An Examination of the Business and Marketing of Podcasting

Grant Polmanteer

Dr. Heather Polinsky

 Polmanteer 2

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Literature Review 6

How Andmore Media Started 18

Goals for the Summer of 2019 20

Data from the Summer of 2019 22

Forming New Company Goals 24

Andmore Media Ends and Findings 26

Conclusion 29

References 31
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Introduction

Podcasting is the rebirth of a medium that lost traction to video over multiple decades and

the conception of newfound media opportunities for all people, regardless of background. From

needing a satellite, an FCC license, and thousands of dollars in equipment, the technological

breakthroughs of podcasting paved the way for individuals to put their voice on a new medium,

requiring only a microphone and an Internet connection. As the Internet age has continued to

mature, the democratization of media creation has trailblazed forward, leading to revolutionary

possibilities for companies and people with an invigoration for creation. Andmore Media was a

company that set out on the mission of that exact mantra. Additionally, the company was set up

to capture learnings from the burgeoning podcasting industry, from a marketing perspective and

eventually from a business angle.

Podcasting itself had its first breakthrough as a medium with Apple’s innovation of the

iPod. Within the iPod, was a small application entitled “iTunes”, which would carve a path for

the idea of a “podcast”. The understanding of what a podcast is (and what it still has yet to

become) is important to keep in mind. Typically, a podcast is thought of, as an audio file

delivered to media players by a media host which can then be listened to on computing devices.

It is worth noting that similar to “Kleenex”, the word, podcast, has become a catch-all term for

most general audio content in a show format, which strays away from its highly-engineered

nature. From its original technical implementation of a way to deliver audio files, it transformed

the way that audio content, excluding music, was created and delivered. The engineering

architecture of a podcast is largely complex, however, there are a few simple notions to get used

to that will help the understanding of the decisions that drove Andmore Media. Firstly, podcasts

are hosted on feeds, specifically called RSS feeds. These feeds are a file format that points to the
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hosted media URLs (the actual audio content), podcast titles and descriptions, cover art URLs,

and episode titles and descriptions, among other things. It is more or less the engine that runs the

car, with the car being a podcast. Secondly, RSS feeds are hosted by podcast hosts: places that

complete the encoding of an RSS feed. Third, are the platforms that intake RSS feeds. These are

typically entitled “podcast platforms,” where they capture the RSS feed and all of its raw code

and convert it into a legible, interactive feed that can be clicked, viewed, and contain other

experiences that are native to everyday phone and computer users. The details that encompass

RSS feed technology and how podcasts work is key because it is often the driver behind modern

business decisions in the podcasting industry. Since podcasting puts the ultimate importance on

the podcast host, picking a podcast host to use for hosting and creating a podcast can be vital to

the success of the show itself. Certain podcast hosts will offer incentives to entice larger amounts

of users; these incentives often can end up benefiting the podcaster directly. As Andmore Media

was created, this decision was one of the many vital decisions made for the business.

Since 2004, the podcasting industry has seen the trials and tribulations that all budding

media innovations have faced. That is, the industry has needed mass adoption from its possible

markets and further innovations from the key companies and figures within. Mass adoption has

nearly been reached, with half of the American population being able to answer the question of

“Have you listened to a podcast?” with an affirmative1. Additionally, a ninety million-person

chunk of the American population has listened to a podcast within the last month, meaning one

in every three Americans not only knows what a podcast is but consumes them somewhat

1
Research by Edison Research. Figures from The Infinite Dial 2019. https://www.edisonresearch.com/infinite-dial-
2019/
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regularly2. The outlook of podcasting is only for it to continue expanding in adoption among

Americans and internationally among all demographics and countries.

With all this in mind, Andmore Media was founded to capitalize on the moment that

podcasts are seeing and forecasted to become. The company itself was built on the idea of

passionate people making shows for passionate people leading to a show by diehard wrestling

fans for diehard wrestling fans, or by two best friends that deep dive into the world of

conspiracies and their societal impact. With a unique round-up of podcasts to launch, Andmore

Media was focused on marketing these shows to specific demographics and to craft a financially-

sound strategy driving the group.

2
Research by Edison Research. Figures from The Infinite Dial 2019. https://www.edisonresearch.com/infinite-dial-
2019/
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Literature Review

With my company and fellow podcasts at Andmore Media, we will put prospective

marketing strategies to the test over the course of the May to August months in 2019. Over that

time period, several variables will be tracked and identified to ensure proper growth is happening

and being attributed to marketing efforts.

As a small company, Andmore Media’s number one mission is to grow. With the

company being a personal ambition of mine, it made sense to work towards crafting Andmore

Media as a full-fledged podcasting company while simultaneously solving one of the podcasting

industry's largest issues.

Social media serves as one of the largest markets possible to sell products to. Many types

of platforms are suitable for growing a podcast audience. According to Buzzsprout (a podcast

host and distributor), those platforms are Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube

(Weisinger, 2018).

