✊ Introducing the 2024 Podcast Marketing Trends Report

752 WORDS | READ TIME: 2.8 MIN

Hi friends,

One year ago (to the day, weirdly), I published the first-ever Podcast Marketing Trends Report.

The report was the result of a small, nagging question gone wildly and wonderfully wrong.

See, for years, I'd measured the growth of my own and my client's shows, email lists, and businesses in terms of month-over-month growth rate.

ie. 3,000 downloads in January → 3,300 in February = 10% Monthly growth rate.

The only problem was that I had no idea if the growth rates we were seeing were "good"... meaning I had no idea if our marketing strategies were better than simply doing nothing.

Kind of a big problem.

So I decided to do a small internal survey of a couple dozen of my clients and Podcast Marketing Academy members to collect the previous 12 months of their download data, crunch the numbers, and establish some growth benchmarks.

Once I had the survey set up, however, I thought to myself:

"Well, if the survey is already set up, I might as well send it out to my newsletter subscribers..."

Then:

"Well, if I'm already sending it out to my newsletter, I might as well see if other folks in the industry would be willing to share it more broadly..."

Then:

"Well, if I'm already collecting the monthly download data, I bet I could cross-reference it based on dozens of variables to find out what works in podcast marketing more broadly and make an actual public report out of it..."

Then:

"This is starting to sound like a lot of work."

And it was.

The first report took 140 hours to create.

What's more, I spent several thousand dollars on a data viz designer who delivered a set of underwhelming designs that left me having to learn the fundamentals of data viz to clean up and expand their designs to ship the finished report.

And as I slogged toward the finish line, downtrodden, demoralized, and dead-near defeated, I swore I was never doing it again.

But then I published the report.

And the positive feedback started rolling in.

And a few weeks passed.

And I started to think to myself:

"Weeeeeeell, now that I have the templates for the data viz design...

"And the website is already built and just needs to be updated...

"And I actually know what I'm doing this time around...

"I bet the second version won't take anywhere near 140 hours!"

And I was right.

This year (so far), I've spent 290 hours on the report and everything around it.

And I am most definitely doing it again next year.

Somehow, that annoying, nerdy little question about podcast growth benchmarks has turned into an obsessive side hobby.

And today, you can check out the product of that obsession—the finished version of the 2024 Podcast Marketing Trends—for yourself.

Like last year, I collected month-by-month download data from hundreds of podcasters and then cross-analyzed their marketing practices, show mechanics, and more against both the show size and the show's growth rate.

The question at the heart of the report:

What do high-growth shows do differently from low-growth shows?

So if you’ve ever wondered…

Which marketing channels high-growth shows focus on that low-growth shows don't
How your show’s growth rate compares to the typical show
How much you can expect to grow in a given year
How many episodes it typically takes to reach 1,000 (or 10,000) downloads/ep
The impact of episode length, publish frequency, and show format on growth
How budget impacts growth
Which categories tend to receive the most downloads
How the growth benchmarks compare to last year
And a whole lot more.

…the report has you covered.

👉 View the Podcast Marketing Trends Report

In addition to the data, I've provided plenty of context and insight into what the numbers mean for you and your show.

I’ll be offering more analysis of the report on an ongoing basis (including a new season of Podcast Marketing Trends Explained), but for the time being, go check out the report for yourself.

Then hit reply and let me know what stood out to you most, if it changes the way you think about marketing your show, and/or if there’s any data you’d love to see in next year’s report.

I'll be sharing a series of reader insights in the newsletter over the next week or so along with a link back to your show, so please send them in!

👉 View the Podcast Marketing Trends Report

Stay Scrappy,

If you're a Founder, Solo Biz Owner, or Professional Creator looking to double down on the Craft of your work while getting paid handsomely by clients you love to work with, I have 3 slots left for 2025 in my 1:1 Podcast Growth Engine Program.

In the program, we'll do a full assessment of your show, marketing, sales system, and offer, and then design a strategy and system to bring them into alignment, to help you sell more and grow faster while making better, more rewarding, more resonant work.

It's not an overnight process, but if you've already got the pieces in place, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect to add $100k in revenue over the next year.

Here's who nails the bull's eye:

You're a coach, consultant, service provider, or online educator with a high-ticket offer ($5k+) that already sells consistently.
You have a stable business that pays you a solid, predictable salary (ie. you're not in "need cash now mode") and are in mid-to-long-term planning mode, looking to build out the systems and strategy to take your business to the next level over the next 2-5 years.
You've got your core business assets already established—offer, sales process, email marketing, podcast, operations—but while all of them are performing OK, none of them are really optimized... and you know you're leaving money on the table and working harder than you need to to generate revenue.
You can see all the pieces and know you've built something of real value... but don't know how to connect them all in a cohesive way.
You understand business and marketing, but could really use some outside perspective from someone who deeply understands their work (creatively, strategically, and tactically) and what they're trying to do to bounce ideas off of, challenge their assumptions, and guide them.

If that's you (or close enough), reply with the words "Growth Engine" and I'll send over all the info on how the process works.

Thanks for being a PMA Member!

Jump into the community and let us know what you need help with... or if this issue sparked a question you'd love to discuss further!

Reply anytime, I love hearing from you!