Hi, Reader.

Whether you're marketing your firm, practice, personal brand, or podcast, the same principle is true:

emulating competitors dissolves what makes you unique

So when it comes to building an audience for your business podcast, it's unproductive to look at what other podcasts are doing... Instead, your best bet is to seek out your target listeners and engage with them.

How business podcast listeners discover new shows

Earlier this year, Red Cedar published the 2026 State of Podcasting in Professional Services research study, which looked at both business podcast hosts and listeners. This research might be a good starting point or background context to keep in mind when you reach out to target listeners.

Recommendations from colleagues and on-platform search topped the list of 70+ active podcast listeners. Interestingly, sizable chunks of listeners consider recommendations from other podcasts, shows they see at live events, and clips they see on social media.

Crafting an Effective Podcast Marketing Strategy

If we break down these top 5 discovery methods into actionable marketing tactics, here's how that would look:

1. Search on podcast platforms → Optimize episode title, description, and metadata for search queries
2. Ask colleagues for recommendations → Engage listeners and incentivize them to share
3. Recommendations from other podcasts → Do guest interviews on other podcasts and link back to your show
4. Industry conferences and events → Record content at live events as a means of generating conversations
5. Video clips on social media → Increase the quality and frequency of video clips

This is truly the foundation of effective podcast marketing strategies. The hard part? Executing. If you or your team needs help, reply to this email to start a conversation.

Get Context Around the Research in this Video Breakdown

In this video, I break down the key findings from the research study mentioned above, based on insights from 147 podcast hosts and listeners across professional services industries.

What makes this research unique is the focus on the business genre, which is much different than sports, politics, or true crime.

In this video, you'll learn:

• What separates growing podcasts from stagnant ones
• The biggest challenges business podcasters face today
• Why long-form content is still winning
• How listeners actually discover new shows
• Why frequency is one of the biggest drivers of success
• The real ROI of podcasting (and why it’s NOT sponsorships)

In Case You Missed It...

• ​History of Podcasting: From '80s Radio Tech to Booming Industry​
• ​Podcasting at Conferences: Turning A Booth Into a Pop-Up Studio​
• ​Audio vs Video Podcasts: Which Makes Sense for You?​

Build Your Podcast Sales Engine

Red Cedar helps experts build media brands that actually make a business impact. Here are a few ways we help clients:

• New show launch + pilot programs
• Podcast audit, benchmarking, and roadmapping
• Managed podcast growth + marketing
• Sponsorship development + monetization
• Video clip production & distribution
• Guest outreach, coaching and booking

Happy podcasting!
- John