015 - Joni Deutsch - Podglomerate

About this episode

Joni Deutsch of Podglomerate --- SUMMARYSebastian sits down with Joni Deutsch, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Audience Development at the Podglomerate, an award-winning podcast agency whose clients include PBS, NPR, Netflix, Harvard, and New Hampshire Public Radio. With fifteen years in media, audio, and communications, Joni breaks down how the Podglomerate approaches podcast growth, walking through the agency's six core pillars of marketing work: publicity, marketing, cross-promotions, podcast app relationships, paid advertising, and data management. The conversation moves from practical, low-budget tactics for podcasters starting from zero to the bigger forces reshaping discovery, including the shift from traditional SEO to AI-driven "GEO" search and Google's move to surface Gemini results above the old ten blue links. Joni and Sebastian also dig into the tensions facing the industry, including the pivot to video and a shrinking podcast "middle class," the role of awards, when paid acquisition is worth it, and the heavier questions raised by the "2024 podcast election," parasocial influence, AI-generated shows, and who bears responsibility for fact-checking in an open