We've Spent 4 Years Testing Episode Titles. Here's What Works.
Episode 208 | Insider Secrets to a Top 100 Podcast | Courtney Elmer
0:02 - The Biggest Reason Listeners Skip Your Show
2:45 - The Psychology Behind Irresistible episode titles
5:20 - Four Things You Need to Grab Listener Attention (And Keep It)
7:22 - The Subconscious Triggers That Make Listeners Click Play
11:11 - 3 Steps to Crafting Clickable episode titles
Why Episode Titles Are the Key to More Listens
Have you ever spent hours planning a podcast episode that you know is packed with really good content, only to check your stats and see that it’s gotten fewer than 100 downloads? (Frustrating, right?) If you’ve ever wondered, “Do people even care about my podcast?!” you’re not alone — and (spoiler alert) it probably has less to do with your content and more to do with your episode titles.
Packing your episodes with value is important, sure, but it won’t increase listens to your podcast. It’s about understanding the psychology behind why people click “play” or scroll past to begin with. So, want to know what really pulls listeners in and makes listeners drop everything they’re doing to hit play?
Of course you do. Let’s dive in.
The Psychology Behind Bingeworthy Episode Titles
There’s this myth floating around that great content is all you need to succeed in podcasting. But if that were true, then everyone who’s giving away their best content for free would have a Top 100 show, and we both know that’s not the case. That’s because even the most valuable content won't matter if you can't get people to hit play in the first place. The good news?
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to stand out in podcasting. You just need to know how to get more listeners choosing your show over the competition.
Chances are, you already know that humans act based on emotion, not logic. So to do this, you first have to understand how your specific listeners think. No listener on this planet is going to find your podcast and go, "Oh, wow, you must have spent $5k on this cover art design, let me give your show a chance!"
But when you know the subconscious triggers that move someone to action without even having to think about it, you'll be able to do what 99% of other podcast hosts aren’t doing. And that alone can set you apart from the rest.
4 Things You Need to Know to Grab Listener Attention (And Keep It)
Podcast episode titles are one of the five critical Podcast Content Gatekeepers™ (along with your cover art, show title, podcast description, and episode descriptions) that determine whether your podcast gets noticed or ignored.
Sure, your cover art might catch a listener's eye, and your show title or description might make them click through to see more. But ultimately it’s your episode titles that make them decide whether to hit play (or not).
But Googling “Headline Analyzer” or using AI tools for podcasters isn’t going to help you craft episode titles that get the click.
So, how DO you create episode titles that make listeners stop scrolling and hit play? It starts with understanding the psychology of your unique listener. There are many layers to this and we teach all of them inside of PodLaunch, but a great place to start is by taking time to answer these key questions:
- What specific problem is my listener experiencing right now?
- What’s the REAL cause of this problem?
- What have they already tried doing to fix it that hasn’t worked?
- What do they believe they need to do or change to fix this problem?
Once you’ve answered these questions, you can create episode titles (and content) that speaks to your unique listener in a way no one else can — which ultimately will earn you their attention, and eventually, their trust.
But, Avoid Clickbait At All Costs. Here’s Why:
Have you ever clicked on a podcast episode because the episode titles drew you in, only to feel like you wasted your time because the host didn’t deliver on the episode promise (or rambled on for 40 minutes and barely spent any time on the topic you clicked play to hear in the first place?)
That’s the problem with clickbait episode titles. Sure, they might get someone to click once. But when the content doesn’t deliver on the promise of the episode titles, not only do you lose a listener — they won’t be back.
But the even bigger problem with clickbait episode titles is that it breaks listener trust. Listeners are quicker than ever to recognize when they’ve been duped. And in podcasting where the relationship with your listener is built episode by episode? Broken trust is pretty much impossible to repair.
So if you want to attract and keep listeners, focus on honest, clear, and specific episode titles that tell listeners exactly what they can expect from that episode. Episode titles that speak directly to your unique listeners’ needs or problems will help you attract the right listeners (the ones who will not only hit play but stick around because they can trust you to deliver what you promise).
