I’ve written before about the importance of choosing the right category for your podcast, and the benefits of appearing on the Apple Podcasts charts.

Today, I want to share a story that illustrates both.

Pacific Content recently helped Ford Motor Company launch Bring Back Bronco: The Untold Story. It’s an 8-part serialized documentary podcast, all about the life, death, and rebirth of an iconic American vehicle.

For fairly obvious reasons, we chose Automotive as the show’s primary category.

When we chose this category, we knew the odds of appearing on the Apple Podcast charts was high.

Why? Unlike Society & Culture or History (both of which would have been appropriate categories for Bring Back Bronco), Automotive isn’t an especially crowded category. Plus, Ford has amazing owned channels, and the ability to send lots of valuable traffic to Apple Podcasts.

Consequently, Bring Back Bronco: The Untold Story has consistently appeared at or near the top of Apple’s US Automotive charts since it launched:

“But Dan… who cares?” you might ask. “Isn’t this just a vanity metric?”

Nope.

When you appear near the top of a podcast chart — even within a relatively small category — your show earns valuable real estate on the preview pages of every other show in your category. So if you make it to the top of the Automotive chart, you’ll appear on the preview page of every other show in the Automotive category.

Let me show you what I mean.

Car Talk, Past Gas, and CarCast are three of the all-time most popular Automotive podcasts. They each have large, passionate fanbases.

What’s more, Apple includes a list of “Top Podcasts in Automotive” on each of their preview pages:

Clearly, this is valuable real estate, and an amazing opportunity for cross-pollination from other shows.

Wouldn’t you like every other podcast in your category to highlight your show to potential listeners?

Remember

• It’s important to choose the right category for your podcast. By choosing a category, you’re choosing which charts you’re eligible to appear on.
• Podcast chart appearances aren’t just a vanity metric. They can be a meaningful onramp for new listeners.
• The best way to appear on the Apple Podcasts charts is to send valuable traffic to Apple Podcasts.

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