Trailer Park: The Art & Science of Podcast Trailers

Would listeners rather hear a podcast’s hosts introduce their own show or have someone else sell it for them? Is a fast-moving sizzle reel more effective than a host speaking directly from the heart?

Arielle talks with Rachel Corbett, Network Director of Nova Podcasts at Nova Entertainment. Rachel contributed trailers from two Nova shows to the Coleman Insights podcast trailer study: High Scrollers and Better Than Yesterday with Osher Günsberg.

Together, Arielle and Rachel play and compare four trailers:

• A host-read trailer versus a third-person voiceover for High Scrollers
• A sizzle reel versus a personal explainer for Better Than Yesterday

They discuss:

• Why listeners preferred the professional voiceover for High Scrollers
• How a third-person narrator can make it easier to incorporate clips
• Why being a great host doesn’t necessarily make someone great at selling their own show
• How Osher Günsberg’s personal explainer felt like the right choice
• How Rachel’s team is applying the findings to future Nova trailers
• The underrated skill of selecting clips that work outside their original context
• Why producers should save strong promotional moments as they edit
• How independent podcasters can conduct their own small-scale A/B tests

The lesson: Best practices are useful, but the right trailer depends on the show, the host, and the relationship you want to build with the listener.

Resources:

• Download the full podcast trailer study
• Listen to High Scrollers
• Listen to Better Than Yesterday with Osher Günsberg

Trailer Park is hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt. Editing and post-production by AdamFlaherty of Pointmade.studio.

Happy trails!

Can listeners tell when a podcast trailer was made with AI? What happens when listeners perceive your trailer as an advertisement?

Arielle talks with Peter Ferioli, co-founder, COO, and CTO of Pantheon Podcasts. Peter shares how podcast trailers have evolved from a technical requirement into an essential marketing tool, and what Pantheon changed after participating in the Coleman Insights podcast trailer study.

You’ll hear trailers created for two Pantheon shows:

• Superfan Diaries: an AI-produced trailer versus one featuring the host’s real voice
• Binge or Cringe: two versions with different opening hooks

Arielle and Peter discuss:

• Why some listeners recognized the AI-generated trailer and still wanted to hear the show
• How genre, tone, and energy affect the perception of authenticity
• Why mentioning another brand too early can confuse listeners
• What a trailer needs to promise, and why the show must deliver on that promise
• Pantheon’s new CLEAR framework: clarity, likability, engagement, awareness, and recall
• How the study shaped a new version of the Binge or Cringe trailer
• Why trailers should include a strong opening hook, tonal shifts, sound design, and a memorable ending
• When to release a trailer during a podcast launch
• How to test your own trailer without commissioning a massive research study

Peter’s challenge: Play your trailer for 3-5 people who don’t already know everything about your show. Ask where they lose interest, what they remember, and whether they want to hear the full podcast.

Resources:

• Download the full podcast trailer study
• Explore Pantheon’s podcasts

Trailer Park is produced and edited by Arielle Nissenblatt. It is executive produced and engineered by AdamFlaherty of Pointmade.studio.

Happy trails!

What makes a podcast trailer work? And when a podcast trailer works, what is the ideal outcome?

In the first episode of a three-part series, Arielle talks with Jay Nachlis, VP/Consultant at Coleman Insights, about a first-of-its-kind podcast trailer study, starring participating studios Nova Entertainment and Pantheon Podcasts.

The study asked 500 U.S. podcast listeners to evaluate eight trailers from four different shows. Each A/B test changed one variable, allowing the research team to examine preference, recall, and intent to listen.

Arielle and Jay discuss:

• What quantitative and qualitative research can each tell us
• How independent podcasters can conduct more useful listener surveys
• The common survey-design mistakes that can pollute an entire dataset
• Why good research must lead to action
• The pieces listeners remembered most from the trailers
• Why authenticity emerged as the clearest throughline
• Why data measurement isn't perfect and how, sometimes that's ok

This episode sets the scene for two upcoming Trailer Park conversations with Rachel Corbett of Nova Entertainment and Peter Ferioli of Pantheon Podcasts. We’ll hear the trailers they tested, examine the results, and find out what they plan to do differently because of the research.

Resources:

• Download the full podcast trailer study
• Why a research study is only as good as its design
• Learn more about Coleman Insights’ podcast research

Trailer Park is hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt and edited and produced by AdamFlaherty of Pointmade.studio.

Happy trails!

This is a trailer for a three-part miniseries we're releasing about what makes an effective trailer.

