New research reveals there’s a 3.4x greater chance of finding your podcast audience in 2025 than in 2014.
But with 42.5% of podcasters still citing audience growth as a primary challenge, there’s still room for improvement in terms of how podcasters attract, retain, and (eventually) monetize audiences.
This is not surprising. With a lot happening on and off the air, it’s challenging for podcasters to know what trends, releases, and headlines matter to grow their show.
To help isolate what moves the needle when it comes to audience growth, we compiled insights from some of the best brains in audio and explain how you can adopt them into your podcast workflow to grow your show this year.
1. Interviews aside: Try out differentiated and interesting podcast formats
With 23% of top-performing podcasts taking the interview format (think The Tim Ferriss Show, Call Her Daddy, and This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von) and 63% of branded podcasts following suit, it can be hard to make an interview podcast stand out.
While the interview is a go-to for many reasons – like building a strong host-audience relationship, establishing thought leadership, and networking – we’ve been seeing more and more creators move to less popular formats in order to differentiate themselves and overcome the growth hurdle associated with interview podcasts.
Jeremy Enns of Podcast Marketing Academy told CoHost “interview-based shows are the hardest format to grow—especially if you don't have a unique and memorable hook or angle that gives your show a different flavor than the countless other interview shows on a given topic.”
Some of the more creative formats we’ve been seeing are:
- Monologue/solo conversation: This format is great if you’re on a budget, prefer a simpler editing/recording style, and don’t want to source guests. Some examples are Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast and You Up with Nikki Glaser
- Investigative podcasts: These shows start with a question, explore it with expert guests, and uncover answers alongside the host. Think Reply All and Sold in America.
- Nonfiction narratives: A personal favorite, this format attracts highly engaged and consistent listeners. This format does require extensive research, scripting, planning, and fact-checking. Think American Scandal and MrBallen Podcast.
But if you have a show you’re struggling to grow and don’t want to abandon the interview format entirely, we suggest layering more creative or distinctive elements, segments, or hooks on top of your interviews. Some successful examples of this include Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee or Hot Ones.
2. Is this thing (always) on?: The rise of continuous podcasts
When podcasts first came on the scene releasing your show in seasons was the norm.
But audience consumption preferences are changing and so are the monetization opportunities available to podcasters.
Arielle Nissenblatt of Audily points out that while seasonal shows have been effective for storytelling, they limit sustained audience engagement, marketing opportunities, and long-term monetization.
Compared to a limited-run series, having an “always-on” podcast, keeps you top of mind for listeners, creating a sense of loyalty that’s hard to achieve in 6-8 episodes once a year. Plus, with new episodes released weekly/bi-weekly, you can take advantage of current trends and listener feedback, ensuring your content is timely and relevant.
Some episode ideas to consider adding include:
- Behind-the-scenes insights
- Q&A episodes featuring listener questions
- Live episodes
Plus, if you’re looking to secure a podcast sponsorship in 2025, the always-on model provides a much more expansive content library, which is better suited for subscriptions and additional ad revenue.
With that said, this structure doesn’t work for all podcasters. Depending on your time and resources, keeping a continuous release schedule can be unattainable for a lot of creators. Additionally, depending on the type of content you create, your show may be better suited for a limited series. If it feels like a stretch to draw out a pre-planned 8 episode series – don’t. Listeners will pick up on it and drop off.
3. Get camera ready
A lot of companies and creators have been tuned into the potential of video recently – and for good reason. Here are just a few:
Increased visibility and discoverability
Podcasting now reaches 89 million American listeners each week. Compare that to ~197 million American YouTube users – and 62% of them access the site every day. With these numbers in mind, it’s not hard to see why podcasters are so excited about video and the increased visibility it brings.
Not to mention, even established audiences are turning to video with 64% of podcast listeners finding YouTube to be a better podcast experience compared to audio-only formats.
Enhance content repurposing
Content repurposing is a key part of any successful podcast marketing strategy. And adding video to your series opens the door to new formats and platforms – like Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and TikToks.
Plus, it’s been shown time and time again that video content is the top-performing social content:
- Tweets with video have 10x more engagement compared to text-only tweets.
- 62% of people watch videos under 60 seconds all the way through
- Consumers remember 95% of the messages from video clips compared to just 10% from text posts
We will note that if you don’t want to publish your entire podcast in video, you can leverage it in alternative ways. Add any kind of visual – like The Dollop that opted to create an animated counterpart to their audio podcast.
Tap into a larger (and younger) audience base
Some folks simply prefer watching things rather than listening to things, so adding video to your podcast helps reach this subset.
In particular, Gen Z audiences are leaning more toward visuals. Here are the numbers:
- 49% of Gen Z monthly podcast listeners say video provides a better understanding of context and tone through facial expressions and gestures
- 45% feel more connected to the podcasters through video
- 84% of Gen Z monthly podcast listeners consume podcasts with a video component
Gen Z aside, new podcast listeners are also turning to video-first podcasts: 65% of listeners consuming podcasts on YouTube are consuming them for the first time.
Our two cents on the video dilemma
With these numbers in mind, the impact of video on podcasting only looks to ramp up in 2025 – so much so that 75% of people voted that the official definition of a podcast should include audio and video.
