18 best marketing podcasts you're not listening to but should be

I have a confession: I don't listen to podcasts.

I know, I know; I'm probably the last person, let alone the last marketer in 2021, who doesn't tune in to at least one or two. In fact, podcast listenership, in general, has grown 29.5% in the past three years with 57% of Americans 12 or older saying they listened to a podcast in 2021 compared to 44% in 2018.

Personally, I learn best via articles, videos, or in-person talks, but at the same time I recognize that for others, marketing podcasts are one of the most efficient and popular ways to stay apprised of our ever-changing industry. 

With this in mind, I set out to find the best marketing podcasts on the digital airwaves (and hopefully a couple of surprises) to help you stay current and keen and perhaps add to my own queue.

What can I say? It's hard to teach an old Ramona new tricks.

Best marketing podcasts of 2021

1. The Marketing Secrets Show

Hosted by Russell Brunson, "the world-famous internet marketer, New York Times bestselling author, and a co-founder of the largest funnel creation software ClickFunnels," the Marketing Secrets Show promises to share insights on how the little guys – entrepreneurs who invest their own money and aren't backed by venture capitalists – can build awareness and still remain profitable and healthy. 

Hard to argue with that, right?

Here are some episodes we recommend:

• My PRIVATE Interview with Tony Robbins … on Apple Podcasts
• What "Being Coachable" Actually Looks Like on Apple Podcasts
• Mini Rant: You Attract Who You Are, Not Who You Want on Apple Podcasts
• RANT: Leaders Need To Make Decisions ... Period on Apple Podcasts
  
  

2. Business Made Simple with Donald Miller

We're huge fans of Donald Miller here at IMPACT (especially The StoryBrand Framework), so, of course, we can't recommend his podcast enough.

🔎 Related: What is the StoryBrand Framework? (As told by Dirty Dancing)

While not solely focused on marketing, on this show Miller dives into a variety of important topics aimed at growing your business, including digital marketing strategy, messaging, sales, and even navigating COVID-19.

Guests have ranged from business and marketing notables Seth Godin and Patrick Lencioni to actor Matthew McConaughey and pretzel queen Auntie Anne.

Here are a few episodes to get your feet wet:  

• Ryan Deiss — The Digital Marketing Strategy Your Business Needs [Part 1]
• Matthew McConaughey — Are Those Who “Trust In Fate” Doomed to a Boring Life?
• Seth Godin — How to Become More Creative, Even if You Think You Aren’t

3. PPC Den Podcast

PPC ads are a lot harder to master than one might think. Thankfully, the team over at AdBadger, an agency focused on Amazon PPC, helps to demystify it every Wednesday on the PPC Den Podcast. 

Described as "The world's first Amazon advertising podcast," this show "discusses the ins and outs of Amazon PPC, including tips and tricks to help optimize your ad campaigns.

"Whether you're a die-hard PPC fanatic or an Amazon seller looking for an edge, this is the podcast for you!"

Some notable episodes to check out:

• AMZPPC #121: The ACOS Power Ratio for Amazon PPC
• AMZPPC #104: How and Why to Use Negatives in Your Amazon PPC
• AMZPPC 52: Ramping Up for Cyber Monday and Black Friday With Data-Driven PPC Strategies
  
  

4. Marketing School

Talk to anyone in the marketing space and this is one title that will likely come up time and time again.

Marketing School, hosted by Neil Patel and Eric Siu, brings "you daily, actionable digital marketing lessons that they've learned through years of being in the trenches" and at just about 4-10 minutes long, it's hard not to make time for it. In fact, IMPACT teammate Kevin Phillips raves about being able to churn through several episodes while mowing the lawn. 

The duo covers the latest on topics such as SEO, content marketing, social media, email marketing, conversion optimization, and general online marketing tactics that work today. Plus, each episode (there's over 1,700 at this point) is hyperfocused on a specific question, so there's plenty to be learned.

Here are a few that may catch your fancy:

• How to Master SEO #1753
• How to Get More Reviews Without Asking #1750
• How to Actually Make Money From Podcasting
• How We Would Do Blogging in 2021 #1709

5. Digital Marketer's Perpetual Traffic

We are huge fans of Digital Marketer at IMPACT. Their content is top-notch, and their podcast is no exception.

IMPACT Chief Operating Office Brie Rangel fondly remembers driving to a meeting with our founder and CEO Bob Ruffolo and listening to the UPSYD episode. A lot of IMPACT's inspiration and growth a few years ago came from the insights of this team.

Here are some of our team's top episodes:

• UPSYD: The 5-Step Framework to Generate More Customers
• 3 Steps to Finding the Perfect Audience for Your Ads

• The Easiest Way to Market Your Business with Dave Gerhardt

• 5 Killer Tips to Crush it on Local Results Today

6. The Inbound Success Podcast

An IMPACT staple since 2017, the Inbound Success Podcast with VP of Marketing at clean.io, Kathleen Booth, is an interview-style show revealing what the industry’s best marketers do to deliver real results.

