Where the Money Meets Marketing: Podcast Audience Development with Catrin Skaperdas

What if audience development doesn’t start at launch… but at concept?

This week on PodBiz, we’re joined by Catrin Skaperdas, Marketing and Audience Development Director at The Podcast Guys, whose career spans Cumulus Media, independent consulting across European markets, and now building marketing infrastructure inside a growing UK agency.

Catrin makes one thing clear: marketing is not an afterthought. It belongs in the room from day one.

As she puts it:

“Now I'm part of podcast development. I'm in the room at the beginning of the conversation and I'm working with these brands to just to figure out what the best concept is for them. What's going to get them to their goals.”

And when it comes to monetization for independent creators, she’s equally direct:

“The money can be found when you use your podcast as part of a brand ecosystem.”

This is a grounded, practical conversation about audience growth, branded podcast strategy, European market nuance, and why downloads alone don’t define success.

Here are some insightful moments within the episode:

• Why monetization isn’t “one giant pile of money”
• How indie creators can build revenue beyond ads
• Why brands must budget for marketing as seriously as production
• What podcast audits reveal about discoverability
• Why European podcast markets operate differently country to country
• The real meaning behind “the death of the download”
• Why consistency builds subconscious audience trust
• How audience development evolves from execution to leadership

Episode Chapters

(01:54) Where is the money in podcasting?

(04:52) Paid promotion and podcast listener targeting

(08:39) Why brands must fund marketing properly

(14:36) Building and launching Italian For Sure

(18:12) Why audience development starts in development

(22:39) U.S. vs European podcast markets

(25:49) Mindset and staying current in the industry

(27:46) Moving beyond downloads as the primary metric

(30:09) Building marketing departments inside agencies

(38:54) Consistency, seasons, and avoiding podfade

(44:21) Accessibility, video pressure, and the future of podcasting

Some Additional PodBiz Buzz

On consumption over downloads:

“If you have just a hundred downloads an episode and you are getting complete, 100 percent completions to that, that's no longer just 100 downloads per episode.”

On scrappiness:

“How do you get scrappy? How do you make it work?”

On consistency:

“Pick a schedule that you can be consistent with.”

On marketing clarity:

“You never want to over ask anybody to do anything.”

PodBiz is the podcast about the business of podcasting. Hosted by industry veterans Norma Jean Belenky and John Kiernan, the show features conversations with creators, executives, and platform leaders to answer one question: Where’s the money in podcasting?

Each episode dives into monetization strategy, adtech, branded content, IP development, and audience growth. Guests include leaders from Acast, Captivate, Crooked Media, Buzzsprout, True Native Media, Podfest, and more.

Learn more: njbmedia.co | thepodhouseproductions.com

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