The Power of the Podcast: Unlock Your Brand's Marketing Potential

The Psychology Behind a Successful Podcast: How to Captivate and Keep Listeners Coming Back

• Pedal Stomper Productions - Josh Troche • Season 2 • Episode 8

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What’s the secret sauce behind a podcast that listeners can’t get enough of? In this episode, we explore the psychology that fuels successful podcasting—perfect for small business owners, content marketers, and brand strategists looking to grow their show.

Discover how to:

  • Leverage the intimacy of audio to build authentic relationships
  • Craft stories that resonate with your target audience
  • Use consistent branding and format to enhance trust
  • Position your podcast as both entertaining and educational

We dive into new 2025 listener data from Edison Research, Blubrry, and eMarketer to give you a data-backed understanding of audience habits. You’ll also hear how to subtly infuse your brand messaging into compelling narratives, create podcast content that aligns with your company’s mission, and build a loyal listener community.

Whether you’re launching your first branded podcast or refining your message as a content creator, this episode will help you:

  • Grow a niche audience through authentic engagement
  • Increase brand recognition and listener retention
  • Master podcast content strategy for long-term success

Keywords for RSS discovery: branded podcast, podcast growth strategy, podcasting for business, audience engagement, audio storytelling, podcast branding, listener loyalty, marketing through podcasting, podcast insights, educational podcast content

If you're looking to talk podcasting and get more information on how to make your podcast shine, our 30-minute "no pitch" podcast consultation is right for you!  Click the link to sign up for a time. 
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How do you connect with and then captivate your audience? There's a lot that goes into the psychology of that, and I've got four pages worth of notes right here that I'm going to go over today. There is a lot of really, really good information. I'm super excited. I hope you are too. Stay tuned. The first piece that I'm going to get into is don't call it a comeback. To quote L.L. cool J, because it's not it. Audio has always been there, but there has been a bit of a resurgence of things, and that is where we're going to start. Before we get into that, do me a favor. Make sure that you're subscribed. Make sure that you follow all those things. I want to make sure that we are delivering the best content to you. So if you've got a question, let us know whether it be in the comments, through the newsletter, whatever. Like that. I've been excited to talk about this because there is a lot of really, really cool stuff and really great information about this. And there's like I said, I got four pages of notes here. This one's so good that Irving is in the studio with me today at The Dog. So if you hear something jingling, he's hanging out just down here. Or if you hear someone panting in the background. I'm excited about this, but it's probably not me panting. It's probably Irving. That being said, don't call this a comeback. The number of podcast listeners worldwide is projected to reach 584,000,000 in 2025. That is a 6.83% increase year to year. Now, this is from an article that was put out in eMarketer. That's huge. A 6% increase in anything. That's just more people. That's a bigger audience for you to come out to with that. When anyone asked me, hey, is it too late to start a podcast? I. It's 6% more. Almost 7% more people are going to start listening. No, the other piece to that, the psychological piece to that is it's growing. People are more and more drawn to this. Part of the reason for that audio is intimate. Yeah. I'm. I'm here. I'm right in your ears. I'm right in your car. I'm right in your home. If you just got this cranked up on the stereo or watching it on the TV or anything like that. If you've got AirPods in right now or if I'm in the car with you, coming through the speakers in your car, both of those. This is kind of an intimate thing. This is these are the it's conversational. And I'm sitting right next to you essentially in the car. That is huge when it comes to how intimate audio is. You're going with people. You're going to where they are. This piece fosters that trust and engagement and is huge for that. 69% of listeners report that podcast ads feel more authentic and personal compared to advertising formats that are like outside of that. It's because those ads are typically baked in. They're oftentimes read by the host or you as the host. It's that connection. It's it's that type of intimacy that makes that work. Now with this, there's the additional piece of it's convenient and accessible. Like I said, it's it it fits in with modern lifestyles. It's on demand. I can listen to this wherever I want to, whenever I want to, if I want to listen to it at 4:00 in the morning, great.

