Building an Initial Listener Base for a New True Crime Podcast on Spotify
Well-researched episodes weren't finding listeners because a brand-new show had no starting audience or algorithmic history.
Illustrative exampleFollowers
50 → 4,900
Avg. episode plays
120 → 18,500
Episode completion rate
22% → 61%
The Challenge
New podcasts compete against thousands of established shows for the same limited discovery real estate, and with zero listening history, the show wasn't appearing anywhere a new true crime fan might stumble across it.
The Approach
A plays and followers boost on the strongest early episode gave the show a baseline that supported both search visibility and word-of-mouth credibility, and subsequent episodes benefited from listeners returning after discovering the back catalog. Episode completion rates were monitored to keep growth aligned with real listening.
Services Used
“Someone reviewed us as their 'new favorite true crime podcast' in a Reddit thread we never even posted in ourselves.”
Illustrative example, true crime podcasting niche
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