Twitter, the microblogging service, first launched in 2006, and is known for its short text

posts and furthermore, the ability to share video, image, and audio media in some cases. In

podcasting, a Twitter account can live as either the podcast identity itself or a host of the

podcast’s own account, in order to promote the podcast. Transistor FM (another podcast host and

distributor) recommends one simple thing to keep in mind in order to build a community on

Twitter, which according to podcast host, Transistor, is to do what an audience desires (2019). If

a podcaster were to host a podcast about observations on the modern metagame of American

football, it would be recommended they give their audience that experience on Twitter. An

account created for a podcast should not only be sharing out new episode links and leaving it at

that; rather a podcast Twitter account should become a source for listeners and potential listeners
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to digest information that interests them further. A podcast that appears to follow these methods,

is Cole Cuchna’s Dissect3. Each season of Cuchna’s podcast is based around the history,

meaning, and reputation of an influential hip-hop album. Rather than only shout out his new

episodes on any one song, Cuchna participates in the culture that surrounds his demographic.

After this year’s Grammys, for example, Cuchna provided commentary on a picture of Anderson

.Paak at the awards show. Before that, Cuchna was releasing and covering general hip-hop news.

This type of interaction not only provides a source of information for an audience, but it also

serves as an extension of the podcast itself (which documents hip-hop albums over the span of

~10 hours). Another example of this is the Twitter account for the show, Podcast: The Ride4.

The podcast not only does a good job at tweeting actively since its creation in June of 2017, but

the content it provides is not consistently the same. The group behind the podcast is consistently

asking questions to their audience and providing interaction with their answers, sharing humor

and news that their audience (theme park goers) will find entertaining. They are a voice in their

own community of podcasting, with the general hobby of theme park-going. Relevant hashtags

are common in their tweets, to make themselves appear in relevant conversations and mentioning

(or @’ing) other Twitter users when appropriate which encourages visibility from anyone

mentioned. Therefore, Twitter for podcasts should live as a place for current and future listeners

to find the information they are interested in and with new episode posts to boot.

There is a multitude of ways one could share out a new episode on Twitter and other

social media platforms, here are the main methods: 1) video snippet OR “audiogram”5, 2) quote

3
https://twitter.com/dissectpodcast, the Twitter account for Dissect.
4
https://twitter.com/podcasttheride, the Twitter account for Podcast: The Ride.
5
https://twitter.com/POTDAnchor/status/903345553551085569, an example of an “audiogram”.
 Polmanteer 8

image or GIF6, 3) text and link7, or 4) a combination of the above8. Twitter is increasingly

favoring visual elements more heavily, therefore a post with something visual is likely to receive

more views. As an audio-first medium, podcasting can be hard to do this with, however, the

unique thing about podcasting is that other mediums can be employed to share podcasting

materials. Audiograms are videos in which transcribed audio is presented in the video9 for users

to read along with the audio of the video. This allows for higher engagement from users who see

the video, especially on places like Instagram.

Instagram is the antithesis to podcast in many ways, but it still functions as a primary

driver of growth for podcasts. The team at Podcast Motor (podcast editing consultants)

emphasize that Instagram can be a key contributor to podcast growth (2016). Like many brands

that utilize the visual platform, podcasts ensure their cover art and general theme is appealing

and will need a consistent posting schedule to adhere to in order to show potential listeners that

they will not be missing out on any information from the podcast. The key thing to know about

Instagram is that there are posts and stories. Posts are recommended to serve as direct updates

about episode listings, sponsors, behind the scenes images/video, and audiograms (2016). These

posts can also get shared on stories, among even more content like bonus audio clips/videos, live

streams (before/during/after a podcast), Q&A’s, “swipe up” links (where users can swipe up to

visit a link), and more as the feature continuously gets inundated with new things to share.

Connected directly to Instagram is Facebook.

6
https://twitter.com/buffer/status/1092760797011431424, an example of a quote image and GIF.
7
https://twitter.com/SwitchedOnPop/status/1090799134502600704, an example of a text and link post.
8
https://twitter.com/anchor/status/1095397042111811586, multiple uses of the aforementioned resources.
9
Another example of an audiogram, https://twitter.com/mbmbam/status/1087823678136557568.
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Facebook also proves as an extremely visual platform. However, Facebook for podcast

marketing offers a pair of different silos to work in: 1) Facebook pages10 and 2) Facebook

groups11. Facebook pages are the main source of information for a podcast on Facebook - it is an

extension of a podcast’s website (if already existing). For example, the Design Matters Podcast12

are consistently employing the use of their Facebook page to deliver information like podcast

episodes and general updates, live videos, and tons more. According to Foundr, an entrepreneur

magazine, they recommend using Facebook primarily a few things and it is more or less what a

podcast should use Instagram for as well (Katai, 2018). Facebook also allows for users and pages

to be tagged by using the “@” symbol, similarly to the mention feature on Twitter. This allows

outside people who may be the topic of a podcast to see a post regarding them.

