YouTube Rises, Instagram Falls: Inside 2025 Podcast Marketing Trends.

A new study of more than 300 podcasters reveals that the fastest-growing shows in 2025 are not necessarily producing more content or operating on bigger budgets. Instead, they’re leaning into strategic experimentation, focusing on quality over quantity, and taking early steps into video podcasting — especially on YouTube.

The 2025 Podcast Marketing Trends Report, released by Podcast Marketing Academy in collaboration with production studio Lower Street, analyzes responses from 311 podcasters representing a collective 3.7 billion downloads and more than 50,000 episodes. The report, now in its third edition, compares year-over-year changes and introduces new benchmarks for YouTube podcast performance.

Fewer Episodes, Bigger Impact

One of the clearest findings is that high-growth podcasts are publishing less frequently. While weekly releases remain the norm, the fastest-growing shows tend to publish every 14 days, giving creators more time to focus on production quality, audience engagement, and marketing strategy.

High-growth shows also reported spending less on their podcasts than low-growth peers, suggesting that resourcefulness and focus can beat scale and budget. These shows often rely more on organic growth and direct audience interaction than paid promotion.

Mixed But Optimistic Outlook

Interestingly, while individual podcasters report slightly lower personal growth rates year over year, the average growth across all shows surveyed continues to increase. Jeremy Enns, founder of the Podcast Marketing Academy, says that’s a sign of a maturing industry with pockets of strong opportunity.

“While individual shows in our surveys have reported lower and lower annual growth rates each year, the average growth rate of the entire pool of shows continues to rise,” says Enns. “To me, this suggests, that despite a lot of the alarm and hand-wringing in the podcast industry, the medium is actually in a good space, with plenty of opportunity to grow both audio and video-based shows.”

The report says that while the majority of shows reported fewer downloads at the end of the year than at the start, the median show’s downloads per episode count had actually grown, from 428 to 469 downloads per episode—a 10.4% increase from a year earlier. And the number of downloads per month rose 10.1% to 1,246.

New YouTube Benchmarks 

For the first time, the report includes detailed video podcasting benchmarks, offering a clearer view of how creators are using YouTube. The median YouTube view duration for podcasts was 7.5 minutes, compared to a 24-minute average consumption time for audio episodes. The average YouTube click-through rate (CTR) for podcast videos was 2.25% — offering an early baseline for evaluating video performance.

While YouTube has become a growing discovery platform for podcasts, creators are still in the early stages of optimizing content for the format. Shows that repurpose full-length audio episodes with minimal editing often see lower engagement. The highest-performing video podcasts tailor their visuals and pacing specifically for YouTube’s algorithm and audience expectations.

Marketing Channels: YouTube Rising, Instagram Falling

The report also looked at what marketing channels creators rely on most—and which ones deliver growth. YouTube surpassed Instagram this year as a primary marketing tool for many creators, driven by the rise of Shorts and embedded video content. Half of those surveyed said they see YouTube as a way to build their audience. Instagram, once a favorite for show promotion, saw decreased usage and lower reported impact. 

But some creators may be turning away from these channels. In this year’s survey, 5.5% of respondents also indicated they are not active on social media, more than double last year’s 2.7% rate.

The report also identifies several other trends in how podcasters are promoting their shows, including—

• Newsletters and guest appearances remain strong tools for driving engagement.

• SEO and website optimization are underutilized, especially among low-growth shows.

• High-growth creators are more likely to invest in listener surveys and audience feedback loops.

• Email marketing continues to deliver consistent results, but is used by less than half of all surveyed shows.

Format Shifts and Time Allocation

This year’s report also highlights a shift in format experimentation. While the traditional interview remains common, more successful shows are exploring narrative formats, solo commentary, and hybrid models that mix interviews with storytelling.

“What’s fascinating is that today’s fastest-growing podcasts are the ones trying new things,” says Harry Morton, founder of Lower Street. “The highest-growth shows are publishing less often — prioritizing quality over quantity — experimenting with video, and trying formats beyond the standard interview. Success now demands strategic experimentation — testing what resonates with your specific audience rather than following generic best practices.”

When it comes to time investment, the median weekly commitment to podcast production and marketing is 10 hours. High-growth shows spend more time on audience development and content repurposing, while low-growth shows allocate more time to production and editing.

The full 2025 Podcast Marketing Trends Report is available HERE.