If I want to listen to at 8:

00 at night. Awesome. I can take this with me. I'm going to be in the car. I'm going to be on an airplane. I'm going to be just riding around on the motorcycle. I can have a podcast going on in my ears while I'm doing all of that. It's that portability. It's that on demand piece that is really hugely valuable to it. The comparison that I make is how many people and go ahead and raise your hand if you still like, listen, watch or listen to programmatic TV. Regular old cable TV. Or if you go to Netflix or Hulu or Peacock or HBO Now or Paramount, any one of those. Why do you do that? It's the convenience. It's all on demand. It's when you, the listener, want it. It's one of the things that I love about podcasting in the videos podcasting space. It is when and where the listeners or viewers wanted. According to Edison's research on the infinite dial that was released here just recently, in 2025, 70% of Americans aged 12 or up have listened to a podcast in the past six months. That's a huge, huge, huge number of people. I mean, 70% overwhelming majority. So how do we use this information? This is the this is the piece to for me, like where is this actionable? I want you to share personal anecdotes. I already taught that talked about how this is an intimate thing. I'm I'm I'm in your car with you right now or I'm, I'm in your earbuds, which is kind of when you say it that way. It's kind of weird, but I'm right in your ears. I'm on the trip with you. I'm in your home with you. Share those personal stories. You're you're going to get that much closer and that much more intimate with people as you go through things like this. The other thing that I want to highlight with that is you should use a conversational tone and make sure it's an authentic tone. This is how I sound. This is how I work. This is how I present anyone that knows me outside of the studio, knows that I'm inside the studio. Outside of the studio. Doesn't matter. Once again, if you're in this intimate setting, if you use that converse and authentic tone, you're going to be so much better off. Additionally, I want to make sure I've got some guests, some hosts that aren't great about responding the user feedback. They'll let comments hang out there for a couple of weeks. As soon as you get notification of a comment, respond, respond, respond, respond. I want to make sure that you're engaging with people. These people took the time out of their day to comment or to rate on your video. So make sure you do that. The overall gist of of these items, it's building that one on one connection that it's going to foster that trust in not only you, but also in your brand. Because like right now, you know, I'm talking directly to you. This is a one on one conversation. I'm not talking to a group of people. I'm talking directly to you. And that is what makes such a huge difference when it comes to all this. We're going to talk the next piece about this is how you're going to unlock some of that engagement through, I mean, listeners psychological needs. Everyone loves stories. Scott Galloway of the G podcast, I have recommended to a lot of people he talks is the number one gift that someone can have is the ability to tell a story. And I agree with him on that. If you can naturally tell a story, great. If you need to take some more time to craft that, that's fine too. But telling a story really, really, really is a big piece to this podcast. Definitely tap into this if you do it right, if you set it up correctly. Blueberries. Analysis from Edison data shows that 74% of podcast listeners say they listened to be entertained. Now, keep that in mind. That is that storytelling piece. They want to be entertained. Now, don't discount the fact that in a lot of cases, they want to be educated. Also, just because they say they want to be entertained doesn't mean they don't want to be educated. There's a lot of pieces to that. I mean, think about it. Even with true crime podcasts, there's an educational piece to a lot of those also. So keep that in mind. It goes across the board. So I mean how do we apply this. We need to we need to craft compelling stories, whether it be about your products. You can also do compelling stories about your customer successes, additionally your brand origins and value. So I talk all the time about how for us, our core value as a company and me personally, success is a shared thing. I share that with you guys all the time. It's something that I firmly believe in, but really it's it's building that story. It's telling that also in the same sense, when we've got some good successes with with podcasters being in the studio or when they make a connection, we want to make sure that we share those with you. Also, we don't dive as much into the product side, and I believe we might start doing that a little bit more. But for us, we're mainly a service, and those services vary because we want to make sure that we are, I mean, dedicated specifically to your needs. So that gets a little bit different. But like I said, that brand origin and values, I hammer on that all the time because it's it's definitely how we feel. And it allows that story and it allows that connection. Something else to look at is you need to be authentic and relatable. So many people try and talk from a place of of like