are your regular listeners and superfans.

A larger number are casual listeners and samplers, people who don’t listen to every episode, but rather based on their interest in a specific episode topic or guest.

And then there are the people who listened to one episode or less… and never came back. While the data is hard to measure, chances are, less than 5% of the people who are both aware of your show and interested in your topic are regular listeners.

Which begs two questions:

1. Why aren’t they listening?
2. Is there anything you can do to change that?

To get to the bottom of this frustrating phenomenon, we ran a survey to our larger audience to find out—in their own words—what kept them listening more regularly… or at all.

The good news?

They didn’t hold back.

And in this episode, we break down their feedback, which—while aimed at our show—likely applies to your show as well.

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Topics Covered

00:00 Intro
00:49 9k email subscribers… 350 downloads
02:41 How listeners choose what content to engage
04:50 The role of 'Jobs to Be Done' in podcasting
11:32 Why our audiences are tuning us out experiment
15:30 Understanding your Total Addressable Market
18:32 Strategies for retaining podcast listeners
21:24 Earning the right to long term listeners
26:28 Breaking down our casual listeners repsonse data
29:01 The challenges of creating career-adjacent content
30:16 Creative ideas to engage more listeners
33:36 What listeners like about our titles and descriptions
37:13 Using feedback to guide your content strategy
41:50 Why non-listeners choose not to listen
44:06 How to break through to non-listeners
49:43 How we’re incorporating this feedback

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Resources

Check out our full audience survey data
Walkthrough: How to replicate this survey for your show

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Complete the 2025 Podcast Marketing Trends survey and enter to win from one of 30 podcast marketing trainings worth a total of almost $16k. 

Tim Ferriss has inspired countless podcasters to create shows interviewing “top performers”… but can any of them succeed? And if so, what’s the blueprint? 

In this episode of Podcast Marketing Trends Explained, we roast DSTLLD'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.

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Topics Covered

00:00 Intro
00:57 Roasting the DSTLLD Podcast: First Impressions
01:38 The importance of clear, searchable naming
06:52 Cover art teardown
09:05 Podcast description teardown & ideation
10:39 How to compete with established shows by finding your unique angle
18:07 Packaging individual episodes
22:27: How to become the next Tim Ferriss or Jordan Harbinger
30:06 Final thoughts and recommendations for growth

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

Resource

Subscribe to Blake Bottrill's DSTLLD podcast
Jordan Harbinger Show
Tim Ferriss
"3 Books" by Neil Pasricha

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They’re not always obvious, but the elements of storytelling are at the heart of every great episode. This is as true for interview and solo shows as it is for narrative. For comedy & fiction as it is for business.

And in this episode, with the help of a special guest, we’re breaking down the core principles of storytelling and how to incorporate them into your show.

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Topics Covered

0:00 A new podcast growth experiment
3:21 Introducing Sound Judgment
6:24 Crafting your show’s Sound Vision
16:06 Structuring your episodes for impact & retention
18:54 Thinking in scenes
23:20 Surprise: The unexpected emotion behind all great podcast episodes
35:42 Why specifics are the key to unlocking memorability and emotion
40:20 Our analysis of the Sound Judgment episode
42:17 Digging deeper into defining your sound vision
47:35 How we use scenes to structure this show
51:33 How to incorporate surprise & suspense into your episodes
58:47 How to be a more specific (and thus, better) interviewer
1:01:52 The elements of a fantastic cross-promotion pitch

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Resource

Listen & Subscribe to Sound Judgment

The Story Grid
YouTube: Brandon McNulty
On Being
Wild Boys
Famous & Gravy

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Advantages (& pitfalls) of serialized shows, leveraging Apple Podcasts “Channels”, SEO opportunities, standing out by aiming narrow, and the power of a well-defined Jobs to be Done. 

In this episode of Podcast Marketing Trends Explained, we roast History of the Germans 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.

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Topics Covered

00:00 Intro
00:46 First impressions of History of the Germans 
01:04 Episodic vs. serial podcasts pros & cons 
02:18 Exploring Apple Podcast channels 
05:59 Cover art and first impressions 
07:58 The power of a well-defined Job to be Done 
11:32 Title and description breakdown 
14:36 Dissecting the episode titles 
17:02 A major pitfall of long-running serialized shows (and how to fix it) 
22:48 A big opportunity to stand out in any niche 
25:48 Leveraging SEO and website optimization 
36:03 Final critiques and suggestions 

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Resource

Subscribe to History of the German's Podcast
Mark Manson

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