Every week, Booth interviews marketers who are rolling up their sleeves, doing the work, and getting the kinds of results we all hope to achieve. Some of them are well-known marketing luminaries, and others are folks you may never have heard of. What they all have in common is that they're succeeding in a big way.

Here are some of our favorite episodes:

• "3X Video Views With Captioning ft. Gideon Shalwick of Splasheo" (Inbound Success Ep. 103)
• "The Email Sequence Alex Berman Uses to Book Sales Calls with Billion Dollar Brands" (Inbound Success Ep. 105)
• "How to Combine Two Successful Websites While Improving Traffic and Rankings ft. David Meerman Scott" (Inbound Success Ep. 74)
• "Get $64 Million in Revenue From a $6,000 Marketing Budget ft. Ryan Bonnici of G2 Crowd" (Inbound Success Ep. 60)
• "How Morning Brew Grew its Email Subscriber Base to 1.8MM ft. Tyler Denk" (Inbound Success Ep. 134)

7. Seeking Wisdom by Drift

Presented by Drift and hosted by CEO (and former HubSpotter) David Cancel, Seeking Wisdom goes beyond just marketing and business to discuss "health, wealth, life, and learning." It touts itself as a podcast for people who want to get better every day. 

Here are a few episodes our team really enjoyed:

• #160: The Psychology Episode (Essential Listening for Marketers)
• #152: Seeking Wisdom Is Back: How Disruption Leads to Opportunity
• #65: Mike Volpe 
• #20: Why A Guy With 200,000 Monthly Readers Killed His Lead Forms, Too
  

8. The Business of Content

The Business of Content is exactly what it sounds like. It's “the podcast about how publishers create, distribute, and monetize digital content.”

What’s interesting about this one is that it dissects how media companies are venturing and finding success in today’s publisher ecosystem, and how brands can learn from this approach to monetize and make their own content even more effective – something we’re passionate about here at IMPACT.

These episodes illustrate the publisher education you will get from this show:

• This Company Scaled Local Newsletters to Five Cities
• Inside The New York Times's video strategy
• Her wedding news website grew into a thriving media company
• Facebook decimated this publisher's business. So it became a paid newsletter

9. The Hubcast

Originally started at The Sales Lion under the watchful eye of now-IMPACT partner Marcus Sheridan and George B. Thomas, The Hubcast is the podcast for HubSpot users.

Hosted by IMPACT's resident HubSpot expert Carina Duffy and a rotating list of guests from our team, the monthly show helps you stay up to date with all the latest and greatest HubSpot tools, tips, and tricks, and frankly, they're just a fun bunch to hang out with for a bit.

Here are some of our most popular recent episodes: 

• Operations Hub Hot Takes and College Degrees [Hubcast 271]
• Hubcast Special Series: The Flywheel with Tammy Duggan-Herd
• Most Lead Nurturing These Days Sucks, but a Few People are Doing it Right [Hubcast 268]

10. Pushing Send

Email marketing isn't dead, it's just gotten a lot harder to stand out in a sea of spam and sales promotions. Luckily, there are experts over at Rasa.io and the Pushing Send podcast to help. 

Pushing Send "dives deep into the stories behind some of the best emails and the people who send them. Each episode reveals not only their strategies – but the human side of how they connect and engage with people through the powerful medium of email."

Want to wow your audience with a killer email? You need Pushing Send in your podcast queue.

Check out these episodes:

• EP25: David Meerman Scott – Get Radical With Email Marketing
• EP21: Marcus Sheridan – Crafting Sales-Based Emails Recipients Must Open
• EP24: Verne Harnish – A 19-year-old Email Newsletter
• EP15: Sujan Patel – Every Email Should Provide Value
• EP16: Val Geisler – Honor the Human Experience Through Email

11. CMO Conversations with Tricia Gellman

In addition to Seeking Wisdom, our friends at Drift recently launched CMO Conversations, a podcast for current and aspiring marketing executives. 

12. Perfectly Mentored with Jason Portnoy

This is another one that isn't entirely marketing-focused but deserves a spot in your podcast queue. Recommended by my IMPACT teammate Ali Parmalee, Perfectly Mentored describes itself as your "in-pocket mentor." 

It promises that "everything you will need to achieve success will be discussed. We’ll share tips on business, marketing, finance, mindset, and more all delivered with entertainment and superstar guests! We will give you everything you need to get you ahead of the game. We will also try and answer any questions that you may have on your own journeys."

Noteworthy guests and episodes include:

• EP15: Jason Swenk: Strategies and Systems to Scale Any Business 
• EP65: Ryan Deiss: Demystifying Digital Marketing and the Secrets of the Email 
• EP24: Gary Vaynerchuk: On the Record
• EP8: Jasmine Star: Building your Brand 

13. Content Lab

The last of our IMPACT podcasts is Content Lab. Hosted by teammates Liz Moorehead and John Becker, Content Lab is a weekly show for content marketing nerds and industry experts.