they try and be more of an expert than they are. I, I've worked with people and I and once again I'm going to give the the the influencer view on this. They see these influencers and they try and talk like them. And I'm like, you don't have that expertise to talk like that person yet. If someone came I mean, if if someone asked me about like something that they would have asked their general practitioner, like their doctor. I have no authority on that. I have no license on that. I have no education on that. So I haven't established myself in that. So there's no authenticity. There's no relatability for me in that when it comes to podcasting. Sure, I do it. I help people with it. I'm I can be authentic in speaking about that, and I can be relatable. I find ways to make these analogies that connect with what you're trying to do with something that you may already know. The other thing that I'm going to say is, too, is you want to do your best to subtly embed that brand message within a narrative. We talk about how sometimes we do the No Pitch podcast consultation when I mention that, I truly love helping podcast tours get better. I love helping people step up their game in the same sense. That is kind of that soft sales pitch. I'm talking about it, I'm mentioning it. I'm getting you thinking about that rather than saying, hey, you need to sign up for this right now. You need to need are you need to sign up for our services. You need to write a big check. No, that's not what we're doing. We're making suggestions, letting you know that the things are available. That is that is a big piece with that. Another piece of the psychology on this is that comfort, a familiarity both the the why and the how is what I want to talk about this. I harp on people all the time when they say, hey, I'm going to change up my show to do this, that and the other, but we're only going to do it once or twice, or we're going to do this every other week, or we're going to please don't. Familiarity is what builds that that trust. It's what builds kind of that that the no. And like also if you show up the same every week people get used to that. They typically like that now. I'm not telling you to never have your show evolve. It should evolve. There should be subtle changes. The example that I like to give, though, is once again, it's the price is Right. The television show. Yes, the game show. It's very, very, very consistent in how it how it appears in the format, all of those things. Now the results are sometimes very different and sometimes there's more drama than other times. But that's the nature of the show. But every, every day that show is exactly the same. You know, people are going to come running down the aisle, you know, they're going to be cheering. You know, there's going to have that the bid, you know, that someone's going to be the contestant. Then you know there's going to be the big wheel. Then they're going to go back. I mean you know the format it hasn't changed. Consistent hosts. Plus the other thing is, is it was Bob Barker for so many years now it's Drew Carey for so many years. I mean, those consistent hosts and that consistent format, it creates that sense of belonging. Your information can be different every single time. And it should be different to the show should be different every single time. But the format and the hosts should be the same every time. Regular segments, we're doing this educational piece. Then we go on to the news piece. Bang boom, same thing every single time to have reoccurring hosts or reoccurring guest. Great. Just because you had someone on the podcast doesn't mean you can't have them on ever again. Have someone on, especially if they were popular. The other thing that I want to say too, is the recognizable, like, identity. Part of your brand is your sound. I sound very much the same almost every single time you hear me. Unless I have a cold or something like that, I'm going to sound the same. You're our intro music. The the the voice, the those sound effects that we use. Those are consistent time in in time out. The Price is right music. I don't think that's changed in 50 years. I mean, they've they've made it evolve a little bit. So it's got some electronic to it. So it doesn't sound 50 years old. But if you listen to it, the notes are pretty much the same. That's going to create that predictable and comforting, comforting experience. It's going to reinforce that brand recognition. It's no different than seeing your logo somewhere every single week, every single time. It's brand recognition. The next thing when it comes to the storytelling piece on this, we want to add and kind of look at the curiosity and the explorer exploration with it. Most people are listening to podcasts for entertainment, but they also will. They want some new ideas, they want new perspectives. Sometimes they want their current perspectives reinforced, but it's their they want you to do that through a different lens than they already get it from. Backlink. So reported that 71% of listeners turn in to learn new things and stay informed from podcasts. Once again, educational 70% for entertainment, 71% for educational. That's I mean, let's face it, we've got everyone here between those, the educational and the entertainment. If you do both, you're in really, really good shape. That's