With 158 million monthly listeners in just the U.S. (Edison Research, March 2025), podcasts have amassed a loyal base of listeners and enthusiasts. That audience is continuing to grow – the number of worldwide podcast listeners is expected to reach 651.7 million by 2027, up from 584.1 million as of 2025. As a result, many businesses, nonprofits and executives are weighing the pros and cons of stepping into the space. For those wondering if launching their own podcast can enhance thought leadership and expert positioning, the answer is a resounding yes.
A podcast can help to:
- Enhance brand visibility
- Achieve expert positioning in key areas
- Generate content for sharing across social media
- Provide content for e-newsletters
- Strengthen a brand or individual’s digital footprint
- Reinforce existing connections and foster new ones
- Generate referrals and leads
If you’re eager to reap these benefits of podcasting (and others), it’s time to answer some key questions: Where should you start? How do you launch? And how will you measure ROI?
Getting Started
While it’s tempting to jump into planning episodes and penning a list of coveted guests, a great podcast starts with a strong brand – one that’s authentic, memorable and undeniably you. For a nonprofit, this may mean a name that reflects the mission, while for-profits may opt for one that emphasizes expertise. Individuals launching their own podcast might choose a title that blends authority and personality, or even one that alludes to the pod’s broader ambitions.
With your brand in place, it’s time to dive into planning. Setting a realistic cadence, identifying the optimal episode format and putting a promotional plan in place are all essential steps in the process.
Creating a Podcast Marketing Plan
What does a successful launch look like? How will you attract listeners? What will inspire guests to seek out your podcast, as opposed to you seeking them out? What is the sustainability plan?
An effective podcast marketing plan should outline strategies, tactics and key logistical components necessary for a successful launch and sustained presence. We’ve all seen podcasts disappear after a few episodes – it’s important to have strong marketing plan in place to prevent your pod from meeting this same unfortunate fate.
When crafting a podcast marketing plan consider:
- Short- and long-term goals
- These may be specific to the company or cause, and/or the host’s personal brand
- Building brand awareness
- How will you let people know the podcast has launched and grow top-of-mind awareness among target audiences?
- Creating a replicable episode marketing framework
- What steps will you take to drive listenership for each and every episode? How will you maximize visibility once the episode drops?
- Leveraging guests as brand ambassadors
- How can you make it easy to help guests share their episode with their own networks? What assets would be most helpful in this process?
- Success Metrics
- What does success look like for the first season? What about future seasons? How are the podcast’s goals linked to larger organizational goals?
When and How to Measure Success
Why are you launching a podcast? To generate content for other marketing channels, such as social media and e-newsletters? To bolster your digital footprint? To generate leads? Having a clearly defined set of measurable goals is critical for evaluating the success of your podcast.
When defining your goals, think about the immediate term as well as the long game. Success in the first six months of podcasting likely looks quite different from two years in.
As you begin evaluating your podcast’s effectiveness, prioritize the ability to isolate variables. For example:
- Has the day of the week or time of day when an episode dropped impacted listenership?
- Have the promotional tools varied for specific episodes?
- What impact has guests’ ability to promote across their networks had on reach and engagement?
Isolating single variables will allow you to evaluate and respond with clear steps to optimize the effectiveness of your podcast.
Launching a podcast is an impactful and engaging way to enhance thought leadership and expert positioning, attract new audiences, diversify marketing content and grow a brand’s – or individual’s – reach. As you prepare to launch, ensure there is a solid strategy in place – not just for producing compelling episodes, but for marketing them to the right/intended audiences. With the right balance of high-quality content, creative marketing and a targeted strategy, there’s virtually no limit to the impact a podcast can make on a company, cause or individual’s bottom line.