Although there is no shortage of shenanigans, the show is centered around having real, candid conversations about challenges as well as discussing the inside scoop on the tools and tactics that will transform you into a content rockstar.

Here are a few episodes you should check out (aside from the one featuring yours truly, of course): 

• Coronavirus content strategy: How to Prioritize Amid Chaos (Content Lab, Ep. 43)
• "Demystifying Pillar Content & Topic Clusters" with Justin Champion of HubSpot (Content Lab, Ep. 1)
• How to Run a Content Brainstorm Session (Content Lab, Ep. 37)
• Why Personality in Content is Profitable and How to Do It (Content Lab, Ep. 57)

14. Voices of Search

Keeping up with search engine optimization (SEO) is a tall order. As soon as an article is published, it’s only a matter of time before it’s obsolete. (Trust me, I've written well over 600.)

Voices of Search with Searchmetrics CEO Jordan Koene is an excellent tool to help you stay on top of all the latest changes the search engine overlords place upon us.

It aims to arm you with the latest news and insights you need to navigate the ever-changing landscape of SEO and content marketing created by Google, Apple, and other search giants. 

Here’s a taste of how helpful this show is:

• Should You Bother Doing SEO In 2021? – Eli Schwartz // elischwartz.co
• Importance Of Marketing To Mobile Devices – Steve Wiideman // Wiideman Consulting Group
• SEO Myths – Corey Northcutt // Northcutt.com
• How to Solve Core Web Vital Issues – Marcus Tober // Searchmetrics

15. Business Wars

With business comes competition, and that's what Business Wars, hosted by David D. Brown, a managing editor and NPR affiliate anchor focuses on.

Coke versus Pepsi, Apple versus Microsoft, the business world is full of iconic rivalries and this podcast dives deep into how one outdoes the other and wins over customers. Of course, a lot of this comes down to marketing. 

Stories tend to span several (20-minute-long) episodes, but here are some "chapters" to get you started:

• TikTok vs. Instagram | Codename
• FedEx vs. UPS | Kick the Tire, Light the Fires
• WWF vs. WCW | Prime Time
• KFC vs. Chick-fil-A | Fast Fists and Failure

16. Ecommerce Influence

Hosted by Austin Brawner, Ecommerce Influence focuses on sharing "weekly interviews with world-class ecommerce operators, deep dives into what's working right now, and a refreshing break from 'crush-it culture.'"

This podcast will change your perspective on building a business, and, hopefully, change your life.

Brawner has helped more than 597 established ecommerce store owners, marketers, and freelancers grow their businesses dramatically, and on this show, he's sharing some of those insights.

Check out these episodes:

• 302: Stop Losing Customers: How to Build Trust and Make More Sales with Sean D’Souza
• BONUS: 5 Things to Automate in Your Business to Free Up More Time with Steve Chou
• 282: 8 Ecommerce All-Stars Share Their Best Marketing Advice

17. The Copyblogger Podcast with Tim Stoddart

Being a content writer, or even someone who writes consistently, isn't easy. Thinking of what to write and how to write it for your audience can have you hitting a roadblock. The CopyBlogger podcast hopes to solve that.

In this podcast, Tim Stoddart discusses tactics and tips for writing, conversion optimization, mindfulness, email marketing, and more with experts such as Rand Fishkin and John Jantsch, the founder of Duct Tape Marketing.

Here are a couple of episodes you should check out:

• Rohan Gilkes: How to Build a 7-Figure Business by Going Local 
• Rand Fishkin on the Future of Content Marketing 
• How to Conquer Your Fear of Selling, with Leah Neaderthal

18. Social Media Marketing with Michael Stelzner

In a social media world of cat videos, ads for fast fashion, and daily posts from your friends, how do you create a strategy that breaks through the noise?

In this podcast, Social Media Examiner founder Michael Stelzner shares tactics and tips from anything around generating social media traffic, creating videos, tools for Twitter, persuasive ad copy, and more. No platform is left behind! 

"Publishing weekly since 2012, this show helps marketers navigate the ever-changing marketing jungle with expert interviews from leading marketing pros." It promises to help you discover new strategies and actionable tips to improve your marketing and really hone your social media.

Some must-listen episodes include:

• Clubhouse Strategy: How Your Business Can Benefit
• Social Media Marketing Strategy: How to Thrive in a Changing World
• Influencer Marketing Strategy: How to Grow Your Influence
• How to Improve Your Facebook Organic Reach
  

What are you listening to?

As quickly as marketing evolves, podcasts have enabled many to evolve with it. Some of our team members listen in their car on the way to work (I personally like singing to my steering wheel); others listen while doing laundry, or hitting the gym. Whatever your preference, with options ranging from five minutes to an hour, I'm sure you can find a podcast that works for you. 

Are there any other podcasts I should check out? What did I miss? Head to IMPACT+ to share what you're listening to.