✊ What I learned analyzing 233 show names & cover artwork

Hi friends,

One of the most important concepts to understand about marketing is this:

People make decisions based on the information they have available to them.

When it comes to sales, the job of our marketing, then, is to supply enough of the right information to our audience for them to see that our offer is right for them.

With a captive, engaged audience, we have the runway to deliver large amounts of information over a long (perhaps infinite) timespan.

There may be no better delivery vehicle for that information than a podcast.

The hard part is getting listeners into your show in the first place.

Because when it comes to convincing a potential listener to notice, let alone look closer, let alone actually listen to your show, the amount of information they’re basing their decision on is shockingly small.

In fact, it almost always boils down to just two elements of your show's packaging:

Your show title
Your cover art

In the context of your show’s entire back catalogue, these two elements might feel as though an almost insignificant representation of what your show actually is.

But to a potential listener, they account for 100% of their understanding of the show.

And that understanding is what determines whether they’ll have a closer look, and ultimately, listen.

In short:

While your show title and cover art won’t make your show, they can certainly break it.

To maximize listener acquisition, then, your packaging needs to communicate 4 core pieces of information:

Relevance: Is this show relevant to me?
Legitimacy: Am I confident it will be worth my time?
Vibe/Tone: Does it feel like something I’d be into?
Novelty: Does it seem to offer something unique, different, and/or better from what I’m already getting elsewhere?

Beyond these messages, the best packaging is also distinctive and memorable—two traits that enabling growth by keeping the show top of mind for existing listeners…

Thus making them more likely to come back regularly, as well as recommend the show.

Of course, it makes intuitive sense that your show name and cover art impact your show’s growth.

But to what degree?

And are there any specific trends in the show names and artwork of high vs low growth shows?

After spending years pondering these questions, I decided to comb through the data of the Podcast Marketing Trends 2024 report to see what I could find.

And, I found a lot.

As it turns out, there are a series of obvious correlations between certain aspects of show names and cover art and the show’s annual growth rate.

And in this episode of Podcast Marketing Trends Explained, we break down the findings, dig into what they mean for you, and break down some of our favourite examples of podcast names and cover art for inspiration.

You can add the episode to your listening queue in your favourite podcast app or watch on YouTube.

📲 Add To Your Queue

Improving the Attractiveness of a show's packaging is one of the most common growth levers I work with my clients to address.

If you'd like to get a second opinion on whether your show's packaging might be holding your show back, check out my ultra-affordable Zap Micro-Audits for an honest assessment of any potential issues and what you can do to fix them.

Even small packaging updates can often lead to serious (bordering on crazy) growth.

Stay Scrappy,

If you're a founder that feels like you've got all the pieces in place (offer, podcast, email marketing)... but they aren't working together in a cohesive system, I've got 6 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 with less effort.

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 all of 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, reply with the words "Growth Engine" and I'll send over all the info on how the process works.

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