The Power of a Good Episode Title
I’ll never forget when a high-level consultant came to us with a podcast full of valuable content, yet his downloads were stuck at 30-50 per episode, even after two years of podcasting. There were several issues with his messaging and positioning, but one of the biggest? His episode titles were vague, generic, and didn’t speak directly to his ideal listeners' real pain points.
After learning the PodLaunch methodology, he transformed old titles like “Acknowledge the Gifts You’ve Been Given” into compelling ones like “The Surprising Mistake That Costs Most People Their Dream.” The content didn’t change, but the way it was presented did. The result? When he relaunched his podcast, his downloads jumped from around 30-50 per episode to over 1,000 in a single day.
Whenever we help someone relaunch their podcast, one of the first things we do is update old episode titles. Why? Think of your episode content as a gift to your listeners and your episode titles as the gift wrap. No one wants to unwrap a present wrapped in crumpled, two-week-old newspaper, no matter how valuable the gift is inside. But a beautifully wrapped gift? It makes you even more excited to open that gift because the gift wrap itself increases the perceived value of what’s inside. (Even if what’s on the inside is a pair of fuzzy socks, you’ll appreciate those socks more than you would have if they were wrapped with crinkled-up comics.)
Just like I always tell our clients: becoming the host of a top podcast that converts listeners to leads isn’t about how great you are at delivering the content inside your episodes — it’s about how good you are at selling the content you’re going to deliver inside your episodes in the first place. And the way you do that is with episode titles that make your listener want to drop everything they’re doing and hit play.
We've Spent 4+ Years Testing Episode Titles. Here's What Works.
Here are three psychological formulas you can rinse and repeat to create episode titles that demand attention:
- Help Your Listeners Avoid Pain: Highlight the problem your episode solves directly in your episode titles. For example, “4 Signs Your Podcast is Getting Overlooked” is going to be more powerful psychologically than “How to Grow Your Podcast Audience”. By communicating what problem you’re helping your listeners solve inside that episode, you’ll help them see why it’s worth their time to listen.
- Help Listeners Avoid Pain + Achieve a Benefit: Combining the pain with a potential gain or benefit is another powerful way to communicate the value you’ll deliver inside your episodes. For example, “4 Signs Your Podcast is Getting Overlooked (and How to Fix It)” is a simple-yet-persuasive episode title that communicates how not only are you helping solve their specific problem, but also providing immediate relief by offering a solution.
^^ I recommend using a healthy mix of these two types of titles and not leaning too heavily toward one or the other. The key here is to be specific in your language. Vague and unclear titles don’t get the click, period. - Create Demand by Asking Open-Ended Questions: Using an open-ended question in your episode titles taps into a psychological framework called “Opening a Loop.” It’s like the cliffhangers Netflix uses to keep you watching — it creates a gap in the listener's mind that they’ll feel compelled to close by hitting play. Bonus points if you ask a question they’re already asking themselves. For example, our episode title “Do Niche Podcasts Grow Faster?” is one of our highest downloaded episodes. Why? Because it opens a loop in the listener's mind and promises to answer a question they’re eager to know the answer to.
How Important Is SEO in Your Episode Titles?
If you want more listeners to find your podcast organically, using SEO in your episode titles isn’t just a good idea — it’s non-negotiable. By incorporating keyword phrases that your ideal listener is likely searching for, your episodes are more likely to show up when those topics are searched. This is true whether or not your show is ranking on the charts.
Don’t underestimate the power of SEO. It’s one of the most underrated and underutilized growth tools out there for getting discovered which is why we teach all of our clients how to use SEO to their advantage. For example, using the right SEO has helped position us as the #2 podcast about podcasting. (And the #1 spot? A friend of mine who’s been podcasting for over 20 years with more than 1,000 episodes to my 300+ — so I’d say he’s earned it!) But that right there shows the power of SEO: out of all the podcasts about podcasting, we’re second only to the one with the most content, even though many others have more content than we do.
There are many strategic ways to find the keywords your listeners are searching for, but a great place to start is by thinking about the terms you’d type in if you were in their shoes. Put these into the search bar in Apple Podcasts or Spotify and see what comes up. Use this as a jumping-off point to generate more ideas on what your listeners might be searching for, and incorporate these into your episode titles as often as possible (without keyword stuffing).