But while video does offer a lot of opportunities for increased reach and discoverability, it is entirely optional. Not all podcasters have the time or resources to dedicate to a high-quality video and not all podcasters will reap the same reward from investing in video – and that’s okay!
We will say though, that even if you have an audio-only podcast, still upload it to YouTube with your podcast cover art as the visual. That way, your podcast is still available to YouTube’s mass user base.
4. Give the people what they want with audience insights
In 2024 many creators realized that creating a compelling podcast wasn’t enough. They needed to reach the right audience – and understanding who their current listeners are, their preferences, and consumption habits were key to sustained growth.
Going back to the early days of audio, creators had very limited data points to go off of. But thankfully, podcasters aren’t limited to download numbers and subscriber counts anymore.
In 2025, savvy podcasters are tapping into engagement metrics, demographics, and psychographic details to ensure they’re reaching their target audience, tailor their content to listener preferences, and enhance sponsorship deals.
Here’s a list of key metrics to track this year:
- Consumption rate: This will tell you how long listeners are listening to your show or episode before dropping off. Measured on a percentage basis, the closer you get to 100% the better. This metric is very important because it shows you how well your content is resonating with your audience.
- Drop-off points: If lots of listeners are dropping off at the same time, this likely indicates that an ad ran too long, a segment missed the mark, or the conversation strayed too far off-topic. Find commonalities between drop-off points across episodes and refine your approach if necessary.
- Advanced Audience Demographics: Find your audiences’ age, location, interests, social media habits, income, interests, and more, so you can tailor your episodes to align with your listeners’ preferences and needs.
- Online engagement: Look outside your listening apps to other platforms where podcast fans engage with your content. Think your podcast’s social media accounts, website, and newsletter. What type of content performs best? Look at both the subject matter (i.e. guest selection, tone, voice) and format (i.e. audiogram, video, text, image). You can also use tools like CoHost’s Tracking Links to see which sources drive the most downloads.
- B2B Analytics: Get a detailed look at the companies who are tuning into your podcast, including their industries, seniority level, job role, average company size, and average revenue breakdown.
5. It takes a village – tap into community-driven monetization
When you think of podcast monetization, your mind probably goes straight to advertising and sponsorships. But there’s a new big player on the scene: Community-driven monetization.
This can come in a few different forms, but typically consists of some type of premium subscription that offers exclusive content like live Q&As, online (or in-person) meetups, direct messaging with hosts, behind-the-scenes info, extended episodes, early episodes, etc;
You can get creative with the kind of bonus content you provide. You’ll just want to ensure it offers real value to your super fans. People are only willing to pay for experiences that make them feel special and part of an exclusive community.
Some common ways podcasters are tapping into community-driven monetization in 2025 include:
- Spotify and Patreon Collaboration: Offers Patreon-exclusive content directly on Spotify, making it easier for podcasters to monetize through subscription perks like behind-the-scenes content and merchandise.
- Apple Podcasters Program: Lets creators sell subscriptions, offering 70% of the subscription price, increasing to 85% after a year, with customizable perks like ad-free listening, bonus episodes, and early access.
6. Don’t sleep on AI
If you were keeping up with podcast news last year, a common thread was “new AI tools” making headlines.
These AI-backed tools are expanding on the daily – from transcriptions and copywriting to audio and video enhancement. These tools are great for helping you save time and refine your podcast workflow.
In particular, AI is great for repurposing podcast content into different formats – like audiograms, social media posts, blogs, reels, etc; to attract new listeners across various platforms and engage current listeners with different consumption preferences.
Some of our favorite AI tools include:
- CoHost AI-Powered Transcriptions convert podcast audio into written text, effectively and efficiently. The AI is designed to understand multiple accents, speakers, and subjects, making it adaptable to various podcast themes and industries. Plus, it automatically tags time stamps, making it easier for listeners and readers to navigate.
- Riverside is a remote podcast editing and recording software that allows you to record studio-quality audio and video no matter where you are or how reliable your internet connection is. They have many AI-powered capabilities including noise reduction, smart video framing, captions, and descriptions.
- Copy.ai is the first GTM AI platform and their team has built out custom workflows designed for podcasters to automate key parts of their marketing strategy including blog posts, reports, and social media posts. Check out this blog for more information and to access free workflows.
- Headliner is the easiest way to automatically create and share your podcast clips on social media. The app turns podcast episodes or audio clips into easily shareable waveform videos called audiograms that engage existing listeners and give potential listeners a glimpse into your show.
However, as you can imagine, these tools are nothing without human oversight. Using sites like Chat GPT is great for creating briefs, shortening scripts, and more, but you need to prompt them correctly. Otherwise, you risk creating a boring, inauthentic podcast that no one wants to spend time with.
Here’s to another big year in audio
As we look ahead to 2025, one thing is clear: podcasting is only growing in potential, but staying competitive requires adaptability.
Whether it’s rethinking your format, embracing video, leveraging audience insights, or exploring new monetization models, the most successful podcasters are the ones willing to experiment and evolve.
Take the tips above, tailor them to your content and audience, see what sticks, and don’t be afraid to make bold moves.
If you’re looking to keep up with the latest in podcasting, you’ll want to join the community of podcasters who trust the Tuned In newsletter for their bi-weekly source of all things audio.