Facebook Groups provide undoubtable value to podcasts and their communities. There

are many Facebook groups primarily centered around podcasts that are facilitated by many types

of folks. The New York Times has their own podcast club13 on Facebook to facilitate book-club-

like discussions on episodes and shows, while many independent ones like the Underdog Podcast

Community14, are there as ways to promote content and ask questions. Groups can also be

created for specific shows, like a specific reality TV focused podcast that facilitates discussions

on new episodes and the reality TV show itself15.

Lastly, is YouTube, a renowned video platform made for video hosting of all shapes and

sizes. A podcast is fundamentally built around audio and delivering audio via RSS feeds, so a

10
https://www.facebook.com/pg/DesignMattersPodcast/about/?ref=page_internal, an example podcast page on
Facebook.
11
A famous podcast Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/podcastmovement/.
12
The Design Matters Podcasts Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DesignMattersPodcast/.
13
The NYT Podcast Club, https://www.facebook.com/groups/nytpodcastclub/.
14
The Underdog Podcast Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UnderDogPods/?ref=br_rs.
15
A Facebook Group devoted to a reality TV show podcast,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1388691261200227/.
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YouTube channel for a podcast may seem like the antithesis to what a podcast is. Buzzsprout

mentions using YouTube primarily as a way for another way for your podcast to accrue listens

(Weisinger, 2018). Materials like thumbnails and audiograms will allow for users to visually

locate podcast episodes on YouTube, a very key part of the platform. Platforms like

TunesToTube16 and Repurpose17 make this easier as it can be as simple as uploading an MP3 and

letting the platform do the rest of the work. Having audio podcasts directly accessible on one of

the world’s largest content platforms, will allow for higher visibility in search engines when

searching for keywords and also open up opportunities for YouTube’s algorithm to assist a

podcast in picking up views.

Other social media sites may be slightly less impactful, but are still worthwhile. The first

of these is Reddit, the online home to fandoms and niche communities. For podcasts specifically,

there are two subreddits (AKA communities) that are primarily for podcasting, which are

/r/podcasts18 and /r/podcasting19. /r/podcasting primarily focuses on the behind the scenes and

production of podcasting. Among the questions asked and topics discussed are audio gear,

podcast hosting technology, growth tips, and opinions on the state of podcasting. Meanwhile, on

/r/podcasts, discussions largely revolve around being a podcast listener. This means discussing

the latest episode of The Daily20 or asking users to list their favorite podcast networks21. The

range of content is wildly large, but all in all, it appears to be a fantastic idea to remain active on

these subreddits in any way possible to allow for clout to build in each subreddit which can

16
TunesToTube, a tool used to convert podcasts to videos, https://www.tunestotube.com/.
17
Repurpose, a tool used to convert audio content into video content, https://repurpose.io/.
18
The Podcasts community on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasts/.
19
The Podcasting community on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasting.
20
An example post about the New York Times podcast, The Daily,
https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasts/comments/af0gtu/the_dailys_podcast_on_a_family_divided_by_the/.
21
An example post of Reddit users crowdsourcing podcast networks,
https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasts/comments/57rdk7/in_your_opinion_which_podcast_network_is_the_best/.
 Polmanteer 11

further link back to a podcast or podcast network itself. Another social media worth mentioning

is LinkedIn, the business-focused platform. While LinkedIn may not be suitable for all

podcasters, it could be a very viable outlet for specifically business/strategy oriented podcasts

looking to further an audience (Nemo, 2016). The last type of social media, is Discord and/or

Slack. Both platforms are chat-based servers that members can access consistently. It is similar

to the way a Facebook group works, but is much more of a closed, professional-oriented system

than a Facebook group. Many websites specific to podcasting run their own Slack groups22 for

fellow podcasters to get involved, help each other out, and share out podcasts. The same can be

said for Discord servers, of which there are many23. It also seems to be a viable way to interact

directly with a podcasting audience in that both a host of a podcast and a listener can be on the

same channel in Discord/Slack and have direct messages with one another, as well as everyone

involved.

Without a doubt, social media is proven to help boost podcasts. As Digiday, a tech

publication writes, social media is still not an audio-first platform (Sangal, 2018). The ways in

which social media is used to promote a podcast or podcasts, may seem like workarounds for

platforms that are not made for a longform audio format. Formatting a podcast to be seen

visually can be a hard feat to master.

In the same way that an NBC show will promote another show on their network

“launching this fall”, podcasting is a medium full of opportunities for promoting podcasts on

other podcasts themselves. It’s a strategy already established as a viable marketing opportunity

as radio and TV have dominated and pushed forward the method since its popular inception.

How it goes, is that one show on a network or entirely independent of a network will either shout

22
An example Slack group devoted to podcasters: https://podcastingpro.com/podcasting-slack-community.
23
A list of Discord servers devoted to podcasts: https://disboard.org/servers/tag/podcast.
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out a podcast verbally on their own podcast or have a guest from an external podcast on their

own podcast.

Podcasting first saw this method work extremely well with National Public Radio.

