Cody Gough

Enterprise Podcast Growth Consultant (Paid + Organic)

Accepting select 2026 engagements

CURRENTLY

I help marketing teams turn podcasts into measurable growth channels, combining paid media planning and organic optimization to improve ROAS, retention, and sustained audience lift.

Currently, I lead podcast growth at NerdWallet, where I help podcasts perform like real acquisition channels, not vague “brand awareness” plays. I also take on select client work through my consulting company, Quantum Podcasts, LLC. 

WHERE I’M SPENDING MY TIME

• Leading podcast audience growth and content strategy at a publicly traded brand

• Running deep dives on video podcast performance (YouTube/Spotify), retention, and creative testing

• Building repeatable measurement and reporting systems so teams can scale without guessing

CONNECT

Envelope Linkedin

Who I Am

Hi! I’m Cody, and I’ve spent 20+ years building audiences across radio programming, podcasts, and content marketing for B2B and B2C brands. 

I’ve built award-winning podcasts for major media brands, engineered repeatable production and growth systems, and helped teams connect listening behavior to business outcomes.

If you want a partner who can translate between creative, performance marketing, and analytics, then you’ve come to the right place.

Our Work Together

Three ways I help teams turn podcasts into measurable acquisition channels:

Paid Media Planning

Paid media strategies that create sustained organic lift.

I set budgets, channel mix, targeting, and creative testing so spend translates into repeat listeners and followers. Buying can stay in-house or with your agency; I’ll quarterback the strategy and weekly optimization.

Organic Growth + Retention

Content-market fit and packaging that drives repeat listening.

I refine show positioning, episode strategy, metadata/SEO, release cadence, and cross-channel promotion to improve conversion from impression → listen → follow → repeat listening.

Measurement

Attribution you can trust.

I help you implement the  right measurement (pixels, partner reporting, dashboards, lift studies) so you can answer: what did we buy, what did we earn, and what should we scale next?

I work best with teams that already publish (or are launching) a show and want it to drive measurable business outcomes. If you have a sizeable podcast growth budget (typically $15k+/month for paid media, in addition to production costs) and want disciplined testing and clear reporting, then I can help you make sure your investment pays off.

Engagements usually start with a discovery call and 90-day plan. From there, we either run a 90-day optimization sprint (hands-on testing across paid + organic) or I step in as your fractional growth lead to run the growth cadence and coordinate your team and vendors.

You keep execution wherever you want: in-house, agency, or contractors. I provide the strategy, testing roadmap, and performance accountability.

Let's Talk Podcast Growth

The Performance Gap

Most podcasts plateau because teams over-invest in production and under-invest in media and measurement. The gap between “a podcast” and “a growth channel” is a repeatable system: content-market fit, disciplined testing, and attribution you trust.

Here are the kinds of outcomes that system produces:

  • 4.5× improvement in paid media ROAS after tightening packaging and rebuilding the paid media strategy for a top personal finance podcast.

  • 125% YoY organic audience lift by pairing a best-in-class paid media strategy with retention-focused content optimization for a top travel podcast.

  • Built Curiosity Daily to 50,000+ weekly listeners and released 1,000+ episodes as part of the growth engine that helped drive a major media acquisition by Warner Bros Discovery.

  • Award-winning content across Webbys, Ambies, and more.

What's Worth Paying Attention To

The Noise

  • Fully produced branded intros that reduce retention
  • Wasting time editing “ums” and “ahs” out of episodes
  • Chasing video trends without a conversion and follow strategy
  • Treating downloads like the most valuable metric

Actually Working Now

  • Designing episodes for repurposing before you hit record
  • Building a paid media strategy that wins the right listeners (and tops the right charts)
  • In-app advertising and the placements most teams overlook
  • Listener surveys done correctly as gold mines for information

What’s Next (Pay Attention)

  • AI-assisted repurposing that increases output without killing quality
  • Using podcasts to build authority in AI search (GEO/LLMO)
  • Bridging YouTube and podcast optimization so both channels lift together

“I believe 100 years of radio habit-building beats 1 year of podcast hype every single time.”

My Journey

Foundational Audio: Audience Expertise at WGN Radio

I answered tens of thousands of phone calls from listeners as a producer at WGN Radio, which gave me firsthand insight into the disconnect between what you say and what listeners hear. This audience understanding sets me apart from most podcasters, who rarely get similar opportunities.

Enterprise Influence: Strategic Comms at Davos

I’ve led executive-facing comms and content strategy in high-stakes environments, including a key comms role for consulting firm Kearney onsite at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.

Growth Systems: Scaling Curiosity to Acquisition

I’ve built high-output content systems end-to-end (strategy, scripting, production, distribution) that scale. That includes creating a daily podcast that reached 100k weekly listeners and facilitated a major media acquisition by Warner Bros Discovery.

Performance ROI: The Content-to-Revenue Bridge

Today I focus on the measurement layer, helping brands tie podcast exposure to sessions, conversions, and downstream value with confidence. I’ve solved the attribution puzzle for high-spend media teams via verified view-through revenue and listener value.

The Best Use Case for Podcasting: Driving Revenue You Can Precisely Measure

Escaping the “Awareness” Trap

Most content channels can’t reliably tell you which exposures created downstream action. Podcasts can—with the right technology on the back end. With the right setup, you can quantify incremental site sessions, leads, and conversion lift tied to listening exposure (plus brand lift when you need it).

The Measurement Stack That Works

Podcasts don’t behave like YouTube or social media channels; they’re habit-based, high-attention, and compounding over time. When you treat podcast like a channel with a thesis, a testing cadence, and clear measurement, you build an owned audience that’s stickier than almost any other content asset.

The future belongs to those who view podcasts as a real business asset, not an expense.

What I Do

If you’re investing real budget, my job is to make sure it turns into measurable lift you can defend to leadership. That usually means I’ll help you:

  • Make podcast performance measurable (clear KPIs, clean reporting, fewer “trust me” metrics)

  • Increase retention (format, structure, pacing, topic mix, episode strategy)

  • Improve organic discovery (metadata, packaging, platform-specific optimization)

  • Fix your paid media distribution (creative testing, channel mix, budget pacing)

  • Build repeatable systems your team can run without you

Let's Connect

I am currently accepting select 2026 fractional engagements. If you’re using a podcast as a growth channel (or launching one) and you’re investing $15k+/month in paid media, I can help you supercharge your acquisition, retention, and sustained lift.

If you’re ready to treat your podcast like a measurable acquisition and retention channel, then let’s start with a quick fit call.

Drop me a line

Include: your show link, monthly growth budget range, primary KPI, and who owns media buying.

Based in Chicago. Happy to meet up or jump on a call.

© 2026 Quantum Podcasts, All Rights Reserved