128. Why Your Podcasting Downloads Are Dropping (And What To Do About It!)

Feeling like your podcast is stalling this summer? You're not alone, and your show isn’t broken. In this episode, I’ll break down why podcasting downloads tend to dip during the summer months and what it really means for your show. You’ll also learn the smart strategies you can use right now to stay on track and even come out ahead. 

Check out the Podcast Growth Collective: www.ThePodcastTeacher.com/collective

This episode was produced by me, The Podcast Teacher! Contact me at Hello@ThePodcastTeacher.com.

Transcript

Hey, hey, and welcome back. This is your podcast teacher, Julia Levine, and you're listening to Podcasting for solopreneurs, the show that helps online business owners grow their podcast to get more listeners, leads and sales. If you have opened your podcast stats dashboard lately and felt that little jolt of disappointment, maybe thinking, uh, wait, what happened? My numbers were growing and now they're not. What the heck? I want you to take a deep breath. What you're seeing is very likely something I call the summer slide. A completely normal seasonal dip in downloads that happens for many, many podcasters. I'm a little on the early side with this episode, so if you're not seeing a decline yet, it might still be coming.

Now I know how tempting it is to start spiraling when the numbers go down. I have been there. We work hard on our shows, we track the growth, and then when that trend line starts sliding backward, it is so easy to jump into worst case scenarios. My downloads are a bit lower right now too, and I'm not afraid to admit that I did get a sinking feeling in my stomach when I saw them. But before you assume that your podcast has peaked and it's just all downhill from here, or even worse, you start dialing back your efforts, you press pause on your podcast. I want you to hear me when I say that this pattern is completely normal. It happens every summer for more shows than you think. So instead of stressing over that dip, what if we used this season to get smarter, more strategic, and even better positioned for when listeners come roaring back in the fall? So in today's episode, you'll learn what's really going on with your downloads, why this seasonal dip happens, and most importantly, how.

How you can actually use this time strategically. By the end of the episode, you're going to feel clear, calm, and equipped with a plan. So what's actually going on with your podcast downloads? Simply put, it is summer. Routines are changing, kids are out of school, vacations are happening, people are spending more time outside or on the go. The structure that keeps podcast listening consistent during the school year or the work season is kind of all over the place in the summer. Your listeners schedules have shifted. And even if your schedule hasn't, you're probably feeling the ripple effect. People may be skipping their regular morning commutes, traffic is lighter, maybe the gym is less crowded, people are taking a break from their usual workouts, they're taking a hike instead of going on the treadmill.

All of those things add up to fewer podcast downloads across the board. But I want you to know that this is normal. This happens every year and it does not mean that your podcast is failing. And interestingly, while overall listenership tends to dip during the summer, the data can get a little weird during this time of year. So some listeners might totally drop off for a few weeks and then suddenly binge six episodes while they're on a road trip or on a flight somewhere. Other listeners might just check out completely until September. So the result of these different things happening is this wavy, unpredictable pattern that can drive you absolutely crazy if you are refreshing your stats daily. So while I always encourage you to take your download numbers with a grain of salt, I'm going to say it a bit louder this time of year.

Please don't obsess over them. Check them once a week, not once an hour. I also encourage you to look at some other metrics so download numbers are not the only thing. Check out your consumption rate, which is how much of each episode your listeners are actually listening to, actually consuming. Look at whether your show is gaining followers on platforms like Apple and Spotify. Take a look at how many lead magnet opt ins or discovery calls you're getting from your show. And also if you're seeing sales coming from your podcast traffic. If you're not sure where to find any of this information or what it means, this is something that we can discuss inside the Podcast Growth Collective, which you can learn more about@thepodcastteacher.com Collective downloads are just one piece of the puzzle and spoiler alert.

Summer is not the only time that they're going to take you on a roller coaster ride. So let's walk through what a typical podcasting year looks like from a stats perspective. Right now we are in that summer slide that happens in June, July and August. As I just mentioned, school is out, vacations are happening, and listeners schedules are just haywire. Some completely check out of podcast listening while others binge. It's during this stretch that many shows see a drop, even if they are publishing great content. So I want you to remember that this is not about your show, it's just about your listeners bandwidth, their habits and their routines. You can expect to see your numbers bounce back in September and October.