Benjamin Mullin from Poynter describes their successful process, “The show had spent more

than a year in development (Mullin, 2015). For its launch, staffers used every bit of experience

they gained about how to engineer a popular program: They cross-promoted previews of the

show on podcasting staples like “This American Life” and “Radiolab,” coordinated a media

campaign, even set aside a modest sum — about $1,500 — to buy Facebook ads promoting the

show. It paid off.” That show that launched, was Invisibilia, a podcast focused on human

behavior and psychology. In the case of Invisibilia’s launch, the cross-promotion effect worked

for NPR so well, they actually canceled their advertising efforts on Facebook altogether, having

only “after spending about $400,” writes Mullin. Additionally, NPR was able to highlight the

shows that would not only perform the best as podcasts but also serve as the best ways to

highlight other podcasts through cross-promotion, by the process of pruning. “The network

gradually trimmed its portfolio of podcasts down to 30, cutting out shows that did not fit in with

a series of new guidelines. Podcasts that consisted primarily of excerpts from other shows were

out. They ditched a lot of shows featuring roundups of stories about movies, or science, or

international news. With a few exceptions, anything that was not a “full experience” — a

standalone podcast that did not need to borrow from other NPR offerings — was cut,” writes

Mullin on how the pruning process functioned. After NPR shows not worthy of being on the

main roster altogether were let go, it left an editorialized group of podcasts that would allow the

company to focus on promoting heavily. Justin Ellis of Nieman Lab, describes the cross-

promotion effect as the “Ira Glass effect”, named after the NPR and This American Life
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host/producer, Ira Glass (Ellis, 2015). NPR has the added benefit of hundreds of public radio

stations and millions of downloads, however it provides clarity into how a podcast network can

help a new podcast start and garner a following of its own.

In a more independent approach, Austin Paley, of Discover Pods (a central source for

podcast news and recommendations), describes how a singular podcast can use cross-promotion

to gain listeners for multiple parties (Paley, 2017). The first step in the process, Paley writes, is

to specifically analyze the demographics of a podcast, and nail down the exact people it connects

with. From there, the job is then to locate and track down like-minded podcasters with similar

shows and/or demographics. The idea of cross-promotion in this case is that each podcast is

trading a spot on each other’s podcast to share some words about a new podcast. Tracking the

progress of a cross-promotion is always key to the efforts, writes Paley, as that can determine

whether another promotion with the same podcast would be useful, versus finding another

podcast to work with.

Cross-promotion from an independent and a network standpoint are both clear and

advantageous ways to getting the word out about a podcast. Growth is good for all parties

involved in these cases and is almost always highly encouraged to pursue.

In the same way that YouTube and Twitch promote their own creators within their

respective platforms, a similar opportunity is up for the taking in podcasting. Since podcasts are

distributed to multiple directories, these different platforms may choose to highlight a podcast

however they see fit.

Apple Podcasts24 is far and away the largest and most influential podcast directory in the

state of podcasting. Blubrry (a podcast hosting service) showed that the platform is the single-

24
Apple Podcasts. https://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/discover/
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largest place for podcast listens (2017). This means getting any type of editorial placement at

Apple’s podcasting front, could be the 15 minutes of fame a podcast needs to blow up in

listenership. The Apple Podcasts app in iTunes and every Apple device, consistently holds a

“Browse” section of the platform, where listeners can discover and track down new podcasts to

listen, curated by Apple. Tyler Basu, an entrepreneur, launched his podcast and over the course

of 8 weeks was slowly featured prominently in Apple’s “New and Noteworthy” sections and

finding high placement in podcast genres on the platform (Basu, 2018).

Other platforms offer this same experience of a curated podcast section within their

platforms. These platforms with dedicated “Discover” sections include Spotify, Stitcher, Pocket

Casts, Castbox, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and other more obscure platforms. As long as a podcast is

submitted through a provider like Anchor, Pinecast, or Libsyn it should automatically be

submitted to platforms and further increase a podcast’s chances of getting featured on the

podcast platforms themselves.

Erik Jones of the Bello Collective (a podcast community), detailed an extensive list of

many other places that curate podcasts to share with an audience (Jones, 2017). There are many

newsletters like Podnews, Hot Pod, and more which offer classifieds and ad slots for podcasts.

A shoutout from a platform may be all a podcast needs to get its feet off the ground and

into podcasting success. It is a method in which a podcaster has little to no control over the

process, but if done correctly, there are high chances of a spotlight effect on their podcast to

occur.

Press attention can largely be used in two ways: 1) in-person, newsworthy events or 2)

press releases. These two methods are straightforward and offer renowned tactics to spread the

word about podcasting via pre-existing press.

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Guerilla marketing is a catch-all term for marketing typically free or out-of-the-box. Kyle

Wilson, of The Podcast Host, identified a few strategies that would work in most settings

(Wilson, 2018). To start, merchandising is a key way for general content creators to grow a

brand. A creator like Logan Paul, who is seen his fair share of criticism still turns a profit on his

content, largely because of his merchandise. A company like Rooster Teeth who delves in

videos, streams, and podcasts, has an entire website devoted to their merchandise. While it isn’t a

guarantee for significant growth, it can prove useful in raising brand awareness, especially if

merchandise is given away for free (Wilson, 2018). Pop-up events are another way to raise

awareness of a podcast. Depending on the community a podcast is based in, it may make sense to

partake in local festivals/events or create an event, with a partnership of a different company to

promote both companies. In relation to pop-up events are sporadic things like flash mobs or

singing in the subway. In the case of a podcast, recording in a public space could be one strategy

to gaining interest in a community. There are many ideas out there to chase!

