Brands, businesses, and creators alike are quickly discovering that podcasts are an invaluable content channel. And it’s easy to understand why: It’s rare to find a content format that offers the time and space to talk in-depth about a product, business, or area of expertise, directly with your target audience.

But podcasts hit that sweet spot—they can help you build your brand, inspire customer loyalty, and create authentic, emotional connections with listeners. In fact, nearly three-quarters (72%) of Gen Zs in the US agree that podcasts take people deeper into any topic than other forms of media.¹

But building an audience for a podcast takes time and requires more than just great content. Having a promotion plan to get the word out about your show is critical.

Podcast listenership on the rise

At the time of writing, there are more than 393 million ad-supported Spotify listeners around the globe.² In the US, more people than ever before are tuning into podcasts: According to Edison Research, nearly half (47%) of the 12+ population listens to podcasts monthly, and around one-third (34%) are weekly listeners.³ Among those weekly listeners, almost a quarter (23%) spend 10 or more hours with the medium each week.⁴ Listenership is expected to increase steadily through to 2027.⁵

"It's not that easy to reach the podcast audience effectively without having long 'click ways' from a social media post to a podcast streaming platform and the promoted podcast episode. Audio ads on Spotify offer us a way to reach the audio-savvy target group already on the right platform."

– Feline Heck, Social Media Specialist, Oliver Schrott Kommunikation

There are many different paths you can take to successfully promote your podcast and build a following. But if you have a limited promotion budget, how do you access listeners and grow your audience? An easy and low-cost way is through Spotify Ads Manager.

Ads Manager makes podcast promotion on Spotify accessible to advertisers of all sizes. Thanks to its powerful targeting capabilities, you can create campaigns that resonate with Spotify users who are passionate about topics and activities relevant to your show—while the growth-optimized Podcast Streams objective makes it possible to reach people who are more likely to listen to podcasts in general.

Plus, with Ads Manager’s free and intuitive ad creation tools and services, you can craft audio ads specifically tailored to your target audience. And you can do it all without a huge promotion budget.

Ready to promote your podcast on Spotify? Get started with Ads Manager today.