what we always try for. I realize I am 100% not everyone's cup of tea, but I can do my best to at least keep you somewhat entertained as we go on this ride together. How are you going to do that piece? Make sure that you are. I mean, do the research. Do put the time in up front to make sure that you have those education things in there. That's why I talk about these numbers. These are new numbers that you may not have heard of unless you're in the I mean, deep into the industry, I want to make sure that I'm giving you new and good information to look at with this. The other thing is, is make sure it's relevant to your industry. I've heard people talk about, well, I'm going to take this number from over here in this nut. No, it should be numbers from right around. What you're doing. This will help you position your brand as that trusted source for information insights. And we talked about if you can do it with some flair you're going to do some educate the entertainment. Also, the big thing is, is you want to be able to satisfy their curiosity and build your authority in the process. We talk about that all the time building your authority, build that know, like, and trust for you and for your brand. Those are just huge things when it comes to making sure that you're getting ahead in the market. So how are we going to build some lasting loyalty, some trust? And are we going to connect and add value as people? Once again, I'm going to come back to authenticity. You know, I'm looking at notes here. You're okay with that. Because once again you know, this is me. I'm going to be well-researched. I'm going to have this type of information in front of me. If you are a genuine host, you are going to build that trust with people. The other thing that I want to say is we've talked about community building. We've talked about the discord channel, which I would encourage you to go join. Edison Research found 47% of listeners tune in to feel connected with people with similar interests. You probably have an interest in podcasting, and that's why you're listening to this, and we're connected by that interest. And I'm so I, I'm eternal grateful for that connection. And to me, it I feel that connection with you. Additionally, we want to look at like valuable content I mean entertaining, educational, all of those things, those add value to someone's day. I once again, I do not take it lightly that you have given me some of your time. You're listening to me now, granted, you may be vacuuming, you may be driving, you may be working out whatever. You're still giving me your time and I want to make sure that I give you a value back for that time. You should come out of this podcast feeling like, look, if it's 25, 30, 40, 40, 45 minutes, whatever it is you want to feel like, that is time well spent. What I told all the podcasters we work with is they should come out feeling like it is time well spent. It's an intentional thing. You have to make sure that you do that back. Link states that it's an estimated 158 million consumers. Listen to a podcast within the last month. As of 2025. That is a lot of people that to me, it shows that there's a consistent audience out there seeking content. They are they want to hear from you. So make sure that you are the person that is going to add value to their day, that is going to if once again, that is that psychology of it. If you add value to my day, I'm going to be so much more apt to want to come back tomorrow and the day after and the day after. Those are the big things to me, that these are just such elements. I don't want to say simple keys, but things that a lot of people lose sight of when they're doing their podcast. So how does this evolve? And when we look at success as it comes in down the road? The thing that I always tell people is, is you need to be looking into some insights that you can provide for the people that are listening, that value. Go ahead and give them your opinion. Go ahead and look at trends. Give them something to look forward to in the future. But what I'm going to tell you is, is make sure you stay right in your niche. That's reduce that right down to the one thing that you are an expert in, because that is where you're really going to find your audience. Additionally, I want to make sure that you are going from the back side of this and looking at your data, looking at your analytics and saying what's working, what's not. The this is I mean, look at your past podcast to see where you need to go in the future. There's things that work. There's things that didn't you the data will tell you what has worked and where you probably should be heading. The big thing that we're seeing more and more of is creators. That would be you, the podcast host or your brand or whatever. Those are being seen more as community leaders because once again, you've built that know, like and trust. And now you're seeing as that expert, you've got the expertise. So now you're that community builder, that community leader. So make sure that you stick into that lane where you are 100% that an expert. There are there's one big last piece that I want to talk about here. And there is ethics behind some of this. There are a ton of ethical considerations when it comes into podcasting. I know a lot of people that are just chasing the today's topic, and