A major part of podcasting is the tags and text that coincide with a podcast. Jayson

DeMers of Forbes, identified 101 ways to market a podcast. In this article, DeMers covers a ton

of ground in the search engine optimization area of podcasting. Search engine optimization is the

process of adding keywords and phrases to a website or piece of content in order to boost its

rankings in a search engine (DeMers, 2017). The text attached to podcast is optimal picking for

search engines to document. DeMers writes, “You can (and should) optimize your podcasts for

search, both for typical Google searches (when they’re hosted on your site) and for the search

engines of each respective podcast directory.” Each directory typically has a search function of

its own, and so keyword optimization will help in general searches on Google and in every

directory which requires keywords to search for podcasts. Furthermore, DeMers describes
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exactly how “optimize”: “You’ll want to include target keywords in your podcast name and

description, as well as each individual episode’s name and description. I recently helped a video

game podcast called What’s Good Games change their name in the Apple Podcasts app from

“What’s Good Games” to “What’s Good Games: A Video Game Podcast” in an effort to rank in

search results for keywords “video games” and “video game podcast.” The result? They went

from not appearing in the search results for either keyword to displaying #2.” As

aforementioned, keywords can be extremely simple add-ons to a podcast’s name, description,

and show notes each and every time. Additionally, each episode of a podcast will typically offer

another keyword that a podcaster can use when describing that episode specifically. For

example, DeMers said he helped out a video game podcast who covers multiple video games per

each episode. In this case, each episode about a new game offers a new search term for a

podcaster to emphatically use in order to return higher search results. If that podcast did an

episode about The Legend of Zelda, they would want to make sure to use The Legend of Zelda

when describing the episode, in addition to using any terms associated with the franchise (for

The Legend of Zelda, this could be abbreviations like TLoZ or game characters like Link) to

catch more words in a search engine. There is a point where it may be too far, however. Podcast

Motor writes in large about how directories like Apple Podcasts can boot a podcast off its

platform for being too detailed, and “spammy” (2018). They write rather than a title be "A Better

You – Lifestyle, Health, Fitness, Zen, Spirituality and how to bring all those into your life with

The Dude,” consider changing it to simply, “A Better You with The Dude”. The same goes for

descriptions and cover art attached to a podcast as well, there is a limit to how far keywords can

be used.
 Polmanteer 17

That said, SEO is highly important to a podcast’s success. A podcast has to be searchable

in order to be found making it a necessary, non-negotiable step in starting a podcast.

 Polmanteer 18

How Andmore Media Started

The launch of a company like Andmore Media made sense for an exploding medium full

of potential for celebrity and fun. Andmore primarily launched from the previous group that

members were a part of: the podcasting arm of the local student newspaper, CM Life. Through

those experiences held at the print and digital news company, many members decided to branch

off of the newspaper to focus on the podcasting artform and to work independently from any

previous stakeholders in editorial and business decisions.

With a launch in October 2018, the company had a full slate of podcasts with flagship

shows that included: Pinned, Conspiracy Club, and Groupies. These shows were identified as the

main drivers for the remainder of the network. The themes of this podcast network included

“passionate people talking about their passions”, and the embodiment of the company name

“Andmore” as a way to signify the audio created was going a step further and beyond what

traditional podcasts in the space were already doing. For example, within Conspiracy Club is a

largely done-before concept, a show about conspiracy theories. However, Conspiracy Club had a

specific editorial style to each episode mixed with candid humor that was often missing from

stereotypical shows of the same genre. The selling point for Pinned was to be a go-to hub for all

things wrestling, from two wresting fanatics that had insights into the major network of WWE

and their run of shows, in addition to the independent wrestling market. Groupies, with a team of

four music fanatics with distinct tastes, created two weekly episodes aimed at talking about a

music album and a topic in modern music. The commonality between all of these shows is the

original focus of passion in Andmore Media, in that the shows are largely based on what the

podcasters were particularly passionate about and how the hosts of each show could provide a

unique voice to their respective genre. With these three podcasts as the audience builders, the
 Polmanteer 19

remaining shows on the network like Lit & Lattes (a book and coffee focused podcast) and The

Outlast Podcast (a show about the TV series Survivor) were elevated by being part of the

Andmore Media network.

By having a network of podcasts, the goal of having flagship shows was to create an “all

seas rise” scenario in which if one podcast or multiple podcasts grow in their audiences, those

audiences can also become listeners of other Andmore Media shows. This is largely a popular

strategy in the industry with established companies like Gimlet Media25 and Wondery Media26

(companies that were organizationally similar) proving this strategy to function well for the

businesses as a whole. Each of these organizations incorporates advertising as their core business

model, focusing on working with external brands to sponsor podcasts. However, advertising also

serves as a gateway for other podcasts to get introduced on the same network. NPR27 (National

Public Radio) often will incorporate this strategy into their business model as well, and even

include this strategy into their hundreds of public radio stations. This all proves that this is a

proven foundation for an audio-first company with distributed content, to both create a business

and a promotion tool for every piece of content on a network.