Trailer Park: The Podcast Trailer Podcast teamed up with Coleman Insights this past spring to conduct the first comprehensive research study dedicated to podcast trailers. We set out to understand:

• What makes a trailer work?
• Should a trailer be read by the hosts or an announcer voice?
• Does it need to explain the entire show?
• And lots more

And we learned a lot from our findings. In this series, you'll meet the executives from the production studios we worked with on this study, Rachel Corbett of Nova Entertainment and Peter Ferioli of Pantheon Podcasts.

_____

Extras

• Visit our website to submit a trailer for consideration
• Get in touch

Dane Cardiel joins the show to discuss This Is TV Now, his new podcast. He and his co-host Stella Young focus on the podcasting industry, exploring the people, ideas, and forces shaping the medium in a video-first media landscape.

On TPP, we talk about:

• Good Tape
• Why Dane started this show now
• How he thinks about the visual aspects of podcasting
• Aphantasia
• How the trailer came together

Find the visual trailer for This Is TV Now here

Find the audio trailer here

Learn from this trailer build

Is the trailer for This Is TV Now suitable for audio AND video?

About Trailer Park:

Trailer Park: The Podcast Trailer Podcast wants to help you discover new podcasts. We share trailers for podcasts of shows that have been long-running, never made it out of pre-production, were made just for fun, or anything in between. Our goal is to help creators make better short-form teasers and to help listeners find their next favorite listen.

Episode extras:

• Submit your trailer to TPP
• Email us: [email protected]
• Follow us on Instagram

Credits:

• Created by Arielle Nissenblatt
• Produced, edited, mixed, and mastered by AdamFlaherty.tv of Pointmade.studio
• Logo by Caio Slikta
• Hosted on RSS.com

Sara McCrea, podcast specialist at Random House Publishing Group, is our guest host. She brings us the trailer for PASSAGES: On Morrison.

Discover a new show

PASSAGES: On Morrison is a podcast that takes reading on the road. Join Namwali Serpell, novelist, critic, and Harvard professor, as she joins fellow writers and skilled readers in conversation to pore over excerpts of Toni Morrison’s prose.

Recorded throughout the book tour for ON MORRISON—Serpell’s electrifying, critical examination of Morrison’s writing—each episode welcomes listeners into rooms full of readers and discussions of how Morrison made her words sing.

This show is the record of a traveling salon, a celebration of Morrison’s extraordinary work, and a love letter to reading closely in community.

Learn from this trailer build

Sara breaks down the process of making this show on the road. And then, the process behind making the trailer for it -- a complicated endeavor because the show was recorded almost entirely outside of a studio.

About Trailer Park:

Trailer Park: The Podcast Trailer Podcast wants to help you discover new podcasts. We share trailers for podcasts of shows that have been long-running, never made it out of pre-production, were made just for fun, or anything in between. Our goal is to help creators make better short-form audio and to help listeners find their next favorite listen.

Episode extras:

• Submit your trailer to TPP
• Email us: [email protected]
• Follow us on Instagram

Credits:

Created by Arielle Nissenblatt

Produced, edited, mixed, and mastered by AdamFlaherty.tv of Pointmade.studio

Logo by Caio Slikta

Hosted on RSS.com

In this episode of TPP, we hit play on the trailer for Essential Salt, a show about connection, and the power of local stories. "It's a look at how getting to know your neighbors might change the way you see yourself." More information here.

The show comes from The Salt Institute and is made in partnership with Maine Public Radio.

About TPP:

Trailer Park: The Podcast Trailer Podcast wants to help you discover new podcasts. We share trailers for podcasts of shows that have been long-running, never made it out of pre-production, were made just for fun, or anything in between. Our goal is to help creators make better short-form audio and to help listeners find their next favorite listen.

Episode extras:

• Submit your trailer to TPP
• Email us: [email protected]
• Follow us on Instagram

Credits:

Created by Arielle Nissenblatt

Produced, edited, mixed, and mastered by AdamFlaherty.tv of Pointmade.studio

Logo by Caio Slikta

Hosted on RSS.com

In this episode of TPP, we get into the trailer for Everybody Knows But Me, a new show from comedian and podcast person Holly Brown. Produced in partnership with Next Chapter Podcasts, the show is a dark comedy about the secrets we inherit and the stories we tell to survive.

This episode is also hosted by Holly Brown. Arielle's out this week and she asked Holly to take over! Let us know what you think of this episode format.