What About Using AI to Generate Episode Titles?
I wish I could tell you that AI is a great tool for creating episode titles, but using AI for your episode titles is hurting your podcast growth. First of all, AI doesn’t know (and can never know) exactly how your listener thinks. It pulls from a massive database of human knowledge, so if you’re using the same AI inputs as your competitors, you’re going to get the same generic suggestions. How does that help you stand out? It doesn’t.
What’s worse is that AI-generated episode titles from tools like ChatGPT or other podcast-specific generators often default to clunky, hard-to-read formatting. So you might think you've got a great title, but without realizing it you’re actually making it harder to read (which means listeners are going to skip over it). Remember, people are scrolling fast. Your episode titles need to make them stop in their tracks and either add your episode to their queue or hit play immediately. And the only way they’ll do this is if you make it immediately clear from your episode titles what they’ll get by listening to that episode.
Why AI Hurts Your Podcast’s Ability to Attract Listeners
Take this or leave it: but I don’t recommend using AI for creating episode titles or any content for your podcast that should come from you, the expert. Use AI for brainstorming, sure, but don’t let it replace your authentic voice.
I can already hear the comments hitting my inbox: “But Courtney, I’m not a good writer! AI writes better than me.” “But Courtney! AI is getting better every day. Maybe it can’t replicate you now but it definitely will in the future.” To that I say this: Look, in today's AI-driven world I know it's tempting to use technology to streamline your workflows and save time. I am ALL FOR saving time anywhere I can because it's the number one thing I value. But think of it like this: There'll only ever be one true Picasso. If you're an art authenticator, you've got the skills to spot what's real and what's fake in an instant. But guess who the authenticity experts are in the world of podcasting? Yup. Your listeners.
But instead of handing over their hard-earned dollars for a priceless work of art to hang on the wall, they're trading something even more valuable. Their time. (And hey, if YOU had the choice, who would you rather listen to: Alex Hormozi? or a "business coach" regurgitating what Alex says on his show?) This is why Louis Vuitton can charge an ungodly amount what they charge for a wallet. It's why Louboutin can charge what they charge for a pair of shoes. that you wear. on your feet. Value is in the eye of the beholder. And people will always pay more (whether it's dollars or attention) for the real thing. Your voice (written and spoken) is how listeners connect with your message. And I hope this goes without saying, but listeners want to connect with YOU, not a robot.
So when it comes to your podcast, it's not about saving time or sounding smarter. It's about convincing your listeners that you are who you say you are. Which is gonna be a liiiiitle hard to do if you're just copy-pasting the same outputs from AI for your episode titles and show notes as everyone else. Because if content is a commodity and AI is driving the value of said content down, then guess what goes up in value? The original. The real deal. The authentic. The handmade. The one-of-a-kind. The can’t-get-anywhere-else.
You’re the only one who can know your audience well enough to get them to subconsciously click play and take action. Don’t let AI take that power away from you, no matter how good it gets. (Not to mention that the big platforms like Google are deprioritizing AI content and promoting original content, so if anything, using AI can hurt the visibility of your podcast. But that’s another post for another day).
Putting It Into Action
Your episode titles shouldn’t be an afterthought — they’re your first (and sometimes only) shot at capturing a listener’s attention. When you understand the psychology behind why people hit play, you’ll not only see your listens climb, but you’ll also create a podcast experience that people can’t wait to dive into each week. That’s how you build a loyal audience that sees you as the go-to expert in your niche.
And if you want to learn more insider secrets for launching and growing a top podcast so you can go from unheard expert to bingeworthy thought leader in your niche, make sure you’re following Insider Secrets to a Top 100 Podcast on your favorite podcast app so you never miss a new episode.
Or if you’re like, “Woah, this sounds like a lot of work… can you help!?” You know we’ve got you. Book a free strategy call with our team to find out if you’re a fit for PodLaunch, and get the blueprint you need for a bingeworthy top podcast that converts your listeners to clients.
Next Up:
Speaking of listener psychology, coming up next you’ll learn how to stop the scroll with podcast cover art that immediately grabs listeners' attention. So if you want to make sure your podcast cover art isn’t the reason listeners aren’t clicking play, don’t miss the next episode.
