Metricool’s 2025 Podcast Study shows how top U.S. podcasts use YouTube, Instagram, and other platforms to boost engagement and grow communities.
Metricool, a global social media management platform, today unveiled its 2025 Podcast Study, analyzing how the top 100 podcasts in the United States leverage social media to engage audiences, grow their platforms, and build community. The data reveals significant performance variations across platforms, with YouTube leading in engagement rates while Instagram dominates total interactions through short-form video content.
With podcasts now reaching 55% of the U.S. population, different video formats are reshaping how audiences discover and consume content, which results in successful podcasts evolving into multi-platform media brands. Metricool’s 2025 Podcast Study identifies the specific tactics driving this transformation and the measurable impact on audience engagement across different social channels.
Key platform-specific takeaways include:
- YouTube posts see the highest engagement rate at 3.13%, making it the platform where podcast communities are most active and loyal.
- Instagram drives the most interactions, with podcast content receiving 5,517.51 average interactions per post—a 724% increase over platform averages.
- Reels outperform static posts, with 79% of podcast content on Instagram published in Reel format.
- X/Twitter is the most active platform by volume, with podcasts averaging 96.55 posts per month, though interaction levels remain relatively low.
- Podcasters use hashtags and emojis sparingly online, with only 10.64% and 13.87% of posts using them, respectively—highlighting a shift toward more organic, minimalist content.
“What we’re seeing is a fundamental shift in how podcasts approach audience development,” said Juan Pablo Tejela, CEO and Co-Founder of Metricool. “The most successful podcasts aren’t just promoting episodes on social media channels, they’re building dedicated communities through platform-native content strategies that play into each channel’s strengths.”
Additional insights from the study include:
- 87% of top podcasts post on YouTube, followed by 82% on Instagram, 75% on X/Twitter, and 67% on Facebook.
- More content doesn’t guarantee more followers: Only 2 of the top 10 podcasts with the most followers on YouTube and Instagram are also among the most frequent posters, while Facebook is the exception, with 5 of the top 10 most-followed podcast pages also being the most active.
- Podcasts generate more comments than average content, with YouTube (537) and Instagram (425) posts driving deeper conversation and connection.