25
Gimlet Media. https://gimletmedia.com/
26
Wondery Media. https://wondery.com/
27
NPR’s advertising portal. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/npr/platforms/npr-podcasts/
 Polmanteer 20

Goals for Marketing Andmore Media

With months under the belt for Andmore Media and the podcasts on the network, goals

were established for each podcast to achieve over the summer session, a time where many of the

podcasters would be away from one central location due to school schedules. From its founding

in September 2018 to May 2019, the network had already accrued close to ten thousand plays

cumulatively and had a slate of eight consistent weekly or monthly podcasts. Within that time

frame, clear show formats were established and followed to produce hours of content. As a

group, the company wanted to continue seeing growth in its podcasts’ audiences to convert

listenership into money via advertising and donations.

One of the many things in the podcasting industry that still goes “unsolved” some may

say, is marketing. Due to the technological nature of podcasting infrastructure in addition to the

barrier of entry, it can be difficult to go to a demographic of any kind and try to craft an

audience. It’s worth noting that paid marketing has proven to be just as effective as free

marketing within the podcasting space. However, for Andmore Media they attempted all growth

via the summer goals through free methods. Free methods primarily included social media use to

sustain an audience, cross-promotion using interviews and other content, and broadening the

scope of what the podcasts were already doing.

The three flagship podcasts (Pinned, Conspiracy Club, and Groupies) had separate goals

for growth, and the company also had goals for the summer. Pinned had goals of 1) cross-

promoting with existing relationships at wrestling media outlets (such as Cultaholic and AEW),

2) acquire interviews with wrestlers for original content and promotion, and 3) create video

content to broaden audience reach. Pinned’s objectives were ultimately set to acquire clout

within the wrestling community to prove their legitimacy on the topics they cover in each
 Polmanteer 21

episode. Conspiracy Club had four goals: 1) grow the podcast’s Twitter following to 500

followers (from roughly 50 followers), 2) undergo format changes to appeal for Apple Podcasts

proprietary editorial pages, 3) establish an estimated audience (calculated by podcast host,

Anchor28) of 200 listeners, and 4) research potential audio documentary subjects for a spinoff

from the podcast. These goals largely established a need for growth from the show with arguably

the most potential, as true crime and related subjects are the top overall podcast genre with the

most interest29. For Groupies, the goals established were, 1) achieve musician interviews and

cross-promote with independent artists, labels, and other podcasts, 2) grow the Twitter following

to 200 followers (from roughly 50 followers), and 3) raise average listeners by a third. The music

podcast, Groupies, had a similar approach to Pinned as the group looked to establish legitimacy

in the podcast genre, while cross-promoting with personalities for audience growth. Finally, for

Andmore Media the company-wide goals were: 1) to grow Andmore Media’s social media

audience and 2) accrue over 20,000 plays across the podcast network by August 2019. Overall

audience growth was the primary objective for Andmore Media, superseding financial gains.

These goals were set in place to use social media as an all-in-one tool (utilizing

marketing, promotion, an extension of the podcast, etc.). Additionally, they aimed for growing

the audience by all means possible within the realm of being free. Cross-promotion is one of

these ways, as podcasts and guests/other podcasts can gain listeners for both parties involved.

These combined goals aimed for complete growth for the company during the summer and later

evolution of the company.

Data from the Summer of 2019

28
Anchor FM, podcast host. Andmore Media’s podcast host for each podcast. https://anchor.fm/
29
According to an article penned by Nick Fouriezos and Ned Colin of OZY. https://www.ozy.com/acumen/why-
true-crime-is-podcast-crack-for-women/94331/
 Polmanteer 22

The summer session for Andmore Media lasted from May 2019 to September 2019.

Results were mixed with both large successes and unachieved failures. The knowledge gained

from the previous stretch of Andmore Media’s tenure from October 2018 to May 2019 also

shaped the company’s success during the summer and eventual ending in October 2019.

Conspiracy Club experienced the greatest success during this time period, in terms of

surpassing goals and leading the network in overall listens and subscribers. To get the goals

placed for every podcast completed, there was a set of action items to complete for each goal. In

the case of Conspiracy Club, the podcast achieved its first goal of attaining a 200 listener

audience (estimated). To get to this point, the hosts30 of the podcast accomplished three separate

actions: 1) full-time posts and behind the scenes content on their own show’s Twitter profile, and

2) cross-promotion with other shows on the Andmore Media network, which was done on all

flagship podcasts through ad-lib conversation. The all-time plays for this podcast, which started

at 0 during its debut in August of 2018, surpassed 17,000 plays at the end of August 2019. This

massive growth alone likely gave way for the success of other Andmore Media podcasts and the

success of the other flagship podcasts’ goals. Some goals were not met though: the podcast’s

Twitter following rose by 5 followers, rather than the hundreds of followers necessary for the

goal set. Another goal, formulate ideas for an audio documentary, was not met, as the format

change the podcast underwent required all efforts from the hosts and the audio documentary goal

was taken away to allow for this format change to take place. The format change alone, though,

is likely responsible for the overwhelming success of Conspiracy Club.

