12/10/2025
What really happens to your download numbers when you take a break?
Most podcast experts won't tell you… but I will.
In general, if you don’t have a solid marketing plan that works for you while you’re in between seasons, your downloads will likely stagnate or be in the single digits every week.
But if you set both an active and passive marketing plan? Your show will still get traction while you go on about life!
This summer, I decided to go on break for a few months… and here’s the data: my audio downloads only dropped 40%, and my YouTube views tanked by 80%.
As you can tell, YouTube tends to prioritize creators who are releasing episodic content - even if you optimize your content for discovery.
Audio content? It continued being played thanks to most of the passive marketing strategies I had been running, alongside a few experiments I made…
Want to learn more about what worked and what didn’t in the past months? Listen to episode 105 of The Podcast Space - where you’ll also have a preview of what’s to come!