Abbey Graves Productions

If you are a podcaster trying to grow your show, there is a good chance you have asked yourself some version of this question: how do I get more people to actually find my podcast and keep coming back?

That is exactly what I talked about with Jackie Noelke on this episode of Abbey the Podcast Lady. Jackie specializes in Meta ads, and we got into what automated podcast growth actually looks like, what podcasters are getting wrong, and how to make ads feel a whole lot less intimidating.

One of the biggest things Jackie explained is that podcast growth is not just about getting discovered once. It is about staying top of mind. People can find your show, think it sounds amazing, and fully intend to listen again, but then life happens and they forget. That is where retargeting comes in. Instead of hoping people remember you, you create a system that keeps your podcast visible.

Now, before anybody panics, this does not mean you need a giant ad budget or some wildly complicated funnel built by tomorrow.

In fact, one of Jackie’s first recommendations was surprisingly simple: set up your Meta ads account and install your pixel now, even if you are not ready to run ads yet. That pixel starts collecting data from the people visiting your website, which gives you a much stronger foundation later on. If you wait until the moment you are finally “ready,” you are already behind.

This also leads to one of the most practical takeaways from the episode: do not send all your podcast traffic straight to Spotify or Apple Podcasts if you can help it. Send people to a page on your own website instead. That way, you own the traffic path, you can track what is happening, and you can retarget those visitors later. It puts you in control instead of leaving everything up to third-party platforms.

Another point Jackie made that really stood out to me is that a lot of podcasters think ads are mostly about targeting. But in today’s landscape, your messaging matters even more. You need to be clear about who you are talking to, what they want, and why your show is relevant to them. If your message is fuzzy, your ads will be too.

That is where her idea of Michelin Messaging comes in. We talked about how strong messaging builds trust, helps shift limiting beliefs, and makes your audience feel seen instead of shamed. That matters a lot, especially if your podcast supports a business or leads into an offer. People respond better when they feel understood and encouraged, not talked down to.

We also got into a really smart strategy for business owners with podcasts: create a signature episode. This is one episode that clearly explains your approach, your process, or what makes you different. Then you can use that episode as a central piece of your podcast marketing. Jackie also shared a strategy for using a code word tied to a genuinely valuable freebie so listeners can DM you and start a real conversation, which is a great way to turn passive listeners into engaged leads.

And honestly, one of my favorite parts of this conversation was the myth busting.

A lot of people still believe that running ads will kill their organic reach or that paying for promotion is somehow cheating. Jackie’s take was the opposite: ads and organic content work best when they support each other as part of one bigger ecosystem. You are not cheating by advertising your podcast. You are creating a more intentional way for the right people to find you.

The bottom line is this: podcast growth does not have to rely on hope, hustle, and crossing your fingers that the algorithm behaves. There are practical ways to build a system that keeps your show in front of the right people.

If you have been curious about using Meta ads to grow your podcast, this episode is a great place to start. Jackie made a topic that can feel really technical much easier to understand, and there were so many ideas in this conversation that podcasters can start applying right away.