Apple’s continued dominance in podcasting is our fault. Here are 3 ways to grow an Android audience.

The folks at libsyn shared their stats for February. You can listen to the breakdown (beginning at the 1hr, 5min mark), but here are my thoughts:

Apple still rules the roost with almost 2/3 of all downloads (62.9%) going to their Podcasts App and iTunes.

  • It’s rather incredible that people outside of the Applesphere don’t listen to podcasts when there are so many incredible apps out there that make podcast consumption just as easy, if not better (Podcast Addict for example).
  • Spotify has been gaining ground each month, but they haven't even peaked 10%.
  • Stitcher has been around for almost a decade for both IOS and Android, yet they only have 2% of listeners using their app
  • Google has made their Google Podcasts app available on all new Android devices, yet they are only 1.1% of the consumption.

I love Apple for what they did for podcasting.

I still love them for cleaning up their directory and adding features that will most likely be revealed in the next big update.

But I wouldn't rely on Apple to find new podcast listeners. It's like holding CrossFit responsible for explaining what a push-up is.

Asking Apple to help you find more podcast listeners is like holding CrossFit responsible for teaching people what a push-up is

Do you really want more listeners?

It is OUR responsibility to find new listeners who don’t use Apple devices.

It is OUR responsibility to educate non-iPhone users that you can consume on-demand, spoken-word content on a regular basis – in the same way you would watch a new series on Netflix.

Spotify is trying. Google is not. Who else is there to expose new people to the world of podcasts?

We have to fight the stronghold of cable television and morning-drive radio. We have to skew people’s behavior away from watching the nightly news and get some good, honest, financial education via podcast (or maybe blow some time listening to a Tim Ferriss or Joe Rogan podcast instead).

You want more listeners to your podcast? Get Android-users to install Castro or Pocket Casts on their phones.

This kind of growth requires you to move away from the canned call-to-action of “You are listening to our podcast already, but go ahead and subscribe on iTunes.”

STOP IT! You are preaching to the choir!

Stop asking your podcast listeners to subscribe on iTunes. You are preaching to the choir!

3 Ways to Grow an Android Audience

Sure, you could do Facebook ads, but the ROI is horrible.

Instead, focus on:

  1. YOUR BLOG: Google still runs on SEO. Write great show notes and other text-based content that will drive people to your website. Let them discover “this podcast thing” there, but have a page where you offer various podcast apps and ways to subscribe.
  2. SHORT FACEBOOK or YOUTUBE VIDEOS: Find 3 things that were impactful from your most recent episode and create a 1-2 minute YouTube video. Give it a snappy title like “Grant Sabatier’s Top Tips for Making Side-Hustle Money” and rifle through them. Throw a snappy beat underneath and use simple graphics in the lower-third to make your video grab their attention, then explain at the end that there’s more great tips in the interview on your show at [your podcast name here].
  3. LAUNCH AN ALEXA SKILL or FLASH BRIEFING: The number of Voice Attendant devices has infiltrated our homes faster than the iPhone was accepted back in 2007. While podcast consumption on an Amazon Echo won’t be the ideal place to send people to listen to your show, having a Skill or Flash Briefing can expose them to a highlight real of your content. Similar to the video idea above, create a short recording of your most recent episode. Give the listener a hot tip or snippet of your guest saying something really brilliant, the tell them to have Alexa or Google find your podcast for the entire show.

None of these tips will create hockey-stick growth, but they can help you find new listeners on non-Apple devices. Social media posts are fine, but your podcast can’t stand out above all the chatter about POTUS’s latest tweet or Ariana Grande on IG. Bring value to an audience outside of the normal places, because that’s where potential podcast listeners are.


Links to Android podcast apps:

Castro https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.itemstudio.castro&hl=en_US

Google Podcasts https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.podcasts&hl=en_US

Podcast Addict https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bambuna.podcastaddict

Podkicker https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ait.podka

Pocket Casts https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bambuna.podcastaddict&hl=en_US

Podcast Republic https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.itunestoppodcastplayer.app

Spotify https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spotify.music&hl=en_US

Stitcher https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stitcher.app&hl=en_US