One podcast marketer reveals how she increased monthly listens by 155% and secured a top placement on Apple Podcasts

While some tried-and-true marketing strategies—like billboard advertising—can be applied to podcasts, it can be challenging to promote audio content on platforms that rely on visuals to drive audience engagement.

Following in the footsteps of other publishers, some podcast networks have reportedly turned to more opaque ways of boosting their numbers, like buying downloads via mobile-game ads. Some hire marketers to get the job done for them.

Rarely, does a marketer do it for free. Lauren Passell, founder of podcast growth company Tink Media, tried several strategies for Lizzy Cooperman’s In Your Hands, a podcast produced by Starburns Audio, the comedy podcast network created by Rick and Morty production studio Starburns Industries. After a month, listenership grew by 155%, Passell told Marketing Brew. And all of her work was free.

The premise: Each week, Cooperman’s listeners vote between two life decisions, Passell explained. She’s applied for a job at Cold Stone Creamery, gotten piercings, and become an LA tour guide for the TV show This Is Us, all at the behest of her audience’s favor, as polled on Instagram.

Passell, a show fan, emailed Starburns Audio, suggesting that “one of the options should be focused on growing the show.” If that option won the majority vote, Passell said she would spend a month working to build its audience for free.

The proof: In an Aug. 11 episode featuring Passell, listeners voted for her idea, and she officially got to work on Aug. 18, she said. In addition to the boost in listenership, a Sept. 8 episode of the pod saw 420% more downloads in one week than the Aug. 11 episode did during the week after it dropped, she told us.

“I hadn’t done any marketing prior to working with Lauren because the show was fairly new, but she’s been an incredible force with getting the word out, which is exactly what a new show needs,” Cooperman said via email.

Featuring: Passell said one of the first things she did was reach out to podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts to see if she could get In Your Hands featured on their apps.

The pod was chosen to be featured in a top placement on Apple Podcasts—“the best real estate you can get,” Passell said—and in its New & Noteworthy section.

It was also picked for a top placement on Pocket Casts and appeared in the new episode section on Spotify, Passell told us. The top placement on Apple Podcasts likely drove the greatest increase in listens, she said, resulting in about a 62% spike the day it went up.

Podcast playdates: Cross-promotions, or “promo swaps,” as Passell put it, are another popular method by which podcasters promote each other’s shows. Hosts essentially read ads for one another’s shows, betting that their listeners will appreciate their recommendation of similar content.

“This is what I do with all my clients,” Passell said. “I make a list of who I think their podcast friends should be, and if I’m setting them up on a podcast playdate, what are they going to do?”

Pitching: Passell also did a traditional PR pitch campaign for In Your Hands, which resulted in placements in podcast publications including Podnews, Inside Podcasting, Vocal Fridays, and House of Pod, she told us.

Passell even made her own OOO email a pitch for people to listen to In Your Hands while she was at Podcast Movement, a major industry conference, this summer. And even though her official month of free work for the show is over, Passell said she’s still marketing it.

“I’ve made a really good friend,” Passell said of Cooperman. “I think that’s part of the reason it worked. I think it was a good match. I don’t think I could do this with just any show.”