that's fine. That's what they're going to do. It's the reason why there's so many people talking about mental health online. And frankly, there's a reason that I mean, there's so many non-experts talking about things like that. To me, that's an ethical consideration. We've actually I mean, there's someone that a number of people actually, that have approached us about talking about certain things in as a podcast and we've said no, because we feel ethically it's probably not the right thing to do. Make sure that you're looking at those pieces of that. I want you to also look at, like exploring the positive impacts that your podcast can have on conversations in the industry or education in the industry. If you're going out there and you're doing the things and you're you're researching stuff, which the podcast really forces you to do, you've got to sit down. You've got to make some notes. You got to look at look at different topics. You're going to be able to help drive that conversation forward in your industry as a whole. To me, that is an awesome, awesome piece. With that, you've got to somehow also wrap that into the storytelling. Make sure that you bring that all back together with that. You've got to have your introduction. You've got to have your body. You've got to have I mean, maybe there's a twist and turn in the plot, but then you've got to have your conclusion. Make sure you put all of that together. I want to wrap up this section today. With a couple of things. Audio. It's powerful. It's it's intimate. Like I said, I am in your ears right now. I am maybe in your car right now. And the way I said that, I know that sounded creepier than it is, but really, that's the intimate part about it. You have the capability to reach a massive and highly engaged audience. These people are looking forward to hearing from you week after week after week. I mean, there's nearly 600 million people out there that are just waiting for you to release a new podcast. This to me, it shows that this isn't just the hot trend. It is a fundamental shift in how people are consuming their information and also their entertainment. They're calling this last election the podcast Election. That's very much, they say how it was one, whether you like that or not, that doesn't matter. The fact that more and more people are looking to podcasts for their information is the thing that you should be looking at to capitalize on. With that, you need to make sure that you are truly connecting with your listeners to build that brand loyalty is to tap into those core human needs. That's the psychology we talked about. Tap into that. Core needs data storytelling. And that's the entertainment. That's the education, that's adding value to people's days. Make sure you use those items to really connect one on one with your listeners. That's I mean, to me, that's always the goal I want. I want to talk directly to you. Crafting compelling, compelling stories are what's going to help you do that. I mean, that's what really resonates with people. Late to grid, I'm going to mention them again, great stories about grassroots motorsports and how people are coming up through that. It's those stories are what's connecting with people. You're also, like I said, you want to make sure that you've got that consistent listening experience. Price is right. It hasn't changed. Every single time you know what you're getting the the stories are different. The the games are all the same, the numbers are different. How they're played is different or, not necessarily how they're played or different. The prizes are different. There's a consistency to it, but there's a there's enough interest there to keep it going. That is a huge thing with that. Authenticity is the ultimate superpower when it comes to podcasting. And this, like I said, is why host read ads do so much better than other ads. And in most cases, if you are genuinely you in your delivery, you're going to be able to foster that sense of community. You're going to be able to make that one on one connection and make sure that you're going to strive to provide that education, that entertainment. I mean, you keep all of those components together. That is really going to be your biggest key. My final note on this piece, before we get into the news, as the podcasting landscape continues to evolve, we've got new technologies. We've got new content areas, we've got new data. We've got, I mean, all sorts of new audiences coming in, actively build that community. That will be your key to long term success for you and for your brand. Now, I've got to make the comment on this too. Here is my soft sell for you on this. We would love to help you in building this. To me, it's why I absolutely love coming into the office every morning. It's why I love being in the studio. I get to help you build your story, and then I get to hear you tell it. Kind of why I love what I do. What's that being said? Do me a favor. Hang on for just a few minutes. We are going to have the news coming up next. And there is some interesting facts about how podcast habits are changing and what video is meaning to podcasting to interesting pieces. I'll be right back. Oh. This past week in the news, we've got some more interesting stuff in terms of how video and podcasting relate to each other. So changing podcast