School is starting, vacations are over, routines resume, commutes return and listeners re engage. If you stayed consistent throughout the summer, this is when you're going to be rewarded. But then you can generally expect to see a decline again, maybe starting in November and almost all always in December. Listeners usually drop off due to holiday chaos and disruption in their routines caused by Holiday parties, school breaks, family visits, etc. In January, the numbers tend to shoot way up. People are setting New Year's resolutions. They're looking for fresh routines. They've committed to a new hobby or learning a new skill skill.

And they're craving new content. Downloads often spike this month because people are actively seeking change, and your podcast might be the answer. January often shows an artificial spike in numbers because as we all know, by the end of the month, most people have abandoned their new goals and routines. February through May are when things level out and consistency kicks in. At this point, routines are solidified, people are commuting regularly. There's spring break in there, but that happens at different times for everybody. And so generally schedules are fairly consistent during this time frame. And people are integrating podcasts into their daily rhythm.

This is a great time for growth because the listening environment is relatively stable. And then of course, we're back to June and the summer slide. So I share that all with you because knowing these yearly ups and downs can help you set better expectations and be mentally prepared to see those numbers drop. So if you're experiencing the summer slide right now, don't take it personally and definitely do not use it as a reason to stop podcasting. In fact, let's talk about what you can do right now to use this slow season to your advantage. So first and foremost, I want you to keep publishing. It might feel pointless to put out new episodes when fewer people are listening, but. But here's the thing.

Remember that podcast content is evergreen. Those episodes are not going anywhere. They're getting downloaded, archived and queued up for when listeners do return. Maybe that vacationing listener is not tuning in this week, but they're going to catch up when they come back. They might binge three episodes all at once. If you stay consistent now, you'll be part of that binge watch later. Plus, every episode builds your content library, which boosts your long term discoverability. People don't just listen to your latest episode, they explore your back catalog.

They discover episodes through search. And consistency is a signal of reliability both to platforms and listeners. And the more content that you have out there, the more likely you are to come up in the search results. All right, next you can focus on retention while you have fewer casual listeners floating in. This is the perfect time to deepen your connection with your current loyal audience. So talk to them directly. Add behind the scenes stuff, give personal check ins to show you are real and relatable. You could do a short mini series, bonus episodes listener Q and A or even some kind of like community challenge.

You can absolutely get creative because your most loyal listeners are still there and this is when you nurture that loyalty. This season is quieter, but that can mean more space for intimacy and deeper relationships with your listeners. This slower season is also a great time to experiment and improve, tweak and test things with your podcast. You can try out new episode titles, you can play with different formats, or you can drop some bonus episodes when you have less pressure and fewer eyes on every move you're making. This is a great opportunity to experiment and get creative, making adjustments now so that you're not not scrambling and trying to figure things out, or too afraid to take a risk when traffic picks back up. This could also be a great time to audit your past episodes. Take a look at which ones had the highest download numbers, highest retention, which CTA has worked the best. Analyze all that information and then use what you learn to sharpen your next phase.

Throughout all of this, make sure that you are planning for fall. Don't wait until September starts to get strategic. Use this slower period to plan and get ahead. So think about what offers do you want to promote this fall? What freebies or lead magnets can you build now and start offering people to support that? What topics are going to be relevant in the fall back to school season? What? Or that quarter four energy shift that happens as we try and finish the year strong? You can take this opportunity to batch content, draft emails, and most importantly build that Runway so when your audience returns, you are ready with aligned intentional content. And lastly, remember that not everything is in your control. Seasons ebb and flow and what matters most is that you stay committed to your long term strategy. That is how sustainable podcast growth really works. And if you want help building that strategy, that's exactly what we do inside the Podcast Growth Collective.

It's where we go beyond just publishing episodes and start building intentional growth through SEO, marketing and smart content strategy. I would love to support you there and you can learn more@the podcastteacher.com collective. If you are feeling discouraged right now, let this be your reminder that your podcast is not broken. Your content is not bad. It's just summer. You're experiencing the summer slide. So keep showing up, keep creating. Your listeners will come back.

Until next time, Happy podcasting.