Pinned surpassed two of its objectives while leaving one unsuccessful. The Pinned team

successfully accrued wrestling interviews, a key strategy to establishing influence among the

30
In this case, host means the actual person that hosts the show. The previous reference of “podcast host” as the
technology provider for podcasts does not apply in this usage.
 Polmanteer 23

wrestling community they were attempting to attract. Additionally, their second goal of cross-

promotion with at least 5 connections/entities in the wrestling industry was met. The podcast was

not able to achieve their long-standing goal of creating video content due to time limitations, but

still remains an eventual strategy to grow their audience.

Groupies’ goals as a podcast were largely unmet. The cast of the show was not able to

achieve any musician interviews or grow their Twitter following to 200 followers. Additionally,

the podcast did raise the listener average by a few listeners, but not by a third (which was the set

goal). These failures came about due to an unplanned hiatus of the podcast, following

disagreements among the members of the show. This is something that will be evident to the

later conclusion of Andmore Media as a whole.

To conclude, at the company level the highest goal Andmore Media set for itself was

achieved. By August of 2019, Andmore Media surpassed 20,000 overall network listens. The

final total surpassed 23,000 listens. This milestone, considering some of the disappointing

failures that ensued, is clear proof that goals accomplished by each podcast individually, and by

the company, helped contribute to the outstanding development of the company.

 Polmanteer 24

Forming New Company Goals

Due to the nature of the goals that failed, it was evident that certain goals that were set

were lofty at best. This was expected, and following the end of the summer session, the company

came together to revise these expectations into attainable actions.

To start, the company decided on a visual refresh of the Andmore Media brand. From the

start of the company, the brand was a simplistic logo that had represented quickness and possibly

even modesty, something the company was not embodying as a mission in any way. The mission

of the company, “passionate people talking about their passions”, required a brand that sets the

tone from a listener’s first experience with the company. Company colors were set (pastel

versions of yellow, blue-green, and red) to pair with a retro-inspired font (Junegull) to craft a

flair for the Andmore Media brand. This was decided after concluding the original brand didn’t

have the same appeal of the podcasts in the network, which caused worry for the network

because if the parent company/brand was not enticing listeners, the strategy of funneling in

listeners from the top-down into the network of shows would simply not function. Therefore,

Andmore Media branding was identified as objective number one to get done.

Next, the company decided to split roles evenly amongst the leadership team in order to

enact responsibility for distinct silos of the company. These roles included oversight positions of

Andmore Media’s business strategies, marketing strategies, creative management, and overall

growth. These positions outlined clear action items for the people in place to act upon. This

resolution was sought after the leadership team identified the responsibilities as unbalanced

amongst the full team.

On podcast-specific levels, Groupies turned a summer-long hiatus into a permanent

shutdown. It was determined that the show in its current format was not something the show’s
 Polmanteer 25

hosts wanted to pursue further and pushing the podcast forward with an unclear format would be

ill-advised after seeing clearly from Conspiracy Club that a format change with dedicated hosts

can be a highly successful decision.

Pinned, after successfully completing their goals also ended the summer with a hiatus.

This something that led to the eventual separation of the current company. While the show

continued to garner listeners and attraction on the podcast’s Twitter following, the hosts of the

show advised the company of a lack of resources for the show at the time.

With Conspiracy Club staying the only clear, active podcast, the show revised its goals to

achieve organic press features. A clear list created by the Bello Collective31, outlined the ways in

which podcast hosts, like the ones of Conspiracy Club could independently garner attention in

media around their show. This leads to a further point about where Andmore Media ended up

going and explains the upcoming section, “Andmore Media Ends and Findings”.

31
The Bello Collective’s list of podcast discovery platforms. https://bellocollective.com/apple-isnt-going-to-fix-
podcast-discovery-so-where-can-you-go-instead-3d2318e71923
 Polmanteer 26

Andmore Media Ends and Findings

With success, underlying troubles will always rise. In the case of Andmore Media, it was

unfortunately the case that, despite succeeding objectives, the company saw overwhelming

difficulties in continuing as a business and passion project for the members involved.

Beginning with the podcasts themselves, it was clear that with flagship shows Groupies

and Pinned ending or on hiatus, it formed pressure on other podcasts to move into their place of

success. Without the clear leading podcasts involved, the network effect that Andmore Media

was pursuing from the beginning of the company had significant loss. The newer, less

established shows did not have the same efforts behind them for promotion and audience growth,

as the network effect was still forming before the larger shows had gone on hiatus. Essentially,

the momentum that was gained was quickly swept away and difficult to regain. The shows that

were on hiatus also involved members of leadership within Andmore, which likely signifies to

other group members that if the leadership was inactive, then Andmore as a whole might be

inactive. Morale is vital to the success of a company, especially on a company that depends so

heavily on the efforts on the individual level. If morale lowers, then the potential of the company

and its members likely falters; this happened first hand at Andmore Media.

