In short: Spend the first 30 days telling specific people about specific episodes. Week one is personal messages and a trailer, week two is short clips, week three is other people's audiences, week four is a review. In one survey, 47% of podcasters said promotion was where they get stuck.
Making a podcast is the easier half. When The Podcast Host asked 266 podcasters where they get stuck, 47% said promotion, well ahead of ideas and planning (17.9%), editing (13.4%) and recording (8.4%). The same site found that nearly 60% of aspiring podcasters named promotion and audience growth as the main barrier to starting. This plan turns that worry into 30 days of small, specific jobs.
Set expectations first
Both of those surveys are from podcast companies asking their own audiences, so they show what podcasters report, not the whole market. Still, the pattern holds across them.
The Independent Podcaster Report 2025 from Alitu surveyed 558 independent podcasters. Of those, 72% named growing an audience as their biggest challenge, and half had fewer than 50 downloads per episode in the first week. That means a small first week is normal, and a measure of nothing except that you are new.
There is a listener base out there. Ofcom's research, published in September 2024, put about 20% of UK adults, or 11.7 million people, as listening to at least one podcast a week. Your task is to be findable by the few who would like your show, not to reach everyone.
The Podcast Host suggests splitting effort roughly 80% on consistent, good episodes and 20% on promotion. A month of promotion for a weekly show therefore means about an hour per episode. This plan fits inside that.
The 30-day calendar
| Days | Job | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| Before launch | List 20 people who might listen or share. Make a trailer and one image per episode. | The list has names and a message drafted for each |
| 1 to 3 | Message each person on your list, naming one episode | Every message sent |
| 4 to 7 | Post the trailer and your first clip. Add the show to your email signature and profiles | Links live where people already see you |
| 8 to 14 | Cut two or three short clips per episode and post them on the platforms your audience uses | Clips scheduled for the next week |
| 15 to 21 | Pitch yourself as a guest to five related shows | Five pitches sent, each naming a topic |
| 22 to 28 | Reply to everyone who responded, ask your early listeners for a share, improve titles and descriptions | Replies sent, one change made to a title |
| 29 to 30 | Review the numbers and decide the next 30 days | A one-page note of what worked |
Week 1: ask people directly
The first listeners nearly always come from people who already know you. The Podcast Host advises looking after your first core audience, because their word of mouth drives growth.
- Write a short message for each person on your list. Name one episode and say why it is for them. "I think you would get something from episode two, on pricing" does better than "I've started a podcast, please listen".
- Make it easy. Send a direct link, not "search for us on Apple Podcasts".
- Ask for one thing. A listen is a good ask. A share to one person who would use it is better. Asking for several things at once makes it easy to do none of them.
- Put the show in your signature, profiles and website. Anyone who already looks at those will see it.
What to write
Keep the message short, specific and easy to ignore politely. Here is an invented example:
Hi Sam, I've started a podcast for small landlords. Episode two covers what to do when a tenant stops answering. I thought of you because of the flat in Southsea. Here is the link. If it's useful, would you pass it to one landlord you know?
It names a person, an episode and a reason, and it asks for one thing. Change the details and reuse the shape. Do not paste the same text to everyone, because people can tell.
Week 2: clips
A short clip is an easier first step for a stranger than a full episode. Take 30 to 60 seconds where someone says something clear, useful or funny, put captions on it and post it with a line that says what the clip is about.
The clips come from the recording, so plan for them while you are recording. Note the time whenever a good moment happens. Our piece on a month of clips from one episode explains how we choose them.
Where you post depends on your audience. For a business show, LinkedIn is the obvious place. Making video for LinkedIn covers what has changed. YouTube is worth a look too, and the YouTube piece has the figures for UK listeners.
If you record with a studio's video setup, you get the clips as part of the work. Our Classic package at the Podcast Studio is £395 plus VAT per recorded episode and includes thirty short cuts.
Week 3: borrow other people's audiences
A guest slot on a related show puts you in front of people who already like the format. It also costs little more than the time it takes to write the pitch.
- Pick five shows with listeners like yours. Look for shows of similar size or a little bigger, not the biggest in the field.
- Pitch a topic, not yourself. One paragraph: who you are, what you would talk about, why their listeners would care.
- Be a good guest so they ask you back. Our guide on how to be a good podcast guest covers the preparation.
- Invite guests who have an audience. When a guest shares the episode, their listeners hear about you. Tell them when it is out and give them a clip to post.
Week 4: tidy up and review
- Make the show easy to find. The Podcast Host recommends searchable names and episode titles and listing on many directories. Read getting discovered: SEO for podcasts and rewrite any titles that are clever but unfindable.
- Ask for shares. The Podcast Host suggests putting a request for listeners to share the show in your calls to action. Do it in the last 20 seconds of each episode.
- Check your numbers. Look at downloads per episode, which episodes did best and where people came from. Do not compare week one with a famous show.
- Decide what to repeat. One thing worked better than the rest. Do more of it for the next 30 days.
After day 30
The worst outcome of the first month is finishing the plan, feeling flat and stopping. Expect a quiet patch around the end of the month, when the personal messages are done and the new listeners are few. That is the point at which routine matters most.
Keep a light weekly routine instead of another burst. One hour per episode is enough: send the episode to a few named people, post two clips, and note one thing to try. Once a month, look at which route brought in listeners and drop the one that did not. Most podcasts that grow do so through accumulation, and the plan is there to make sure the accumulation starts.
Common mistakes
- Promoting everything at once. Pick two channels and do them properly.
- Posting the same link to everyone. Name the episode and the reason.
- Going quiet after launch week. A steady weekly routine beats a burst.
- Paying for reach too early. Learn what works for free before you spend.
- Judging the plan after 30 days. Months of consistent effort are what build an audience. The point of the first month is to make a habit.
Sources
- The Podcast Host, What Problems Do Podcasters Struggle With?, read 5 November 2026
- The Podcast Host, Biggest Barrier for Aspiring Podcasters? 60% Say Marketing, read 5 November 2026
- Alitu, The Independent Podcaster Report 2025, read 5 November 2026
- Ofcom, Top podcast listening trends from our research, read 5 November 2026
Related guides
The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.
Questions we get asked
How do I promote a new podcast?
Start with people you know and ask each to listen to one named episode and pass it on. Then post short clips from the episodes, appear as a guest on related shows, and make your titles easy to find. Keep a short weekly routine rather than one burst.
How long does it take to grow a podcast audience?
Months, not weeks. In a 2025 survey of 558 podcasters, half had fewer than 50 downloads per episode in the first week, and growing an audience was the most common challenge, at 72%. Plan for steady effort over a year.
How much time should I spend promoting my podcast?
The Podcast Host suggests about 80% of your time on making consistent, good episodes and about 20% on promotion. If an episode takes five hours, that is an hour of promotion. Many new podcasters spend almost nothing on it, so even that is an improvement.
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