Habits was the first headline I got. A study highlights the evolving nature of podcast consumption. Audio and video formats are becoming increasingly interchangeable. I personally have felt this for quite some time. There's podcasts that I may start watching on YouTube, and then I'll skip ahead in Spotify or Apple Podcasts or any one of those other platforms when I've got to leave or go on the road or anything like that, or if I have to do something else. To me, this is just another argument for why we always suggest just if you're going to be recording your podcast, just hit record on a camera. Give yourself that option to get discovered on video. Give yourself that option to be out there on video, people. I mean, people love to hear from you, but if they can see you, if they can interact and see how you are, that makes an absolute world of difference for people. According to the state of video podcasting in 2025, 77% of US podcast listeners between the ages of 15 and 64 now toggle between audio and video formats. This like I said, it's that shift to me, the creator implications behind that. What we've had to change is kind of nothing, because we've been a big proponent for video for a very, very long time with this. But it really means that even if you're traditionally an audio only podcast, you really want to make sure that you're adding the video to it. If you are looking to maximize that audience reach, that audience engagement, that there's no better way to do it than to have that video piece to it. There's a quote here from Amplify Media CEO Steve Goldstein. It's not enough to say lots of people use YouTube for podcasts. The way they are using YouTube is also changing to me. What's interesting is as YouTube has become one of the top podcast platforms recently, there's arguments that Apple Podcast is still one of the top ones in certain areas. I mean, it depends on who you ask. YouTube is right up there. If you look at the audio and video side of it, I would think YouTube is probably definitely the top one. So to me that you've got that option to be found to be discovered and to be engaged in that way, why not do it? Additionally, now you've got platforms like Spotify that are going above and beyond to make sure that they can include video. You can even add clips to Spotify. Now, those are big changes that those businesses have made because they realize video is just here. It's what people are using. There's so many times where there will be a video podcast on my phone. It will be sitting on the dashboard of my car. I'm I'm not driving and looking at it, trust me. But I realize that videos there and playing, I will get out of the vehicle. I put my earbuds in and I'm walking in someplace I'm walking into where I teach podcasting or whatever, and I'm watching a podcast because I want to see these people. I want to see their interaction. Hearing is great. And you guys, I mean, those of you that just listened to the podcast here, you know, that I'm animated. I'm pretty sure you can gather that just in the audio piece. But when you see that, I mean, for crying out loud, if you tied my hands behind my back, I probably wouldn't be able to talk. People think I'm Italian from that standpoint. Nonetheless, when you see someone, you get a whole different idea of who they are, how they do things, and you find a whole new way to connect with them. As the podcaster, you now find a much, much, much better way to connect with your audience. Now they can see you. I get so many people that that worried like, oh, I don't look this way or don't know, that doesn't matter. People aren't judging you on your attractiveness. People are looking at you because they want to connect with you. They want to see you. They want to see your guests. They want to see your mannerisms. Those are the big pieces. Now, earlier we talked about authenticity with as being genuine. That is a big part of it. It is tough unless you're a professional actor, to act like someone you're not. That is why I show up this way. That is why I show up as animated as I am. It's really it's just that extra piece to show people that, yes, this is who I am. You are connecting with the real me, that that's 100% a whole nother avenue for you to be able to do that. With that being said, more great topics coming up here over the next few weeks, if you like the shift that we've made. I would love to hear about it. If you could do me a favor, leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. That would be huge for me. Also, if you could follow us once again, that is huge. Helps us immensely. I also want to hear from you whether it goes into our discord channel. If you if there's a topic that you would like us to cover about podcasting and how to make your business branded podcast better, and how to make it work better as a marketing tool for your business. I would love to absolutely answer that question for you. We could make probably even a whole episode about it, depending on the question. Those are the things that I absolutely love hearing about and I really look forward to with all that. Do me for one last favor. Take care of yourself. If you can't take care of someone else too, I will see you very soon.

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Josh Troche

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