More about the show:

When comedian Holly Anabel Brown was 17, her dad was dying of cancer when he dropped a bombshell: she had twin brothers she never knew existed - young boys her entire extended family had kept secret. After his death left her with more questions than answers, Holly sets out to uncover how a secret this big could be hidden, and why the sitcoms that raised her were often the only way to make sense of a life stranger than TV.

More information on Holly:

Holly’s comedy is what you get when the girl next door has a little bite - mixing dark humor and millennial nostalgia with an honesty that makes you laugh and squirm. Named one of WhoHaHa’s Comedians of the Year in 2022, Holly has been featured on popular podcasts The Daily Zeitgeist and The Dork Forest. She has performed at SF Sketchfest, Big Pine, the SLO Comedy Festival, and more across the country. Her work has been featured in Funny or Die videos, and she previously produced and performed in her sold-out monthly show, Salty AF, at the Hollywood Improv. Holly headlines nationally, loves calling dogs good boy, listening to Bob Dylan, and investigating her father’s deathbed confession!

About TPP:

Trailer Park: The Podcast Trailer Podcast wants to help you discover new podcasts. We share trailers for podcasts of shows that have been long-running, never made it out of pre-production, were made just for fun, or anything in between. Our goal is to help creators make better short-form audio and to help listeners find their next favorite listen.

Episode extras:

• Submit your trailer to TPP
• Email us: [email protected]
• Follow us on Instagram

Credits:

Created by Arielle Nissenblatt

Produced, edited, mixed, and mastered by AdamFlaherty.tv of Pointmade.studio

Logo by Caio Slikta

Hosted on RSS.com

Arielle shares and analyzes the podcast trailer for Famous & Gravy, hosted by Michael Osbourne.

About the show:

Famous & Gravy is a show that takes a different angle on well-known lives from modern history.

Instead of walking through a timeline, it turns biographies inside out — organizing stories by themes, interests, and meaningful moments, and skipping the parts that tend to drag. It looks at the full shape of a person’s life, not just the headline version, highlighting the less obvious ways they influenced culture, connected with others, and moved through key turning points.

It’s less about what you already know and more about what you didn’t realize to look for — the subtle imprints, unexpected throughlines, and human details that shift your understanding.

Even if you barely recognize the name, you’ll come away with a new lens on modern history — and better stories for dinner parties.

Also in this episode:

• Arielle talks about segmenting and how it can elevate a show
• A look at YouTube as a search engine
• Arielle encourages YOU to submit your trailer (or one you love)

Episode extras:

• Submit your trailer to TPP
• Email us: [email protected]
• Follow us on Instagram

Credits:

Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt

Produced, edited, mixed, and mastered by AdamFlaherty.tv of Pointmade.studio

Logo by Caio Slikta

Hosted on RSS.com

On this episode, Arielle shares and analyzes the podcast trailer for DEATH AND, hosted by Victor M. Sweeney.

About the featured trailer's show: Equal parts heart, humor, and heaping portions of the unexpected, "Death and" with Victor M. Sweeney explores how death colors the moments that make us human. Small-town mortician (and accidental Internet sensation), Victor M. Sweeney brings curiosity, wit, astonishing stories, and plenty of gallows humor to each episode, teaming up with guests to dismantle taboos, address morbid questions and share real-life stories that find death lurking in everything from stand-up comedy to your morning cup of coffee. If you’ve got a taste for the morbid, a love of laughter in unexpected places, and a craving for honest, unfiltered stories straight from the mortuary, Victor Sweeney is the guide you never knew you needed… and "Death and" with Victor M. Sweeney is the show you’ve been dying to discover.

Also in this episode:

• We hear from Adam Flaherty, the produced and creator of DEATH AND, about the making of the trailer.
• Arielle talks about the trailer's music, SFX, and tone
• Arielle breaks down why the trailer works
• Arielle talks about why good writing is essential for this type of show

About TPP:

Trailer Park: The Podcast Trailer Podcast wants to help you discover new podcasts. We share trailers for podcasts of shows that have been long-running, never made it out of pre-production, were made just for fun, or anything in between. Our goal is to help creators make better short-form audio and to help listeners find their next favorite listen.

Episode extras:

• Submit your trailer to TPP
• Email us: [email protected]
• Follow us on Instagram

Credits:

Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt

Produced, edited, mixed, and mastered by AdamFlaherty.tv of Pointmade.studio

Logo by Caio Slikta

Hosted on RSS.com