Conspiracy Club saw a different level of issues: creative differences. Often used in the

world of rock bands and hair rock, “creative differences” are a true threat to content creation and

can be lethal to even the most successful of acts. In many cases, the peak of success can split

hairs even deeper between the partners of the effort. As differences emerged surrounding how

the co-hosts of Conspiracy Club would guide the show forward with a newfound, exploding

audience, it became the explosion itself. As the podcast was a combination of humor and serious

conspiracy discussion, the hosts differed on the balance of those two elements that should remain
 Polmanteer 27

in the format of each episode. Reviews for the podcast on Conspiracy Club32, provided sentiment

that the humor of one co-host may take away from the quality of the show. While members of

Andmore Media disagreed with certain listeners’ opinions, the opinions gave question to the

hosts of Conspiracy Club if the show in its current format could continue. Eventually, a co-host

of the podcast confided that they desired to leave the podcast and company altogether. With no

clear path forward involving the two, the show ceased without any formal closure. The

momentum of the largest podcast on Andmore Media’s network ran its course.

The troubles also started from the top-down. Due to the behemoth that can be college

schedules for many students, the leadership of the company never supplied enough effort and

time to lead the group into the future. Inconsistency can kill many businesses and companies; in

Andmore Media’s case as a podcasting company, inconsistency was fatal. The goals that were

met, were done on a highly individual level, that didn’t involve other people at the company,

even though it likely should have. Considering the cadences that drive the world of podcasting,

with podcast audiences expecting clear timelines for the podcasts they listen to, an inconsistent

effort from leadership to consult with podcasts on the network, a lack of drive for further podcast

creation, and little to no money involved for members in the business for financial gain, the

company inevitably stared down the barrel of ending.

Burnout is a significant issue in content creation as well. It occurs among creators of all

types, in all mediums. As the human brain functions like any energy-using mechanism, if at

some point the metaphorical gas is empty the output will also end. Clearly as content continues

to drive media business forward, it will be more important than ever for the creators on the other

side of the spectrum to respect their own boundaries and how far they can push themselves to

32
Reviews surfaced from podcast listing on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conspiracy-
club/id1415222811#see-all/reviews
 Polmanteer 28

make content. Several members reported having burnout from forming content in a rhythm,

which led to low morale and lack of drive.

Finances were also never entirely prioritized by the company. To gain income the

company followed two strategies: 1) sponsorships and advertising via Anchor’s Sponsorships

tools33, and 2) listener donations. Altogether through these efforts, the company accrued around

~$160 in total, which was not an amount of money that would reward income-like status for one

host of a podcast, let alone a number of podcasters on the network banding together for this total

income creation. Without a clear audience, the CPM structure of ads (a certain payout of money

per ad read, for every 1,000 listeners) pays out tens of dollars for low-audience content.

Altogether, these differences among members were divisive enough to lead to the end of

Andmore Media.

33
Anchor FM’s Sponsorship tools: https://anchor.fm/sponsorships
 Polmanteer 29

Conclusion

There are endless learning opportunities for the next podcasting company to exist in the

same space. A few vital things above all stand out though. Firstly, podcasting is not unique in its

business model. As with many content platforms and media in the world, advertising is its

primary revenue structure. For a business, it is crucial to line up advertising for if there is a large

enough audience to attract sponsors. Without a large audience built-in it should be cautioned that

money will not be easy to obtain when beginning. Secondly, with the intention of this capstone

project considering the problem of podcast marketing and what it entails, it is still largely up in

the air as to what formula works for podcasting in the world of marketing. If paid advertising is

behind a podcast, it will surely have views and attention if targeted properly, but without a

budget, social media seems to be the best tool to building, maintaining, and finding an audience.

For podcasting, Twitter and Instagram proved to the most vital to the success of Andmore Media

podcasts, even with the lack of successfully achieving the desired follower numbers. Third and

finally, podcasting is still a wide open space in which experiments are constantly happening, and

ideas are proven (and failed upon) every day. Unlike more established media of radio and TV,

podcasting is still churning refreshed identities. Due to this, the biggest piece of knowledge

extracted from this project was simple: find a niche. Each of the shows on the Andmore Media

network, proved to ride or die on this fact alone. Conspiracy Club found itself in a niche

exploding in interest and the show was further into the niche with its own spin on said niche.

Pinned had success by working its way into the independent wrestling community, a community

in which there are diehard fanatics looking for content to consume based on their particular

interests. Groupies did not find success, suggesting that podcasts which reach broad and wide,

without a built-in audience, will likely struggle to find an audience.

 Polmanteer 30

Finding a niche is crucial to the potential of a podcast, the financial prospect that comes

with audience size, and furthermore the overall success of a creative project. Andmore Media

was an experiment that proved this theory, and provides evidence that passionate people will

connect to their own passionate audiences in consistently new formats, including podcasts; the

next audio frontier.

 Polmanteer 31

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